Two years ago, on 26 December 2004, a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean took more than 200,000 lives and caused billions of dollars of material damage. The extent of the destruction was largely due to the absence of a regional tsunami warning system. In response to this, I immediately issued a statement that UNESCO would do its utmost to put such a system in place for the region by mid-2006... - More

UNESCO has launched the selection process for five new Fellowships for World Heritage Site Managers offered through the UNESCO-VOCATIONS PATRIMOINE Programme. Professionals involved in the management, safeguarding and development of World Heritage sites as well as young people intending to pursue a career in these areas are invited to submit applications to UNESCO before 31 March 2007... - More

The Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference in October 2005, will enter into force on 18 March 2007, three months after the deposit of the 30th instrument of ratification on 18 December at UNESCO. As of 15 December, 22 instruments of ratification had been registered*... - More

“In the face of the attempts to re-write history that are currently at work, I can but recall in the most emphatic manner that it is our moral duty to analyse the past and to pass it on without falsification, alteration or omission... - More

10 December 2006 (Human Rights Day) is the occasion to consider the situation of human rights throughout the world, assess successes and failures, and reflect on possible solutions to existing challenges... - More

Watch a short video of the nomination of Ukrainian boxers Vitaliy and Wladimir Klitschko as UNESCO Champions for Sport on 4 December... - More

Women represent less than 30% of scientific researchers around the world according to recent research from UNESCO’s Institute of Statistics. There is, however, considerable variation among regions with women accounting for 46% of the research in Latin America and the Caribbean but only 15% in Asia... - More

Each year, World AIDS Day is commemorated on 1 December. This year marks 25 years since the world first heard the acronym ‘AIDS’... - More

The latest issue of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) Bulletin on Science and Technology Statistics analyses women's participation in the research profession and different stages of higher education... - More

The Ukrainian boxers Vitaliy and Wladimir Klitschko will be nominated UNESCO Champions for Sport by Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of the Organization, on 4 December (5.30 p.m., 7th Floor). Ukraine’s First Lady, Kateryna Yushtchenko; Boris Zhbrovsky, First Deputy Minister for Communication and Science; karate champion Laurence Fischer and the boxer Mahyar Monshipour... - More

Can universities continue to serve their traditional role as centres of research and knowledge creation? This is the subject of a colloquium taking place on 29 November to 1 December at UNESCO Headquarters... - More

The World Report on Violence against Children is the first comprehensive global attempt to describe the scale of all forms of violence against children and its impact. It approaches the issue from the perspectives of human rights, public health and child protection. UNESCO participated in the preparation of the report with an analysis of violence in education and corporal punishment in schools... - More

“Water for Life” is the theme UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Jean Michel Jarre has chosen for an exceptional concert among the sand dunes of the Moroccan Sahara on 16 December. The concert will also be one of the highlights marking the end of the United Nations International Year of Deserts and Desertification and part of the UN Water for Life Decade (2005-2015)... - More

The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage met for the first time in Algiers on 18-19 November... - More

Education has moved up on the political agenda over the past 12 months and more children than ever are enrolled in primary school. However, higher spending and more targeted efforts are required to meet the ‘large and urgent’ EFA challenge by 2015, concluded the sixth meeting of the High-Level Group on Education for All (EFA) held in Cairo, Egypt from 14-16 November 2006... - More

Hundreds of philosophers worldwide are participating in World Philosophy Day and International Day for Tolerance celebrations on 16 November... - More

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, has urgently appealed for the release of dozens of people kidnapped today from two departments of Iraq’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. “I call on the hostage-takers to release their captives immediately,” Mr Matsuura said. “These people are innocent. They must be freed, safe and sound.” ... - More

Early Childhood Care and Educationtops the agenda of the High-Level Group on Education for All, which is taking place on 14-16 November in Cairo, Egypt... - More

UNESCO and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, the world’s leading global sport for women, announced today a landmark global partnership to further gender equality and promote women’s leadership in all spheres of society... - More

Climate changes are impacting on all aspects of the human and natural systems, including both cultural and natural World Heritage properties... - More

As of 8 November, 16 States* have ratified the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference in October 2005. It will enter into force three months after the deposit of the 30th instrument of ratification... - More

