It appears that famous actress and filmmaker Angelina Jolie has joined the ranks of the people striving to help combat the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, via a new educational material for the youth courtesy of BBC My World.
The new content, "BBC My World: Coronavirus Special", is expected to be released via the BBC My World YouTube channel in the coming weeks; it is aimed at educating young people about the malady mankind is facing today.
According to the media outlet, this content will also be shared with UNESCO’S Global Education Coalition, "a new website providing remote educational content to kids in lockdown around the world".
"This is a difficult time for young people, with over 850 million out of education worldwide so far, and many living locked down and isolated," the BBC says. "The Coronavirus crisis means the need for trusted news and information reaching them is more important than ever."
Angelina Jolie, who is an executive producer on the program, remarked that “children have not been out of school on this scale since the Second World War”, and that they will remember this experience throughout their lives.
"It is something that older generations, for all their other reference points, have not experienced. The way children go through this time - from the tools and information they can access to the ways they can communicate to and help each other - will be unique to their generation", she said. "We want to help kids to have access to trusted content and tools that will be useful to them during the pandemic: including helping them to seek out fact-based and reliable news, question the information they receive, and learn from each other’s experiences."
Some social media users, however, did not seem all that thrilled with the move, openly questioning Jolie's participation in this initiative.
As the BBC points out, the content in question arrives "during a period described as an ‘Infodemic’ by the World Health Organisation", with the WHO reportedly warning that "'information hygiene' is almost as important as the basic advice around hand washing and social distancing".