UNESCO facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Flag of UNESCO
Abbreviation	UNESCO
Formation	16 November 1945; 79 years ago (1945-11-16)
Type	United Nations specialized agency
Legal status	Active
Headquarters	Paris, France
Director-General	Khaled al-Anani
Deputy Director-General	Xing Qu
Parent organization	United Nations Economic and Social Council
Staff (2024)	2,384
Website	unesco.org

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a special agency of the United Nations (UN). Its main goal is to build world peace and safety by encouraging countries to work together. They do this through education, arts, sciences, and culture.

UNESCO has 194 member countries and many other partners. Its main office is in Paris, France. UNESCO also has offices and teams all over the world.

This organization started in 1945, right after World War II. Its mission is to help create peace, support sustainable development, and protect human rights. UNESCO works in five main areas: education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication/information.

UNESCO helps with projects that teach people to read and write, offer job training, and advance science. It also works to protect free media, save important historical places, and celebrate cultural diversity. A big part of its work is identifying and protecting World Heritage Sites, which are places important for their culture or nature.

History

How UNESCO Started

The idea for UNESCO began long ago, even before World War II. In 1921, the League of Nations wanted to find a way for countries to share their knowledge in culture, education, and science. This led to the creation of the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC) in 1922. Famous thinkers like Albert Einstein and Marie Curie were part of it.

This early group helped countries work together. But their efforts were stopped by World War II. After the war, leaders realized how important it was for nations to cooperate. They wanted to prevent future conflicts by building understanding and peace.

Forming UNESCO

After World War II, many countries wanted to create a new organization. They hoped it would help prevent future wars. From 1942 to 1945, ministers of education from Allied countries met in London. They discussed how to build a global body focused on education and culture.

In November 1945, representatives from 44 governments met in London. They created the Constitution for UNESCO. Thirty-seven countries signed it. UNESCO officially began on November 4, 1946, when enough countries agreed to its rules.

The first big meeting of UNESCO members happened later that year. They chose Julian Huxley as the first Director-General. Over time, UNESCO's work has been shaped by major world events. These include the Cold War and countries gaining independence.

UNESCO's Growth and Key Projects

UNESCO has achieved many important things over the years. One major focus has been fighting against racism. In 1950, scientists and experts, including Claude Lévi-Strauss, made statements about race. These statements helped show that racism has no scientific basis.

In 1955, Republic of South Africa left UNESCO for a time. They rejoined in 1994, led by Nelson Mandela.

Education for All

From its early days, UNESCO worked to improve education. In 1947, it started a project in Haiti to teach basic skills. In 1948, UNESCO suggested that all countries should make primary education free and required for everyone.

Later, in 1990, the World Conference on Education for All began a global effort. This movement aimed to provide basic education for all children, young people, and adults. By 2000, many governments promised to achieve this goal by 2015. UNESCO also set global standards for higher education in 1998.

Protecting World Heritage

A famous early project was the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia in 1960. The goal was to move ancient temples, like the Great Temple of Abu Simbel. This saved them from being flooded by the Nile River after a new dam was built. Over 20 years, 22 monuments were moved to safety.

This success led to more campaigns to protect sites like Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan and the Acropolis of Athens in Greece. In 1972, UNESCO created the World Heritage Convention. This agreement helps protect important cultural and natural places around the globe. The first sites were added to the World Heritage List in 1978.

Science and Environment

In 1951, UNESCO helped create the European Council for Nuclear Research. This group later established CERN in 1954, a major science research center. UNESCO also worked on projects for dry regions from 1948 to 1966.

In 1968, UNESCO held a conference about the environment and development. This led to the Man and the Biosphere Programme. This program helps people and nature live together in harmony.

Promoting Free Information

Since its beginning, UNESCO has promoted the "free flow of ideas by word and image." This was important after World War II, when information was controlled. UNESCO started training journalists in the 1950s.

In 1980, UNESCO created the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC). This program helps improve media in developing countries. In 1993, UNESCO supported the Windhoek Declaration. This declaration promotes media independence and led to World Press Freedom Day on May 3rd each year.

Changes in Country Memberships

In 2011, UNESCO welcomed Palestine as a member. Due to certain laws, the United States stopped its financial contributions to UNESCO at that time. Israel also stopped its payments. In 2019, Israel left UNESCO.

The United States rejoined UNESCO in July 2023, after having left in 2018. However, the United States announced its intention to withdraw again in July 2025, with the withdrawal becoming effective in December 2026. In May 2025, Nicaragua also announced its decision to withdraw from UNESCO, effective December 2026.

