“Information Literacy Indicators and Government Action recommendations”

UNESCO meeting in Puerto Rico 11 August

“Information Literacy Indicators and Government Action recommendations” is the name of this International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) Off-site Session, organised by the IFLA Information Literacy Section and the UNESCO Information for All Program. It takes place on August 11, 2011 at the Universidad Politécnica de Puerto Rico (377 Ponce de León Ave. Hato Rey, PR 00918 San Juan, Puerto Rico).

The themes of this full-day meeting are:

• Information Literacy Indicators (in the morning) and
• Government Action Recommendations (in the afternoon).

The IFLA website has full information on the meeting and allows online registration.

La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site:
A World Heritage Site  in Puerto Rico  © Ulises Jorge

UNESCO Releases Report of Expert Meeting

UNESCO) has released the outcome of the meeting on the future of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), held , in Paris, France on 10 June 2011. The meeting’s outcome calls for representation of key stakeholders and recommends elements of a knowledge generation strategy. Read more....

© Joly Carlos IPBES Experts Meeting, UNESCO, Paris, 10 June 2011

PROFILES: AMERICANS AT UNESCO

Dr. Raymond Wanner

The U.S. Mission to UNESCO has opened a facet for its website highlighting Americans working at or with UNESCO. One of the first to be highlighted is Ray Wanner. Ray, the Senior Vice President of Americans for UNESCO, also currently serves as Senior Adviser on UNESCO Affairs to the United Nations Foundation, and Governing Board Chair of UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). Read an interview with Dr. Wanner!

Opening of the UNESCO-related Center on the use of Space Technologies for Cultural and Natural heritage"

On 25 July 2011 the UNESCO space partner, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, opens an International Center under the auspices of UNESCO.

© Cnes 2009 - Distribution Astrium Services / Spot Image.
The Ilulissat Icefjord monitored from space.

The new established International Center under the auspices of UNESCO is being hosted by the Centre of Earth Observation and Digital Earth (CEODE). CEODE is an outstanding institution of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that has, under the same roof, activities related to satellite data reception, satellite date processing and the Digital Earth initiative. This International Center, established in collaboration with UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Sector, will bring to UNESCO all the expertise and know-how of CEODE with the aim of strengthening inter-sectorial cooperation.  Read more.....

Iraq launches groundwater database to reduce uncertainty in the country’s water supply

Map produced using
MAPS'N'FACTS The Learning Company Software

Representatives of the government, academia and the international community recently met at a high-level gathering in Baghdad to inaugurate the country’s first centralized groundwater database and commission the next phase of the multi-million dollar initiative led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The seminar officially revealed positive phase one results of the nationwide initiative launched in 2010 by UNESCO. Read more.....

Check out UNESCO report on water resources in Iraq!

15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists: Leadership, Innovation, Sustainability

The International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES) has been held every three years since 1964 and provides an important forum for the exchange of information and ideas for women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This year, ICWES is being held in Adelaide, Australia, on 19-22 July under the theme Leadership, Innovation, Sustainability. Read more.....

UNESCO Clubs to meet in Viet Nam in August

The Vietnam Federation of UNESCO Associations has been authorized to host the 8th World Congress of the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centers and Associations (WFUCA) in Hanoi from 18th to 22nd August 2011.

Check out:

• The website of the World Federation
• The press release announcing the meeting
• The UNESCO website supporting UNESCO Clubs, Centers and Associations

The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO identifies three UNESCO clubs in the United States. While there are an estimated 3,800 clubs in 80 nations worldwide, the number in the United States is quite small, probably due to the fact that the United States withdrew from UNESCO for 18 years. Apparently, only Americans for UNESCO of the U.S. UNESCO clubs remained active during all of that interval. With the reentry of the United States into UNESCO in 2003, it would seem time to renew and revive the network of U.S. UNESCO clubs.

Left to Right: Guy Djoken of the UNESCO Center of Peace, Eric Woodard of the U.S. Naitonal Commission for UNESCO, and Andre Varchaver of Americans for UNESCO.

