UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United
Nations (UN) based in Paris. Its declared purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting
international collaboration through educational, scientific, and cultural reforms in order to increase
universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom
proclaimed in the United Nations Charter.[2] It is the successor of the League of Nations' International
Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.[3]

UNESCO has 193 member states and 11 associate members.[4] Most of its field offices are "cluster"
offices covering three or more countries; national and regional offices also exist.

UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs: education, natural sciences, social/human
sciences, culture and communication/information. Projects sponsored by UNESCO include literacy,
technical, and teacher-training programs, international science programs, the promotion of independent
media and freedom of the press, regional and cultural history projects, the promotion of cultural
diversity, translations of world literature, international cooperation agreements to secure the world's
cultural and natural heritage (World Heritage Sites) and to preserve human rights, and attempts to
bridge the worldwide digital divide. It is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.[5]

UNESCO's aim is "to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable
development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and
information".[6] Other priorities of the organization include attaining quality Education For All and
lifelong learning, addressing emerging social and ethical challenges, fostering cultural diversity, a culture
of peace and building inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication.[7]

The broad goals and objectives of the international community—as set out in the internationally agreed
development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—underpin all UNESCO
strategies and activities.

History
UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations
resolution on 21 September 1921, to elect a Commission to study feasibility.[8][9] This new body, the
International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC) was indeed created in 1922. On 18 December
1925, the International Bureau of Education (IBE) began work as a non-governmental organization in the
service of international educational development.[10] However, the onset of World War II largely
interrupted the work of these predecessor organizations.

After the signing of the Atlantic Charter and the Declaration of the United Nations, the Conference of
Allied Ministers of Education (CAME) began meetings in London which continued from 16 November
1942 to 5 December 1945. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an international organization was
expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States and
the USSR. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944. Upon the
proposal of CAME and in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on
International Organization (UNCIO), held in San Francisco in April–June 1945, a United Nations
Conference for the establishment of an educational and cultural organization (ECO/CONF) was convened
in London 1–16 November 1945 with 44 governments represented. The idea of UNESCO was largely
developed by Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom, who had a great deal of
influence in its development.[11] At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and
signed by 37 countries, and a Preparatory Commission was established.[12] The Preparatory Commission
operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCO's Constitution
came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state.[13]

The first General Conference took place from 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Dr. Julian
Huxley to Director-General.[14] The Constitution was amended in November 1954 when the General
Conference resolved that members of the Executive Board would be representatives of the governments
of the States of which they are nationals and would not, as before, act in their personal capacity.[15] This
change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the ICIC, in how member states would
work together in the organization's fields of competence. As member states worked together over time
to realize UNESCO's mandate, political and historical factors have shaped the organization's operations in
particular during the Cold War, the decolonization process, and the dissolution of the USSR.

Among the major achievements of the organization is its work against racism, for example through
influential statements on race starting with a declaration of anthropologists (among them was Claude
Lévi-Strauss) and other scientists in 1950[16] and concluding with the 1978 Declaration on Race and
Racial Prejudice.[17] In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO saying that some of
the organization's publications amounted to "interference" in the country's "racial problems."[18] South
Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela.

UNESCO's early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the
Marbial Valley, Haiti, started in 1947.[19] This project was followed by expert missions to other
countries, including, for example, a mission to Afghanistan in 1949.[20] In 1948, UNESCO recommended
that Member States should make free primary education compulsory and universal.[21] In 1990, the
World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a global movement to provide
basic education for all children, youths and adults.[22] Ten years later, the 2000 World Education Forum
held in Dakar, Senegal, led member governments to commit to achieving basic education for all by 2015.
[23]

CONTRIBUTIONS

UNESCO implements its activities through the five programme areas: education, natural sciences, social
and human sciences, culture, and communication and information.
  Education: UNESCO supports research in comparative education; and provide expertise and
fosters partnerships to strengthen national educational leadership and the capacity of countries
to offer quality education for all. This includes the

UNESCO Chairs, an international network of 644 UNESCO Chairs, involving over 770 institutions in 126
countries.

 Environmental Conservation Organisation

 Convention against Discrimination in Education adopted in 1960
 Organization of the International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) in an interval of
12 years
 Publication of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report
 Publication of the Four Pillars of Learning seminal document
 UNESCO ASPNet, an international network of 8,000 schools in 170 countries.
 UNESCO does not accredit institutions of higher learning.[46]

UNESCO also issues public statements to educate the public:

