United Nations Educational, Scientific And Cultural Organization (UNESCO) / Organisation des Nations Unies Pour L’education, la Science et la Culture (UNESCO)

Abstract

A specialized agency of the United Nations Organization whose membership comprises 162 Member States. The Constitution of UNESCO states that “The purpose of the Organization is to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” The Organization’s major programme areas, as set forth in its programme and budget for 1992–1993, are I. Education and the future; II. Science for progress and the environment; III. Culture: past, present and future; IV. Communication in the service of humanity; V. The Social and human sciences in a changing world; VI. UNESCO’s contribution to prospective studies and to strategies concerned with development; VII. UNESCO’s contribution to peace, human rights and the elimination of all forms of discrimination. Special contemporary responsibilities of the Organization include work to eradicate illiteracy and to achieve the universalization of basic education, as part of the implementation of the plan of action adopted by the World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien, Thailand, in March 1990. The Organization is also making a major contribution to the action within the United Nations system in support of environmental protection.