The
Organization's history
As early as 1942, in
wartime, the governments of the European countries, which were confronting Nazi
Germany and its allies, met in the United Kingdom for the Conference of Allied
Ministers of Education (CAME). The Second World War was far from over, yet
those countries were looking for ways and means to reconstruct their systems of
education once peace was restored. Very quickly, the project gained momentum
and soon took on a universal note. New governments, including that of the
United States, decided to join in.
Upon the proposal of
CAME, a United Nations Conference for the establishment of an educational and
cultural organization (ECO/CONF) was convened in London from 1 to 16 November
1945. Scarcely had the war ended when the conference opened. It gathered
together the representatives of forty-four countries who decided to create an
organization that would embody a genuine culture of peace. In their eyes, the
new organization must establish the “intellectual and moral solidarity of
mankind” and, in so doing, prevent the outbreak of another world war.
At the end of the
conference, thirty-seven countries founded the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization. The Constitution of UNESCO, signed on 16
November 1945, came into force on 4 November 1946 after ratification by twenty
countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican
Republic, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway,
Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States. The first
session of the General Conference of UNESCO was held in Paris from 19 November
to 10 December 1946 with the participation of representatives from 30
governments entitled to vote.
The political divisions
of the Second World War marked the composition of the founding Member States of
UNESCO. It was not until 1951 that Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany
became Members, and Spain was accepted in 1953. Other major historical factors,
such as the Cold War, the decolonization process and the dissolution of the
USSR, also left their trace on UNESCO. The USSR joined UNESCO in 1954 and was
replaced by the Russian Federation in 1992 alongside 12 former Soviet
republics. Nineteen African states became Members in the 1960s.
As a consequence of its
entry into the United Nations, the People's Republic of China has been the only
legitimate representative of China at UNESCO since 1971. The German Democratic
Republic was a Member from 1972 to 1990, when it joined the Federal Republic of
Germany.
Some countries withdrew
from the Organization for political reasons at various points in time, but they
have today all rejoined UNESCO. South Africa was absent from 1957 to 1994, the
United States of America between 1985 to 2003, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland from 1986 to 1997 and Singapore from 1986 to
2007.
Origins
of UNESCO
The main predecessors
of UNESCO were:
The International
Committee of Intellectual Co-operation (CICI), Geneva 1922-1946, and its
executing agency, the International Institute of Intellectual Co-operation
(IICI), Paris, 1925-1946;
The International
Bureau of Education (IBE), Geneva, 1925-1968; since 1969 IBE has been part of
the UNESCO Secretariat under its own statutes.
UNESCO works to create
the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based
upon respect for commonly shared values. It is through this dialogue that the
world can achieve global visions of sustainable development encompassing observance
of human rights, mutual respect and the alleviation of poverty, all of which
are at the heart of UNESCO’S mission and activities.
The broad goals and
concrete objectives of the international community – as set out in the
internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) – underpin all UNESCO’s strategies and activities. Thus UNESCO’s
unique competencies in education, the sciences, culture and communication and
information contribute towards the realization of those goals.
UNESCO’s mission is to
contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable
development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences,
culture, communication and information. The Organization focuses, in particular,
on two global priorities:
Africa
Gender
equality
And on a number of
overarching objectives:
Attaining quality
education for all and lifelong learning
Mobilizing science
knowledge and policy for sustainable development
Addressing emerging
social and ethical challenges
Fostering cultural
diversity, intercultural dialogue and a culture of peace
Building inclusive
knowledge societies through information and communication
The
General Conference
The General Conference
consists of the representatives of the States Members of the Organization. It
meets every two years, and is attended by Member States and Associate Members,
together with observers for non-Member States, intergovernmental organizations
and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Each country has one vote,
irrespective of its size or the extent of its contribution to the budget.
The General Conference
determines the policies and the main lines of work of the Organization. Its
duty is to set the programmes and the budget of UNESCO. It also elects the
Members of the Executive Board and appoints, every four years, the
Director-General. The working languages of the General Conference are Arabic,
Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
The
Executive Board
The Executive Board, in
a sense, assures the overall management of UNESCO. It prepares the work of the
General Conference and sees that its decisions are properly carried out. The
functions and responsibilities of the Executive Board are derived primarily
from the Constitution and from rules or directives laid down by the General
Conference.
Every two years the
General Conference assigns specific tasks to the Board. Other functions stem
from agreements concluded between UNESCO and the United Nations, the
specialized agencies and other intergovernmental organizations.
Its fifty-eight members
are elected by the General Conference. The choice of these representatives is
largely a matter of the diversity of the cultures and their geographical
origin. Skillful negotiations may be needed before a balance is reached among
the different regions of the world in a way that will reflect the universality
of the Organization. The Executive Board meets twice in a year.
The Organization has
now 195 Members and 8 Associate Members. Director General of
UNESCO is IRINA BOKOVA. Headquarters
of the UNESCO is Paris (France).
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