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UNESCO–CENIA Cooperation Agreement to Advance AI Literacy and Ethical Standards in Latin America

At the end of February 2026, the UNESCO Regional Office in Santiago and Chile’s National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA) signed a cooperation agreement to promote ethical AI in education across Chile and Latin America.

Key facts:

  • Signed by Esther Kuisch Laroche (Director, UNESCO Regional Office Santiago) and Mónica Soto Pérez (COO, CENIA)
  • Establishes a framework for collaboration covering: digital competency development, AI literacy promotion, people-centred AI development, and ethical principles throughout the AI lifecycle
  • Target audiences for training programmes and resources: general public, educators, technical specialists, and policymakers
  • Aligns with UNESCO’s normative mandate for ethical, inclusive, and rights-based AI
  • Preceded the formal launch of the Regional AI in Education Observatory (April 2026), with CENIA as a founding partner

Score relevance: Reinforces dim 1 (AI curriculum/guidance exists via UNESCO frameworks) and dim 3 (ethics component explicitly central to agreement), and dim 13 (publicly accessible educational resources extended to new populations). All activities are voluntary cooperation; no binding mandates issued.