 Seville Statement on Violence: A statement adopted by UNESCO in 1989 to refute the notion
that humans are biologically predisposed to organised violence.
 Designating projects and places of cultural and scientific significance, such as:
 Global Geoparks Network
 Biosphere reserves, through the Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB), since 1971
 City of Literature; in 2007, the first city to be given this title was Edinburgh, the site of Scotland's
first circulating library.[47] In 2008, Iowa City, Iowa became the City of Literature.
 Endangered languages and linguistic diversity projects
 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
 Memory of the World International Register, since 1997
 Water resources management, through the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), since
1965
 World Heritage Sites
 World Digital Library
 Encouraging the "free flow of ideas by images and words" by:
 Promoting freedom of expression, including freedom of the press and freedom of information
legislation, through the Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development,[48]
including the International Programme for the Development of Communication[49]
 Promoting the safety of journalists and combatting impunity for those who attack them,[50]
through coordination of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of
Impunity[51]
 Promoting universal access to and preservation of information and open solutions for
sustainable development through the Knowledge Societies Division,[52] including the Memory
of the World Programme[53] and Information for All Programme[54]
 Promoting pluralism, gender equality and cultural diversity in the media
 Promoting Internet Universality and its principles, that the Internet should be (I) human Rights-
based, (ii) Open, (iii) Accessible to all, and (iv) nurtured by Multi-stakeholder participation
(summarized as the acronym R.O.A.M.)[55]
  Generating knowledge through publications such as World Trends in Freedom of Expression and
Media Development,[56] the UNESCO Series on Internet Freedom,[57] and the Media
Development Indicators,[58] as well as other indicator-based studies.
 Promoting events, such as:
 International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children
of the World: 2001–2010, proclaimed by the UN in 1998
 World Press Freedom Day, 3 May each year, to promote freedom of expression and freedom of
the press as a basic human right and as crucial components of any healthy, democratic and free
society.
 Criança Esperança in Brazil, in partnership with Rede Globo, to raise funds for community-based
projects that foster social integration and violence prevention.
 International Literacy Day
 International Year for the Culture of Peace

The UNESCO transparency portal has been designed to enable public access to information regarding
Organization's activities, such as its aggregate budget for a biennium, as well as links to relevant
programmatic and financial documents. These two distinct sets of information are published on the IATI
registry, respectively based on the IATI Activity Standard and the IATI Organization Standard.

World Health Organization(WHO)

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned
with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, and is headquartered in Geneva,
Switzerland. The WHO is a member of the United Nations Development Group. Its predecessor, the
Health Organisation, was an agency of the League of Nations.

The constitution of the World Health Organization had been signed by 61 countries on 22 July 1946, with
the first meeting of the World Health Assembly finishing on 22 July 1946. It incorporated the Office
International d'Hygiène Publique and the League of Nations Health Organization. Since its establishment,
it has played a leading role in the eradication of smallpox. Its current priorities include communicable
diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS, Ebola, malaria and tuberculosis; the mitigation of the effects of non-
communicable diseases such as sexual and reproductive health, development, and aging; nutrition, food
security and healthy eating; occupational health; substance abuse; and driving the development of
reporting, publications, and networking.

The WHO is responsible for the World Health Report, the worldwide World Health Survey, and World
Health Day. The current Director-General of the WHO is Tedros Adhanom, who started his five-year term
on 1 July 2017.[1]

History

The International Sanitary Conferences, originally held on 23 June 1851, were the first predecessors of
the WHO. A series of 14 conferences that lasted from 1851 to 1938, the International Sanitary
Conferences worked to combat many diseases, chief among them cholera, yellow fever, and the bubonic
plague. The conferences were largely ineffective until the seventh, in 1892; when an International
Sanitary Convention that dealt with cholera was passed. Five years later, a convention for the plague was
signed.[2] In part as a result of the successes of the Conferences, the Pan-American Sanitary Bureau, and
the Office International d'Hygiène Publique were soon founded in 1902 and 1907, respectively. When
the League of Nations was formed in 1920, they established the Health Organization of the League of
Nations. After World War II, the United Nations absorbed all the other health organizations, to form the
WHO.[3]

During the 1945 United Nations Conference on International Organization, Szeming Sze, a delegate from
China, conferred with Norwegian and Brazilian delegates on creating an international health organization
under the auspices of the new United Nations. After failing to get a resolution passed on the subject,
Alger Hiss, the Secretary General of the conference, recommended using a declaration to establish such
an organization. Sze and other delegates lobbied and a declaration passed calling for an international
conference on health.[4] The use of the word "world", rather than "international", emphasized the truly
global nature of what the organization was seeking to achieve.[5] The constitution of the World Health
Organization was signed by all 51 countries of the United Nations, and by 10 other countries, on 22 July
1946.[6] It thus became the first specialized agency of the United Nations to which every member
subscribed.[7] Its constitution formally came into force on the first World Health Day on 7 April 1948,
when it was ratified by the 26th member state.[6] The first meeting of the World Health Assembly
finished on 24 July 1948, having secured a budget of US$5 million (then GB£1,250,000) for the 1949 year.
Andrija Stampar was the Assembly's first president, and G. Brock Chisholm was appointed Director-
General of WHO, having served as Executive Secretary during the planning stages.[5] Its first priorities
were to control the spread of malaria, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections, and to improve
maternal and child health, nutrition and environmental hygiene.[8] Its first legislative act was concerning
the compilation of accurate statistics on the spread and morbidity of disease.[5] The logo of the World
Health Organization features the Rod of Asclepius as a symbol for healing

