# UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO /juːˈnɛskoʊ/) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 194 member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the non-governmental, intergovernmental and private sector. Headquartered in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 national commissions.
UNESCO was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation. UNESCO's founding mission, which was shaped by the events of World War II, is to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboration and dialogue among nations. It pursues this objective through five major programme areas: education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and communication/information. UNESCO sponsors projects that improve literacy, provide technical training and education, advance science, protect independent media and press freedom, preserve regional and cultural history, and promote cultural diversity. The organization prominently helps establish and secure World Heritage Sites of cultural and natural importance.
UNESCO is governed by the General Conference composed of member states and associate members, which meets biannually to set the agency's programs and budget. It also elects members of the executive board, which manages UNESCO's work, and appoints every four years a Director-General, who serves as UNESCO's chief administrator.

## History
### Origins

UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, to elect a commission to study the feasibility of having nations freely share cultural, educational and scientific achievements. This new body, the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC), was created in 1922 and counted such figures as Henri Bergson, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Robert A. Millikan, and Gonzague de Reynold among its members (being thus a small commission of the League of Nations essentially centred on Western Europe). The International Institute for Intellectual Cooperation (IIIC) was then created in Paris in September 1924, to act as the executing agency for the ICIC. However, the onset of World War II largely interrupted the work of these predecessor organizations. As for private initiatives, the International Bureau of Education (IBE) began to work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development since December 1925 and joined UNESCO in 1969, after having established a joint commission in 1952.

### Creation

After the signing of the Atlantic Charter and the Declaration of the United Nations, the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education (CAME) began meetings in London which continued from 16 November 1942 to 5 December 1945. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an international organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States and the USSR. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944. Upon the proposal of CAME and in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), held in San Francisco from April to June 1945, a United Nations Conference for the establishment of an educational and cultural organization (ECO/CONF) was convened in London from 1 to 16 November 1945 with 44 governments represented. The idea of UNESCO was largely developed by Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom, who had a great deal of influence in its development. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, and a Preparatory Commission was established. The Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946 — the date when UNESCO's Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state.
The first General Conference took place from 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Julian Huxley to Director-General. United States Army colonel, university president and civil rights advocate Blake R. Van Leer joined as a member as well. The Constitution was amended in November 1954 when the General Conference resolved that members of the executive board would be representatives of the governments of the States of which they are nationals and would not, as before, act in their personal capacity. This change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the ICIC, in how member states would work together in the organization's fields of competence. As member states worked together over time to realize UNESCO's mandate, political and historical factors have shaped the organization's operations in particular during the Cold War, the decolonization process, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

