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World Teachers' Day 2012: Take a stand for teachers! “Take a stand for teachers!” is the slogan of World Teachers’ Day 2012 (5 October) which UNESCO is celebrating along with its partners, the International Labour Organization, UNDP, UNICEF and Education International (EI).   Taking a stand for the teaching profession means providing adequate training, ongoing professional development, and protection for teachers’ rights. All over the world, a quality education offers hope and the promise of a better standard of living. However, there can be no quality education without competent and motivated teachers. Teachers are among the many factors that keep children in school and influence learning. They help students think critically, process information from several sources, work cooperatively, tackle problems and make informed choices. Why take a stand for teachers? Because the profession is losing status in many parts of the world.. World Teachers’ Day calls attention the need to raise ...

This message from the Director General of UNESCO was posted in August 2011, just before the United States began to withhold its funding from the Organization.

Russell Train, an American conservationist who helped craft some of the nation's early and enduring environmental laws, has died. He was 92.  As the second administrator of the EPA, Train helped create such landmark environmental laws as the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Act. I quote from the UNESCO Director General's tribute to Mr. Train : During a long and illustrious career in the public and private sectors, Mr Train’s occupied several key positions under several US administrations including President of the Conservation Foundation, Under-Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and President and Chair of the World Wildlife Fund from 1978 to 1990.  Mr Train is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of the World Heritage Convention. In 1965 Russell Train co-spearheaded a drive for an international convention to protect both cultural and natural heritage, with a White House Conference calling fo...

The 2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report As we approach 2015, there is an urgent need to review progress towards the Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and discuss new options on how they can be achieved. United Nations Development Group (UNDG) is leading efforts to catalyse a “global conversation” on post-2015 through 50 national consultations and nine global thematic consultations by March 2013. To contribute to this process, UNESCO and UNICEF, with other United Nations (UN) agencies and NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), will launch a six-month “global conversation” with leading education stakeholders in September. Participants include governments and local authorities, international and regional organizations, the private sector, technical and vocational education and training institutions, NGOs, civil society and community-based organizations. Read more!

The National Geographic Channel has signed a ground-breaking sponsorship with Panasonic to bring a special programming block focused on UNESCO World Heritage sites to NGC viewers across five continents – Asia, North America, South America, Europe and Australia. The program is to debut on U.S. television on Wednesday, September 19th at 8:00 pm . National Geographic has been providing great materials on World Heritage Sites for years. Here are a few: World Heritage Guides World Heritage Site Photos Top 10 World Heritage Sites for Kids

This post is intended to bring you up-to-date on the history of US-UNESCO relations since the departure of the USA from UNESCO in December 1983. So, relax and bear with me because this is a long story. The Past During the two decades that the United States was out of UNESCO, the organization survived the financial crisis that the withdrawals had caused, and reformed many of the bureaucratic processes that had been noted in the decision to withdraw. The State Department continued a small effort to monitor the organization. The number of U.S. citizens on the UNESCO staff was reduced. U.S. educators, scientists, and cultural leaders continued involvement in the Organization, but at a lower level than in the Organization's early years. As is explained in a background paper on AU , the organization is an outgrowth of Americans for the Universality of UNESCO (AUU) - a not for profit powerhouse organization headed up by the late and former Deputy Director General of UNESCO (John E. Fobes)...

Eric Woodard left the job of Executive Director of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO to become Director for Fellowships and Internships at the Smithsonian. He has done a great job improving the information coming from the State Department on UNESCO and repopulating and reviving the National Commission. He will be missed!

Senior management team appointed by Irina Bokova. From left to right: Jānis Kārkliņš, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information; Lalla Aïcha Ben Barka, Assistant Director-General, Africa Department; Gretchen Kalonji, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences; Qian Tang, Assistant Director-General for Education; Getachew Engida, Deputy Director-General; Irina Bokova, Director-General; Hans d’Orville, Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning; Francesco Bandarin, Assistant Director-General for Culture; María del Pilar Álvarez-Laso, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences; Khadija Ribes Zammouri, Assistant Director-General for Administration; Eric Falt, Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Public Information. Absent from photo: Wendy Watson-Wright,Assistant Director-General and Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Read Director-General Bokova's introduction of the senior staff.