UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations headquartered in Paris. It was created after the Second World War to build peace through cooperation in education, the natural and social sciences, culture, and communication and information. Its best-known activities include designating World Heritage Sites, setting international standards for heritage and science policy, supporting national education systems, and running programmes in ocean research, freshwater management and freedom of the press.

The organization is governed by a General Conference of its member states, an Executive Board, and a Secretariat led by a Director-General. Its work is organized around thematic programmes and conventions, some of which are legally binding treaties while others are recommendations or declarations. UNESCO's influence rests less on large operational budgets than on standard-setting, global monitoring, and listing or designation systems that governments and communities voluntarily join.

The entry traces the organization's origins and governance, then examines its programmes in education, natural sciences and oceans, culture and heritage, and communication and ethics. It closes with the funding, membership and political disputes that have shaped UNESCO's history, including the United States' announced withdrawal, which takes effect at the end of 2026, and the leadership of Director-General Khaled El-Enany, in office since November 2025.

Origins and founding mandate

UNESCO grew out of planning carried out during the Second World War. The idea took shape in 1942, when the British education minister Rab Butler and the chair of the British Council, Malcolm Robertson, took advantage of the many governments-in-exile in London and convened a meeting of the Allied Educational Ministers to collaborate on educational questions affecting the Allied countries of Europe. The resulting Conference of Allied Ministers of Education (CAME) was convened in London in November 1942 to consider how the devastated educational systems of the countries under Nazi occupation could be restored after the war. Attendance grew as the war went on. Governments-in-exile including Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Yugoslavia took part, alongside Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, China and several Commonwealth countries, between 1942 and 1945. Butler is generally regarded as the main author of the concept, and had a great deal of influence in its development.

The wider diplomatic setting mattered as well. 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. CAME's proposal was then taken up through the UN process. A conference in London from 1 to 16 November 1945 drafted the organization's constitution, with forty-four governments represented. The text rests on the view that lasting peace must rest on the shared intellectual and moral bonds of humanity, not only on the outcome of military victory. The drafters also widened the organization's remit beyond the transmission of existing knowledge. It was decided that the new organization should deal not only with the transmission of existing knowledge but also with the pursuit of new knowledge. Hence, the encouragement of natural and social sciences through international cooperation was one of the principal tasks assigned UNESCO.

The number of signatories is reported differently across sources. The Oxford Public International Law entry states that the constitution comprises 15 articles and is considered equally authoritative in English and French. It was signed in London on 16 November 1945 by representatives of 37 States. UN-related material gives a higher figure, stating that the constitution was signed by 41 States.

Specialized agency status

The organization's place in the UN system was set by the UN Charter. Article 57 of the Charter provided for the creation of a specialized agency in the fields of education and culture. The constitution entered into force only after ratification by a sufficient number of states. It came into force with its 20th ratification on 4 November 1946. The first General Conference followed in Paris from 19 November to 10 December 1946.

UNESCO's autonomy within the UN system was built into its founding arrangements. In December 1946 UNESCO and the UN concluded an agreement that provides for effective cooperation between the two Organizations in the pursuit of their common purposes, while recognizing the autonomy of UNESCO. This agreement does not establish direct UN control over UNESCO, which remains an independent intergovernmental organization with its own budget and its own membership, administrative organs, and executive structure. This distinguishes UNESCO from bodies such as the Security Council or the international financial institutions, whose mandates centre on collective security or development lending. UNESCO's mandate instead covers education, science, culture and communication, and its stated aim is to advance peace and security through collaboration in those fields, to contribute to peace and security by promoting ... with a view to universal respect for justice, the rule of law and human rights.

Early postwar work

The first priority was rebuilding education. Basic literacy work was among the organization's earliest operations. One of the agency's first works was basic education for the people of Haiti. This project was repeated in Afghanistan. Its first Director-General, Julian Huxley became the first Director-General of UNESCO. In 1948 the organization set out a norm that remains central to its work: UNESCO recommended that all member states should offer free primary education to their children. Cultural exchange and the sharing of scientific knowledge were pursued alongside these education projects from the beginning.

United Nations League of Nations Second World War education literacy

Governance, membership and leadership

General Conference

The General Conference is UNESCO's highest decision-making body. It consists of the representatives of all States Members of the Organization and meets in ordinary session every two years. Each state holds a single vote, so a country's size or its share of the budget does not change its weight in the room. Each country has one vote, irrespective of its size or its contribution to the UNESCO budget.

The Conference sets the organization's direction. Its programme and budget cycles differ: it adopts a programme for four years and a budget for two years, the draft of which is submitted to the General Conference by the Executive Board and is the outcome of a consultation process between the Member States and the Secretariat. It also chooses the Executive Board's members and, every four years, names the Director-General. Beyond budgets, it can convene international conferences and adopt conventions and recommendations in education, science, culture, and communication.