For Sergueï Markarov (b. 1953), UNESCO’s artist for Peace, a virtuoso musician, laureate of International Competition Casagrande (Italy) professor at Ecole Normale Superieure and a concert pianist, music is not only his passion, it is a higher revelation... - More

UNESCO and University of West Indies Language Unit launch the first authoritative website on Caribbean Indigenous and Endangered Languages (CIEL)... - More

A team of students from schools in Indonesia and Italy has won the 2006 Mondialogo School Contest for raising money to provide free schooling to Indonesian children living off garbage dumps. The results of the competition, initiated by UNESCO and DaimlerChrysler to promote dialogue among young people... - More

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, will name Russian violinist Vladimir Fiodorovich Spivakov as UNESCO Artist for Peace in a ceremony at Organization Headquarters on 7 November at 6 p.m. (Salle des Pas Perdus)... - More

New Delhi is UNESCO’s first Field Office to adopt the new look and feel of UNESCO.ORG. The new site is now an integral part... - More

In an attempt to ease the suffering of Lebanese people affected during the recent hostilities in Lebanon, UNESCO and its partners have launched an Information Communication Technology (ICT) initiative through the... - More

Twenty-five new sites, including one transboundary reserve straddling Spain and Morocco, have been added to the global Network of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, which has been pioneering the practice of sustainable development on a scientific basis for over 30 years.... - More

“The Children of Darfur”, directed by Denmark’s Camilla Nielsson and produced by UNESCO, receives the International TV3 Actual Award today in Barcelona, Spain, a 10,000-euro... - More

How to avoid fragmenting the internet; how to ensure the free flow of information in cyberspace; and how to respect the basic human right of freedom of expression on the web are among the... - More

The UNITWIN directory, now in its fifth edition, is now available online. It is an important networking tool for one of UNESCO’s major education networks... - More

Monique Ilboudo, Burkina Faso’s Minister for the Promotion of Human Rights calls for a change in the world’s approach to the fight against poverty... - More

The UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence Against Children was presented to the UN General Assembly on 11 October... - More

An international panel of judges and experts in design, marketing and handicraft production have gathered across four regions in Asia over the last few weeks to judge a record number of entries for the 2006 UNESCO Seal of Excellence in Handicrafts (referred to as the SEAL)... - More

Google and the Literacy Campaign (Litcam), an initiative of the Frankfurt Book Fair, have launched The Literacy Project, a resource for teachers, literacy organizations and anyone interested in the promotion of reading and education... - More

What role will UNESCO play in the context of globalization? How will the UN reform affect the Organization? These questions were addressed during a thematic debate organized by UNESCO’s Executive Board on 4 October... - More

The Education portal is the first major theme (Education, Science, Culture, Communication & Information) to adopt the new look and feel of UNESCO.ORG... - More

In light of the thematic debate on UN reform and the future of UNESCO, taking place this Thursday at UNESCO Headquarters, the Chairman of UNESCO's Executive Board, answers several questions regarding this year's unique... - More

UNESCO is launching a call for Feature Segment proposals for a series of production grants. The selected segments will be produced, incorporated into a 12-episode news magazine, “21st Century”, and distributed to broadcasters worldwide... - More

René Depestre is a Haitian writer, the author notably of the award-winning “Hadriana dans tous mes rêves” (“Hadriana in All My Dreams”)... - More

UNESCO and the BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation, have agreed to work together to provide high-quality television programmes on science and technology to developing nations in Africa and Asia... - More

Malaysia and Tunisia devote substantially greater shares of their national wealth to education than almost every country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), according to a new report by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics... - More

wenty-five partner teams representing 50 schools from 37 countries have been selected as finalists for this year’s Mondialogo School Contest. The finalists were selected by a panel of experts and endorsed by the contest’s international jury, who met at UNESCO headquarters on Wednesday 20 September... - More

UNESCO is hailing White House Conference on Global Literacy on 18 September as a great success. The Conference was hosted in New York by Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States and Honorary Ambassador for the United Nations Literacy Decade... - More

Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States and Honorary Ambassador for the United Nations Literacy Decade, will host the first-ever White House Conference on Global Literacy at the New York Public Library in New York City on 18 September, 2006... - More

