UNESCO: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|SpecialisedSpecialized agency of the United Nations}}

| headquarters = [[Paris]], [[France]]

| website = {{official[https://www.unesco.org/ URL}}unesco.org]

The '''United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization''' ('''UNESCO'''; pronounced {{IPA|IPAc-en|juːˈnɛskoʊj|uː|ˈ|n|ɛ|s|k|oʊ}})<ref>{{cite web|title = UNESCO|url = https://en.unesco.org/|website = UNESCO|access-date = 25 September 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130925093242/http://en.unesco.org/|archive-date = 25 September 2013|url-status = live}}</ref>{{Efn|{{lang-langx|fr|link=no|Organisation des Nations unites pour l'éducation, la science et la culture}}}} is a [[List of specialized agencies of the United Nations|specialized agency]] of the [[United Nations]] (UN) with the aim of promoting [[world peace]] and [[International security|security]] through international cooperation in education, arts, [[sciences]] and culture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/introducing-unesco/|title=Introducing UNESCO|publisher=UNESCO|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818121902/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/introducing-unesco|archive-date=18 August 2011|access-date=8 August 2011}}</ref><ref name="history">{{cite web |url = http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/history/ |title = UNESCO history |publisher = UNESCO |access-date = 23 April 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100409011030/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/history/ |archive-date = 9 April 2010 |url-status = live }}</ref> It has [[Member states of UNESCO|194 member states]] and 12 associate members,<ref>{{cite web |title=List of UNESCO members and associates |url=https://en.unesco.org/countries |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815012241/https://en.unesco.org/countries/ |archive-date=15 August 2022 |access-date=23 August 2022 |publisher=UNESCO}}</ref> as well as partners in the [[Non-governmental organization|non-governmental]], [[Intergovernmental organization|intergovernmental]] and [[private sector]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=25 June 2013|title=Partnerships|url=https://en.unesco.org/partnerships|access-date=19 August 2020|website=UNESCO|language=en|archive-date=23 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823220827/https://en.unesco.org/partnerships|url-status=live}}</ref> Headquartered in [[Paris]], [[France]], UNESCO has 53 regional field offices<ref>{{Cite web|title=Field offices|url=https://en.unesco.org/fieldoffice|access-date=19 August 2020|website=UNESCO|language=en|archive-date=17 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817141658/https://en.unesco.org/fieldoffice/|url-status=live}}</ref> and 199 national commissions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 September 2012|title=National Commissions |url=https://en.unesco.org/countries/national-commissions |access-date=19 August 2020 |website=UNESCO |language=en |archive-date=22 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822204031/https://en.unesco.org/countries/national-commissions|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=1 August 2019 |title=About UNESCO Office for the Pacific States |url=https://en.unesco.org/fieldoffice/apia/about |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=UNESCO |language=en}}</ref>

UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a [[League of Nations]] resolution on 21 September 1921, to elect a Commission to study the feasibility of having nations freely share cultural, educational and scientific achievements.<ref>{{Citation | publisher = League of Nations | series = Records of the Second Assembly | title = Plenary Meetings | date = 5 September – 5 October 1921 | place = Geneva}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | quote = The [[International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation]] (ICIC) was created on 4 January 1922, as a consultative organ composed of individuals elected based on their personal qualifications. | title = A Chronology of UNESCO: 1945–1987 | url = http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0007/000790/079049eb.pdf | place = Paris | date = December 1987 | id = LAD.85/WS/4 Rev | series = UNESDOC database | ref = {{Harvid | UNESCO |1987}} | access-date = 13 December 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110202095140/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0007/000790/079049eb.pdf | archive-date = 2 February 2011 | url-status = live }}.</ref> This new body, the [[International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation]] (ICIC), was created in 1922<ref>{{cite thesis |lastname=Grandjean |first=Martin |date=2018 |title=Les réseaux de la coopération intellectuelle: La Société des Nations comme actrice des échanges scientifiques et culturels dans l'entre-deux-guerres |trans-title=The Networks of Intellectual Cooperation: The League of Nations as an Actor of the Scientific and Cultural Exchanges in the Inter-War Period |type=doctoral thesis |location=Lausanne |publisher=Université de Lausanne |url=https:"intellectualcooperation"//tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01853903/document |language=French |access-date=5 April 2019 |archive-date=12 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912022034/https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01853903/document |url-status=live}} A [http://www.martingrandjean.ch/the-networks-of-intellectual-cooperation/ summary in English] is also available.</ref> and counted such figures as [[Henri Bergson]], [[Albert Einstein]], [[Marie Curie]], [[Robert A. Millikan]], and [[Gonzague de Reynold]] among its members (being thus a small commission of the League of Nations essentially centred on Western Europe<ref>{{Cite journal| last = Grandjean| first = Martin| title = A Representative Organization? Ibero-American Networks in the Committee on Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations (1922–1939)| journal = Cultural Organizations, Networks and Mediators in Contemporary Ibero-America| pages = 65–89| date = 2020| doi = 10.4324/9780429299407-4| s2cid = 243387712| url = https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_F8F05A6DBC3C.P001/REF| access-date = 13 August 2020| archive-date = 17 January 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210117191605/https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_F8F05A6DBC3C.P001/REF| url-status = live| doi-access = free}}</ref>). The International Institute for Intellectual Cooperation (IIIC) was then created in Paris in September 1924, to act as the executing agency for the ICIC.<ref>{{Citation | publisher = United Nations library resources | title = International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation | date = 1930 | url = https://libraryresources.unog.ch/ld.php?content_id=31390699 | access-date = 27 March 2021 | archive-date = 19 August 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210819035239/https://libraryresources.unog.ch/ld.php?content_id=31390699 | url-status = live }}</ref> However, the onset of [[World War II]] largely interrupted the work of these predecessor organizations.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hamen |first1=Susan E |last2=Wilson |first2=Theodore A |title=The Great Depression and World War II : 1929–1945|year=2014|publisher=ABDO Publishing Company |isbn=978-1-62403-178-6|oclc=870724668}}</ref> As for private initiatives, the [[International Bureau of Education]] (IBE) began to work as a [[non-governmental]] organization in the service of international educational development since December 1925{{Sfn | UNESCO | 1987}} and joined UNESCO in 1969, after having established a joint commission in 1952.<ref>{{citationCite web needed|title=IBE — Digital Collections — IBE History, 1925-1969 |url=https://digitalcollections.ibe-unesco.org/about/ibe-history/ |access-date=November2024-07-26 2020|website=IBE — Digital Collections |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Among the major achievements of the organization is its work against racism, for example through influential [[The Race Question|statements on race]] starting with a declaration of anthropologists (among them was [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]]) and other scientists in 1950 and concluding with the 1978 [[The Race Question#Legacy and other UNESCO statements|Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice]].<ref>{{citationCite magazine needed|title=Claude Lévi-Strauss and UNESCO |first=Wiktor |last=Stoczkowski |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000162769 |access-date=August2024-07-26 2022|journal=The UNESCO Courier |publisher=UNESCO |location=Paris, France |date=2008 |number=5 |issn=1993-8616}}</ref>

In 19561955, the [[Republic of South Africa]] withdrew from UNESCO saying that some of the organization's publications amounted to "interference" in the country's "racial problems".<ref>{{citationCite web needed|title=Apartheid: its effects on education, science, culture and information |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000002428 |access-date=August2024-07-26 2022|date=1967 |publisher=UNESCO}}</ref> It rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of [[Nelson Mandela]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thompson, Leonard Monteath |title=A history of South Africa|date=January 2001|isbn=978-0-300-12806-2|edition=Third|location=New Haven|oclc=560542020 |publisher=Yale University Press }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Nygren|first=Thomas|title=UNESCO Teaches History: Implementing International Understanding in Sweden|date=2016|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-58120-4_11|work=A History of UNESCO|pages=201–230|place=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|doi=10.1007/978-1-137-58120-4_11|isbn=978-1-349-84528-6|access-date=17 September 2020|archive-date=9 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209082907/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-58120-4_11|url-status=live}}</ref>

UNESCO'sOne of the early work of UNESCO in the field of education includedfield was a pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, thatwhich startedwas launched in 1947. ThisFollowing this project wasone followed byof expert missions to other countries, including, for example,included a 1949 mission to Afghanistan in 1949.<ref name=":0">{{citationCite web |title=UNESCO at 74: An overview of its laudable progress |url=https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/reviews/unesco-at-74-an-overview-of-its-laudable-progress-1573916648 needed|access-date=August2024-07-26 2022}}|website=The InFinancial 1948,Express}}</ref> UNESCO recommended in 1948 that Member Statescountries should make free primary education [[compulsory education|compulsory]] and universal.{{citation<ref needed|datename=August":0" 2022}}/> InThe [[The 1990, theWorld Conference on Education for All |World Conference on Education for All]], in [[Jomtien]], Thailand, launchedstarted a global movement in 1990 to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults.{{citation<ref needed|datename=August":0" 2022}}/> TenIn years later2000, the 2000 [[World Education Forum]] held in [[Dakar]], Senegal, led member governments to commit tofor achieving basic education for all byin 2015.{{citation<ref needed|datename=August":0" 2022}}/>

The [[World Declaration on Higher Education]] was adopted by UNESCO's World Conference on Higher Education on 9 October 1998,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000141952|title=World Declaration On Higher Education For The Twenty-First Century: Vision And Action |publisher=Unesco.orgUNESCO |date=1998-10-09 |accessdateaccess-date=2012-11-12}}</ref> with the aim of setting global standards on the ideals and accessibility of [[higher education]].

