United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

 

What is UNESCO?

UNESCO Building peace in the minds of men and women

UNESCO’s mission is to contribute to the building of a culture 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 and 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

 

UNESCO BRUSSELS OFFICE

The Brussels office ensures UNESCO’s representation to the European Union and subsidiary bodies. It was created in February 2011 with the following mandate:

-Strengthening the Organization’s visibility; promoting UNESCO’s fields and modalities of action at every level within the European institutions (Commission, Parliament, and Council), Permanent Representations, the ACP Secretariat, NGOs and subsidiary institutions present in Brussels;

-Identifying common areas of action with the European Union, in order to develop new EU-UNESCO partnerships in the fields of Education, Culture, Science and Communication;

-Following-up and analyzing the political situation in the European Union;

-Advising and informing headquarters and field offices on the EU’s policies and decisions related to UNESCO’s fields of competence.

The office works in close cooperation with the UN bodies present in Brussels, the World Customs Organization and NATO.

Websitehttp://www.unesco.org/new/en/brussels

UNESCO’s network

The UNESCO has a global network which supports it in carrying out its mandate.

    • 53 Field offices.

UNESCO’s field network is composed of 27 cluster offices, 10 regional bureaus (eight of these also fulfill the function of cluster office and one with a national mandate) and 21 national offices.

The cluster offices, which cover a group of countries, are the backbone of the network as the main platforms for programme delivery in the field in all UNESCO’s areas of competence.

Three liaison offices are responsible for representing UNESCO and promoting its interests at United Nations Headquarters in New York and Geneva, and to the European Union in Brussels.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/bfc/all-offices/

    • 196 UNESCO’s National Commissions.

The Commissions constitute a unique network within the UN system. They form a vital link between civil society and the Organization. They provide valuable insight for the Organization’s programmes and help implement many initiatives including training programmes, studies, public awareness campaigns and media outreach. The Commissions also develop partnerships with the private sector, which can provide valuable technical expertise and financial resources.

    • 11 Institutes and Centers.

The institutes are specialized departments of the Organization that nonetheless support UNESCO’s programme, providing, in the same way as the regional bureaus, specialized support for cluster and national offices.

Links:

UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft (Netherlands)

UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), Paris and Buenos Aires.

Institut de statistique de l’UNESCO, UIS, Montréal.

LIBRARY

You may view the UNESCO publications on the following websites:

http://publishing.unesco.org/default.aspx

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/resources/publications/unesdoc-database/

http://www.unesco.org/library/

CONTACT DETAILS:

For further information please contact:

UNESCO Brussels Office

Rue Montoyer 14, 5th Floor
1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 290 89 61
Fax: +32 2 290 89 69
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.unesco.org

Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to the European Union:

Mrs. Marie Paule Roudil