UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Org type	Agency
Head	Khaled El-Enany; Director-General of UNESCO
Status	Active
Established	16 November 1945
Headquarters	Paris, France
Website	UNESCO.org

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (French: L'Organisation des Nations unies pour l’éducation, la science et la culture). It is an agency of the United Nations (UN).

UNESCO says its purpose, as defined just after the end of World War II, is "to build the defenses of peace in the minds of men and women". It does this by helping nations work together, through education for all, science, and culture. This is supposed to help other nations follow the rule of law and human rights. It also helps promote some freedoms in the UN Charter.^[1]

UNESCO has 195 Member countries.^[2]

UNESCO tries to achieve what it wants to do through six programs: education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, communication and information. Some projects sponsored by UNESCO are literacy, technical, and teacher-training programmes. UNESCO also decides what will become World Heritage Sites. A World Heritage Site is an important, special, interesting or beautiful place. If a place is a World Heritage Site, the place can not be destroyed, as it can give useful information for the future. The Uluru, for example, gives a lot of information on the culture of Aborigines. UNESCO is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.^[3] and works for Millennium Development Goals.

List of directors

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

References

1 2 "UNESCO History". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
↑ "Member States | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization". Portal.unesco.org. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
↑ "UNDG Members". Undg.org. Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2011-08-08.

Other websites

Official site of UNESCO on which you can find extra information

[history-1] 1 2 "UNESCO History". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 23 April 2010.

[2] "Member States | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization". Portal.unesco.org. Retrieved 23 April 2010.

[3] "UNDG Members". Undg.org. Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2011-08-08.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e International human rights organizations and institutions
Types	Human rights group Human rights commission Human rights institutions Truth and reconciliation commission
International institutions	Committee on the Rights of the Child Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities International Criminal Court Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights UN Human Rights Committee UN Human Rights Council UN Security Council
Regional bodies	African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights African Court of Justice European Court of Human Rights European Committee for the Prevention of Torture Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Multi-lateral bodies	European Union Council of Europe Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Organization of American States (OAS) UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) International Labour Organization (ILO) World Health Organization (WHO) UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) UN Population Fund (UNFPA) UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) UN Development Programme (UNDP) Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)
Major NGOs	Amnesty International FIDH Human Rights Watch Emergency NGO Human Rights First
ICRC – organization with special status based on Geneva Conventions	International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	Germany United States France BnF data Japan Australia Czech Republic Spain Portugal Norway Latvia Croatia Greece Korea Sweden Poland Vatican Israel Catalonia
Academics	CiNii
Artists	ULAN
Other	IdRef Historical Dictionary of Switzerland SNAC ELMCIP Yale LUX