Guy Djoken, the President of the UNESCO Center for Peace in Frederick Maryland has recently been named to chair a working group to help coordinate the UNESCO clubs in the United States. Read more...

For life, for the future - Biosphere reserves and climate change, a collection of good practice case studies

UNESCO has released a publication that demonstrates, through a selection of 28 case studies from around the world, that UNESCO biosphere reserves are ideal places to test, evaluate and implement comprehensive climate change policies.

The publication underlines that while climate change is the dominant challenge to sustainable development, it is not the only challenge. It underscores that none of the other well-known challenges to sustainability has disappeared, including poverty, malnutrition, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functions, demographic change, desertification, water scarcity, urbanization, an altered nitrogen cycle, pollution, etc., and argues that any isolated policy implementation focusing only on climate change "is likely to do more harm than good." One of the report's main messages is that UNESCO biosphere reserves around the globe can be suitable places for testing or implementing new, comprehensive policies on climate change mitigation and adaptation, once all other variables need to be included into the equation.

UNESCO Joins Hands With Ford Motor Company To Drive Awareness Of Conservation And Environmental Grants

Source: Middle East Events

Entries Now Open For 2011 Ford Grants Offering Funding For Local Environmental Groups. A Total Of US$100,000 Available For Grass Roots Green Initiatives In GCC And Levant. US$1.1million Granted To 130+ Local Environmental Initiatives Across The GCC And Levant Countries Since 2000.

Read more!

New UNESCO project aims to improve early warning for floods in Pakistan

As part of its efforts to help Pakistan tackle natural disasters, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and partners have launched a project to upgrade the early warning system in the South Asian nation, which last year experienced the worst flooding in 80 years.
Heavy monsoon rains in July 2010 battered the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Baluchistan, causing floods that affected over 20 million people, killed nearly 2,000 and made 1.9 million homeless.

The project, implemented by UNESCO, in cooperation with the Pakistani Government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, aims to, among other things, reduce the human and socio-economic impact of the floods and encourage the development of safer dwellings close to flood plains.

Read more!

The U.S. Had Great Hopes for UNESCO When UNESCO Was Founded

President Harry Truman believed UNESCO could make "the greatest contribution in the history of the world to the welfare of the world as a whole", as quoted in the Miami News article covering the meeting of the U.S. National Commission on Educational, Scientific and Cultural Co-operation (now known as the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO) on September 27, 1946.

According to that article, the National Commission made several recommendations:

Brian O’Dwyer appointed to UNESCO commission

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has appointed New York Irish-American attorney Brian O’Dwyer as Commissioner of the United States National Commission for UNESCO. The panel works with the State Department to further American participation in the United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization.

O’Dwyer, managing partner of the renowned Manhattan-based law firm of O’Dwyer and Bernstien, regularly commentates on legal issues for Fox TV, Court TV, CNBC, New York 1 and CNN en Español.

Widely known for his advocacy in support of the rights of labor unions and immigrants, he presently serves as chairman of New York’s Emerald Isle Immigration Center and Asociacion Tepeyac, which serves the city’s Mexican immigrant community.

Read more from the Irish Emigrant Online!

Happy Birthday MAB

2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program. Among planned activities is a web-based forum, in which various dimensions and activities of MAB will be addressed. The idea is to encourage contributions on what has been learned over the last four decades – what has worked and what has not worked, and why.

The MAB Program was conceived, planned and launched some four decades ago. It is science-based, with multiple stakeholders and constituencies. It combines research, education and training, demonstration and the synthesis of information for different audiences. It involves cooperation at nested scales – local, sub-national, national, regional and global. It seeks to combine "philosophical visions" and innovative concepts with collaborative problem-solving work in selected parts of the biosphere where people live and work. It is firmly based on national priorities and efforts.

The overall objective is to reconcile the conservation of biological diversity with socio-economic needs and cultural integrity – in short, sustainable development. Today, the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) includes 563 biosphere reserves in 110 countries worldwide.

