The United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO; French:
Organisation des Nations unies pour l'éducation,
la science et la culture) is a specialized
agency of the United Nations (UN) based in
Paris.
Its declared purpose is to contribute to peace
and security by promoting international collaboration
through educational, scientific, and cultural
reforms in order to increase universal respect
for justice, the rule of law, and human rights
along with fundamental freedom proclaimed
in the United Nations Charter.
It is the successor of the League of Nations'
International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.
UNESCO has 193 member states and 11 associate
members.
Most of its field offices are "cluster" offices
covering three or more countries; national
and regional offices also exist.
UNESCO pursues its objectives through five
major programs: education, natural sciences,
social/human sciences, culture and communication/information.
Projects sponsored by UNESCO include literacy,
technical, and teacher-training programs,
international science programs, the promotion
of independent media and freedom of the press,
regional and cultural history projects, the
promotion of cultural diversity, translations
of world literature, international cooperation
agreements to secure the world's cultural
and natural heritage (World Heritage Sites)
and to preserve human rights, and attempts
to bridge the worldwide digital divide.
It is also a member of the United Nations
Development Group.UNESCO's aim 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".
Other priorities of the organization include
attaining quality Education For All and lifelong
learning, addressing emerging social and ethical
challenges, fostering cultural diversity,
a culture of peace and building inclusive
knowledge societies through information and
communication.The broad goals and objectives
of the international community—as set out
in the internationally agreed development
goals, including the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs)—underpin all UNESCO strategies
and activities.
== History ==
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 feasibility.
On 18 December 1925, the International Bureau
of Education (IBE) began work as a non-governmental
organization in the service of international
educational development.
However, the onset of World War II largely
interrupted the work of these predecessor
organizations.
After the signing of the Atlantic Charter
and the Declaration of the United Nations,
the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education
(CAME) began meetings in London which continued
from 16 November 1942 to 5 December 1945.
On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an international
organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration,
agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom,
the United States and the USSR.
This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference
proposals of 9 October 1944.
Upon the proposal of CAME and in accordance
with the recommendations of the United Nations
Conference on International Organization (UNCIO),
held in San Francisco in April–June 1945,
a United Nations Conference for the establishment
of an educational and cultural organization
(ECO/CONF) was convened in London 1–16 November
1945 with 44 governments represented.
The idea of UNESCO was largely developed by
Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for
the United Kingdom, who had a great deal of
influence in its development.
At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO
was introduced and signed by 37 countries,
and a Preparatory Commission was established.
The Preparatory Commission operated between
16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the
date when UNESCO's Constitution came into
force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification
by a member state.The first General Conference
took place from 19 November to 10 December
1946, and elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General.
The Constitution was amended in November 1954
when the General Conference resolved that
members of the Executive Board would be representatives
of the governments of the States of which
they are nationals and would not, as before,
act in their personal capacity.
This change in governance distinguished UNESCO
from its predecessor, the CICI, in how member
states would work together in the organization's
fields of competence.
As member states worked together over time
to realize UNESCO's mandate, political and
historical factors have shaped the organization's
operations in particular during the Cold War,
the decolonization process, and the dissolution
of the USSR.
Among the major achievements of the organization
is its work against racism, for example through
influential 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 Declaration
on Race and Racial Prejudice.
In 1956, 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."
South Africa rejoined the organization in
1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela.
UNESCO's early work in the field of education
included the pilot project on fundamental
education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, started
in 1947.
This project was followed by expert missions
to other countries, including, for example,
a mission to Afghanistan in 1949.
In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States
should make free primary education compulsory
and universal.
In 1990, the World Conference on Education
for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a
global movement to provide basic education
for all children, youths and adults.
Ten years later, the 2000 World Education
Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, led member governments
to commit to achieving basic education for
all by 2015.UNESCO's early activities in culture
included, for example, the Nubia Campaign,
launched in 1960.
The purpose of the campaign was to move the
Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from
being swamped by the Nile after 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 (Greece).
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.
The World Heritage Committee was established
in 1976 and the first sites inscribed on the
World Heritage List in 1978.
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) and 2005 (Convention on the Protection
and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural
Expressions).
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) in 1954.
Arid Zone programming, 1948–1966, is another
example of an early major UNESCO project in
the field of natural sciences.