UNESCO's early activities in culture included the [[International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia]], launched in 1960.<ref>{{citationCite web needed|title=Monuments of Nubia-International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/172/ |access-date=August2024-07-26 2022|publisher=UNESCO}}</ref> The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of [[Abu Simbel]] to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after the construction of the [[Aswan Dam]]. During the 20-year campaign, 22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including [[Mohenjo-daro]] (Pakistan), [[Fes]] (Morocco), [[Kathmandu]] (Nepal), [[Borobudur]] (Indonesia) and the [[Acropolis of Athens]] (Greece).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nagaoka|first=Masanori|title=Cultural landscape management at Borobudur, Indonesia|date=2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-42046-2|oclc=957437019}}</ref> The organization's work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.<ref>{{citationCite web needed|title=The World Heritage Convention |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/convention/ |access-date=August2024-07-26 2022|publisher=UNESCO}}</ref> TheIn 1976, the [[World Heritage Committee]] was established in 1976 and the first sites were inscribedincluded on the [[World Heritage List]] in 1978.<ref>{{citationCite web |title=41st Session of the World Heritage Committee |publisher=The City of Krakow |url=https://www.krakow.pl/krakow_open_city/see_also___/211447,339,komunikat,41st_session_of_the_world_heritage_committee_.html needed|date=18 August 20222017 |access-date=2024-07-26}}</ref> Since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 (Convention for the Safeguarding of the [[Intangible Cultural Heritage]])<ref>{{citationCite web needed|title=Text of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage |url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/convention |access-date=August2024-07-26 2022|publisher=UNESCO}})</ref> and 2005 ([[Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions]]).<ref>{{citationcite web needed|url=https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/convention-protection-and-promotion-diversity-cultural-expressions |title=Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=9 August 20222024}}).</ref>

An intergovernmental meeting of UNESCO in Paris in December 1951 led to the creation of the [[European Council for Nuclear Research]], which was responsible for establishing the [[European Organization for Nuclear Research]] (CERN)<ref>{{citationCite web needed|title=About CERN |url=https://home.cern/about |access-date=August2024-07-26 2022|publisher=[[CERN]]}}</ref> later on, in 1954.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=25 November 2020 |title=UNESCO must reform to stay relevant – and reconnect people through science |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03311-3 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=587 |issue=7835 |pages=521–522 |doi=10.1038/d41586-020-03311-3|pmid=33239811 |bibcode=2020Natur.587..521. |s2cid=227176079 }}</ref>

Arid Zone programming, 1948–1966, is another example of an early major UNESCO project in the field of natural sciences.<ref>{{citationCite web needed|title=UNESCO in the Making |url=https://en.geneva.unesco.org/70years/unesco_making |year=2019 |access-date=16 August 20222024 |publisher=UNESCO |location=Paris, France}}</ref>

In 1968, UNESCO organized the first intergovernmental conference aimed at reconciling the environment and development, a problem that continues to be addressed in the field of [[sustainable development]]. The main outcome of the 1968 conference was the creation of UNESCO's [[Man and the Biosphere Programme]].<ref>{{cite webjournal |url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0006/000677/067785eo.pdf |title="Use and conservation of the biosphere: Proceedings of the intergovernmental conference of experts on the scientific basis for rational use and conservation of the resources of the biosphere., Paris, 4–13 September 1968." (|date=1970.) In |journal=Natural Resources Research, Volume |volume=X. SC.69/XIL.16/A. UNESDOC database |access-date=8 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407031659/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0006/000677/067785eo.pdf |archive-date=7 April 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the field of communication, the "free flow of ideas by word and image" has been in UNESCO's constitution fromsince itsit beginningswas established, following the experience of the Second World War when control of information was a factor in indoctrinating populations for aggression.<ref name=":1">{{citationCite web needed|title=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: Seeds of Peace, Weeds of War |url=https://irpj.euclid.int/articles/united-nations-educational-scientific-and-cultural-organization-seeds-of-peace-weeds-of-war/ |access-date=August2024-07-26 2022|website=IRPJ = Intergovernmental Research and Policy Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> In the years immediately following World War II, efforts were concentrated on reconstruction and on the identification of needs for means of mass communication around the world. UNESCO started organizing training and education for journalists in the 1950s.{{citation<ref needed|datename=August":1" 2022}}/> In response to calls for a "[[New World Information and Communication Order]]" in the late 1970s, UNESCO established the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems,<ref name=":2">{{citationCite book |chapter=UNESCO and the promotion of cultural exchange and cultural diversity |last1=Wouters |first1=Jan |last2=Vidal |first2=Maarten |pages=147–169 |title=Normative Action in Education, Science and Culture – Essays in Commemoration of the Sixtieth Anniversary of UNESCO |volume=1 |series=Standard-Setting in UNESCO needed|date=August29 2022June 1905 |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000156697 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |access-date=2024-07-26 |isbn=978-92-3-104067-2}}</ref> which produced the 1980 [[MacBride report]] (named after the chair of the commission, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate [[Seán MacBride]]).{{citation<ref needed|datename=August":2" 2022}}/> The same year, UNESCO created the [[International Programme for the Development of Communication]] (IPDC), a multilateral forum designed to promote media development in developing countries.<ref>{{citationcite needed|date=August 2022}} In 1991, UNESCO's Generalweb Conference endorsed the [[Windhoek Declaration]] on [[media independence]] and pluralism, which led the UN General Assembly to declare the date of its adoption, 3 May, as [[World Press Freedom Day]].{{citation needed|dateurl=August 2022}} Since 1997, UNESCO has awarded the [[UNESCOhttps:/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize|UNESCO / Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize]] every 3 Maywww.unesco.{{citationorg/en/international-programme-development-communication/about needed|datetitle=August 2022}}