The United States was an early and active member of MAB and entered some 50 locations in the worldwide network of biosphere reserves. Scientists working in those reserves were active in exchanging information with their colleagues working in reserves in other countries and in building the scientific capacity of the network. When the United States withdrew from UNESCO, for a number of years the Congress appropriated funds to the State Department to continue U.S. scientific cooperation with MAB. However, in later years not only were those contributions no longer provided, but the U.S. National Committee for MAB was disbanded and the State Department stopped participating in MAB activities. The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO has recommended that the United States return to full involvement in MAB, and it is hoped that the Congress will soon support that reengagement.

One of the U.S. Biosphere Reserves

Americans Honored at UNESCO IOC

UNESCO recently announced that three Americans would be honored with the IOC 50th Anniversary Commemorative medal for their exemplary dedication to the IOC, it’s mission, and continuing support for IOC activities.

The Americans being honored are James Baker, Louis Brown and Sydney Levitus.

You can read more about them here.

James Baker

Louis Brown

Sydney Levitus

American film star Forest Whitaker's new role: UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador

Forest Whitaker with
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova

UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova will designate American actor, director and producer Forest Whitaker as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation. The nomination ceremony will take place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 21 June, at 6 p.m.

The designation comes in recognition of Mr Whitaker’s humanitarian and artistic commitment. This is most visible in his projects, such as “Better Angels”, a film about Ugandan child soldiers or “Common Destiny”, a documentary about the common goals of achieving peace and mutual understanding, and the power of education in promoting peace and reconciliation between and within communities.

Forest Whitaker was born in 1961 in Texas, USA. He studied opera in California to become a tenor singer but decided to focus on film acting eventually and moved to study in London. Since his film debut in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” in 1982, he has been one of Hollywood’s most accomplished figures. His best known performances include his roles as jazzman Charlie Parker in “Bird”, for which he was awarded the Palme d’Or in Cannes for best actor in 1989, and as Ugandan leader Idi Amin in “Last King of Scotland”, for which he received an Academy Award in 2006.

Interview with George Papagiannis

The U.S. Mission to UNESCO sat down with George Papagiannis, the Officer in charge of the UNESCO Office in Baghdad, to find out how he ended up in Iraq, what work he is doing there with UNESCO, and why UNESCO matters. This is one of a series of interviews with Americans working in UNESCO.

World Water Day 2011 – 22 March

Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge

The objective of World Water Day 2011 is to focus international attention on the impact of rapid urban population growth, industrialization and uncertainties caused by climate change, conflicts and natural disasters on urban water systems.

This year’s theme, Water for cities: responding to the urban challenge, aims to spotlight and encourage governments, organizations, communities, and individuals to actively engage in addressing the challenge of urban water management.

• Message from the Director-General
• Full story & UNESCO events
• Access the Day’s official website

Jillian Banfield profiled in L’Oréal-UNESCO video

Jillian Banfield, UC Berkeley professor of earth and planetary science, of environmental science policy and management and of materials science, was one of five women honored on March 3 at the 13th Annual L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards ceremony in Paris. The elaborate festivities included the showing of a video interview with Banfield, who discussed her research and her philosophy of science. Read more...

The Economist magazine interviews UNESCO Chief Irina Bokova

U.S., Caribbean to test tsunami warning system

"Following the devastating tsunami that struck Japan, the U.S. and 32 other countries are preparing to participate in the first full-scale simulated tsunami alert exercise in the Caribbean, UNESCO says.

"Caribbean countries will receive an alert concerning a fictitious earthquake of 7.6 magnitude off the coast of the U.S. Virgin Islands."

Read more of the South Florida Business Journal article!


Read the UNESCO news article on the simulation!

Check out the UNESCO tsunami program!

The University of Puerto Rico provides this great video on the threat of tsunamis in the Caribbean.

Congratulations to Jillian Banfield

Jillian F. Banfield, a UC Berkeley biogeochemist, geomicrobiologist and professor of materials science and engineering, will receive two prestigious awards -- the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Science and the L'Oreal-UNESCO "For Women in Science" award -- for her groundbreaking work on how microbes alter rocks and interact with the natural world.