In 1968, UNESCO organized the first intergovernmental
conference aimed at reconciling the environment
and development, a problem which 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.In the field of communication, the
"free flow of ideas by word and image" has
been in UNESCO's constitution from its beginnings,
following the experience of the Second World
War when control of information was a factor
in indoctrinating populations for aggression.
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.
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, which
produced the 1980 MacBride report (named after
the Chair of the Commission, the Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Seán MacBride).
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.
In 1991, UNESCO's General 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.
Since 1997, UNESCO has awarded the UNESCO
/ Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
every 3 May.
In the lead up to the World Summit on the
Information Society in 2003 (Geneva) and 2005
(Tunis), UNESCO introduced the Information
for All Programme.
UNESCO admitted Palestine as a member in 2011.
Laws passed in the United States in 1990 and
1994 mean that it cannot contribute financially
to any UN organisation that accepts Palestine
as a full member.
As a result, it withdrew its funding which
accounted for about 22% of UNESCO's budget.
Israel also reacted to Palestine's admittance
to UNESCO by freezing Israel payments to the
UNESCO and imposing sanctions to the Palestinian
Authority, stating that Palestine's admittance
would be detrimental "to potential peace talks".
Two years after they stopped paying their
dues to UNESCO, US and Israel lost UNESCO
voting rights in 2013 without losing the right
to be elected; thus, the US was elected as
a member of the Executive Board for the period
2016–19.
== Activities ==
UNESCO implements its activities through the
five programme areas: education, natural sciences,
social and human sciences, culture, and communication
and information.
Education: UNESCO supports research in comparative
education; and provide expertise and fosters
partnerships to strengthen national educational
leadership and the capacity of countries to
offer quality education for all.
This includes the
UNESCO Chairs, an international network of
644 UNESCO Chairs, involving over 770 institutions
in 126 countries.
Environmental Conservation Organisation
Convention against Discrimination in Education
adopted in 1960
Organization of the International Conference
on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) in an interval
of 12 years
Publication of the Education for All Global
Monitoring Report
Publication of the Four Pillars of Learning
seminal document
UNESCO ASPNet, an international network of
8,000 schools in 170 countries.UNESCO does
not accredit institutions of higher learning.
UNESCO also issues public statements to educate
the public:
Seville Statement on Violence: A statement
adopted by UNESCO in 1989 to refute the notion
that humans are biologically predisposed to
organised violence.
Designating projects and places of cultural
and scientific significance, such as:
Global Geoparks Network
Biosphere reserves, through the Programme
on Man and the Biosphere (MAB), since 1971
City of Literature; in 2007, the first city
to be given this title was Edinburgh, the
site of Scotland's first circulating library.
In 2008, Iowa City, Iowa became the City of
Literature.
Endangered languages and linguistic diversity
projects
Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage
of Humanity
Memory of the World International Register,
since 1997
Water resources management, through the International
Hydrological Programme (IHP), since 1965
World Heritage Sites
World Digital Library
Encouraging the "free flow of ideas by images
and words" by:
Promoting freedom of expression, including
freedom of the press and freedom of information
legislation, through the Division of Freedom
of Expression and Media Development, including
the International Programme for the Development
of Communication
Promoting the safety of journalists and combatting
impunity for those who attack them, through
coordination of the UN Plan of Action on the
Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity
Promoting universal access to and preservation
of information and open solutions for sustainable
development through the Knowledge Societies
Division, including the Memory of the World
Programme and Information for All Programme
Promoting pluralism, gender equality and cultural
diversity in the media
Promoting Internet Universality and its principles,
that the Internet should be (I) human Rights-based,
(ii) Open, (iii) Accessible to all, and (iv)
nurtured by Multi-stakeholder participation
(summarized as the acronym R.O.A.M.)
Generating knowledge through publications
such as World Trends in Freedom of Expression
and Media Development, the UNESCO Series on
Internet Freedom, and the Media Development
Indicators, as well as other indicator-based
studies.
Promoting events, such as:
International Decade for the Promotion of
a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the
Children of the World: 2001–2010, proclaimed
by the UN in 1998
World Press Freedom Day, 3 May each year,
to promote freedom of expression and freedom
of the press as a basic human right and as
crucial components of any healthy, democratic
and free society.
Criança Esperança in Brazil, in partnership
with Rede Globo, to raise funds for community-based
projects that foster social integration and
violence prevention.
