UNESCO PAX and CODEMAO held the AI Day and Youth Coding Initiative Phase 2 launch on March 7. The event was attended by Mr Firmin Edouard Matoko, Assistant Director-General for Priority Africa and External Relations of UNESCO; Professor Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, Minister of Digital Transformation and Administrative Reform of the Kingdom of Morocco; Mr Qin Changwei, Secretary-General of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO; Mr Wang Yijie, Head of the Political Section of the Chinese Embassy in Côte d’Ivoire; Mr Mohamed Elfarnawany, Director for Priority Africa Coordination of UNESCO; Mr Zhan Tao, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE); Mr Li Tianchi, Founder and CEO of CODEMAO; and representatives from UNESCO Offices in the Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Namibia, and Thailand, as well as teachers and students from the five partner countries. Together, they witnessed the official launch of the second phase of the Africa-Asia Youth Coding Initiative (2025-2030) and discussed innovative pathways for reshaping education through artificial intelligence (AI). The meeting was moderated by Mr Tao Zhan, Director of UNESCO IITE and Ms Magalie Lebreton-Traore from UNESCO PAX
In his speech, Mr Firmin Edouard Matoko, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Priority Africa and External Relations, stressed that UNESCO and CODEMAO have built a strong bond of trust since their collaboration began, with a shared goal of promoting coding education among young people. The project of enhancing digital skills for African and Asian Youth, as part of UNESCO’s Priority Africa initiative, has had a profound and tangible impact on the African continent. In 2024, the project achieved significant results, enhancing the digital skills and innovation capabilities of African youth and broadening their horizons.
Professor Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, Minister of Digital Transformation and Administrative Reform of the Kingdom of Morocco, illustrated the universal value of AI with vivid examples, emphasizing its importance in all aspects of contemporary education. She noted that AI will allow teachers to focus more on teaching rather than repetitive tasks, and in the future, it will support intelligent tutoring and learning assessment to help students improve their performance. Tools like DeepSeek in China or other large language models like ChatGPT can enhance the learning abilities of young people. AI is not here to replace teachers but to help provide high-quality education for all, ensuring educational equity.
Mr Qin Changwei, Secretary-General of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, praised the creative initiative launched by CODEMAO for young people, stating that digital transformation in education will be a crucial pillar of educational change. He mentioned that the recent open-source release of the DeepSeek model by a group of young people has provided a new platform and opportunities for global AI cooperation, offering a broader and more equitable space for innovation and application. Learning to code is a key to mastering AI technology and unlocking the future for the younger generation. China is actively engaged in international cooperation and exchange in digital education, particularly with UNESCO, contributing to global digital education transformation. Today’s launch of the AI initiative between UNESCO and CODEMAO is both an acknowledgment of their previous collaboration and a commitment to supporting future efforts.
Mr Qin Changwei also expressed hope that young people will strengthen mutual exchanges and improve their digital literacy. He hoped that this event would serve as a spark, encouraging participation from project countries and playing a greater role in international cooperation and exchange in digital education. This will inject new vitality and contribute to the implementation of the Global Education 2030 Agenda and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Mr Li Tianchi, Founder and CEO of CODEMAO, announced the official launch of the second phase of the “2025-2030 Youth Coding Initiative.” Last year’s practice has strengthened our determination to expand educational equity and continuously develop the digital skills of the new generation. On the theme of “AI Empowering Future Education,” we will delve into how AI is reshaping the educational landscape. UNESCO and CODEMAO will continue to implement annual action plans, providing free access to AI education platforms and resources to developing countries. The project will prioritize enhancing AI literacy in Africa and other developing regions, aiming to promote global youth innovation and provide them with a platform to showcase their talents. AI is not just a tool but a bridge to a future of educational equity. We look forward to the AI-themed events helping every child, whether in remote villages or bustling cities, embrace the opportunities of the digital age, learn coding skills, and shape their own futures.
Mr Mohamed Elfarnawany, Director of the UNESCO Africa Priority Coordination stated in his speech that since taking up the position of Director of the UNESCO Africa Priority Strategy, he had been actively engaged in this flagship project. It not only covers emerging technologies and artificial intelligence but also carries the mission of educational transformation. He looks forward to establishing closer cooperation in the future. The “Programming Education Popularization Plan” has trained 200 teachers in Congo, Kenya, Namibia and Thailand, among whom 45% are women. These educational pioneers are playing a key role at the national and regional levels through the “trainers re-training” model, continuously spreading core skills in the digital age. The second phase will focus on five core actions: establishing an annual “AI Day” to enhance public awareness; continuing to promote domestic and international dual-track training for teachers and students’ programming skills; jointly organizing “China Study Tours” with CODEMAO every year to promote in-depth exchanges between Chinese and foreign experts; building an Asia-Africa digital education cooperation network and showcasing project achievements through exhibitions; and working with partners such as OPPO to carry out localized actions in various countries. Walking with the youth and empowering with technology is precisely the key path to changing the fate of teachers in Asia and Africa.
In the subsequent case sharing session, Mr Omar Diop, the Head of UNESCO Office in Côte d’Ivoire, representatives of UNESCO Field Offices from Congo, Kenya, Namibia and Thailand shared best practices and discussed future plans of this initiative and shared their insights on the experiences of applying artificial intelligence in their respective regions.
In the keynote speech session, Prof. Sun Teck TAN, the chairperson of the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), an associate professor at the School of Computing, National University of Singapore, and the honorary director of the Centre of Excellence for Computing Education at the National University of Singapore, and Prof. Xiong Hui, an artificial intelligence expert from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), delivered speeches on the development of computer and artificial intelligence education. Meanwhile, representatives of the pilot school principals, teachers and students who participated in this conference shared their insights.
At the meeting, Prof. Sun Teck TAN shared the relationship between programming and artificial intelligence. He first introduced the specific situation of the International Informatics Olympic Competition (IOI) to the audience at the venue, and said that the establishment and initiative of AI Day were very important for IOI. He illustrated the importance of programming learning for the development of artificial intelligence and the development of teenagers’ quality through examples. Everyone should get rid of the fear that “artificial intelligence will replace everyone”, correctly understand the auxiliary role of artificial intelligence, and let artificial intelligence help teenagers shape their future.
Prof Xiong Hui, on the other hand, said that the transformation of large model language will have an impact on education itself. In the past year, we have seen the change of reasoning ability of large model language and its potential and prospect. We should train young people how to gain value and innovation ability that machines cannot create, learn artificial intelligence tools and use them to help, solve problems efficiently and develop innovative thinking and creativity.
In the closing remarks, Mr Yue Sun, the CTO of CODEMAO, and Ms Magalie Lebreton – Traore from UNESCO PAX summarized the conference. They looked forward to the AI Day on March 9th each year in the future.
This conference aims to promote the digital literacy and programming skills of young people in Africa and Asia through the cooperation of UNESCO, governments and private enterprises like CODEMAO, and to jointly achieve global educational equity.