Looking at your shadow (the shorter it is, the more dangerous UV radiation is*), and covering up with hats, sunglasses and sunscreen, are among the practical tips for children contained in a new guide on the ozone layer for primary school teachers... - More

Shigar Fort Palace in Skardu, Northern Areas, Pakistan has been honoured with the Award of Excellence in the 2006 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation... - More

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today announced that the Organization will send a mission of experts, from September 10 to 16, to assess the potential damage caused to cultural sites in the recent conflict in Lebanon.... - More

International Literacy Day is celebrated each year on 8 September. Literacy is essential for sustainable human development in today’s society... - More

Innovative, creative, public-service oriented documentaries, short fiction films and television magazines have now been selected to be screened at “The Open Frame"... - More

UNESCO has formed an alliance with public and private institutions to promote educational experiences for learning about and caring for the cultural of Chile... - More

A two-day United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) workshop designed to help raise students' awareness of HIV/AIDS has been held in Kabul... - More

UNESCO is inviting young researchers in developing countries to apply for grants through the UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowship Programme, financed for the seventh time by Japan through funds-in-trust dedicated to the development of human resources... - More

UNESCO will assist the Lebanese government by providing support for vocational education, children and youth traumatized by recent events, and helping to preserve the country’s rich cultural heritage... - More

Eighteen talented students and two teachers from Baghdad’s Music and Ballet School studied instrument lessons, solfege theory, music appreciation and ballet at a summer music programme in Jordan from 24 July to 17 August 2006... - More

A team of experts from UNESCO went to Lebanon last week to assess the damage to cultural heritage sites and evaluate the post-conflict status of the education system... - More

Almost one thousand representatives of civil society, governments and the business world will participate in the International Conference on Disaster Reduction in Davos (Switzerland) on 27 August to 1 September... - More

The VII Meeting for the Promotion and Dissemination of Intangible Heritage of the Ibero-American Countries will be held in Venezuela from 17 - 22 October 2006,... - More

Four UNESCO experts today begin a five-day mission in Lebanon where they will meet Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and members of his government to determine how the Organization will help the country’s early recovery efforts... - More

UNESCO has launched a joint programme with L’ORÉAL to promote the contribution of young women in the field of life sciences... - More

“UNESCO has already launched two urgent appeals to the belligerents to ensure that the hostilities spare the site and its surroundings, which are part of the ancestral heritage of humanity, and avert the total destruction feared by all... - More

UNESCO and the European Athletic Association (EAA) and the concluded a Memorandum of Understanding on the eve of the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg... - More

The Sharjah Prize rewards the efforts of a national of an Arab Member State and a national of any other country, each of whom have contributed through artistic, intellectual or promotional pursuits, to the development and diffusion of Arab culture in the world... - More

UNESCO, through its Information for All Programme, will soon launch an international “community of practice” on local e-government, thanks to the Spanish Government funding a series of UNESCO e-government projects... - More

Countries in the Indian Ocean must give priority to helping coastal communities to protect themselves in case of a tsunami warning, delegates were told at the 3rd meeting of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System, which opened here today... - More

UNESCO's Young Digital Creators Educator's Kit has just been published and is now available online.It enables young people to using ICT creatively to address global challenges of development, cultural diversity and inter-cultural dialogue... - More

Fifty participants from various European countries are biking the Western Balkans from 24th June to 15th July 2006 in order to promote local sustainable development... - More

Representatives from UNESCO and twenty-one other UN agencies met in Geneva on 14 July 2006 to launch the United Nations Group on the Information Society (UNGIS)... - More

The number of States Parties to the International Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage has surpassed 50.... - More

The National Museum of Archaeology provided the perfect setting for the launch of Malta's World Heritage Sites 360 degrees. The new publication, supported by HSBC Cares For Malta's Heritage Fund, is the first to showcase all of Malta's UNESCO World Heritage Sites together... - More

Eighteen new sites were added to the World Heritage List during the 30th session of the World Heritage Committee, which met on 8-16 July in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius... - More

UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura made an appeal today at the G8 Summit in St Petersburg (Russian Federation) for more support from the international community to fill the financial gap so that developing countries, particularly in Africa, can achieve key basic education goals... - More

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