Laws passed in the United States after Palestine applied for UNESCO and [[World Health Organization|WHO]] membership in April 1989<ref name="Sakran2019">{{cite book|author=Shadi Sakran|title=The Legal Consequences of Limited Statehood: Palestine in Multilateral Frameworks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bk7ADwAAQBAJ&pg=PT64|date=26 November 2019|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-00-076357-7|pages=64–|access-date=27 February 2020|archive-date=24 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224172201/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bk7ADwAAQBAJ&pg=PT64|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000082711_eng Request for the admission of the State of Palestine to UNESCO as a Member State] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413024831/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000082711_eng |date=13 April 2020 }}, UNESCO Executive Board, 131st, 1989</ref> mean that the USUnited States cannot contribute financially to any UN organization that accepts Palestine as a full member.<ref>The laws originated in {{USBill|101|hr|2145}} and {{USBill|101|s|875}}; for further details, see committee discussions at: {{cite book|author=United States. Congress. House. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations|title=The PLO's Efforts to Obtain Statehood Status at the World Health Organization and Other International Organizations: Hearing and Markup Before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred First Congress, First Session, on H.R. 2145, May 4, 1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sel5XgE6eGQC|year=1989|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|access-date=27 February 2020|archive-date=19 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819213216/https://books.google.com/books?id=Sel5XgE6eGQC|url-status=live}}. The texttexts of the House and Senate resolutions were subsequently put into the following laws: {{USBill|101|hr|3743}} (which produced {{USPL|101|246}}), {{USBill|102|hr|5368}}, {{USBill|103|hr|2295}} and finally {{USBill|103|hr|2333}} (which produced {{USPL|103|236}}). See also: {{cite book|last=Beattie|first=Kirk|title=Congress and the Shaping of the Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gEMJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT287|date=3 May 2016|publisher=Seven Stories Press|isbn=978-1-60980-562-3|page=287 online|quote=...1989 Senate and House efforts like... Senate Resolution 875 and House Resolution 2145, both of which contained language similar to that found in the public laws of 1990 and 1994. Sen. [[Bob Kasten|Robert Kasten, Jr.]] (R-WlWI) was the primary sponsor of S 875, and Rep. [[Tom Lantos]] sponsored HR 2145. In a nutshell, recognition by any UN body of the Palestinians' right to statehood or theirits achievement of statehood status would trigger a suspension of US funding to the "offending" UN body under these laws.|access-date=27 February 2020|archive-date=19 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819091928/https://books.google.com/books?id=gEMJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT287|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=U.S. stops UNESCO funding over Palestinian vote|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-unesco-usa-funding/u-s-stops-unesco-funding-over-palestinian-vote-idUSTRE79U5ED20111031|work=Reuters|date=31 October 2011|access-date=26 February 2020|archive-date=26 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226162636/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-unesco-usa-funding/u-s-stops-unesco-funding-over-palestinian-vote-idUSTRE79U5ED20111031|url-status=live}}</ref> As a result, the USUnited States withdrew its funding, which had accounted for about 22% of UNESCO's budget.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/world/middleeast/unesco-approves-full-membership-for-palestinians.html |title= Unesco Approves Full Membership for Palestinians |first1= Steven |last1= Erlanger |first2= Scott |last2= Sayare |work= The New York Times |date= 31 October 2011 |access-date= 31 October 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111031171156/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/world/middleeast/unesco-approves-full-membership-for-palestinians.html |archive-date= 31 October 2011 |url-status= live }}</ref> Israel also reacted to Palestine's admittance to UNESCO by freezing Israeli payments to UNESCO and imposing sanctions on the [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]],<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/after-unesco-vote-israeli-sanctions-on-palestinian-authority-anger-u-s-1.393600|title= After UNESCO vote, Israeli sanctions on Palestinian Authority anger U.S.|work= Haaretz|date= 4 November 2011|access-date= 11 December 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111207205936/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/after-unesco-vote-israeli-sanctions-on-palestinian-authority-anger-u-s-1.393600|archive-date= 7 December 2011|url-status= live}}</ref> stating that Palestine's admittance would be detrimental "to potential peace talks".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2011-11-03/middleeast/world_meast_israel-unesco_1_unesco-palestinian-bid-palestinian-state?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST |publisher=CNN|title=Israel freezes UNESCO funds |date=3 December 2011 |access-date=11 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106053150/http://articles.cnn.com/2011-11-03/middleeast/world_meast_israel-unesco_1_unesco-palestinian-bid-palestinian-state?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST |archive-date=6 November 2011 }}</ref> Two years after theystopping stoppedpayment payingof theirits dues to UNESCO, the USUnited States and Israel lost UNESCO voting rights in 2013 without losing the right to be elected; thus, the USUnited States was elected as a member of the executive board for the period 2016–19.<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-unesco-idUSBRE9A70I320131108 | title= U.S., Israel lose voting rights at UNESCO over Palestine row | work= Reuters| date= 8 November 2013 | access-date= 29 June 2014 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140709192541/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/08/us-unesco-idUSBRE9A70I320131108 | archive-date= 9 July 2014 | url-status= live }}</ref> In 2019, Israel left UNESCO after 69 years of membership, with Israel's ambassador to the UN [[Danny Danon]] writing: "UNESCO is the body that continually rewrites history, including by erasing the Jewish connection to Jerusalem... it is corrupted and manipulated by Israel's enemies... we are not going to be a member of an organisation that deliberately acts against us".<ref>{{Cite web|title="69 years after joining, Israel formally leaves UNESCO; so, too, does the US" – The Times of Israel|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/69-years-after-joining-israel-formally-leaves-un-cultural-body/|access-date=2 February 2021|website=[[The Times of Israel]]|archive-date=30 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230161001/https://www.timesofisrael.com/69-years-after-joining-israel-formally-leaves-un-cultural-body/|url-status=live}}</ref>

