Editorial: The U.S. Intellectual Community should be more involved in UNESCO.

Francesco Bandarin mentioned in his talk to the Board of Directors of Americans for UNESCO that the new administration of UNESCO will give high priority to strengthening the participation of the U.S. educational, scientific and cultural and communications and information communities in UNESCO's efforts and networks. That participation languished during the years in which the United States was not a member of UNESCO, and has not been fully restored since the United States reentered UNESCO in 2003.

From the point of view of the UNESCO Secretariat, the desire to strengthen U.S. participation in UNESCO is obvious. Not only does the United States contribute 22 percent to the regular budget of UNESCO, but:

• The U.S. education community is very strong. Thus one study finds 55 of the top 100 universities in the world are in the United States.
• The U.S. scientific community is very strong. According to the NSF the United States provides one-third of the world's funding for research and development and produces more scientific and technological journal articles per year than any other country.
• The U.S. cultural community is very stron. According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, the United States leads the world in trade of cultural goods.
• The United States is a leader in the development of the information society. U.S. innovations include the transistor, the semiconductor chip, the personal computer and the Internet.

The effort to strengthen the participation of the U.S. intellectual community in UNESCO's programs should be welcomed by the Government and those communities. Through participation in UNESCO's activities and networks Americans can promote understanding of the United States by others while improving our understanding of other cultures. UNESCO provides a neutral forum in which key issues can be discussed by representatives of many nations.

• It can provide a venue for discussions of the ethics of climate change and the responsibilities of nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to ameliorate the damages done by global warming.
• It continues to be the place in which countries discuss and monitor global progress on education.
• It not only has catalyzed a number of global networks tackling critical scientific problems, but it provides an umbrella under which nations (even nations with fundamental disagreements among themselves) can collaborate on mutually beneficial scientific projects.
• It provides a forum in which countries can work to develop a global culture of peace, and provides fora for discussion to help bridge the gaps between U.S. and Islamic culture and between Christian and Islamic religions. It can help protect world heritage while promoting cultural changes needed to enhance economic development.
• It provides a useful emphasis on the development of knowledge societies to balance the increasing global interest in development of information societies.

The United States participated fully in the creation of UNESCO after World War II, modifying its Constitution in ways designed to make it a better instrument in achieving the goal of building teh defenses of peace in the minds of men. The United States reentered UNESCO in 2003 based on a consensus that the perceived problems of the organization that led to our withdrawal had been overcome and that membership in the organization would advance U.S. global interests. This history would itself justify full participation in UNESCO's efforts. More importantly, the more fully the U.S. educational, scientific and cultural communities participate in UNESCO, the more fully UNESCO will meet our expectations and achieve that which we hope for it to achieve.

John Daly

The opinions expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Americans for UNESCO.

Remarks by UNESCO Chief Irina Bokova on World Press Freedom Day

Meeting of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of Americans for UNESCO met yesterday. Francesco Bandarin, current director of the World Heritage Center and Assistant Director General designate for Culture opened the meeting with a most informative overview of the new developments in UNESCO.

Discussions in the meeting focuses on next week's meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and the expectations of the Board for the future of the National Commission. The National Commission has been relatively inactive since it was reestablished and the consensus of the the Board is that it should be reorganized and rechartered to become more active in the future.

The Board also discussed the future of the UNESCO seminar that Board members have given at George Washington University in each of the last four Spring semesters. The course appears to be well received by students and to be a useful means of developing a cadre of young people knowledgeable about UNESCO. It was agreed that it should be continued and a small group was appointed to study ways and means of doing so.

UNESCO Strategic Program Objective Evaluations Completed 2008-2010

Member states of UNESCO are currently formulating suggestions as to the priorities for the next biennium. UNESCO has suggested that thes evaluations of accomplishments under UNESCO's strategic program objectives may provide valuable information for that purpose. Those evaluations are:

• Strengthening UNESCO’s global lead and coordination role for EFA and providing support to national leadership in favour of EFA
• Developing policies, capacities and tools for quality education for all and lifelong learning as well as promoting education for sustainable development
• Leveraging scientific knowledge for the benefit of the environment and the management of natural resources
• Fostering Policies and Capacity-Building in Science, Technology and Innovation
• Promoting principles, practices and ethical norms relevant to scientific and technological development
• Sustainably protecting and enhancing cultural heritage
• Support through UNESCO’s domains to countries in post-conflict situations and postdisaster situations

UNESCO Program Priorities

UNESCO is in the process of defining priorities for the next biennial budget and plan of action. It will do so within the priorities defined in the Medium Term Strategy 2008-2013. Those priorities are summarized in the chart reproduced above.