International Literacy Day
International Year for the Culture of Peace
Health Education for Behavior Change program
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.
Founding and funding projects, such as:
Migration Museums Initiative: Promoting the
establishment of museums for cultural dialogue
with migrant populations.
UNESCO-CEPES, the European Centre for Higher
Education: established in 1972 in Bucharest,
Romania, as a de-centralized office to promote
international co-operation in higher education
in Europe as well as Canada, USA and Israel.
Higher Education in Europe is its official
journal.
Free Software Directory: since 1998 UNESCO
and the Free Software Foundation have jointly
funded this project cataloguing free software.
FRESH Focussing Resources on Effective School
Health.
OANA, Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies
International Council of Science
UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors
ASOMPS, Asian Symposium on Medicinal Plants
and Spices, a series of scientific conferences
held in Asia
Botany 2000, a programme supporting taxonomy,
and biological and cultural diversity of medicinal
and ornamental plants, and their protection
against environmental pollution
The UNESCO Collection of Representative Works,
translating works of world literature both
to and from multiple languages, from 1948
to 2005
GoUNESCO, an umbrella of initiatives to make
heritage fun supported by UNESCO, New Delhi
OfficeThe UNESCO transparency portal has been
designed to enable public access to information
regarding Organization's activities, such
as its aggregate budget for a biennium, as
well as links to relevant programmatic and
financial documents.
These two distinct sets of information are
published on the IATI registry, respectively
based on the IATI Activity Standard and the
IATI Organization Standard.
There have been proposals to establish two
new UNESCO lists.
The first proposed list will focus on movable
cultural heritage such as artifacts, paintings,
and biofacts.
The list may include cultural objects, such
as the Jōmon Venus of Japan, the Mona Lisa
of France, the Gebel el-Arak Knife of Egypt,
The Ninth Wave of Russia, the Seated Woman
of Çatalhöyük of Turkey, the David (Michelangelo)
of Italy, the Mathura Herakles of India, the
Manunggul Jar of the Philippines, the Crown
of Baekje of South Korea, The Hay Wain of
the United Kingdom and the Benin Bronzes of
Nigeria.
The second proposed list will focus on the
world's living species, such as the Komodo
Dragon of Indonesia, the Panda of China, the
Bald eagle of North American countries, the
Aye-aye of Madagascar, the Asiatic Lion of
India, the Kakapo of New Zealand, and the
Mountain tapir of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
== Media ==
UNESCO and its specialized institutions issue
a number of magazines.
The UNESCO Courier magazine states its mission
to "promote UNESCO's ideals, maintain a platform
for the dialogue between cultures and provide
a forum for international debate."
Since March 2006 it is available online, with
limited printed issues.
Its articles express the opinions of the authors
which are not necessarily the opinions of
UNESCO.
There was a hiatus in publishing between 2012
and 2017.In 1950, UNESCO initiated the quarterly
review Impact of Science on Society (also
known as Impact) to discuss the influence
of science on society.
The journal ceased publication in 1992.
UNESCO also published museum international
quarterly from the year 1948.
== Official UNESCO NGOs ==
UNESCO has official relations with 322 international
non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Most of these are what UNESCO calls "operational";
a select few are "formal".
The highest form of affiliation to UNESCO
is "formal associate", and the 22 NGOs with
formal associate (ASC) relations occupying
offices at UNESCO are:
== Institutes and centres ==
The institutes are specialized departments
of the organization that support UNESCO's
programme, providing specialized support for
cluster and national offices.