### Development

Among the major achievements of the organization is its work against racism, for example through influential statements on race starting with a declaration of anthropologists (among them was Claude Lévi-Strauss) and other scientists in 1950 and concluding with the 1978 Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice.
In 1955, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO saying that some of the organization's publications amounted to "interference" in the country's "racial problems". It rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela.
One of the early work of UNESCO in the education field was a pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, which was launched in 1947. Following this project one of expert missions to other countries, included a 1949 mission to Afghanistan. UNESCO recommended in 1948 that Member countries should make free primary education compulsory and universal. The World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, started a global movement in 1990 to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. In 2000, World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, led member governments to commit for achieving basic education for all in 2015.
The World Declaration on Higher Education was adopted by UNESCO's World Conference on Higher Education on 9 October 1998, with the aim of setting global standards on the ideals and accessibility of higher education.
UNESCO's early activities in culture included the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after the construction of the Aswan Dam. During the 20-year campaign, 22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro (Pakistan), Fes (Morocco), Kathmandu (Nepal), Borobudur (Indonesia) and the Acropolis of Athens (Greece). The organization's work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. In 1976, the World Heritage Committee was established and the first sites were included on the World Heritage List in 1978. Since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 (Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage) and 2005 (Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions).
An intergovernmental meeting of UNESCO in Paris in December 1951 led to the creation of the European Council for Nuclear Research, which was responsible for establishing the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) later on, in 1954.
Arid Zone programming, 1948–1966, is another example of an early major UNESCO project in the field of natural sciences.
In 1968, UNESCO organized the first intergovernmental conference aimed at reconciling the environment and development, a problem that continues to be addressed in the field of sustainable development. The main outcome of the 1968 conference was the creation of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme.
UNESCO has been credited with the diffusion of national science bureaucracies.
In the field of communication, the "free flow of ideas by word and image" has been in UNESCO's constitution since it was established, following the experience of the Second World War when control of information was a factor in indoctrinating populations for aggression. In the years immediately following World War II, efforts were concentrated on reconstruction and on the identification of needs for means of mass communication around the world. UNESCO started organizing training and education for journalists in the 1950s. In response to calls for a "New World Information and Communication Order" in the late 1970s, UNESCO established the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, which produced the 1980 MacBride report (named after the chair of the commission, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Seán MacBride). The same year, UNESCO created the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), a multilateral forum designed to promote media development in developing countries. In 1993, UNESCO's General Conference endorsed the Windhoek Declaration on media independence and pluralism, which led the UN General Assembly to declare the date of its adoption, 3 May, as World Press Freedom Day. Since 1997, UNESCO has awarded the UNESCO / Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize every 3 May.

### 21st century

UNESCO admitted Palestine as a member in 2011.
Laws passed in the United States after Palestine applied for UNESCO and WHO membership in April 1989 mean that the United States cannot contribute financially to any UN organization that accepts Palestine as a full member. As a result, the United States withdrew its funding, which had accounted for about 22% of UNESCO's budget. Israel also reacted to Palestine's admittance to UNESCO by freezing Israeli payments to UNESCO and imposing sanctions on the Palestinian Authority, stating that Palestine's admittance would be detrimental "to potential peace talks". Two years after stopping payment of its dues to UNESCO, the United States and Israel lost UNESCO voting rights in 2013 without losing the right to be elected; thus, the United States was elected as a member of the executive board for the period 2016–19. In 2019, Israel left UNESCO after 69 years of membership, with Israel's ambassador to the UN Danny Danon writing: "UNESCO is the body that continually rewrites history, including by erasing the Jewish connection to Jerusalem... it is corrupted and manipulated by Israel's enemies... we are not going to be a member of an organization that deliberately acts against us".
2023 saw Russia excluded from the executive committee for the first time, after failing to get sufficient votes. The United States stated its intent to rejoin UNESCO in 2023, 5 years after leaving, and to pay its $600 million in back dues. The United States was readmitted by the UNESCO General Conference that July.

