Facts and figures on UNESCO’s reform

UNESCO defines a budget covering two years of operation. The budget in the above graph are in millions of US dollars. The budget defined in the 30th General Conference (2000-2001) was $544 million. The following budgets showed increases until the 36th General Conference (2012-2013) which reached $653 million. Following the most recent reforms, the budget for 2014-2015 is $465 million. In addition to the regular budget financed by assessed contributions, UNESCO also receives voluntary contributions for additional programs and activities.

The international professional staff is composed of persons in the following career steps:

• Junior professionals (grade P-1/P-2) 

The principal goal of employees at these levels is to demonstrate your expertise by participating in the execution of programs and projects, moving in the course of your apprenticeship to higher levels of responsibility. 

• Middle-ranking professionals (grade P-3/P-4) 

Staff at these levels serve as a project leaders in charge of small teams; They launch and develop particular facets of the UNESCO program and gain further professional experience. 

• Management professionals (grade P-5 and D) 

Responsibilities as head of a section, director of a division or director of a UNESCO field office will include direct participation in the preparation and execution of the Organization’s strategy. At this level, staff members will manage budgets and assume leadership roles. 

As the graph shows, the numbers of junior and middle-ranking professionals have increased since 2000, while the numbers of management professionals have decreased.

Click here for the original source of these data. 

UNESCO to make its publications available free of charge as part of a new Open Access policy

UNESCO will make its digital publications available to millions of people around the world free-of-charge with an open license. Following a decision by the Organization’s Executive Board in April, UNESCO has become the first member of the United Nations to adopt such an Open Access policy for its publications. The new policy means that anyone will be able to download, translate, adapt, distribute and re-share UNESCO publications and data without paying.

Read more!

A New Video on UNESCO's History and Programs

Published on Jun 14, 2013

An overview of the principal events that helped create UNESCO.

 In 1945, UNESCO was created in order to respond to the firm belief of nations, forged by two world wars in less than a generation, that political & economic agreements are not enough to build a lasting peace. It is in the minds of men and women that the defenses of peace & the conditions for sustainable development must be built.

Sixty Years of Science at UNESCO 1945-2005 http://j.mp/13BdiD1

This book is now available in PDF format online, free.

Eleanor Roosevelt & Human Rights

When Eleanor Roosevelt was chairing the United Nations Committee that was writing the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, UNESCO was asked to obtain information on whether there were indeed human rights recognized by all cultures. This book was the result of the work of UNESCO drawing upon the foremost thinkers in the world on the topic.

A recent broadcast on American History TV (on CSpan) was devoted to the three volume biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. At the end of the video a member of the audience brings up the fact that the United States is withholding its contributions to UNESCO, and that it will lose voting rights by the time of the next UNESCO General Conference unless it restores that funding.

Click here to watch the video.

From the U.S. National Committee for the Geological Sciences

Facilitating International Cooperation: The IGCP Provides Grants to Scientists
The USNC for Geological Sciences functions as the U.S. focal point for the International Geoscience Program (IGCP), a cooperative enterprise of UNESCO and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). 

The IGCP is and has been stimulating comparative studies in the Earth Sciences since 1972 and facilitates international cooperation by providing small grants to scientists from developing countries, allowing them to work with colleagues from the United States and other, developed nations.

For more information, consult background materials on the IGCP homepage on the UNESCO Website or send an e-mail to IGCP@usgs.gov.  Download and review Proposal Form Guidelines (79 KB PDF).  The deadline for submission and receipt of new project proposals is now closed.