What is Unesco?
UNESCO, It was to «contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration between nations through education, science and culture.
It is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization established in 1946.
Promote universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms that are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations (UN).
UNESCO’s initial emphasis was on rebuilding schools, libraries and museums that had been destroyed in Europe during the Second World War.
Since then, its activities have been mainly facilitation, with the aim of assisting, supporting and complementing the national efforts of Member States to eliminate illiteracy and expand free education.
UNESCO also seeks to encourage the free exchange of ideas and knowledge through the organization of conferences and the provision of clearing and exchange services.
How did UNESCO start?
As many less developed countries joined the UN beginning in the 1950s, UNESCO began to devote more resources to its problems, which included poverty, high illiteracy rates, and underdevelopment.
During the 1980s, UNESCO was criticized by the United States and other countries for its alleged anti-Western approach to cultural issues and for the sustained expansion of its budget.
These problems led the United States to withdraw from the organization in 1984, with the United Kingdom and Singapore withdrawing a year later.
After the Labor Party’s electoral victory in 1997, the United Kingdom rejoined UNESCO, and the United States and Singapore did so in 2003 and 2007, respectively.
In 2011 UNESCO approved full membership for Palestine. After the vote, the United States announced that it would no longer pay dues to the organization, due to Congressional legislation that prohibited funding of any UN agency that would admit Palestine as a full member.
Due to its unpaid dues, the United States lost its voting rights at UNESCO in 2013.
Israel
In 2017, US officials, citing «anti-Israel bias» and the size of the US’s arrears in the organization, announced that the United States would leave UNESCO again at the end of the year. Israel itself remained a member.
In addition to supporting educational and scientific programmes, UNESCO is also involved in efforts to protect the natural environment and the common cultural heritage of humanity.
For example, in the 1960s UNESCO helped sponsor efforts to save ancient Egyptian monuments from the waters of the Aswan High Dam, and in 1972 it sponsored an international agreement to establish a World Heritage List of cultural sites. and natural areas that would enjoy government protection.
In the 1980s, a controversial study by the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, headed by Irish statesman and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Seán MacBride.
He proposed a New World Information and Communication Order that would consider communication and freedom of information as basic human rights and try to bridge the gap in communication capabilities between developing and developed countries.
A vote
Each member state has one vote in UNESCO’s General Conference, which meets every two years to set the agency’s budget, its program of activities and the scale of contributions made by member states to the agency.
The 58-member Executive Board, which is elected by the General Conference, generally meets twice a year to advise and guide the agency’s work.
The Secretariat is the backbone of the agency and is headed by a director general appointed by the General Conference for a six-year term.
Around 200 national commissions, made up of local experts, serve as governmental advisory bodies in their respective states.
Most of the work occurs in special commissions and committees convened with the participation of experts.
Prominent examples include the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (1961-), the World Commission on Culture and Development (1992-99), and the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and the Technology (1998-).
The conclusions of these commissions are regularly published by UNESCO.
The origin of UNESCO
The forerunner of UNESCO is said to be the International Committee for Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC) established in Geneva under the League of Nations in 1922. ICIC engaged with celebrated scholars such as Albert Einstein (theoretical physicist of German origin), Marie Curie (Polish -French physicist and chemist) and so on.
Inazo Nitobe, a Japanese scholar and one of the League’s deputy general secretaries at the time, became a founding director of ICIC.
In 1926, the International Institute for Intellectual Cooperation (IIIC) was established in Paris with the financial assistance of the French government to implement plans and policies drawn up by ICIC.
IIIC was an active institution with activities in a variety of fields such as universities, libraries, intellectual property, arts, information and media.
However, these activities were suspended due to the outbreak of World War II.
Shortly after World War II, in November 1945, a United Nations Conference for the establishment of an educational and cultural organization was convened in London with representatives from 44 countries.
Pioneered by France and the United Kingdom, the delegates decided to create an organization that would embody a true culture of peace.
At the end of the conference, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was founded and the UNESCO Constitution, signed on November 16, 1945, entered into force on November 4, 1946.
When UNESCO was born
Adoption of the UNESCO Constitution November 16, 1945
Establishment November 4, 1946
Japan entry 2 July 1951
The headquarters is located in Paris, France.
Address: 7, Place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, FRANCE.
Website ****://www.unesco.org
UNESCO offices
UNESCO offices are scattered in 52 locations around the world. (Since August 2007)
1. Its 27 cluster offices manage all UNESCO activities at the regional level.
2. Its 21 national offices are located in certain countries in principle for a certain period of time to implement projects smoothly.
3. Its 10 regional offices (8 of the offices also serve as group offices) offer field-specific and advice to the regional and group offices.
4. The 2 Liaison Offices in Geneva and New York coordinate contacts and develop cooperation between UNESCO and the UN offices and UN agencies, foundations and other related institutions based in Geneva or New York.
Japan is covered by the jurisdiction of the UNESCO Beijing Office. (Cluster Office) JNCU develops UNESCO activities not only with UNESCO Headquarters, but also has strong collaborations and links with Regional Offices in the Asia-Pacific region
Member states
193 countries in October 2007
Macao and 6 others registered as Associate Members.
In support of this objective, UNESCO’s main functions are:
Promote intellectual cooperation and mutual understanding of peoples through all mass media. Give new impetus to popular education and the dissemination of culture. Maintain, increase and disseminate knowledge. Promote scientific research and training.Apply science to ensure human development and rational management of natural resources.Conserves 1073 World Heritage Sites in 167 countries.Coordinates tsunami early warning systems around the world.Leads global efforts to achieve a quality education for all. Led the rebuilding of the mausoleums in Timbuktu. Launched the world-class research lab SESAME in the Middle East. Defends freedom of expression and condemns the murder of journalists. Angkor Temple was removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger.Published general histories of humanity, Africa, Asia, Islamic culture, the Caribbean.Builds youth networks in 9 Mediterranean countries.UNESCO designated sites represent 10 million km2, equivalent to the size of China
Organization and Structure of UNESCO
The UNESCO Secretariat is attached to the General Conference (which is held every two years) and the Executive Board (meets twice a year). It is divided into 5 specialized sectors in the respective fields of Education, Natural Sciences, Human and Social Sciences, Culture and ICT. They often work together in an interdisciplinary way.
general conference
The General Conference is the supreme decision-making body and is held every two years. It decides on UNESCO’s activity policy, approves the program and budget, and appoints the Director General.
Executive board
The Executive Council is made up of delegations from 58 countries and its meetings are held every six months. Japan has been a continuous member of the Executive Board since its membership in 1951.
The Secretary
The Secretariat is composed of the Director General and the staff designated by him. There are about 2,300 civil servants from some 170 countries, divided into professional and general service categories.
Under the recent decentralization policy, more than 680 staff members now work in UNESCO’s 58 field offices around the world.
The General Director prepares the Program and Budget, and the Secretariat is responsible for the implementation of these programs in the 5 respective sectors: Education, Natural Sciences, Social and Human Sciences, Culture and ICT.
UNESCO Constitution
Since wars begin in the minds of men and women, it is in the minds of men and women that the defenses of peace must be built.
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