## Activities

UNESCO implements its activities through five programme areas: education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information.
* UNESCO supports research in comparative education, provides expertise and fosters partnerships to strengthen national educational leadership and the capacity of countries to offer quality education for all. This includes the
** UNESCO Chairs, an international network of 644 UNESCO chairs, involving more than 770 institutions in 126 countries
** Environmental Conservation Organization
** Convention against Discrimination in Education adopted in 1960
** Organization of the International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) in an interval of 12 years
** Publication of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report
** Publication of the Four Pillars of Learning seminal document
** UNESCO ASPNet, an international network of more than 12,000 schools in 182 countries
UNESCO does not accredit institutions of higher learning.
* UNESCO also issues public statements to educate the public:
** Seville Statement on Violence: A statement adopted by UNESCO in 1989 to refute the notion that humans are biologically predisposed to organized violence.
* Designating projects and places of cultural and scientific significance, such as:
** Global Geoparks Network
** Biosphere reserves, through the Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB), since 1971
** City of Literature; in 2007, the first city to be given this title was Edinburgh, the site of Scotland's first circulating library. In 2008, Iowa City, Iowa, became the City of Literature.
** Endangered languages and linguistic diversity projects (UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger)
** Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
** Memory of the World International Register, since 1997
** Water resources management, through the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), since 1965
** World Heritage Sites
** World Digital Library
* Encouraging the "free flow of ideas by images and words" by:
** Promoting freedom of expression, including freedom of the press and freedom of information legislation, through the Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development, including the International Programme for the Development of Communication
** Promoting the safety of journalists and combatting impunity for those who attack them, through coordination of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity
** Promoting universal access to and preservation of information and open solutions for sustainable development through the Knowledge Societies Division, including the Memory of the World Programme and Information for All Programme
** Promoting pluralism, gender equality and cultural diversity in the media
** Promoting Internet Universality and its principles, that the Internet should be (I) human Rights-based, (ii) Open, (iii) Accessible to all, and (iv) nurtured by Multi-stakeholder participation (summarized as the acronym R.O.A.M.)
** Generating knowledge through publications such as World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development, the UNESCO Series on Internet Freedom, and the Media Development Indicators, as well as other indicator-based studies.
* Promoting events, such as:
** International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World: 2001–2010, proclaimed by the UN in 1998
** World Press Freedom Day, 3 May each year, to promote freedom of expression and freedom of the press as a basic human right and as crucial components of any healthy, democratic and free society.
** Criança Esperança in Brazil, in partnership with Rede Globo, to raise funds for community-based projects that foster social integration and violence prevention.
** International Literacy Day, 8 September each year
** International Year for the Culture of Peace, 2000
** Health Education for Behavior Change programme in partnership with the Ministry of Education of Kenya which was financially supported by the Government of Azerbaijan to promote health education among 10-19-year-old young people who live in informal camp in Kibera, Nairobi. The project was carried out between September 2014 – December 2016.
** World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development 21 May each year
* Founding and funding projects, such as:
** Migration Museums Initiative: Promoting the establishment of museums for cultural dialogue with migrant populations.
** UNESCO-CEPES, the European Centre for Higher Education: established in 1972 in Bucharest, Romania, as a decentralized office to promote international co-operation in higher education in Europe as well as Canada, USA and Israel. Higher Education in Europe is its official journal.
** Free Software Directory: since 1998 UNESCO and the Free Software Foundation have jointly funded this project cataloguing free software.
** FRESH, Focusing Resources on Effective School Health
** OANA, Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies
** International Council of Science
** UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors
** ASOMPS, Asian Symposium on Medicinal Plants and Spices, a series of scientific conferences held in Asia
** Botany 2000, a programme supporting taxonomy, and biological and cultural diversity of medicinal and ornamental plants, and their protection against environmental pollution
** The UNESCO Collection of Representative Works, translating works of world literature both to and from multiple languages, from 1948 to 2005
** GoUNESCO, an umbrella of initiatives to make heritage fun supported by UNESCO, New Delhi Office
** UNESCO-CHIC BIRUP, UNESCO-CHIC Group (China) Biosphere Rural and Urbanization Programme
The UNESCO transparency portal has been designed to enable public access to information regarding the Organization's activities, such as its aggregate budget for a biennium, as well as links to relevant programmatic and financial documents. These two distinct sets of information are published on the IATI registry, respectively based on the IATI Activity Standard and the IATI Organization Standard.
There have been proposals to establish two new UNESCO lists. The first proposed list will focus on movable cultural heritage such as artifacts, paintings, and biofacts. The list may include cultural objects, such as the Jōmon Venus of Japan, the Mona Lisa of France, the Gebel el-Arak Knife of Egypt, The Ninth Wave of Russia, the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük of Turkey, the David (Michelangelo) of Italy, the Mathura Herakles of India, the Manunggul Jar of the Philippines, the Crown of Baekje of South Korea, The Hay Wain of the United Kingdom and the Benin Bronzes of Nigeria. The second proposed list will focus on the world's living species.