UNESCO suspends cooperation with Libya

Source: The Associated Press via the Washington Post.

UNESCO's chief says the organization is stopping all cooperation with Libya's government and suspending a partnership with a charity group headed by Moammar Gadhafi's son.


The Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization says director-general Irina Bokova took the measures after recent U.N. actions critical of Libya's human rights record.

America, the UN and the Future of Communications

"In May of this year, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and other UN organizations such as UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, are scheduled to convene in Geneva to talk about regulation of the growth and development of the Internet......

"The fight over ICANN (the Corporation for Assigned Names and Number) -- a southern California corporation operating with a license from the U.S. Department of Commerce, which began in a conference in Tunis, Tunisia in the Mediterranean, sponsored by the UN and its sister agencies -- was only the opening salvo. It is not surprising that the idea of forming a special international agency to regulate ICANN failed at Tunis as the agenda and impetus for change was too narrow. This may change as nations around the world awaken to the importance of creating a robust communications infrastructure. They will likely be less dependent and less willing to accept what has been considered a one-way flow of information and communications goods and services from the United States.

"National regulators and policy makers worldwide are looking for some way to harness Internet growth and development, and of course, control the flow of communications in the world. Not surprisingly, concerns with the U.S.'s dominance of media flow do not extend to the developing nations alone. Europe and other developed nations have expressed frustrations too.

"So what will be the U.S. position? Indeed, what if anything is the U.S. doing to meet the challenges and concerns of the rest of the world? It isn't clear."

Read more!

UNESCO does not fare well in UK review

The Department for International Development of the United Kingdom has just completed a review of the multilateral agencies it has been funding. Here is the summary table:

DfID also provided a comparison chart among the multilateral agencies that were evaluated:

The development objectives of the United Kingdom are very similar to those of the United States. The top graph indicates that. in the opinion of the evaluators, the organization has considerable room for improvement, The lower graph indicates that UNESCO was judged almost uniquely weak among a wide variety of development agencies.

The Government of the United Kingdom decided on the basis of this information to continue funding UNESCO, but to impose "special measures". Here is the statement it provided in its document "Taking Forward the Findings of the UK Multilateral Aid Review":

UNESCO contributes to a range of UK government objectives, including monitoring progress on Education for All. The UK’s membership of UNESCO also brings broader benefits to the UK, in Culture, Heritage, Education and Science. UNESCO’s new leadership team is committed to reform. DFID will continue to support UNESCO, including by funding the core assessed contribution, which will be about £16m in each of the next two years. DFID will reassess progress towards improved effectiveness, with other government departments, in autumn 2012. DFID is discussing with UNESCO, and its member states, what measures need to be taken to urgently improve its performance. 

Priorities include:-

• Greater transparency
• A more focused, evidence based programme
• A focus on controlling transaction, administration and other costs
• A major improvement in results based management.

If these measures are not implemented satisfactorily and performance does not improve, then the UK will consider whether it should continue to be a member of UNESCO, or whether there are more effective ways of supporting our objectives on education, culture and heritage.

Click here to see the evaluation and the reply from UNESCO.

Call for nominations: UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize

UNESCO is inviting nominations for the fourth award of the UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize. This invitation is extended to all Member States, in consultation with their National Commissions, as well as to international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) maintaining official relations with UNESCO and whose work is in the field of preservation and conservation of documentary heritage.

Click here to go to the website with full information!

The Economist on January 13 published an appreciation of Gene Smith who died in December, 2010. Tibetan monasteries had collected manuscripts over some 1500 years, until the Chinese occupation of Tibet when monasteries "were ransacked and destroyed. Not only books were burned, but also the carved wooden blocks from which they were printed. Fleeing Tibetans tried to save the texts" as they sought asylum in other countries, but many were lost; the rest were disbursed widely in the places of sanctuary.

Over five decades, Mr Smith made it his business to put Tibetan literature back together. He did it more or less single-handedly, fired by his love of the language and the culture and aided by a brain that rapidly became an encyclopedia of lineages, sutras, lives of lamas, and the history and ownership of every book he came across......

