UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ...

(UNESCO), specialized agency of the United Nations that was created in 1946 to contribute to world peace by promoting international collaboration in education, science, and culture. The activities of UNESCO are mainly facilitative; the organization attempts to assist, support, and complement national efforts of member states in the elimination of illiteracy and the extension of free education. It also seeks to encourage the free exchange of ideas and knowledge among peoples and nations of the world by providing clearinghouse and exchange services. UNESCO's historical roots lie in the intellectual cooperation efforts of the League of Nations and in the 1945 United Nations founding conferences at San Francisco and London, where UNESCO's program was drafted by scholars who wanted to increase the international flow and exchange of information. The agency's initial emphasis was on rebuilding schools, libraries, and museums that had been destroyed in Europe during World War II. The agency also organized conferences, surveys, and symposia in the fields of science, education, and culture. As many less-developed countries reached independence and joined the United Nations in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, UNESCO began to devote more attention to the needs and problems of these countries, which suffered from high rates of illiteracy and general conditions of poverty and underdevelopment. Accordingly, UNESCO began devoting a greater portion of its funds to educational and scientific development projects in Third World countries. During the 1980s UNESCO experienced mounting criticism from the United States and other countries for its alleged anti-Western approach to cultural issues and for the sustained expansion of its budget. These issues prompted the United States to withdraw from the organization on Dec. 31, 1984, and the United Kingdom and Singapore a year later. The United Kingdom rejoined UNESCO in 1997. UNESCO's organization includes a General Conference that meets every two years, an Executive Board, and a Secretariat. Each member state of the United Nations has one vote in the General Conference, which decides UNESCO's budget, its program of activities, and the scale of contributions to the agency made by member states. The Executive Board, whose members are elected by the Conference, generally meets twice a year to give advice and direction to the agency's work. The Secretariat, with an international staff of about 2,000 people, is the backbone of the agency and is headed by a director-general appointed by the General Conference. In December 1962 a resolution of the UNESCO General Conference established the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) to serve as a world centre for advanced training and research in educational planning. In January 1969 the International Bureau of Education was incorporated into UNESCO. Besides its support of educational programs worldwide and its efforts to use science to hasten economic development, UNESCO is also involved in efforts to protect the natural environment and to protect humanity's common cultural heritage. In the 1960s, for example, UNESCO helped sponsor efforts to save the Abu Simbel temples and other ancient Egyptian monuments from the rising waters of the reservoir created by the Aswan High Dam. In 1972 UNESCO sponsored an international agreement for the establishment of the World Heritage List, a list of cultural sites and natural areas of outstanding value that are under government protection. The permanent headquarters of UNESCO are in Paris.