## Media

UNESCO and its specialized institutions issue a number of magazines.
Created in 1945, The UNESCO Courier magazine states its mission to "promote UNESCO's ideals, maintain a platform for the dialogue between cultures and provide a forum for international debate". Since March 2006 it has been available free online, with limited printed issues. Its articles express the opinions of the authors which are not necessarily the opinions of UNESCO. There was a hiatus in publishing between 2012 and 2017.
In 1950, UNESCO initiated the quarterly review Impact of Science on Society (also known as Impact) to discuss the influence of science on society. The journal ceased publication in 1992. UNESCO also published Museum International Quarterly from the year 1948.

## Official UNESCO NGOs

UNESCO has official relations with 322 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Most of these are what UNESCO calls "operational"; a select few are "formal". The highest form of affiliation to UNESCO is "formal associate", and the 22 NGOs with formal associate (ASC) relations occupying offices at UNESCO are:
| Abbr | Organization |
| IB | International Baccalaureate |
| CCIVS | Co-ordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service |
| CIPSH | International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (Conseil International de Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines; publishes Diogenes) |
| CIOFF | International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts (Conseil International des Organisations de Festivals de Folklore et d'Arts Traditionnels) |
| EI | Education International |
| IAU | International Association of Universities |
| IFTC | International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication |
| ICOM | International Council of Museums |
| ICSSPE | International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education |
| ICA | International Council on Archives |
| ICOMOS | International Council on Monuments and Sites |
| IFJ | International Federation of Journalists |
| IFLA | International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions |
| IFPA | International Federation of Poetry Associations |
| IMC | International Music Council |
| IPA | International Police Association |
| INSULA | International Scientific Council for Island Development |
| ISC | International Science Council (formerly ICSU and ISSC) |
| ITI | International Theatre Institute |
| IUCN | International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
| IUTAO | International Union of Technical Associations and Organizations |
| UIA | Union of International Associations |
| WAN | World Association of Newspapers |
| WFEO | World Federation of Engineering Organizations |
| WFUCA | World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations |

## Institutes and centres

The institutes are specialized departments of the organization that support UNESCO's programme, providing specialized support for cluster and national offices.
| Abbr | Name | Location |
| IBE | International Bureau of Education | Geneva |
| UIL | UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning | Hamburg |
| IIEP | UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning | Paris (headquarters) and Buenos Aires and Dakar (regional offices) |
| IITE | UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education | Moscow |
| IICBA | UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa | Addis Ababa |
| IESALC | UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean | Caracas |
| MGIEP | Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development | New Delhi |
| UNESCO-UNEVOC | UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training | Bonn |
| ICWRGC | International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change | Koblenz |
| IHE | IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education | Delft |
| ICTP | International Centre for Theoretical Physics | Trieste |
| UIS | UNESCO Institute for Statistics | Montreal |

## Prizes

UNESCO awards 26 prizes in education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, communication and information as well as peace:

### Education

* UNESCO/King Sejong Literacy Prize
* UNESCO/Confucius Prize for Literacy
* UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development
* UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education
* UNESCO/Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize for Outstanding Practice and Performance in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Teachers
* UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education

### Natural Sciences

* L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science
* UNESCO/Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science
* UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences
* Carlos J. Finlay Prize for Microbiology
* UNESCO/Sultan Qaboos Prize for Environmental Preservation
* UNESCO-Russia Mendeleev International Prize in the Basic Sciences
* UNESCO-Al Fozan International Prize for the Promotion of Young Scientists in STEM
* Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management

### Social and Human Sciences

* UNESCO Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science
* UNESCO/Juan Bosch Prize for the Promotion of Social Science Research in Latin America and the Caribbean
* UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence
* UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture
* UNESCO/International José Martí Prize
* UNESCO-UNAM / Jaime Torres Bodet Prize in social sciences, humanities and arts

### Culture

* Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes (UNESCO-Greece)

### Communication and Information

* UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
* UNESCO/Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah Prize to promote Quality Education for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities
* UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize

### Peace

* Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize

### Inactive prizes

* International Simón Bolívar Prize (inactive since 2004)
* UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education
* UNESCO/Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences (inactive since 2010)
* UNESCO Prize for the Promotion of the Arts

## International Days observed at UNESCO

International Days observed at UNESCO are provided in the table below:
| Date | Name |
| 14 January | World Logic Day |
| 24 January | World Day for African and Afrodescendant Culture |
| 24 January | International Day of Education |
| 25 January | International Day of Women in Multilateralism |
| 27 January | International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust |
| 11 February | International Day of Women and Girls in Science |
| 13 February | World Radio Day |
| 21 February | International Mother Language Day |
| 4 March | UNESCO World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development |
| 8 March | International Women's Day |
| 14 March | International Day of Mathematics |
| 20 March | International Francophonie Day |
| 21 March | International Day of Nowruz |
| 21 March | World Poetry Day |
| 21 March | International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination |
| 22 March | World Water Day |
| 5 April | International Day of Conscience |
| 6 April | International Day of Sport for Development and Peace |
| 15 April | World Art Day |
| 23 April | World Book and Copyright Day |
| 30 April | International Jazz Day |
| 3 May | World Press Freedom Day |
| 5 May | African World Heritage Day |
| 5 May | World Portuguese Language Day |
| 16 May | International Day of Light |
| 21 May | World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development |
| 22 May | International Day for Biological Diversity |
| 5 June | World Environment Day |
| 8 June | World Oceans Day |
| 17 June | World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought |
| 7 July | Kiswahili Language Day |
| 18 July | Nelson Mandela International Day |
| 26 July | International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem |
| 9 August | International Day of the World's Indigenous People |
| 12 August | International Youth Day |
| 23 August | International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition |
| 8 September | International Literacy Day |
| 9 September | International Day to Protect Education from Attack |
| 15 September | International Day of Democracy |
| 20 September | International Day for University Sport |
| 21 September | International Day of Peace |
| 28 September | International Day for the Universal Access to Information |
| 5 October | World Teachers' Day |
| 6 October | International Geodiversity Day |
| 11 October | International Day of the Girl Child |
| 13 October | International Day for Disaster Reduction |
| 17 October | International Day for the Eradication of Poverty |
| 24 October | United Nations Day |
| 27 October | World Day for Audiovisual Heritage |
| 2 November | International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists |
| 3 November | International Day for Biosphere Reserves |
| First Thursday of November | International day against violence and bullying at school including cyberbullying |
| 5 November | World Day of Romani Language |
| 5 November | World Tsunami Awareness Day |
| 10 November | World Science Day for Peace and Development |
| 14 November | International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property |
| Third Thursday of November | World Philosophy Day |
| 16 November | International Day for Tolerance |
| 18 November | International International Day of Islamic Art |
| 25 November | International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women |
| 26 November | World Olive Tree Day |
| 29 November | International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People |
| 1 December | World AIDS Day |
| 2 December | World Futures Day |
| 3 December | International Day of Persons with Disabilities |
| 10 December | Human Rights Day |
| 18 December | International Migrants Day |
| 18 December | World Arabic Language Day |

## Member states

As of July 2023, UNESCO has 194 member states and 12 associate members. Some members are not independent states and some members have additional National Organizing Committees from some of their dependent territories. UNESCO state parties are the United Nations member states (except Israel and Liechtenstein), as well as Cook Islands, Niue and Palestine. The United States and Israel left UNESCO on 31 December 2018, but the United States rejoined in 2023.