Armed only with fistfuls of rupees and with letters of introduction from his Tibetan teacher, Deshung Rinpoche, to various lamas, he trawled through Indian libraries and then travelled into the hills. There, though still fearful of exposing their treasures, exiled Tibetan monks showed him the texts they had; and, with the money he gave them, printed more. In the end the PL480 programme saved 8,000 books, each of which was printed in 20 or so copies for American centres of research.....

In 1999 Mr Smith set up the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre, first in Boston and then in New York, and set about putting his 12,000-volume collection, the largest anywhere, online. By his death he and his team had scanned 7m pages of text and had made CDs of files, such as the 110-volume kangyur, or teachings of the Buddha, which were too huge to download. As for the books themselves, he left them to a university in China: the place where, despite everything, he felt Tibetan Buddhism would eventually flourish again.

Perhaps Mr. Smith merits a posthumous award of the Jikji Memory of the World Prize.

UNESCO: Enhancing flood management in Pakistan

© UN Photo/Evan Schneider - 

A view of heavy flooding caused by monsoon 

rains in Punjab Province, Pakistan (2010)

Last July’s catastrophic floods in Pakistan underlined the country’s need to better understand, predict and manage hydrological extremes – floods and droughts. To help strengthen Pakistan’s capacities, UNESCO is organizing a workshop at the National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) in Islamabad from 24 to 26 January.

• UNESCO's Pakistan Flood Response
• UNESCO's International Hydrological Program

International Year of Chemistry 2011

Irina Bokova's, Director General of UNESCO, video message for the Opening of the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) 2011.

The Official International Launch Ceremony for IYC 2011 will take place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 27-28 January 2011. The agenda includes an international seminar, an exhibition, and other related social and cultural events.

• Full story
• Official launch ceremony
• You can participate, too: see how
• Where would we be without chemistry?
• Art and Science of Chemistry: exhibition, film, concert

2011 -- The International Year of Forests

Preparations for the observance of Forests 2011 are taking place at the national, regional and international levels.


To celebrate Forests 2011, the United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat (UNFFS) is working in collaboration with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival to organise the International Forest Film Festival (IFFF).

IFFF winning films will be presented to delegates of all 192 countries at the launch of the International Year of Forests 2011 at United Nations Headquarters, New York in February, 2011. The launch of the International Year will take place as part of the official program of the ninth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF). Subsequently, the winning films will also be screened around the world.

The International Forest Film Festival aims to raise awareness on the importance of forests, their relationship with people and the planet we share, and consequently, to inspire a sense of personal responsibility/stewardship for a greener, more equitable, sustainable future.

It's the International Year of Youth (IYY)!

The new edition of A World of Science is out

Vol. 9, No. 1
January–March 2011

In focus
     Where would we be without chemistry?
news

• engineer shortage a threat to development, says report
• earthquake monitoring stations for nepal
• the best weapon against cancer: a healthy lifestyle
• experts advocate geoengineering research programme
• Groundwater to alleviate iraq’s water shortages
• ten medals in nanoscience and nanotechnologies
• eleven sites added to Global Geoparks network
• Countries sign up for nagoya Biodiversity Compact
• experts call for assessment of microplastics in oceans

IntervIew


     Jean-Christophe Balouet investigates an environmental crime

HorIzons

• science without borders
• Biodiversity in a kit

In BrIef

• Diary
• new releases

Editorial: The United States should support the the Arnold Schönberg Estate for Memory of the World

Schönberg Hall at UCLA

The Government of Austria has proposed the Arnold Schönberg estate for inclusion in the Memory of the World Register for 2011. I strongly recommend that the United States Government join with Austria in sponsoring this action. Arnold Schönberg sought refuge from the Nazi government by moving to the United States in the 1930s. He lived in Los Angeles from 1934 until his death in 1951. He taught at both the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Southern California. He had an great influence on many composers worldwide, but notably during his time in the United States he taught and influenced many American composers.

