Dior announces its partnership with UNESCO Global Education Coalition

Dior is building on the engagement of its Women@Dior educational programme for young female students

Maison Christian Dior has recently announced its support for the UNESCO Global Education Coalition. Created several months ago in response to the Covid-19 crisis, the initiative aims to support countries in scaling up best distance learning practices to provide educational opportunities for children and youth who are most at risk. The first couture house to join the initiative, Dior is building on the engagement of its Women@Dior educational programme for young female students.

Last July 15 Maison Christian Dior joined the UNESCO Global Education Coalition, an initiative launched by UNESCO to mitigate the impact of the health crisis on youth education around the world. With 87% of the world’s students affected by school closings due to Covid-19, educational inequalities have become further exacerbated.

“Never before have we witnessed educational disruption on such a scale,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. “Partnership is the only way forward. This Coalition is a call for coordinated and innovative action to unlock solutions that will not only support learners and teachers now but through the recovery process, with a principle focus on inclusion and equity.”

Dior has opened its Women@Dior programme to 100 talented young female students from Niger, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Jamaica, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Selected in partnership with UNESCO, the students will be mentored by a Dior employee to help them develop self-confidence and empower them to pursue a professional vocation. They will also have access to the Women Leadership & Sustainability platform launched in June as part of Women@Dior.

Women Leadership & Sustainability proposes 15 courses that explore different dimensions of Women@Dior’s core values of autonomy, inclusion, creativity and sustainability.

Following the theoretical coursework, participants put what they have learned into practice by creating a “Dream for Change” project designed to support the empowerment of young girls at the local level.

The most impactful projects are eligible for support from Dior and the LVMH Group.

The Maison Christian Dior’s support to the Global Coalition for Education is a further rapprochement between the LVMH group and UNESCO. In 2019, the two entities signed a partnership through which the Group will support the “Man and the Biosphere” (MAB) programme. The aim of this project is to act for the conservation of biodiversity all around the world through international cooperation. Within this framework, Maison Guerlain has also joined forces with UNESCO.