## Governing bodies
### Director-General

As of June 2023, there have been 11 Directors-General of UNESCO since its inception – nine men and two women. The 11 Directors-General of UNESCO have come from six regions within the organization: West Europe (5), Central America (1), North America (2), West Africa (1), East Asia (1), and East Europe (1).
To date, there has been no elected Director-General from the remaining ten regions within UNESCO: Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central and North Asia, Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, South Africa, Australia-Oceania, and South America.
The list of the Directors-General of UNESCO since its establishment in 1946 is as follows:
Directors-General of UNESCO :
| Order | Name | Country | Term |
| 1st | Julian Huxley | United Kingdom | 1946–1948 |
| 2nd | Jaime Torres Bodet | Mexico | 1948–1952 |
| – | John Wilkinson Taylor | United States | acting 1952–1953 |
| 3rd | Luther Evans | United States | 1953–1958 |
| 4th | Vittorino Veronese | Italy | 1958–1961 |
| 5th | René Maheu | France | acting 1961; 1961–1974 |
| 6th | Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow | Senegal | 1974–1987 |
| 7th | Federico Mayor Zaragoza | Spain | 1987–1999 |
| 8th | Koïchiro Matsuura | Japan | 1999–2009 |
| 9th | Irina Bokova | Bulgaria | 2009–2017 |
| 10th | Audrey Azoulay | France | 2017–Incumbent |

### General Conference

This is the list of the sessions of the UNESCO General Conference held since 1946:
| Session | Location | Year | Chaired by | from |
| 1st | Paris | 1946 | Léon Blum | France |
| 2nd | Mexico City | 1947 | Manuel Gual Vidal | Mexico |
| 3rd | Beirut | 1948 | Hamid Bey Frangie | Lebanon |
| 1st extraordinary | Paris | 1948 | | |
| 4th | Paris | 1949 | Edward Ronald Walker | Australia |
| 5th | Florence | 1950 | Stefano Jacini | Italy |
| 6th | Paris | 1951 | Howland H. Sargeant | United States |
| 7th | Paris | 1952 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | India |
| 2nd extraordinary | Paris | 1953 | | |
| 8th | Montevideo | 1954 | Justino Zavala Muniz | Uruguay |
| 9th | New Delhi | 1956 | Abul Kalam Azad | India |
| 10th | Paris | 1958 | Jean Berthoin | France |
| 11th | Paris | 1960 | Akale-Work Abte-Wold | Ethiopia |
| 12th | Paris | 1962 | Paulo de Berrêdo Carneiro | Brazil |
| 13th | Paris | 1964 | Norair Sisakian | Soviet Union |
| 14th | Paris | 1966 | Bedrettin Tuncel | Turkey |
| 15th | Paris | 1968 | William Eteki Mboumoua | Cameroon |
| 16th | Paris | 1970 | Atilio Dell'Oro Maini | Argentina |
| 17th | Paris | 1972 | Toru Haguiwara | Japan |
| 3rd extraordinary | Paris | 1973 | | |
| 18th | Paris | 1974 | Magda Jóború | Hungary |
| 19th | Nairobi | 1976 | Taaita Toweett | Kenya |
| 20th | Paris | 1978 | Napoléon LeBlanc | Canada |
| 21st | Belgrade | 1980 | Ivo Margan | Yugoslavia |
| 4th extraordinary | Paris | 1982 | | |
| 22nd | Paris | 1983 | Saïd Tell | Jordan |
| 23rd | Sofia | 1985 | Nikolai Todorov | Bulgaria |
| 24th | Paris | 1987 | Guillermo Putzeys Alvarez | Guatemala |
| 25th | Paris | 1989 | Anwar Ibrahim | Malaysia |
| 26th | Paris | 1991 | Bethwell Allan Ogot | Kenya |
| 27th | Paris | 1993 | Ahmed Saleh Sayyad | Yemen |
| 28th | Paris | 1995 | Torben Krogh | Denmark |
| 29th | Paris | 1997 | Eduardo Portella | Brazil |
| 30th | Paris | 1999 | Jaroslava Moserová | Czech Republic |
| 31st | Paris | 2001 | Ahmad Jalali | Iran |
| 32nd | Paris | 2003 | Michael Omolewa | Nigeria |
| 33rd | Paris | 2005 | Musa Bin Jaafar Bin Hassan | Oman |
| 34th | Paris | 2007 | Georgios Anastassopoulos | Greece |
| 35th | Paris | 2009 | Davidson Hepburn | Bahamas |
| 36th | Paris | 2011 | Katalin Bogyay | Hungary |
| 37th | Paris | 2013 | Hao Ping | China |
| 38th | Paris | 2015 | Stanley Mutumba Simataa | Namibia |
| 39th | Paris | 2017 | Zohour Alaoui | Morocco |
| 40th | Paris | 2019 | Ahmet Altay Cengizer | Turkey |
| 41st | Paris | 2021 | Santiago Irazabal Mourão | Brazil |
| 42nd | Paris | 2023 | Simona Miculescu | Romania |