Each of the universities named the building housing its music department after him. There exists an archive of materials related to his time in the United States at UCLA, and an archive of his correspondence at the Library of Congress. The major archive of his work was housed at the University of Southern California for a quarter of a century before the Arnold Schönberg family moved it to the Arnold Schönberg Center in Vienna. The U.S.C. library in its history of the archive states:

During its 25-year existence, the Institute Archive supported the research of thousands of researchers and scholars--hosting an average of 86 on-site researchers per year (whose average stay was 3 days each), and responding to more than 570 off-site requests for information per year (about 200 letters, 150 telephone inquiries, 90 faxes, and 140 e-mails). The Archive also provided hundreds of thousands of pages of photocopies and thousands of photographs (as well as other materials such as books, films, videos, and microfilm) to users over this period of time.

I would recommend that the United States delegation to UNESCO discuss the possibility of a joint sponsorship of the archive with the Austrian delegation, considering adding the archives in the United States to those in Austria for inclusion in the Representative List.

John Daly
The opinion presented in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Americans for UNESCO.

Lidia Brito: 2010 UNESCO science report

Click here to go to the UNESCO Science Report 2010 website, from which you can download the report in any of several languages.

Editorial: A Suggestion for the Memory of the World Register

"Memory of the World" is UNESCO's program aiming at preservation and dissemination of valuable archive holdings and library collections worldwide. It maintains a register that lists documentary heritage which has been recommended by the International Advisory Committee, and endorsed by the Director-General of UNESCO, as corresponding to the selection criteria regarding world significance and outstanding universal value.

Currently, three entries are included in the register from the United States:

• John Marshall Ju/'hoan Bushman Film and Video Collection, 1950-2000
• The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming 1939), produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii aliorumque Lustrationes

There are of course many archives and library collections in the United States. It is not clear to me by what process these three were chosen by our government as the most significant among them of the most outstanding universal value.

The United States (sometimes in cooperation with other nations) has currently suggested two archives for consideration for addition to the register:

• Dutch West India Company (Westindische Compagnie) Archives
• Landsat Program records including the Multispectral Scanner, Thematic Mapper, and Enhanced Thematic Mapper and sensors

Both of these appear strong candidates amply fulfilling the criteria for inclusion.

I have previously suggested that the U.S. Government recommend the archives of Eleanor Roosevelt's Papers at George Washington University for inclusion in the register. The papers are especially important because of Mrs. Roosevelt's critically important involvement in the creation of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are especially relevant to UNESCO because of her support for that organization and the ideas that it represents.

This posting is to suggest that the U.S. Government recommend that the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress for inclusion in the Memory of the World Registry. Each year, the Library of Congress receives recommendations from the public as to which 25 movies ought to be included in the registry, which, with the 2010 crop, will include 550 films. This year those 25 films were selected from over 2,000 nominations. Films must be more than a decade old to be considered, and the current registry includes films a century or more old. The criteria for inclusion in the Library of Congress Registry are comparable to those of the UNESCO registry, the selection procedure is comparably strong, and the Library of Congress can be depended upon to preserve the films in the archive as well as any institution in the world. The U.S. film industry is globally important both because of its pioneering of the medium, and because of the huge impact American films have had globally over the past century.

Alternatively, the recommendation might be expanded to include the film archives of the Library of Congress Motion Picture Conservation Center, which currently holds and conserves more than 100 million feet of nitrate film donated by the major producers of the U.S. film industry and dating from the 1890s through 1950. These films were collected by the MPCC in collaboration with the American Film Institute, which maintains the Louis B. Mayer Library which has an important archive of books, scripts, research and other film materials, and which might be included in a recommendation to UNESCO providing an exceptional archive of films and film related materials.

John Daly
The opinions expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Americans for UNESCO or any other organization.

The Library of Congress

International Symposium on Freedom of Expression

UNESCO is holding an ‘International Symposium on Freedom of Expression‘ on 26 January 2011, with the support of the Swedish National Commission for UNESCO. The meeting will gather some 300 participants including government officials, policymakers and World Press Freedom Prize winners, representatives of major non-governmental organizations, and media professionals.