Irina Bokova's message for World Expo 2010 in Shanghai -12 May 2010

Powerful, Pro-Israel House Democrat Praises Obama's Strategy of Engagement at the UN

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Howard Berman, recently wrote a "Dear Colleague" letter to fellow members of Congress in which he stated:

"(S)ince rejoining UNESCO in 2005, the U.S. has exerted much effort to reform the organization and to ensure that it does not become another venue that unfairly singles out Israel for criticism. In that regard, I was pleased to see the attached letter from Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman thanking Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for recent U.S. efforts at UNESCO that prevented the adoption of a number of anti-Israel resolutions. Had the U.S. chosen not to engage with UNESCO, we would have been unable to rally the votes to block these anti-Israel resolutions."

WSIS Forum 2010: Turning Targets into Action - towards 2015

The year of 2010 marks a turning point for assessing the progress made towards WSIS implementation during the past five years and for proposing new strategies to ensure the achievement of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) goals by 2015.

The WSIS Forum 2010 will be held from 10 to 14 of May 2010 at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The organizers, UNESCO, ITU, UNCTAD and UNDP set-up an exceptional event: More than 800 participants have registered. Four heads of UN agencies, many ministers, CEOs, civil society, representatives from academia and other stakeholders will participate in a week full of high-level debates, facilitation meetings, thematic workshops, interactive sessions, knowledge exchanges and kick off meetings. There will also be an exhibition and several publication releases and two receptions for the participants.

Read more!

Luncheon in New York focused on information for empowerment

More than 75 United Nations delegates, journalists and representatives of media advocacy groups attended the World Press Freedom Day luncheon programme held at the UN Secretariat on 3 May. In line with the theme of this year, the event focused on the basic role of media, which is information for empowerment.

Participants particularly stressed that the right to information is a precondition of all other rights, such as the right to food and shelter, the right to education, or the right to vote. In the context when the international community has to intervene more frequently in post-conflict and post-disaster situations, the right to know is more important than ever.

Read more!

Annual Meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO

The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO will host its Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 and Thursday, May 27, 2010 at the Embassy Suites in Washington, D.C. (900 10th Street NW).

The Commission will host a series of informational plenary sessions and subject-specific committee and thematic break-out sessions on Wednesday, May 26. The Commission will meet in plenary session to discuss its final recommendations on Thursday, May 27, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

The meetings will be open to the public, and those who wish to attend should contact the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO (202-663-0026; DCUNESCO@state.gov) no later than Wednesday, May 19th for further information about admission, as seating is limited. Requests for reasonable accommodation should also be made before that date.

UNESCO club hosts commission

Source: Nicholas C. Stern, The Frederick News Post, April 28, 2010

The UNESCO Center for Peace and Hood College hosted the April meeting of the Maryland Governor's Commission on African Affairs at Hood's Marx Center Tuesday night.

The commission was created to address the need for state agencies to respond effectively to the needs and concerns of Maryland's African citizens, according to a UNESCO Center for Peace statement.

According to Guy Djoken, executive director for UNESCO Center for Peace, the African community in Frederick County has grown significantly over the past decade, though he could not cite specific numbers.

Djoken said immigrants from Ghana, Ethiopia, Liberia, Cameroon, Congo, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire and The Gambia, among others, live in the county.

Israeli FM thanks Clinton on UNESCO action

Israel’s foreign minister thanked Hillary Rodham Clinton for removing items critical of Israel from UNESCO’s agenda.

The United States’ “strong and consistent position,” Avigdor Lieberman wrote in an April 25 letter to the U.S. secretary of state, “prevented the introduction of five anti-Israel resolutions initiated by the Arab group” of states in the U.N. agency.

Read more at JTA.org (April 28, 2010)

Meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO

Liz Kanick, the Executive Director of the National Commission, has just confirmed that the public sessions of the meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO will be held on May 26 and 27. The announcement will soon appear in the Federal Register.