UNESCO implements its activities through the five programme areas: education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information.<ref>{{citationcite web needed|url=https://www.unesco.org/en/fieldoffice/newdelhi/expertise |title=Expertise |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=January9 August 2024}}</ref>

** [[UNESCO Chairs]], an international network of 644 UNESCO Chairschairs, involving overmore than 770 institutions in 126 countries

** Environmental Conservation OrganisationOrganization

UNESCO does not accredit institutions of higher learning.<ref>Because [[diploma mill]]s have claimedfalsely falseclaimed UNESCO accreditation, UNESCO itself has published warnings against education organizations that claim UNESCO recognition or affiliation. See Luca Lantero, [http://www.cimea.it/files/fileusers/Diploma_mills_Luca_Lantero_EN.pdf Degree Mills: non-accredited and irregular higher education institutions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513185433/http://www.cimea.it/files/fileusers/Diploma_mills_Luca_Lantero_EN.pdf |date=13 May 2015 }}, [[Information Centre on Academic Mobility and Equivalence|Information Centre on Academic Mobility and Equivalence (CIMEA)]], Italy. and [http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090521152755/http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=48787&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html UNESCO "Alert: Misuse of UNESCO Name by Bogus Institutions"]</ref>

** [[Seville Statement on Violence]]: A statement adopted by UNESCO in 1989 to refute the notion that humans are biologically predisposed to organisedorganized violence.