This event provides an excellent opportunity for UNESCO to reiterate its values and mandate, particularly its mission to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image. Indeed, the Organization has always promoted the value of information and communication for “advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples”, and has emphasized the links between the free flow of ideas and the broader objective of preventing wars and constructing the defenses of peace.

One panel session will focus on freedom of expression on the Internet. It is expected that the UNESCO publication from the Oxford Internet Institute, entitled ‘Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression‘, will be launched. A penultimate draft of the manuscript is online at SSRN, but a print version will be available by the date of the symposium.

Endangered Language Fund Announces Call for Applications

Deadline for Applications: April 20, 2011

The Endangered Language Fund provides grants for language maintenance and linguistic field work.

The fund is most likely to support work that serves both the native community and the field of linguistics. Work that has immediate applicability to one group and more distant application to the other will also be considered. Publishing projects are a low priority, although they will be considered for grants. Proposals can originate in any country. The language involved must be in danger of disappearing within a generation or two.

Grants in this round are expected to be less than $4,000 and to average about $2,000. Eligible expenses include consultant fees, tapes, films, travel, etc. Overhead is not allowed.

Grants are normally for a one-year period, though extensions may be requested

Researchers and language activists from any country are eligible to apply. Awards can be made to institutions, but no administrative (overhead, indirect) costs are covered.

Visit the Endangered Language Fund Web site for complete program guidelines and application procedures.

2011: The International Year of Chemisty

IYC, organized by UNESCO and the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), will celebrate chemistry's vital contributions. To launch the Year, eminent chemists including several Nobel laureates will attend a conference at UNESCO on 27 and 28 January.

• IYC objectives
• IYC website

4 Directors General in one photo

UNESCO-International Council for Science

In July, a small International Council for Science (ICSU) delegation headed by the Executive Director Deliang Chen met with Gretchen Kalonji, the new UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, and her colleagues at UNESCO. Discussions centered on potential areas of cooperation between the two organizations, including the initiative emerging from the ICSU visioning process, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR), the new Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS), and science education. It was agreed that there is potential to hold joint regional workshops throughout 2011 in preparation for the UN Earth Summit in 2012 (Rio+20), and that ICSU and UNESCO need to show leadership regarding the contribution of PECS and DIVERSITAS to the new Intergovernmental Science-Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Quotation

The House of UNESCO is a place. But it is also an idea that lies at the heart of our quest for a better world. 
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
On the sixty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in Paris, 14 December 2010

Transboundary Aquifers: Challenges and New Directions

ISARM 2010: 6-8 December 2010

UNESCO, Paris (France)

This ISARM (Internationally Shared Aquifer Resources Management) conference marks the end of the first, ten-year, phase of the ISARM Programme and the start of the second. It aims to consider the challenges and new directions required for the sustainable development and management of transboundary aquifers.

ISARM is a UNESCO- and International Association of Hydrogeologists-led multi-agency effort aimed at improving the understanding of scientific and socio-economic issues related to the management of transboundary aquifers.

UNESCO's Priorities for the XXI Century

Asma Jahangir, 2010 UNESCO/Bilbao Laureate

December 10 = Human Rights Day

The theme for Human Rights Day 2010 – 10 December – is "Human Rights' Defenders who act to end Discrimination". Human rights' defenders acting against discrimination, often at great personal risk to both themselves and their families, are being recognized and acclaimed. At this occasion, the UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights will be awarded to Asma Jahangir (Pakistan) in recognition of her exceptional and courageous contribution to building a universal culture of human rights. The Award Ceremony will take place in Bilbao (Spain). More on the UNESCO celebration.......

When Eleanor Roosevelt presented the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the UN General Assembly, she proclaimed: "We stand today at the threshold of a great event, both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind." On December 10, 1948, the world moved to recognize and protect the equal and inalienable rights of all people, inspiring individuals around the globe to claim the rights that are our common heritage.
Hillary Rodham Clinton

Congratulations to Professor Jillian BANFIELD

Professor Banfield was one of five laureates of the 2011 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards. Each year, five outstanding women scientists – one per continent – are honoured for the contributions of their research, the strength of their commitments and their impact on society. The awards ceremony will take place on March 3, 2011 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Each Laureate will receive US $100,000 in recognition of her contribution to science.