In 2023, Russia was not re-elected to the executive committee.

Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development

UNESCO continues to work on cultural policies and sustainable development. In 2022, it restarted the MONDIACULT Conferences. These meetings discuss how culture can help achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Activities

UNESCO offices in Brasília.

UNESCO carries out its work in five main areas: education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information.

• UNESCO supports research in education. It helps countries improve their education systems. This includes:
  • UNESCO Chairs, a global network of experts working with universities in 126 countries.
  • The Convention against Discrimination in Education, adopted in 1960.
  • Organizing the International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) every 12 years.
  • Publishing reports like the Education for All Global Monitoring Report.
  • The Four Pillars of Learning, an important document about education.
  • UNESCO ASPNet, a network of over 12,000 schools in 182 countries.

UNESCO does not officially approve colleges or universities.

• UNESCO also shares important public statements, such as:
  • The Seville Statement on Violence: This statement, adopted in 1989, explains that humans are not naturally violent.

• UNESCO identifies and protects places important for culture and science, including:
  • Global Geoparks Network, which protects areas with special geological heritage.
  • Biosphere reserves, through the Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB), since 1971.
  • City of Literature; Edinburgh was the first in 2007.
  • Projects for Endangered languages and linguistic diversity.
  • Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
  • Memory of the World International Register, which preserves important documents and archives.
  • Water resources management, through the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), since 1965.
  • World Heritage Sites.
  • World Digital Library.

• UNESCO encourages the "free flow of ideas by images and words" by:
  • Promoting freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and freedom of information legislation.
  • Working to keep journalists safe and fight against crimes committed against them.
  • Promoting access to information and open solutions for sustainable development.
  • Supporting pluralism, gender equality, and cultural diversity in the media.
  • Promoting Internet Universality principles: the Internet should be based on human rights, be Open, Accessible to all, and involve many different groups (R.O.A.M.).
  • Creating reports like World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development.

• UNESCO promotes special events, such as:
  • International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World: 2001–2010.
  • World Press Freedom Day, on May 3rd each year.
  • Criança Esperança in Brazil, which raises money for community projects.
  • International Literacy Day, on September 8th each year.
  • World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, on May 21st each year.

• UNESCO also starts and funds various projects, like:
  • Migration Museums Initiative: Creating museums to encourage cultural dialogue with migrant communities.
  • UNESCO-CEPES, the European Centre for Higher Education.
  • Free Software Directory: A project with the Free Software Foundation to list free software.
  • FRESH, which focuses on Effective School Health.
  • UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors, who help spread UNESCO's message.
  • The UNESCO Collection of Representative Works, which translated world literature.

The UNESCO transparency portal lets the public see information about the organization's activities and budget.

New Proposed Lists

Two new UNESCO lists have been suggested.

One list would focus on movable cultural heritage. This includes important artifacts and artworks. Examples could be the Mona Lisa from France or the Benin Bronzes from Nigeria.

The second proposed list would focus on the world's living species.

Media

UNESCO and its special groups publish several magazines.

The UNESCO Courier magazine started in 1945. It aims to share UNESCO's ideas and create a space for cultural dialogue. Since 2006, it has been available free online.

In 1950, UNESCO began publishing Impact of Science on Society. This magazine discussed how science affects society until 1992.

Official UNESCO NGOs

UNESCO works closely with 322 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Some of these have a very close relationship with UNESCO. The 22 NGOs with the highest level of affiliation have offices at UNESCO.

UNESCO Institute for Water Education in Delft

Institutes and Centres

UNESCO has specialized institutes and centers that support its programs. They provide expert help to offices around the world.

Prizes

UNESCO gives out 26 prizes. These awards recognize achievements in education, science, culture, communication, and peace.

Education Prizes

• UNESCO/King Sejong Literacy Prize
• UNESCO/Confucius Prize for Literacy
• UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development
• UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education
• UNESCO/Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize for Outstanding Practice and Performance in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Teachers
• UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education

Natural Sciences Prizes

• L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science
• UNESCO/Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science
• UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences
• Carlos J. Finlay Prize for Microbiology
• UNESCO/Sultan Qaboos Prize for Environmental Preservation
• UNESCO-Russia Mendeleev International Prize in the Basic Sciences
• UNESCO-Al Fozan International Prize for the Promotion of Young Scientists in STEM
• Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management