Janis Karklins -- the new ADG for UNESCO's CI Program

The new Assistant Director-General for UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector will be Janis Karklins of Latvia. Currently Latvian Ambassador to France and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, after an initial career in industry, Mr Karklins became the Permanent Representative of his country at the United Nations in Geneva. As a diplomat, he was closely involved in the preparation of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and played a key role in its negotiations on internet governance. In 2006, Mr Karklins was elected president of the Government Advisory Committee of ICANN (Internet Corporation of assigned Names and Numbers), which plays a pivotal role in information society issues.

Background interview of Janis Karklins

Read the ICANN biography of Mr. Karkins

Janis Karkins on how the Internet is improving our lives

Mónica González Mujica to receive UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2010

The Chilean journalist, Mónica González Mujica, a heroine of the struggle against dictatorship in her country, has been named laureate of the 2010 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

“Throughout her professional life, Mónica González Mujica has shown courage in shining the light on the dark side of Chile,” said the President of the jury, Joe Thloloe, Press Ombudsman of the Press Council of South Africa. “She has embodied the very spirit of the Award. She has been jailed, tortured, hauled before the courts but has remained steadfast.”

“Ms González is now ploughing her experience back to the younger generation through her work at the Center of Journalism and Investigation and her workshops on investigative journalism in various countries,” added Mr Thloloe.

Read more!

An Exercise on UNESCO Governance

Irina Bokova, the new UNESCO Director General

Yesterday we had a classroom exercise in the GWU graduate seminar on UNESCO focusing on the election of the UNESCO Director General last year. The seminar has focused on the history of UNESCO and UNESCO's programs to this point, while the exercise focused on UNESCO governance.

By UNESCO governance I mean

• its legislative bodies, the General Conference and its Executive Board with representatives of its member nations,
• the Director General which the legislative bodies elect, and
• the Director General's senior staff who are contracted and are not under the International Civil Service.

Fortuitously, the nine members of her senior staff were announced this week.

The students in the seminar are all Masters level students from the George Washington University International Education Program. While most are employed or have been employed, they do not have experience either with upper management or with the the political bodies that determine policy for intergovernmental organizations.

Thus the purpose of the exercise is to help students to understand not only the formal operation of the governance structures to set policy and direct operations, but also the way that the processes of governance affect the organization. For example, when UNESCO was created 65 years ago, the Executive Board was composed of individuals chosen for their personal excellence and their commitment to the purposes and program of UNESCO; some decades ago the UNESCO Constitution was changed and the Board was thereafter composed of the Permanent Representatives to UNESCO of those nations elected to serve on the Board. This change significantly affects the processes of the Board, its choice of Director General, and thus the Organization as a whole.

Describing the process by which Irina Bokova was elected Director General of UNESCO not only shows by example how the legislative processes work in UNESCO (and how governments use diplomacy to influence the choice of a Director General), but also help the students to understand what kind of person is likely to be elected to the post.

The nine candidates for UNESCO Chief

and the Chair of the Executive Board

The election has been termed especially contentious, but I suspect that there have been other occasions in which the election of the Director General has also been vigorously contested, such as that won by Luther Evans or that in which Amadou M'Bow finally declined to run for a third term.

What was different about this election was that it was held in the Internet age. It was possible to quickly obtain reports on the election for all parts of the world and it was even possible to search for reports in languages one does not speak and quickly obtain acceptable translations of the reports found via the Internet.

Utilizing these aids I was able to create a website on the election some months before the Executive Board met and to add material to the website on a continuing basis during the critical period. Surprisingly, a number of people stepped up to help me in that effort and indeed people working for various candidates also began to correspond with me. I assigned students the website as a resource for the class exercise.

The naming of the nine senior staff members (Deputy Director and eight Assistant Directors General) provided an opportunity to discuss the problems not only in finding experts to lead the various program and administrative units within the Organization, but also to achieve geographic and gender balance, a team that can work together well with each other and the Director General, and to satisfy the Ambassadors from the key member nations and the various UNESCO constituencies.

If you are interested in obtaining the Power Point presentation for the class exercise, the educational objectives for the exercise and other related materials, please send an email request to: john.daly@gmail.com

The Executive Board in session.