** Health Education for Behavior Change programme in partnership with the Ministry of Education of [[Kenya]] which was financially supported by the Government of [[Azerbaijan]] to promote health education among 10-19-year-old young people who live in informal camp in [[Kibera]], [[Nairobi]]. The project was carried out between September 2014 – December 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/fr/media-services/single-view/news/promoting_health_education_among_youth_in_nairobis_kibera/|title=Promouvoir l'éducation à la santé chez les jeunes du campement informel de Kibera à Nairobi {{!}} Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture|website=unesco.org|language=fr|access-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820102139/http://www.unesco.org/new/fr/media-services/single-view/news/promoting_health_education_among_youth_in_nairobis_kibera|archive-date=20 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{As of|July 2023}}, UNESCO has 194 member states and 12 associate members.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/member-states/countries/ |title=List of UNESCO members and associates |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=3 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111102233939/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/member-states/countries |archive-date=2 November 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some members are not [[independent state]]s and some members have additional National Organizing Committees from some of their [[dependent territory|dependent territories]].<ref name="Palestine">{{cite web |title=Summary update on Government progress to become a State Party to the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport |url=http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/Item_8_6_Attachment_1_SummaryUpdateGovernments_UNESCO_Oct2008_ENG_FINAL.pdf |publisher=WADA |page=2 |access-date=28 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116165411/http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/Item_8_6_Attachment_1_SummaryUpdateGovernments_UNESCO_Oct2008_ENG_FINAL.pdf |archive-date=16 January 2013 }}</ref> UNESCO state parties are the [[United Nations member states]] (except Israel<ref>{{Citation|last=UNESCO|title=Declaration by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay on the withdrawal of Israel from the Organization|date=29 December 2017|url=https://en.unesco.org/news/declaration-unesco-director-general-audrey-azoulay-withdrawal-israel-organization|type=Press release.|access-date=21 February 2019|author-link=UNESCO|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221224221/https://en.unesco.org/news/declaration-unesco-director-general-audrey-azoulay-withdrawal-israel-organization|archive-date=21 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Liechtenstein]]), as well as [[Cook Islands]], [[Niue]] and [[State of Palestine|Palestine]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties |title=State Parties |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=31 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031142628/http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties |archive-date=31 October 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/members/index.shtml |title=Member States of the United Nations |publisher=United Nations |access-date=31 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230101646/http://www.un.org/en/members/index.shtml |archive-date=30 December 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> The United States and Israel left UNESCO on 31 December 2018,<ref>{{cite news |last=Lazaroff|first=Tovah|title=Israel, U.S. slated to leave UNESCO today to protest anti-Israel bias|url=https://m.jpost.com/International/Israel-US-slated-to-leave-UNESCO-today-to-protest-anti-Israel-bias-575875 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=31 December 2018 |access-date=31 December 2018 |archive-date=9 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209082910/https://www.jpost.com/international/israel-us-slated-to-leave-unesco-today-to-protest-anti-israel-bias-575875 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=UNESCO|title=Statement by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the Withdrawal by the United States of America from UNESCO|date=12 October 2017|url=https://en.unesco.org/news/statement-irina-bokova-director-general-unesco-occasion-withdrawal-united-states-america-unesco|type=Press release.|access-date=21 February 2019|author-link=UNESCO|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221224138/https://en.unesco.org/news/statement-irina-bokova-director-general-unesco-occasion-withdrawal-united-states-america-unesco|archive-date=21 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> but the U.S.United States rejoined in 2023.<ref name="usa2023">{{Cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/unesco-us-rejoin-palestine-china-5b7849bd2cae966e4e9837380c0c094f |first=Angela |last=Charlton |date=12 June 2023 |accessdate=12 June 2023 |language=en-US |work=[[Associated Press]] |title=US decides to rejoin UNESCO and pay back dues, to counter Chinese influence}}</ref><ref name="uspbs">{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-formally-rejoins-unesco-5-years-after-withdraw |title=U.S. formally rejoins UNESCO 5 years after withdraw |last=Lee |first=Matthew |website=[[PBS]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=11 July 2023 |accessdate=11 July 2023}}</ref>

| 2017–<br />2021

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The UNESCO headquarters is located at [[Place de Fontenoy]] in Paris, France. Several architects collaborated on the construction of the headquarters, including [[Bernard Zehrfuss]], [[Marcel Breuer]] and Luigi Nervi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO House – visit us {{!}} UNESCO |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/house |access-date=29 March 2023 |website=unesco.org |language=en}}</ref> It includes a ''Garden of Peace'' which was donated by the [[Government of Japan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO garden |url=https://architectuul.com/architecture/unesco-garden |access-date=31 May 2022 |website=Architectuul}}</ref> This garden was designed by American-Japanese sculptor artist [[Isamu Noguchi]] in 1958 and installed by Japanese gardener Toemon Sano. In 1994–1995, in memory of the 50th anniversary of UNESCO, a [[meditation]] room was built by [[Tadao Ando]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Furuyama|first=Masao|title=Ando (Basic Art Series)|url=https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/architecture/all/49278/facts.ando.htm|access-date=30 January 2021|website=taschen.com|pages=71–72|language=en|archive-date=24 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324030457/https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/architecture/all/49278/facts.ando.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

* [[Iraq]] – National Office for [[Iraq]] (currently located in [[Amman]], [[Jordan]])

On 1 January 2019, Israel formally left UNESCO in pursuance of the US withdrawal over the perceived continuous anti-Israel bias.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ahren|first=Raphael|title=69 years after joining, Israel formally leaves UNESCO; so, too, does the US|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/69-years-after-joining-israel-formally-leaves-un-cultural-body/|newspaper=The Times of Israel|date=1 January 2019}}</ref>