The WHO's Constitution states that its objective "is the attainment by all people of the highest possible
level of health".[20]

The WHO fulfills this objective through its functions as defined in its Constitution: (a) To act as the
directing and coordinating authority on international health work; (b) To establish and maintain effective
collaboration with the United Nations, specialized agencies, governmental health administrations,
professional groups and such other organizations as may be deemed appropriate; (c) To assist
Governments, upon request, in strengthening health services; (d) To furnish appropriate technical
assistance and, in emergencies, necessary aid upon the request or acceptance of Governments; (e) To
provide or assist in providing, upon the request of the United Nations, health services and facilities to
special groups, such as the peoples of trust territories; (f) To establish and maintain such administrative
and technical services as may be required, including epidemiological and statistical services; (g) to
stimulate and advance work to eradicate epidemic, endemic and other diseases; (h) To promote, in co-
operation with other specialized agencies where necessary, the prevention of accidental injuries; (i) To
promote, in co-operation with other specialized agencies where necessary, the improvement of
nutrition, housing, sanitation, recreation, economic or working conditions and other aspects of
environmental hygiene; (j) To promote co-operation among scientific and professional groups which
contribute to the advancement of health; (k) To propose conventions, agreements and regulations, and
make recommendations with respect to international health matters and to perform.[citation needed]

As of 2012, the WHO has defined its role in public health as follows:[21]

1. providing leadership on matters critical to health and engaging in partnerships where joint action
is needed;
2. shaping the research agenda and stimulating the generation, translation, and dissemination of
valuable knowledge;[22]
3. setting norms and standards and promoting and monitoring their implementation;
4. articulating ethical and evidence-based policy options;
5. providing technical support, catalysing change, and building sustainable institutional capacity;
and
6. monitoring the health situation and assessing health trends.
7. CRVS (Civil Registration and Vital Statistics) to provide monitoring of vital events (birth, death,
wedding, divorce).

Membership

As of 2016, the WHO has 194 member states: all of them Member States of the United Nations except
for the Cook Islands and Niue.[77] (A state becomes a full member of WHO by ratifying the treaty known
as the Constitution of the World Health Organization.) As of 2013, it also had two associate members,
Puerto Rico and Tokelau.[78] Several other countries have been granted observer status. Palestine is an
observer as a "national liberation movement" recognized by the League of Arab States under United
Nations Resolution 3118. The Holy See also attends as an observer, as does the Order of Malta.[79] In
2010, Taiwan was invited under the name of "Republic of China".[80]

WHO Member States appoint delegations to the World Health Assembly, WHO's supreme decision-
making body. All UN Member States are eligible for WHO membership, and, according to the WHO
website, "other countries may be admitted as members when their application has been approved by a
simple majority vote of the World Health Assembly".[77] Liechtenstein is currently the only UN member
not in the WHO membership. The World Health Assembly is attended by delegations from all Member
States, and determines the policies of the Organization.

The Executive Board is composed of members technically qualified in health, and gives effect to the
decisions and policies of the Health Assembly. In addition, the UN observer organizations International
Committee of the Red Cross and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have
entered into "official relations" with WHO and are invited as observers. In the World Health Assembly
they are seated alongside the other NGOs.[79]

Contributions :
WHO's program for primary health care comprises eight essential elements:

1. education concerning prevalent health problems and the methods of preventing and controlling
them;
2. promotion of food supply and proper nutrition;
3. maintenance of an adequate supply of safe water and basic sanitation;
4. provision of maternal and child health care, including family planning;
5. immunization against the major infectious diseases;
6. prevention and control of locally endemic diseases;
7. appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries; and
8. provision of essential drugs.

In 1988, the Executive Board renamed it the Global Programme on AIDS (GPA). Today it is known as
UNAIDS Programme. The main objectives of the global strategy are:

 to prevent HIV infections;

 to reduce the personal and social impact of HIV infection; and
 to mobilize and unify national and international efforts against AIDS.

The global strategy was updated in 1992 to place increased emphasis on:

 health care for AIDS patients;

 treatment for sexually transmitted diseases;
 improving the status of women in developing countries in order to reduce the risk of infection;
 providing more frank information about AIDS;
 planning for the socio-economic impact of the pandemic;
 overcoming stigmatization and discrimination directed at persons infected with HIV/AIDS.

The positive impact of health both as a good in its own right and as a means of advancing economic
development and poverty reduction.

The direct impact of environmental degradation and unsustainable use of natural resources on people's
health, as well as the indirect impact on the livelihoods (and, therefore, health) of the poor.

The need to assess the impact on people's health of development policies and practices.

The importance of partnerships and alliances as a means of addressing threats to health and promoting
sustainable development.