UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay sent an official letter to the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia Mikheil Chkhenkeli, thanking him for his participation and speech at the UNESCO online ministerial on March 30.

Mikheil Chkhenkeli addressed the participants of the Ministerial and introduced the challenges facing the Georgian education system and the corresponding steps taken by the Georgian government to solve them.

The participants of the Ministerial - "COVID-19 and Open Science" discussed the effective ways to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus - declared a pandemic, in conjunction with sharing experience of their respective countries in this regard.

"As a result of the online dialogue organized by UNESCO, the importance of global solidarity has emerged, not only in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in resolving other issues of sustainable development. The COVID-19 crisis has shown that a true scientific coalition based on the principle of open science must share scientific and technological data in the fight against pandemics. The meeting of the Ministers reaffirmed the importance of science in dealing with global threats and ensuring readiness for the future. The participants of the Virtual Ministerial called on UNESCO to deepen its international scientific cooperation by enhancing open science, providing scientific advice and other types of support.” states the UNESCO Letter of Appreciation.

The UNESCO online conference was attended by 210 representatives from 122 countries, including: 77 ministers of science and technology and the deputy ministers, commissioners of the EU and African Union and scientists from the World Health Organization (WHO).