Dr. Banfield is Professor of Earth and Planetary Science, of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, and of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. She was honored "for her work on bacterial and material behaviour under extreme conditions relevant to the environment and the Earth."

Read more about the new laureates.

Ethics and Bioethics -- Our common future, Our planet, Our oasis

Gretchen Kalonji on the UNESCO Natural Science Program

Gretchen Kalonji was appointed Assistant Director General of UNESCO and placed in charge of its Natural Science Program earlier this year. She is the highest ranking American on the UNESCO staff.

Dr. Kalonji at the meeting on the 

Conference on Biological Diversity

She recently spoke at the SciTech Europe conference. I quote from the coverage of her remarks:

"We exist to serve our member states," Kalonji said at Public Service Events' SciTech Europe conference. "One of the strengths of UNESCO is that we house large-scale intergovernmental science programmes, most of which focus on areas of science that really can't be done by one nation alone."

Some 200 UNESCO chairs sit at universities across the world, creating a collaborative "network of networks", providing "a good neutral space for convening scientific discussions for issues that are often very difficult to address".

The organisation has, Kalonji explained, placed Africa at the forefront of its recent policies, and seeks to utilise indigenous knowledge wherever possible, an area that she is keen to pursue, along with disaster relief – an area she described as "important and ripe for innovation" – and improving gender equality.

But she expressed her concerns and frustrations that the organisation had struggled to widen its scope beyond working with governments.

She said: "UNESCO hasn't done a very good job, to date, in partnerships with other sectors of society.

Read more!

Dow becomes first global partner of the International Year of Chemistry

The Dow Chemical Company Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris has announced that the Company has partnered with the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) as the first global partner for the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) in 2011.

Designated by the United Nations, IYC is an initiative led by IUPAC and UNESCO. IYC events in 2011 will celebrate achievements in science and the potential of chemistry to address world challenges through education, innovation and international collaboration.

Dow has committed to leverage its science and technology expertise, sustainability focus and global network to support a range of events and activities that promote the role of chemistry in the advancement of human progress, environmental protection and economic development. As the first chemical company to establish a global partnership in this effort, Dow will support IYC at local, regional and national levels.

Read more!

Eyes in the sky view climate change impact on natural and cultural heritage sites

© Cnes 2002 - Distribution 

Astrium Services/Spot Image

The impact of climate change on World Heritage sites, captured by satellite, is the focus on an exhibition set up in the streets of Cancun. The exhibition is one of several events organised by UNESCO for the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in the Mexican city from 29 November to 10 December 2010.

• See list of UNESCO conference activities
• UNESCO and climate change
• Exhibition panels
• COP16 website

The Changing Landscape of Science: Challenges and Opportunities

The 2011 World Science Forum has now begun to take shape. This fifth meeting of the Forum is being organised by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in co-operation with UNESCO, the International Council for Science (ICSU), and publisher of Science magazine, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The World Science Forum Steering Committee, a board of scientific experts, is headed by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ President, and the chief officers of UNESCO and ICSU, the Director General of AAAS, three Nobel Laureates, the President of the Brazil Academy of Sciences, the President of the Science Council of Japan, and the President of the European Academies Science Advisory Council.

Read more!

UNESCO and Knight Center provided pilot training program for African journalism professors

The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas has completed an online course as part of an agreement with UNESCO to help journalism professors in Africa with training on digital media. More than 20 professors from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe followed the course. All of them are from schools included in UNESCO's list of Potential Centres of Excellence and Reference in Journalism Education in Africa.


The course “Teaching Online Journalism” was taught, entirely on the Internet, by Prof. Mindy McAdams, the Knight Chair in Journalism Technologies and the Democratic Process at the University of Florida and an internationally recognized leading expert in digital journalism. 

Lecture by UNESCO DG on Climate Change and Education