7 place Fontenoy
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded on 16 November 1945. For this specialized United Nations agency, it is not enough to build classrooms in devastated countries or to publish scientific breakthroughs. Education, Social and Natural Science, Culture and Communication are the means to a far more ambitious goal: to build peace in the minds of men.
Today, UNESCO functions as a laboratory of ideas and a standard-setter to forge universal agreements on emerging ethical issues. The Organization also serves as a clearinghouse -- for the dissemination and sharing of information and knowledge -- while helping member states to build their human and institutional capacities in diverse fields. In short, UNESCO promotes international co-operation among its 193 member states and six associate members in the fields of education, science, culture and communication.
UNESCO is working to create the conditions for genuine dialogue based upon respect for shared values and the dignity of each civilization and culture.
This role is critical, particularly in the face of terrorism, which constitutes an attack against humanity. The world urgently requires global visions of sustainable development based upon observance of human rights, mutual respect and the alleviation of poverty, all of which lie at the heart of UNESCO's mission and activities.
Through its strategies and activities, UNESCO is actively pursuing the Millennium Development Goals, especially those aiming to:
* halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty in developing countries by 2015;
* achieve universal primary education in all countries by 2015;
* eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005;
* help countries implement a national strategy for sustainable development by 2005 to reverse current trends in the loss of environmental resources by 2015.

Website: http://portal.unesco.org
Phone: (212) 963-5995
E-mail: newyork@unesco.org

Areas of Expertise:

Aboriginal People Agriculture Agriculture/Developing Countries AIDS/Education Arab Culture Archaeology Arctic Basic Research Biodiversity Bioethics Biosphere Reserves Biotechnology Books Chemistry Cinema Coastal Resources Management/Conservation Communications Communications Studies Communications Technology Crafts Creativity Creativity/Invention Cultural Diversity Cultural History Cultural Issues Cultural Tourism Culture Curriculum Development Curriculum/Early Childhood Education Desertification Design Dialogue Early Childhood Education Earth Sciences Ecology Education Ethics Film Freshwater Girls' Education Heritage Heritage Conservation Heritage Cultures Higher Education Historic Sites Human Rights Education Hydrologic Cycle Indigenous History Indigenous Peoples Inequality Information Technology Innovation Intergovernmental Organizations International Organizations Islands Language Language/Aboriginal Language Preservation Languages Life Sciences Mathematics/Mathematical Sciences Media Mountains Museums Music Native Peoples Natural Sciences Oceanography Oceanography/Oceans Oceans Physics Polar Science & Technology Post-Secondary Education Primary Education Publishing Rainforest Ecology Rainforests Reading Reading/Developing Countries Religion Religion & Society Science Science Ethics Science Policy Secondary Education Shipwrecks Social Science Research Social Sciences Space Education Sustainable Development Teachers' Education & Training Technological Education Technological Literacy Technology Technology Exchange Technology/Society Textbooks Textbooks/Developing Countries UNESCO - United Nations Educational Scientific & Cultural Organization Water Water Conservation Water Policy Water Quality Research Water Research Wetlands Women Women's Education World Heritage World Heritage Convention