== Prizes ==
UNESCO awards 22 prizes in education, science,
culture and peace:
Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize
L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science
UNESCO/King Sejong Literacy Prize
UNESCO/Confucius Prize for Literacy
UNESCO/Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah
Prize to promote Quality Education for Persons
with Intellectual Disabilities
UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize
for the Use of Information and Communication
Technologies in Education
UNESCO/Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize
for Outstanding Practice and Performance in
Enhancing the Effectiveness of Teachers
UNESCO/Kalinga Prize for the Popularization
of Science
UNESCO/Institut Pasteur Medal for an outstanding
contribution to the development of scientific
knowledge that has a beneficial impact on
human health
UNESCO/Sultan Qaboos Prize for Environmental
Preservation
Great Man-Made River International Water Prize
for Water Resources in Arid Zones presented
by UNESCO (title to be reconsidered)
Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve
Management
UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a
Culture of Human Rights
UNESCO Prize for Peace Education
UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion
of Tolerance and Non-Violence
UNESCO/International José Martí Prize
UNESCO/Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science
UNESCO/Juan Bosch Prize for the Promotion
of Social Science Research in Latin America
and the Caribbean
Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture
Melina Mercouri International Prize for the
Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes
(UNESCO-Greece)
IPDC-UNESCO Prize for Rural Communication
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom
Prize
UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize
UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize
for Research in the Life Sciences
Carlos J. Finlay Prize for Microbiology
=== 
Inactive prizes ===
International Simón Bolívar Prize (inactive
since 2004)
UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education
UNESCO/Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International
Prize for Research in the Life Sciences (inactive
since 2010)
UNESCO Prize for the Promotion of the Arts
== 
International Days observed at UNESCO ==
International Days observed at UNESCO is provided
in the table given below
== 
Member states ==
As of January 2019, UNESCO has 193 member
states and 11 associate members.
Some members are not independent states and
some members have additional National Organizing
Committees from some of their dependent territories.
UNESCO state parties are the United Nations
member states (except Liechtenstein), as well
as Cook Islands, Niue and Palestine.The United
States and Israel left UNESCO on 31 December
2018.
== Governing bodies ==
=== Director-General ===
There has been no elected UNESCO Director-General
from Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central and
North Asia, Middle East, North Africa, East
Africa, Central Africa, South Africa, Australia-Oceania,
and South America since inception.
The Directors-General of UNESCO came from
West Europe (5), Central America (1), North
America (2), West Africa (1), East Asia (1),
and East Europe (1).
Out of the 11 Directors-General since inception,
women have held the position only twice.
Qatar, the Philippines, and Iran are proposing
for a Director-General bid by 2021 or 2025.
There have never been a Middle Eastern or
Southeast Asian UNESCO Director-General since
inception.
The ASEAN bloc and some Pacific and Latin
American nations support the possible bid
of the Philippines, which is culturally Asian,
Oceanic, and Latin.
Qatar and Iran, on the other hand, have fragmented
support in the Middle East.
Egypt, Israel, and Madagascar are also vying
for the position but have yet to express a
direct or indirect proposal.
Both Qatar and Egypt lost in the 2017 bid
against France.
The list of the Directors-General of UNESCO
since its establishment in 1946 is as follows:
=== General Conference ===
This is the list of the sessions of the UNESCO
General Conference held since 1946:
=== Executive Board ===
== 
Offices and Headquarters ==
UNESCO headquarters are located at Place de
Fontenoy in Paris, France.
UNESCO's field offices across the globe are
categorized into four primary office types
based upon their function and geographic coverage:
cluster offices, national offices, regional
bureaus and liaison offices.
=== Field offices by region ===
The following list of all UNESCO Field Offices
is organized geographically by UNESCO Region
and identifies the members states and associate
members of UNESCO which are served by each
office.
==== Africa ====
Abidjan – National Office to Côte d'Ivoire
Abuja – National Office to Nigeria
Accra – Cluster Office for Benin, Côte
d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra
Leone and Togo
Addis Ababa – Liaison Office with the African
Union and with the Economic Commission for
Africa
Bamako – Cluster Office for Burkina Faso,
Guinea, Mali and Niger
Brazzaville – National Office to the Republic
of the Congo
Bujumbura – National Office to Burundi
Dakar – Regional Bureau for Education in
Africa and Cluster Office for Cape Verde,
Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Senegal
Dar es Salaam – Cluster Office for Comoros,
Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tanzania
Harare – Cluster Office for Botswana, Malawi,
Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Juba – National Office to South Sudan
Kinshasa – National Office to the Democratic
Republic of the Congo
Libreville – Cluster Office for the Republic
of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and
Principe