In 2015, Japan threatened to halt funding forof UNESCO overbecause of the organization's decision to include documents relatingrelated to the 1937 [[Nanjing massacre]] in the latest listing for its "Memory of the World" program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/en/japan-furious-at-unesco-listing-nanjing-massacre-documents/a-18790477|title=Japan furious at UNESCO listing Nanjing Massacre documents – Asia – DW.COM – 19.10.2015|first=Deutsche Welle|last=(www.dw.com)|website=[[Deutsche Welle]]|access-date=29 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222175825/http://www.dw.com/en/japan-furious-at-unesco-listing-nanjing-massacre-documents/a-18790477|archive-date=22 December 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 2016, Japanese Foreign Minister [[Fumio Kishida]] confirmed that Japan's 2016 annual funding of ¥4.4&nbsp;billion had been suspended, although he denied any direct link with the Nanjing document controversy.<ref>{{cite news|title=Japan halts Unesco funding following Nanjing massacre row|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/14/japan-halts-unesco-funding-nanjing-massacre-row|access-date=30 October 2016|agency=Agence France-Presse|work=The Guardian|date=14 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030144739/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/14/japan-halts-unesco-funding-nanjing-massacre-row|archive-date=30 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 19 September 1989, U.S.US Congressman [[Jim Leach]] stated before a congressional subcommittee:<ref name="cspan" />

{{Blockquote |The reasons for the withdrawal of the United States from UNESCO in 1984 are well-known; my view is that we overreacted to the calls of some who wanted to radicalize UNESCO, and the calls of others who wanted the United States to lead in emasculating the UN system. The fact is UNESCO is one of the least dangerous international institutions ever created. While some member countries within UNESCO attempted to push journalistic views antithetical to the values of the west, and engage in Israel bashing, UNESCO itself never adopted such radical postures. The U.S.United States opted for empty-chair diplomacy, after winning, not losing, the battles we engaged in... It was nuts to get out, and would be nuttier not to rejoin.}}

Leach concluded that the record showed Israel bashing, a call for a new world information order, money management, and arms control policy to be the impetusimpetuses behind the withdrawal; he asserted that before departing from UNESCO, a withdrawal from the [[IAEA]] had been pushed on him.<ref name="cspan">{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?9189-1/united-states-unesco-part-1|title=United States & UNESCO, Part 1|publisher=[[C-SPAN]]|work=Starting from 05:08|access-date=3 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328104007/https://www.c-span.org/video/?9189-1%2Funited-states-unesco-part-1|archive-date=28 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> On 1 October 2003, the U.S.United States rejoined UNESCO.<ref name="withdrawal" />

On 12 October 2017, the United States notified UNESCO that it would again withdraw from the organization, on 31 December 2018; Israel followed suit.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-and-israel-officially-withdraw-from-unesco |publisher=[[PBS]] |title=U.S. and Israel officially withdraw from UNESCO |date=1 January 2019 |accessdate=28 August 2022}}</ref> The [[United States Department of State|Department of State]] cited "mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO".<ref name="stategov">{{Cite news |url= https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/10/274748.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408053146/https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/10/274748.htm |archive-date=8 April 2019 |url-status=dead |title=The United States Withdraws From UNESCO| publisher =[[U.S. Department of State]] |access-date= 12 October 2017}}</ref>

The United States has not paid over $600&nbsp;million in dues<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Eli |last2=Morello |first2=Carol |date=12 October 2017 |title=U.S. withdraws from UNESCO, the U.N.UN's cultural organization, citing anti-Israel bias |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/10/12/u-s-withdraws-from-unesco-the-u-n-s-cultural-organization-citing-anti-israel-bias/?noredirect=on |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=28 March 2019 |archive-date=9 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209082940/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/10/12/u-s-withdraws-from-unesco-the-u-n-s-cultural-organization-citing-anti-israel-bias/?noredirect=on |url-status=live }}</ref> since it stopped paying its $80&nbsp;million annual UNESCO dues when Palestine became a full member in 2011. Israel and the USUnited States were among the 14 votes against the membership out of 194 member countries.<ref name="bias">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-unesco-election-usa/u-s-israel-quit-u-n-heritage-agency-citing-bias-idUSKBN1CH1YO|title=U.S., Israel quit UNESCO over alleged bias|last=Irish|first=John|work=Reuters|date=13 October 2017|access-date=28 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328082539/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-unesco-election-usa/u-s-israel-quit-u-n-heritage-agency-citing-bias-idUSKBN1CH1YO|archive-date=28 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> When the U.S.United States announced that it was rejoining the body in 2023, it also pledged to pay all past -due payments.<ref name="usa2023" />