UNESCO Chief Announces Her New Senior Staff

UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova has announced the new members of her senior staff:

• Deputy Director General: Getachew Engida
• Assistant Director General for the Education Sector: Qian Tang
• Assistant Director General for the Natural Science Sector: Gretchen Kalonji
• Assistant Director General for the Social and Human Sciences Sector: Maria del Pilar Alvarez-Laso
• Assistant Director General for the Culture Sector: Francesco Bandarin
• Assistant Director General for the Communications and Information Sector: Janis Karklins
• Assistant Director General for the Sector for External Relations and Cooperation: Eric Falt
• Assistant Director General for the Administration Sector: Khadija Ribes
• Assistant Director General for the UNESCO’s Africa Department: Lalla Aïcha Ben Barka

The new staff members are expected to take office on July 1, 2010.

Dr. Gretchen Kalonji is an American who has had a distinguished career at the University of California system, the University of Washington and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At the University of California since 2005, she was responsible for university wide international strategy development. The UC announcement of her appointment stated:

At UW, she has led a campus-wide effort to integrate collaborative international research activities into curricular pathways of students, across the disciplines and from freshmen to doctoral level. This initiative, entitled UW Worldwide, has been honored with multiple grants and awards, both in the United States and in partner regions. Over the past 10 years, Kalonji has been the principal or co-principal investigator on more than $19 million dollars of related grants.

Professor Kalonji’s work, both in materials science and in educational transformation, has been recognized by numerous awards and honors, including: the Presidential Young Investigator Award; the George E. Westinghouse Award from the American Society for Engineering Education; the Leadership Award from the International Network for Engineering Education and Research, and the National Science Foundation’s Director’s Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars, the highest honor offered by the NSF. Professor Kalonji has held visiting faculty appointments at numerous universities and institutes around the world, including the Max Planck Institute (Germany), the University of Paris (France), Tohoku University (Japan), and Sichuan University and Tsinghua University (China). She serves on numerous national and international advisory boards and committees, particularly for projects and organizations focusing on innovations in education, equity and access in higher education, and international science and engineering. Prof. Kalonji has been called upon to give more than 115 invited lectures in institutions around the world.

Read more about the new staff.

A World of Science (April–June 2010)

Contents Vol. 8 No 2

IN FOCUS
2. Eight predictions for 21st century conservation

NEWS
10 Women laureates battle parasites and disease
10 UNESCO comes to Haiti’s aid
11 Biodiversity target will not be met in 2010
12 Post-2010 targets must recognize key biodiversity areas
12 Afghanistan launches plan for higher education
13 First karez restored in Iraq
14 Iraq joins Avicenna Virtual Campus
14 The Scarlet Knight arrives in Spain

INTERVIEW
15 David Hills on what industry can learn from nature

HORIZONS
17 Fisheries in a cod climate
20 All you ever wanted to know about biodiversity...

IN BRIEF
24 Diary
24 New releases

Download the issue (PDF)

Science Projects in the UNESCO Participation Program

The UNESCO Participation Program provides direct assistance to initiatives undertaken by Member States, in line with the priorities that they themselves determine, in the Organization’s fields of competence. These projects are financed by an allocation of the Regular Programme that is separate from the allocations assigned to the Program Sectors.

Assistance under the Participation Programme is provided to Member States or Associate Member States upon requests submitted through National Commissions (requests from individuals cannot be considered). International NGOs may also benefit from assistance under the Participation Program. The domain of assistance is quite broad, as shown by the following examples of successful projects submitted during the 2008-2009 biennium to the Natural Sciences Sector:

• Establishment of a Seismological Training Center at the Jordan Seismological Observatory
• Implementation of a solar lighting system for schools (Guinea)
• Application of satellite remote sensing for integrated management of coastal and marine ecosystems (Mozambique)
• Institutional strengthening of hydrometeorological services (Bhutan)
• Establishment of flash flood forecasting and warning system in the Keumya River basin (Democratic Republic of Korea)
• Promoting Science education in primary schools through the provision of Basic Science Equipment (Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines)

Among other things, assistance under the Participation Programme may comprise the
provision of fellowships and study grants.

Read more!

UNESCO Symposium Offered for 4th Time

Students doing presentation on the UNESCO culture program

The seminar on UNESCO offered in the International Education Program of George Washington University is nearing completion. During the semester approximately half of the sessions are led by students who present overviews of the various programs of UNESCO. The other half of the classes are devoted to people with long experience with the Organization describing their experience, focusing on the history of the Organization and the process of representation to UNESCO. In the four semesters the course has been offered, 55 students have developed a detailed comprehensive understanding of UNESCO, and indeed have learned how to study a large complex organization. Click here for a detailed description of the course as it was offered last year.

Students attending to the presentation