Social and Human Sciences Prizes

• UNESCO Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science
• UNESCO/Juan Bosch Prize for the Promotion of Social Science Research in Latin America and the Caribbean
• UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence
• UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture
• UNESCO/International José Martí Prize
• UNESCO-UNAM / Jaime Torres Bodet Prize in social sciences, humanities and arts

Culture Prizes

• Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes (UNESCO-Greece)

Communication and Information Prizes

• UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
• UNESCO/Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah Prize to promote Quality Education for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities
• UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize

Peace Prizes

• Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize

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

Member States

     UNESCO member states      UNESCO member state dependent territory with separate NOC      UNESCO associates      UNESCO observers

As of July 2023, UNESCO has 194 member states and 12 associate members. Most members are United Nations member states. Cook Islands, Niue, and Palestine are also members. Israel left UNESCO on December 31, 2018.

Nicaragua announced its decision to withdraw from UNESCO in May 2025, with the withdrawal becoming effective on December 31, 2026.

The United States left UNESCO in 1984, rejoined in 2003, left again in 2018, and rejoined in July 2023. In July 2025, the United States informed UNESCO of its decision to withdraw again, effective December 31, 2026.

Governing Bodies

Director-General

As of June 2023, UNESCO has had 12 Directors-General. They have come from different regions around the world.

Directors-General of UNESCO

Order	Image	Name	Country	Term
1st		Julian Huxley	United Kingdom	1946–1948
2nd		Jaime Torres Bodet	Mexico	1948–1952
–		John Wilkinson Taylor	United States	acting 1952–1953
3rd		Luther Evans	United States	1953–1958
4th		Vittorino Veronese	Italy	1958–1961
5th		René Maheu	France	acting 1961; 1961–1974
6th		Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow	Senegal	1974–1987
7th		Federico Mayor Zaragoza	Spain	1987–1999
8th		Koïchiro Matsuura	Japan	1999–2009
9th		Irina Bokova	Bulgaria	2009–2017
10th		Audrey Azoulay	France	2017– 2025
11th		Khaled al-Anani	Egypt	2025–Incumbent

General Conference

The General Conference is where all member states and associate members meet. They gather every two years to decide on UNESCO's programs and budget. They also elect members to the executive board and choose the Director-General.

Session	Location	Year	Chaired by	from
1st	Paris	1946	Léon Blum	France
2nd	Mexico City	1947	Manuel Gual Vidal	Mexico
3rd	Beirut	1948	Hamid Bey Frangie	Lebanon
1st extraordinary	Paris	1948
4th	Paris	1949	Edward Ronald Walker	Australia
5th	Florence	1950	Stefano Jacini	Italy
6th	Paris	1951	Howland H. Sargeant	United States
7th	Paris	1952	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	India
2nd extraordinary	Paris	1953
8th	Montevideo	1954	Justino Zavala Muniz	Uruguay
9th	New Delhi	1956	Abul Kalam Azad	India
10th	Paris	1958	Jean Berthoin	France
11th	Paris	1960	Akale-Work Abte-Wold	Ethiopia
12th	Paris	1962	Paulo de Berrêdo Carneiro	Brazil
13th	Paris	1964	Norair Sisakian	Soviet Union
14th	Paris	1966	Bedrettin Tuncel	Turkey
15th	Paris	1968	William Eteki Mboumoua	Cameroon
16th	Paris	1970	Atilio Dell'Oro Maini	Argentina
17th	Paris	1972	Toru Haguiwara	Japan
3rd extraordinary	Paris	1973
18th	Paris	1974	Magda Jóború	Hungary
19th	Nairobi	1976	Taaita Toweett	Kenya
20th	Paris	1978	Napoléon LeBlanc	Canada
21st	Belgrade	1980	Ivo Margan	Yugoslavia
4th extraordinary	Paris	1982
22nd	Paris	1983	Saïd Tell	Jordan
23rd	Sofia	1985	Nikolai Todorov	Bulgaria
24th	Paris	1987	Guillermo Putzeys Alvarez	Guatemala
25th	Paris	1989	Anwar Ibrahim	Malaysia
26th	Paris	1991	Bethwell Allan Ogot	Kenya
27th	Paris	1993	Ahmed Saleh Sayyad	Yemen
28th	Paris	1995	Torben Krogh	Denmark
29th	Paris	1997	Eduardo Portella	Brazil
30th	Paris	1999	Jaroslava Moserová	Czech Republic
31st	Paris	2001	Ahmad Jalali	Iran
32nd	Paris	2003	Michael Omolewa	Nigeria
33rd	Paris	2005	Musa Bin Jaafar Bin Hassan	Oman
34th	Paris	2007	Georgios Anastassopoulos	Greece
35th	Paris	2009	Davidson Hepburn	Bahamas
36th	Paris	2011	Katalin Bogyay	Hungary
37th	Paris	2013	Hao Ping	China
38th	Paris	2015	Stanley Mutumba Simataa	Namibia
39th	Paris	2017	Zohour Alaoui	Morocco
40th	Paris	2019	Ahmet Altay Cengizer	Turkey
41st	Paris	2021	Santiago Irazabal Mourão	Brazil
42nd	Paris	2023	Simona Miculescu	Romania

Executive Board

The Executive Board manages UNESCO's work. Elections are held every two years, and 58 representatives serve for four years.