On 25 May 2016, Turkish poet and human rights activist [[O. Z. Livaneli|Zülfü Livaneli]] resigned as [[Turkey]]'s only UNESCO goodwill ambassador. He highlighted the [[Human rights in Turkey|human rights situation in Turkey]] and the destruction of the historical [[Sur, Diyarbakır|Sur]] district of [[Diyarbakır|Diyarbakir]], the largest city in Kurdish-majority southeast Turkey, during [[Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present)|fighting]] between the Turkish army and Kurdish militants as the main reasons for his resignation. Livaneli said: "To pontificate on peace while remaining silent against such violations is a contradiction of the fundamental ideals of UNESCO."<ref>"[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-rights-un/turkish-writer-quits-unesco-to-protest-damage-to-heritage-rights-abuse-idUSKCN0YH1KA Turkish writer quits UNESCO to protest damage to heritage, rights abuse] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509012658/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-rights-un/turkish-writer-quits-unesco-to-protest-damage-to-heritage-rights-abuse-idUSKCN0YH1KA |date=9 May 2018 }}". Reuters. 26 May 2016.</ref>

In 2020 UNESCO stated that the size of the illicit trade in cultural property amounted to 10&nbsp;billion dollars a year. A report that same year by the [[Rand Organisation]] suggested the actual market is "not likely to be larger than a few hundred million dollars each year". An expert cited by UNESCO as attributing the 10&nbsp;billion figure denied it, and saidsaying he had "no idea" where the figure came from. Art dealers were particularly critical of the UNESCO figure, because it amounted to 15% of the total world art market.<ref>Vincent Noice, "Unesco, stop citing 'bogus' $10bn figure, art trade pleads", The Art Newspaper, 12 November 2020 [https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/unesco-bogus-figure] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115080112/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/unesco-bogus-figure|date=15 November 2020}}.</ref>

In November 2020, part of a UNESCO advertising campaign intended to highlight international trafficking in looted artefacts had to be withdrawn, after it falsely presented a series of museum-held artworks with known provenances as recently looted objects held in private collections. The adverts claimed that a head of Buddha in the Metropolitan Museum's collection since 1930 had been looted from a Kabul Museum in 2001 and then smuggled into the US art market;, that a funerary monument from Palmyra that the METMet had acquired in 1901 had been recently looted from the Palmyra Museum by Islamic State militants and then smuggled into the European antiquities market, and that an Ivory Coast mask with a provenance that indicates it was in the USUnited States by 1954 was looted during armed clashes in 2010–2011. After complaints fromby the METMet, the adverts were withdrawn.<ref>Nancy Kenney, "Unesco under fire for using Met objects in anti-trafficking campaign", The Art Newspaper, 13 November 2020 [https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/facing-complaint-unesco-pulls-misleading-images-from-advertisements-about-illicit-art-trafficking] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117145243/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/facing-complaint-unesco-pulls-misleading-images-from-advertisements-about-illicit-art-trafficking|date=17 November 2020}}</ref>

* UNESDOC Database<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/resources/publications/unesdoc-database/|title=UNESDOC Database – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|website=unesco.org|access-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151214091237/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/resources/publications/unesdoc-database/|archive-date=14 December 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> – Contains overmore than 146,000 UNESCO documents in full text published since 1945 as well as metadata from the collections of the UNESCO Library and documentation centres in field offices and institutes.

UNESCO develops, maintains, and disseminates, free of charge, two interrelated software packages for database management (CDS/ISIS [not to be confused with UK police software package ISIS]) and data mining/statistical analysis (IDAMS).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=1542&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html |archive-url= http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20150108023105/http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php%2DURL_ID%3D1542%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |url-status=dead |archive-date= 8 January 2015 |title= Information Processing Tools |publisher= Unesco }}</ref>

* CDS/ISIS – a generalisedgeneralized information storage and retrieval system. The Windows version may run on a single computer or in a local area network. The JavaISIS client/server components allow remote database management over the Internet and are available for Windows, Linux, and Macintosh. Furthermore, GenISIS allows the userusers to produce HTML Web forms for CDS/ISIS database searching. The ISIS_DLL provides an API for developing CDS/ISIS based applications.

* OpenIDAMS – a software package for processing and analysing numerical data developed, maintained and disseminated by UNESCO. The original package was proprietary, but UNESCO has initiated a project to provide it as open- source.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=15653&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html |archive-url= http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20150113175706/http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php%2DURL_ID%3D15653%26URL_DO%3DDO_TOPIC%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |url-status=dead |archive-date= 13 January 2015 |title= OpenIDAMS |publisher= Unesco }}</ref>

* {{Official website|httphttps://www.unesco.org/}}