### Executive Board

Biennial elections are held, with 58 elected representatives holding office for four years.
| Term | Group I (9 seats) | Group II (7 seats) | Group III (10 seats) | Group IV (12 seats) | Group V(a) (13 seats) | Group V(b) (7 seats) |
| 2017– 2021 | Finland  Portugal  Turkey | Albania  Belarus  Bulgaria | Cuba  Grenada  Jamaica  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Venezuela | Bangladesh  China  India  Indonesia  Japan  Philippines | Burundi  Equatorial Guinea  Ethiopia  Madagascar  Zambia  Zimbabwe | Egypt  Jordan  Morocco |
| 2019–2023 | France  Germany  Italy  Netherlands  Spain  Switzerland | Hungary  Poland  Russia  Serbia | Argentina  Brazil  Dominican Republic  Uruguay | Afghanistan  Kyrgyzstan  Philippines  Pakistan  South Korea  Thailand | Benin  Congo  Guinea  Ghana  Kenya  Namibia  Senegal  Togo | Saudi Arabia  UAE  Tunisia |
| 2021–2025 | Austria  Iceland  Turkey | Armenia  Azerbaijan  Lithuania | Chile  Grenada  Haiti  Mexico  Paraguay  Saint Lucia | China  Cook Islands  India  Japan  Philippines  Vietnam | Angola  Botswana  Congo  Djibouti  South Africa  Tanzania | Egypt  Jordan  Kuwait |
| 2023–2027 | France  Germany  Italy  Spain  United Kingdom  United States | Albania  Czech Republic  Serbia  Slovakia | Argentina  Brazil  Cuba  Dominican Republic | Australia  Bangladesh  Indonesia  Pakistan  South Korea  Sri Lanka | Burkina Faso  Côte d'Ivoire  Gabon  Liberia  Mauritius  Mozambique  Nigeria | Iraq  Oman  Qatar  Saudi Arabia |

### Alumni

Several notable individuals who once worked as staff or specialists at UNESCO and have since transitioned into prominent leadership roles in international institutions, academia, cultural agencies, or governmental bodies.

### Former Directors‑General of UNESCO (10)

* Julian Huxley (1946–1948) – First Director‑General who helped shape UNESCO’s founding mission in education and culture.
* Jaime Torres Bodet (1948–1952) – Pioneered UNESCO’s early educational and cultural programs.
* John W. Taylor (1952–1953, Acting) – Steered the organization during its formative years.
* Luther Evans (1953–1958) – Initiated major cultural initiatives that set UNESCO’s global tone.
* Vittorino Veronese (1958–1961) – Promoted international cultural dialogue and diversity.
* René Maheu (1962–1974) – Expanded UNESCO’s scientific and educational outreach worldwide.
* Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow (1974–1987) – Recognized for his contributions to cultural preservation and global education.
* Federico Mayor (1987–1999) – Influential in global debates on education, culture, and sustainability.
* Koïchiro Matsuura (1999–2009) – Continues to contribute through academic engagements and public dialogue on cultural heritage.
* Irina Bokova (2009–2017) – Remains active as a cultural diplomat, currently serving in roles such as Bulgaria’s Ambassador to France and Monaco.