Maputo – National Office to Mozambique
Nairobi – Regional Bureau for Sciences in
Africa and Cluster Office for Burundi, Djibouti,
Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan
and Uganda
Windhoek – National Office to Namibia
Yaoundé – Cluster Office to Cameroon, Central
African Republic and Chad
==== Arab States ====
Amman – National Office to Jordan
Beirut – Regional Bureau for Education in
the Arab States and Cluster Office to Lebanon,
Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Palestine
Cairo – Regional Bureau for Sciences in
the Arab States and Cluster Office for Egypt,
Libya and Sudan
Doha – Cluster Office to Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
and Yemen
Iraq – National Office for Iraq (currently
located in Amman, Jordan)
Khartoum – National Office to Sudan
Manama - Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage
Rabat – Cluster Office to Algeria, Mauritania,
Morocco and Tunisia
Ramallah – National Office to the Palestinian
Territories
==== 
Asia and Pacific ====
Apia – Cluster Office to Australia, Cook
Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands,
Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New
Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa,
Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and
Tokelau (Associate Member)
Bangkok – Regional Bureau for Education
in Asia and the Pacific and Cluster Office
to Thailand, Burma, Laos, Singapore and Vietnam
Beijing – Cluster Office to North Korea,
Japan, Mongolia, the People's Republic of
China and South Korea
Dhaka – National Office to Bangladesh
Hanoi – National Office to Vietnam
Islamabad – National Office to Pakistan
Jakarta – Regional Bureau for Sciences in
Asia and the Pacific and Cluster Office to
the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia,
and East Timor
Manila - National Office to the Philippines
Kabul – National Office to Afghanistan
Kathmandu – National Office to Nepal
New Delhi – Cluster Office to Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka
Phnom Penh – National Office to Cambodia
Tashkent – National Office to Uzbekistan
Tehran – Cluster Office to Afghanistan,
Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan
==== 
Europe and North America ====
Almaty – Cluster Office to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
Brussels – Liaison Office to the European
Union and its subsidiary bodies in Brussels
Geneva – Liaison Office to the United Nations
in Geneva
New York City – Liaison Office to the United
Nations in New York
Moscow – Cluster Office to Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Moldova and Russia
Venice – Regional Bureau for Sciences and
Culture in Europe
==== 
Latin America and the Caribbean ====
Brasilia – National Office to Brazil
Guatemala City – National Office to Guatemala
Havana – Regional Bureau for Culture in
Latin America and the Caribbean and Cluster
Office to Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti
and Aruba
Kingston – Cluster Office to Antigua and
Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica,
Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and
Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago
as well as the associate member states of
British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao
and Sint Maarten
Lima – National Office to Peru
Mexico City – National Office to Mexico
Montevideo – Regional Bureau for Sciences
in Latin America and the Caribbean and Cluster
Office to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay
and Uruguay
Port-au-Prince – National Office to Haiti
Quito – Cluster Office to Bolivia, Colombia,
Ecuador and Venezuela
San José – Cluster Office to Costa Rica,
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico,
Nicaragua and Panama
Santiago de Chile – Regional Bureau for
Education in Latin America and the Caribbean
and National Office to Chile
== 
Controversies ==
=== 
New World Information and Communication order
===
UNESCO has been the centre of controversy
in the past, particularly in its relationships
with the United States, the United Kingdom,
Singapore and the former Soviet Union.
During the 1970s and 1980s, UNESCO's support
for a "New World Information and Communication
Order" and its MacBride report calling for
democratization of the media and more egalitarian
access to information was condemned in these
countries as attempts to curb freedom of the
press.
UNESCO was perceived as a platform for communists
and Third World dictators to attack the West,
in contrast to accusations made by the USSR
in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
In 1984, the United States withheld its contributions
and withdrew from the organization in protest,
followed by the United Kingdom in 1985.
Singapore withdrew also at the end of 1985,
citing rising membership fees.
Following a change of government in 1997,
the UK rejoined.
The United States rejoined in 2003, followed
by Singapore on 8 October 2007.
=== Israel ===
Israel was admitted to UNESCO in 1949, one
year after its creation.
Israel has maintained its membership since
1949.
In 2010, Israel designated the Cave of the
Patriarchs, Hebron and Rachel's Tomb, Bethlehem
as National Heritage Sites and announced restoration
work, prompting criticism from the Obama administration
and protests from Palestinians.
In October 2010, UNESCO's Executive Board
voted to declare the sites as "al-Haram al-Ibrahimi/Tomb
of the Patriarchs" and "Bilal bin Rabah Mosque/Rachel's
Tomb" and stated that they were "an integral
part of the occupied Palestinian Territories"
and any unilateral Israeli action was a violation
of international law.
UNESCO described the sites as significant
to "people of the Muslim, Christian and Jewish
traditions", and accused Israel of highlighting
only the Jewish character of the sites.