Offices and Headquarters

UNESCO's main office is in Place de Fontenoy in Paris, France. Many architects helped design this building. It includes a Garden of Peace donated by Japan and a meditation room.

UNESCO has field offices all over the world. These offices are grouped by their function and location.

Field Offices by Region

Africa

• Abidjan – National Office for Côte d'Ivoire
• Abuja – National Office for Nigeria
• Accra – Office for Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo
• Addis Ababa – Office working with the African Union
• Bamako – Office for Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger
• Brazzaville – National Office for the Republic of the Congo
• Bujumbura – National Office for Burundi
• Dakar – Regional Education Office for Africa and other countries
• Dar es Salaam – Office for Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tanzania
• Harare – Office for Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe
• Juba – National Office for South Sudan
• Kinshasa – National Office for the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Libreville – Office for the Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe
• Maputo – National Office for Mozambique
• Nairobi – Regional Science Office for Africa and other countries
• Windhoek – National Office for Namibia
• Yaoundé – Office for Cameroon, Central African Republic and Chad

Arab States

• Amman – National Office for Jordan
• Beirut – Regional Education Office for Arab States and other countries
• Cairo – Regional Science Office for Arab States and other countries
• Doha – Office for Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen
• Iraq – National Office for Iraq (currently in Amman, Jordan)
• Khartoum – National Office for Sudan
• Manama – Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage
• Rabat – Office for Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia
• Ramallah – National Office for the Palestinian Territories

Asia and Pacific

• Almaty – Office for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
• Apia – Office for 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
• Bangkok – Regional Education Office for Asia and the Pacific and other countries
• Beijing – Office for North Korea, Japan, Mongolia, the People's Republic of China and South Korea
• Dhaka – National Office for Bangladesh
• Hanoi – National Office for Vietnam
• Islamabad – National Office for Pakistan
• Jakarta – Regional Science Office for Asia and the Pacific and other countries
• Manila – National Office for the Philippines
• Kabul – National Office for Afghanistan
• Kathmandu – National Office for Nepal
• New Delhi – Office for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka
• Phnom Penh – National Office for Cambodia
• Tashkent – National Office for Uzbekistan
• Tehran – Office for Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan

Europe and North America

• Brussels – Office working with the European Union
• Geneva – Office working with the United Nations in Geneva
• New York City – Office working with the United Nations in New York
• Venice – Regional Office for Sciences and Culture in Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

Carondelet Palace, Presidential Palace – with changing of the guards. The Historic Center of Quito, Ecuador, is one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved historic centres in the Americas. This centre was, together with the historic centre of Kraków in Poland, the first to be declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO on 18 September 1978.

• Brasília – National Office for Brazil
• Guatemala City – National Office for Guatemala
• Havana – Regional Culture Office for Latin America and the Caribbean and other countries
• Kingston – Office for 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 some associate member states
• Lima – National Office for Peru
• Mexico City – National Office for Mexico
• Montevideo – Regional Science Office for Latin America and the Caribbean and other countries
• Port-au-Prince – National Office for Haiti
• Quito – Office for Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela
• San José – Office for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama
• Santiago de Chile – Regional Education Office for Latin America and the Caribbean and National Office for Chile

Partner Organizations

UNESCO works with many other organizations to achieve its goals. Some of these partners include:

• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
• Blue Shield International (BSI)
• International Council of Museums (ICOM)
• International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
• International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL)

Products and Services

• UNESDOC Database – This online library has over 146,000 UNESCO documents. These documents have been published since 1945.

Information Processing Tools

UNESCO offers free software tools for managing and analyzing information:

• CDS/ISIS – A system for storing and finding information. It can be used on a single computer or over the Internet.
• OpenIDAMS – A software package for working with numerical data. UNESCO is making this available as open source.
• IDIS – A tool that helps exchange data between CDS/ISIS and IDAMS.

See also

In Spanish: Unesco para niños