UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a United Nations specialized agency founded in 1946. The UNESCO Secretariat is seated in Paris. In Germany, the programme is implemented by the German Commission for UNESCO on behalf of the German Foreign Office.
UNESCO's objectives are to contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture, and communication in order to further universal respect for democracy, justice, the rule of law, and human rights and fundamental freedoms as affirmed by the Charter of the UN for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language, or religion (Article I.1 of the UNESCO Constitution).
UNESCO's supreme decision-making body is the biennial General Conference. This is composed of representatives from member states and associate members.
UNESCO's scientific programmes
UNESCO's international long-term scientific programmes include:
- the
Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme
- the Management of Social Transformations (MOST) programme
- the International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP), represented in Germany by the Geokommission
- the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), represented in Germany by the German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG)
- the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), represented in Germany by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH)