Israel in turn accused UNESCO of "detach[ing]
the Nation of Israel from its heritage", and
accused it of being politically motivated.
The Rabbi of the Western Wall said that Rachel's
tomb had not previously been declared a holy
Muslim site.
Israel partially suspended ties with UNESCO.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon
declared that the resolution was a "part of
Palestinian escalation".
Zevulun Orlev, chairman of the Knesset Education
and Culture Committee, referred to the resolutions
as an attempt to undermine the mission of
UNESCO as a scientific and cultural organization
that promotes cooperation throughout the world.On
28 June 2011, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee,
at Jordan's insistence, censured Israel's
decision to demolish and rebuild the Mughrabi
Gate Bridge in Jerusalem for safety reasons.
Israel stated that Jordan had signed an agreement
with Israel stipulating that the existing
bridge must be dismantled for safety reasons;
Jordan disputed the agreement, saying that
it was only signed under U.S. pressure.
Israel was also unable to address the UNESCO
committee over objections from Egypt.In January
2014, days before it was scheduled to open,
UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, "indefinitely
postponed" and effectively cancelled an exhibit
created by the Simon Wiesenthal Center entitled
"The People, The Book, The Land: The 3,500-year
relationship between the Jewish people and
the Land of Israel."
The event was scheduled to run from 21 January
through 30 January in Paris.
Bokova cancelled the event after representatives
of Arab states at UNESCO argued that its display
would "harm the peace process".
The author of the exhibition, Professor Robert
Wistrich of the Hebrew University's Vidal
Sassoon International Center for the Study
of Anti-Semitism, called the cancellation
an "appalling act," and characterized Bokova's
decision as "an arbitrary act of total cynicism
and, really, contempt for the Jewish people
and its history."
UNESCO amended the decision to cancel the
exhibit within the year, and it quickly achieved
popularity and was viewed as a great success.On
January 1 2019, Israel formally left UNESCO
in pursuance of the US withdrawal over the
continuous anti-Israel bias.
==== Occupied Palestine Resolution ====
On 13 October 2016, UNESCO passed a resolution
on East Jerusalem that condemned Israel for
"aggressions" by Israeli police and soldiers
and "illegal measures" against the freedom
of worship and Muslims' access to their holy
sites, while also recognizing Israel as the
occupying power.
Palestinian leaders welcomed the decision.
While the text acknowledged the "importance
of the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls
for the three monotheistic religions", it
referred to the sacred hilltop compound in
Jerusalem's Old City only by its Muslim name
"Al-Haram al-Sharif", Arabic for Noble Sanctuary.
In response, Israel denounced the UNESCO resolution
for its omission of the words "Temple Mount"
or "Har HaBayit," stating that it denies Jewish
ties to the key holy site.
After receiving criticism from numerous Israeli
politicians and diplomats, including Benjamin
Netanyahu and Ayelet Shaked, Israel froze
all ties with the organization.
The resolution was condemned by Ban ki-Moon
and the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina
Bokova, who said that Judaism, Islam and Christianity
have clear historical connections to Jerusalem
and "to deny, conceal or erase any of the
Jewish, Christian or Muslim traditions undermines
the integrity of the site.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is also Temple Mount, whose
Western Wall is the holiest place in Judaism."
It was also rejected by the Czech Parliament
which said the resolution reflects a "hateful
anti-Israel sentiment", and hundreds of Italian
Jews demonstrated in Rome over Italy's abstention.
On 26 October, UNESCO approved a reviewed
version of the resolution, which also criticized
Israel for its continuous "refusal to let
the body's experts access Jerusalem's holy
sites to determine their conservation status."
Despite containing some softening of language
following Israeli protests over a previous
version, Israel continued to denounce the
text.
The resolution refers to the site Jews and
Christians refer to as the Temple Mount, or
Har HaBayit in Hebrew, only by its Arab name
— a significant semantic decision also adopted
by UNESCO's executive board, triggering condemnation
from Israel and its allies.
U.S. Ambassador Crystal Nix Hines stated:
"This item should have been defeated.
These politicized and one-sided resolutions
are damaging the credibility of UNESCO."In
October 2017, the United States and Israel
announced they would withdraw from the organization,
citing in-part anti-Israel bias.
=== Palestine ===
==== 
Palestinian youth magazine controversy ====
In February 2011, an article was published
in a Palestinian youth magazine in which a
teenage girl described one of her four role-models
as Adolf Hitler.
