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"My Administration continues to work with our Congress to resolve the issue so that we can meet our commitments to UNESCO.   Of course, I had hoped to be able to report at this Board that this was solved, but unfortunately that is not yet the case.  However, we will not give up.  On April 10, President Obama delivered his budget request to the Congress.  His budget includes a formal request for a waiver of the suspension of U.S. funding to UNESCO.  It also includes funding for this year and previous years.  We will keep pushing our rock up the hill until we reach the top because, we agree, the current situation is not sustainable." Read the full statement.

The Harriet Tubman Institute and the Slave Route Project have announced the launching on 16 April at UNESCO headquarters a new title in the Harriet Tubman Series on the African Diaspora: “The Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery: New Directions in Teaching and Learning”. Edited by Paul E. Lovejoy and Benjamin Bowser, this book is an anthology of papers from an international workshop that the Slave Route Project jointly organized in November 2010 in Toronto, Canada, with the Harriet Tubman institute and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, in order to define new approaches for teaching the slave trade and slavery and to examine the psychological consequences of this history. Read more!

On  April 18, 2013 , a  Learning for All Ministerial meeting  will bring together ministers of finance and education  -- from Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Nigeria, Yemen, and South Sudan -- with leaders from development partner organizations to discuss challenges and steps to accelerate progress toward ensuring that all children can go to school and learn. Click the image for  FULL RESOLUTION .

Americans for UNESCO resolution to restore US UNESCO funding  http://j.mp/15aXUS9 U.S. Congressional Research Service 2013 report on UNESCO  http://j.mp/12fKhOF

Countries that have recognized the State of Palestine . Source: Night w The United States policy is that a two state solution is needed to resolve the long standing dispute between Israelis and Palestinians. According to Wikipedia , "of the 193 member states of the United Nations, 132 (68.4%) have recognized the State of Palestine as of April 2013.  On 29 November 2012, the General Assembly granted Palestine non-member observer state status in United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19." UNESCO granted membership to Palestine in 2011. U.S. law requires that the government withhold funding from any United Nations agency that accepts Palestine as a member state. Apparently, two decades ago when the legislation was passed and signed into law, it was felt that recognition of Palestine by UN agencies would militate against the successful negotiation of an agreement between Israel and Palestine settling their disputed border and the management of their territories. The Need ...

Read more about the Kensington celebration! Read more from UNESCO

Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed...... The States Parties to this Constitution, believing in full and equal opportunities for education for all, in the unrestricted pursuit of objective truth, and in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, are agreed and determined to develop and to increase the means of communication between their peoples and to employ these means for the purposes of mutual understanding and a truer and more perfect knowledge of each other’s lives; In consequence whereof they do hereby create the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for the purpose of advancing, through the educational and scientific and cultural relations of the peoples of the world, the objectives of international peace and of the common welfare of mankind for which the United Nations Organization was established and which its Charter proclaims.  The UNESCO Constitution UNESCO, in keeping ...

© Bryan Derballa/Sipa, New York - Today, it only takes Santiago an hour and 10 minutes to get to class, whereas It used to take him two hours and 30 minutes. © Bryan Derballa/Sipa, New York - Today, it only takes Santiago an hour and 10 minutes to get to class, whereas It used to take him two hours and 30 minutes. “The Journeys to School exhibition changed my life,” says 14-year-old Santiago Muñoz, from New York (United States). “Before, I was always stressed out. Now I have more freedom.” It used to take Santiago two hours and 30 minutes to get to class. Today it takes him less than half that time, all because of the UNESCO/ SIPA Press/Transdev photo exhibition, Journeys to School which opened at the United Nations on 4 March. The exhibition shows the difficulties children around the world face to get to school, including Santiago’s five-hour daily commute. The local media took an interest in Santiago. They observed that children who went to school on rickshaws, donkeys, sleds or cano...

In times of austerity, public sector reform and budget cuts, multi-stakeholder partnerships are considered an important strategy to complement public education financing. Private schools, private management of public schools and the production and distribution of textbooks are just some areas where public-private-partnerships are already active. The Global Education & Skills Forum (Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 15-17 March) focused on how to develop an enabling environment for effective partnerships by allowing international leaders to explore how governments and the private sector could join efforts to prioritize education, in line with the UN Secretary- General’s Global Education First Initiative. Opened via satellite by former United States President Bill Clinton, this two-day event was organized by UNESCO organized together with the Government of the United Arab Emirates, Varkey GEMS Foundation and the Commonwealth Business Council. Speakers and panellists included heads of gove...