Executive Board

The Executive Board is one of UNESCO's three constitutional organs. Elected by the General Conference, it consists of fifty-eight Member States. Since 1993, seats have been held by states rather than by individuals: since the 27th session of General Conference (1993) the Board has consisted of Member States of UNESCO rather than of individuals in their personal capacity. Members serve four-year terms, and seats are allocated by regional electoral group. Africa holds 14 seats and Asia and the Pacific 12, while Western Europe and North America hold nine, Latin America and the Caribbean ten, Eastern and Central Europe seven, and the Arab States six.

The Board's main task is preparatory and supervisory. It prepares the agenda of the General Conference and examines the programme of work for UNESCO and corresponding budget estimates submitted to it by the Director-General. Between General Conference sessions, it checks that the decisions already taken are carried out. It meets at least twice a year. Its work is organized through five permanent subsidiary bodies, including a finance and administrative commission and a committee on conventions and recommendations.

Secretariat and Director-General

The Secretariat is the third constitutional organ and is headed by the Director-General. The Director-General is appointed by the General Conference for a four-year term. The current holder, Khaled El-Enany, is the twelfth person to hold the post. The succession began with Amadou Mahtar Mbow of Senegal, who served from 1974 to 1987, and later included Federico Mayor, Koïchiro Matsuura and Irina Bokova. Audrey Azoulay served as the 10th Director-General from 15 November 2017 to 15 November 2025, succeeding Bokova.

El-Enany, an Egyptologist and former Egyptian minister of tourism and antiquities, was proposed by the Executive Board in October 2025. On 6 October, El-Enany was elected director-general of UNESCO, achieving a record victory in the organization's vote with 55 votes, compared to just two for his closest rival. The General Conference then confirmed him at its 43rd session in Samarkand, with 172 votes out of a total of 174 ballots. Khaled El-Enany assumed office as Director-General of UNESCO on 15 November 2025. He is the first Director-General from an Arab country, and the second from Africa to hold this position since Amadou Mahtar Mbow (1974-1987) from Senegal.

Membership and admission

Membership has two tiers. Full member states send delegations to the General Conference, and the General Conference consists of the representatives of the Member States of UNESCO, forming the Delegations, as well as of Associate Members. Associate membership is held by territories and groups that do not conduct their own international relations; the member-states portal reports 12 associate members.

Admission rules differ by status. For a state that is not a UN member, admission requires a recommendation by the Organization's Executive Board and a two thirds majority vote in favour by the General Conference of Member States present and voting (abstentions are not considered as votes). A newly admitted state becomes a full member only after completing the formalities of the constitution. The constitution is open for signature in the archives of the Government of the United Kingdom in London.

The 2011 admission of Palestine followed this route. UNESCO's 58-member executive council votes (40 in favor, 4 against, and 14 abstentions) in favour of granting full membership, and the General Conference endorsed the decision on 31 October 2011 by 107 votes in favour of admission and 14 votes against, with 52 abstentions. Palestine's membership took effect after it ratified the constitution on 23 November 2011. UNESCO's pages differ on the total: the member-states portal gives 194 members and 12 associate members, while the 2011 records describe Palestine's entry as bringing the number of member states to 195. The United States responded that Palestinian membership as a state in UNESCO triggers longstanding legislative restrictions which will compel the United States to refrain from making contributions to UNESCO. The funding consequences are discussed in the section on withdrawals and reform.

Education programmes

Global goals from Jomtien to SDG 4

UNESCO's education agenda has been organised around a sequence of global targets since 1990. The Jomtien conference in Thailand marked a new start in the global quest to universalise basic education and eradicate illiteracy. Its six goals covered young children, young people and adults, both inside and outside formal schooling . Governments were invited to set their own national targets within that framework according to their situations and capabilities.

A decade later, about 1,100 participants gathered at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, and took stock of the fact that many countries were far from the goals set at Jomtien. The Dakar Framework for Action restated those commitments, set six measurable goals, and re-affirmed their commitment to achieving Education for All by the year 2015. The goals called for expanded early childhood care, free and compulsory primary education of good quality, learning opportunities for young people and adults, a 50 percent improvement in adult literacy especially for women, gender equality, and better quality in every dimension of schooling . The forum also confirmed UNESCO as the lead agency responsible for coordinating the other organisations working toward these aims .

The 2015 deadline was carried forward into the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 4 aims at inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030 , and UNESCO serves as the custodian of its monitoring. The shift from Education for All to SDG 4 widened the agenda from basic schooling to post-secondary participation, learning outcomes and lifelong learning.