In December 2011, UNESCO, which partly funded
the magazine, condemned the material and subsequently
withdrew support.
==== Islamic University of Gaza controversy
====
In 2012, UNESCO decided to establish a chair
at the Islamic University of Gaza in the field
of astronomy, astrophysics, and space sciences,
fueling controversy and criticism.
Israel bombed the school in 2008 stating that
they develop and store weapons there, which
Israel restated in criticizing UNESCO's move.The
head, Kamalain Shaath, defended UNESCO, stating
that "the Islamic University is a purely academic
university that is interested only in education
and its development".
Israeli ambassador to UNESCO Nimrod Barkan
planned to submit a letter of protest with
information about the university's ties to
Hamas, especially angry that this was the
first Palestinian university that UNESCO chose
to cooperate with.
The Jewish organization B'nai B'rith criticized
the move as well.
=== Wikileaks ===
On 16 and 17 February 2012, UNESCO held a
conference entitled "The Media World after
WikiLeaks and News of the World."
Despite all six panels being focused on WikiLeaks,
no member of WikiLeaks staff was invited to
speak.
After receiving a complaint from WikiLeaks
spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson, UNESCO invited
him to attend, but did not offer a place on
any panels.
The offer also came only a week before the
conference, which was held in Paris, France.
Many of the speakers featured, including David
Leigh and Heather Brooke, had spoken out openly
against WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange
in the past.
WikiLeaks released a press statement on 15
February 2012 denouncing UNESCO which stated,
"UNESCO has made itself an international human
rights joke.
To use 'freedom of expression' to censor WikiLeaks
from a conference about WikiLeaks is an Orwellian
absurdity beyond words."
=== 
Che Guevara ===
In 2013, UNESCO announced that the collection
"The Life and Works of Ernesto Che Guevara"
became part of the Memory of the World Register.
US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen condemned
this decision, saying that the organization
acts against its own ideals:
This decision is more than an insult to the
families of those Cubans who were lined up
and summarily executed by Che and his merciless
cronies but it also serves as a direct contradiction
to the UNESCO ideals of encouraging peace
and universal respect for human rights.
UN Watch also condemned this selection by
UNESCO.
=== Listing Nanjing Massacre documents ===
In 2015, Japan threatened to halt funding
for UNESCO over the organization's decision
to include documents relating to the 1937
Nanjing massacre in the latest listing for
its "Memory of the World" program.
In October 2016, Japanese Foreign Minister
Fumio Kishida confirmed that Japan's 2016
annual funding of ¥4.4 billion had been suspended
although denied any direct link with the Nanjing
document controversy.
=== US withdrawals ===
After withdrawing from UNESCO in 1984, the
United States rejoined January 10, 2003.
Former U.S. Congressman Jim Leach stated before
a Congressional subcommittee:
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. 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.
He concluded that the record showed Israel
bashing, a call for a new world information
order, money management, and arms control
policy to be the impetus behind the withdrawal;
he asserted that before the UNESCO withdrawal,
a withdrawal from the IAEA had been pushed
on him.
The United States rejoined UNESCO shortly
thereafter.
On 12 October 2017, the United States notified
UNESCO that it will again withdraw from the
organization on 31 December 2018 and will
seek to establish a permanent observer mission
beginning in 2019.
The Department of State cited "mounting arrears
at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform
in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel
bias at UNESCO."The United States has not
paid over $600 million in dues since stopping
to pay its $80 million annual UNESCO dues
when Palestine became a full member in 2011.
Israel and the US were among only 14 votes
against the membership, of 194 member countries.
=== Turkish–Kurdish conflict ===
On May 25, 2016, the noted Turkish poet and
human rights activist Zülfü Livaneli resigned
as Turkey's only UNESCO goodwill ambassador.
He highlighted human rights situation in Turkey
and destruction of historical Sur district
of Diyarbakir, the largest city in Kurdish-majority
southeast Turkey, during 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."
== Products or services ==
UNESDOC – Contains over 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.
=== Information processing tools ===
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).
CDS/ISIS – a generalised 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 user 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.
IDIS – a tool for direct data exchange between
CDS/ISIS and IDAMS
== See also ==
Academic Mobility Network
UNESCO Reclining Figure 1957–58, sculpture
by Henry Moore
WikiProject UNESCO