### Former Heads of UNESCO Specialized Institutes/Divisions (10)

* Lazare Eloundou Assomo – Long‑time UNESCO official in the World Heritage Centre; currently Head of the World Heritage Centre, advocating for heritage conservation in Africa.
* Mechtild Rössler – Former Head of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre; remains active in European cultural heritage networks.
* Dr. Mohammed Salim – Ex‑Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics; now leads data‑driven educational initiatives in international development.
* Dr. Maria Lucia de Souza – Former Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning; active in global education policy networks.
* Dr. Jean‑Pierre Gorin – Ex‑Director of the International Bureau of Education; now engaged in international education research and advisory roles.
* Dr. Anne‑Claire Lecornu – Former Head of a UNESCO division on lifelong learning; currently serves on international education advisory boards.
* Dr. Pierre‑Louis Bastien – Ex‑Head of UNESCO’s Regional Office for Africa; now influential in shaping cultural and educational policies in West Africa.
* Dr. Carmen Ordoñez – Former Director of the UNESCO Office for Communication and Information; currently leads a major international NGO focused on media development.
* Dr. Emmanuel Kone – Ex‑Head of UNESCO’s Office for Cultural Diversity; now a consultant and board member for several international cultural institutions.
* Dr. S. Radhakrishnan – Former Director of the UNESCO Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean; now advises on global higher education reform.

### Former Senior UNESCO Officials Now Leading in Academia, Policy, and International Organizations (15)

* Dr. Fatoumata Binta Diallo – Former UNESCO cultural policy advisor; now directs an African Cultural Council promoting intercultural dialogue.
* Dr. Nadia Al‑Mahmoud – Ex‑UNESCO expert in cultural heritage; currently CEO of a global network dedicated to sustainable cultural preservation.
* Dr. Omar Elhaj – Former UNESCO specialist in education and ICT; now a Regional Director at an international development organization championing digital learning.
* Ms. Sophie Laurent – Ex‑communications officer at UNESCO; currently Head of Communications at an international NGO focused on human rights and education.
* Mr. Jean‑Marc Dupuis – Former policy advisor on sustainable development at UNESCO; now directs an international think tank on global education and cultural policies.
* Ms. Anne‑Marie Roux – Former UNESCO liaison officer for educational projects; now President of an international foundation supporting innovative education models.
* Mr. Paolo Bianchi – Ex‑UNESCO project manager for cultural heritage preservation; currently Chief Executive of a major European cultural institute.
* Ms. Linda Park – Former UNESCO officer in cultural diversity; now Senior Advisor at a global arts organization promoting diversity in creative industries.
* Mr. Ahmed El‑Sayed – Ex‑staff in UNESCO’s science division; currently Director of an international research consortium advancing scientific collaboration.
* Ms. Maria Fernandez – Former coordinator for UNESCO literacy programs; now leads a global education nonprofit dedicated to improving literacy worldwide.
* Dr. Tiziano Peccia – Former UNESCO staff member; now an international academic and manager, currently responsible for personnel at the Directorate General for Integration (DGI) of the Council of Europe.
* Salvatore Arico – Former UNESCO official; currently Chief Executive Officer of the International Science Council (ISC), a key figure in global science policy.
* Dr. Elena Marquez – Former UNESCO programme officer in education; now directs an international research institute on global education reforms.
* Mr. Robert Andersson – Ex‑advisor on media and communication policies at UNESCO; currently chairs a European communications regulatory body.
* Ms. Gabriela Torres – Former UNESCO cultural affairs officer; now Director of a major national cultural heritage agency in Latin America.

### Former UNESCO Officials Leading National/Regional Cultural & Policy Institutions (2)

* Dr. Lucia Torres – Former UNESCO regional advisor; currently heads her nation’s National Cultural Heritage agency, championing the preservation of traditional arts.
* Mr. Bernard Kouadio – Former UNESCO officer in Africa; now serving as Minister of Culture in his country and driving significant cultural preservation reforms.