Monitoring: the GEM Report and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics

The Global Education Monitoring Report is UNESCO's principal instrument for tracking progress. Building on its twin mandate, the GEM Report is monitoring progress systematically towards the targets in the fourth Sustainable Development Goal on education, and it also examines how national and international strategies address themes such as access, quality and finance. The 2026 edition opens a three-part series titled Countdown to 2030: the first in the three‑part Countdown to 2030 series, designed to take stock of education progress in access and equity (2026), quality and learning (2027) and relevance (2028/9). Its findings on access were launched in Paris in March 2026 . The report warns that 272 million children, adolescents and youth worldwide remain out of school, and it draws on 35 country case studies to explain why some systems have improved faster than others.

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics, based in Montreal, compiles the internationally comparable enrolment and learning data that underpin these reports and the SDG 4 indicators. Together, the two bodies supply most of the publicly available evidence on school participation and learning outcomes, although the GEM Report also stresses that its own statistics are open to alternative interpretation.

Literacy, teachers and education in emergencies

Adult literacy has been a persistent priority. Jomtien scaled back such promises, and chose a more modest, and theoretically achievable, goal of cutting illiteracy rates in half by the year 2000 rather than eliminating illiteracy outright. Dakar then renewed the commitment with its 50 percent target. Subsequent reviews have shown that literacy remains one of the more stubborn gaps, especially for women and for populations in rural or conflict-affected areas.

Teacher policy is another core area. UNESCO works with governments on teacher recruitment, training, professional standards and working conditions. Shortages of qualified teachers appear among the principal obstacles identified in recent monitoring, , alongside funding gaps and the digital divide.

UNESCO's work in emergencies focuses on keeping children and young people learning during armed conflict, displacement and natural disasters, and on helping ministries rebuild education systems once crises end. This includes support for refugee learners and for the recognition of their qualifications where documents have been lost.

Higher education: recognition, chairs and networks

UNESCO's higher education work centres on the recognition of qualifications. The Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education was adopted during the 40th Session of the UNESCO General Conference in November 2019 and entered into force on 5 March 2023. It is the first United Nations treaty on higher education with a global scope. The convention establishes universal principles for fair, transparent and non-discriminatory recognition of higher education qualifications, and it promotes the recognition of refugees' qualifications, even in cases where documentary evidence is lacking. As of July 2026, 42 States have ratified it. It complements the regional recognition conventions that UNESCO has maintained since the 1970s.

Beyond treaties, UNESCO Chairs are university-based partnerships that conduct research, teaching and training on priority themes set by the organisation. The Associated Schools Project Network links primary and secondary schools, teacher training institutions and other educational bodies to UNESCO's priorities, including education for sustainable development, global citizenship and peace education. Both mechanisms extend UNESCO's agenda from intergovernmental negotiation into institutional practice.

Natural sciences and oceans

Ocean science and the UN Decade

UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) is the organization's main body for marine science. The UN General Assembly gave the IOC the job of preparing and running the ocean science programme of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, which runs from 2021 to 2030. The Decade was proclaimed in 2017 to respond to the First World Ocean Assessment released in 2016, which concluded that much of the ocean was seriously degraded. The initiative runs alongside the final decade of the 2030 Agenda and supports the aims of SDG 14 on life below water. Its programme areas include research, observing systems, capacity building, marine spatial planning and marine risk reduction.

The Decade works as a convening framework rather than a single research fund. Its organizers have stressed how little of the sea has been studied: the Director-General at the time of the 2017 announcement noted that the ocean covers 71% of the globe and less than 5% has been explored. By mid-2025, the IOC reported 61 endorsed global programmes and over 500 national and regional projects, which shows how the Decade relies on partners outside the organization to carry out its work.

Biosphere reserves and Global Geoparks

The biosphere side of the natural sciences work belongs to the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, launched in 1971 by UNESCO to encourage interdisciplinary research, demonstration and training in natural resource management. Its network is built on designated sites, and as of June 2026, 797 sites across 145 countries, including 22 transboundary sites, have been included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Each reserve is intended to serve three functions: conservation, sustainable socio-economic development and logistic support for research and monitoring. Reserves are nominated by national governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located, while their status is recognized internationally. New designations are made each year by the programme's International Co-ordinating Council, whose rotating membership comes from 34 Member States.

The UNESCO Global Geoparks label is a more recent addition. The designation was created in 2015 and recognizes geological heritage of international significance. Geoparks are managed as single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development. The Global Geoparks Network, which is the official partner of UNESCO for the operation of the UNESCO Global Geoparks, had 241 geoparks in 51 countries at the time of the most recent list. UNESCO has also tried to extend the concept to regions where geoparks are scarce, notably in Africa, the Arab States and Small Island Developing States. Biosphere reserves, natural World Heritage sites and geoparks together protect more than 13 million km² of land and sea, which UNESCO links to the Kunming-Montreal target of conserving 30% of land and sea by 2030 (alongside natural World Heritage sites and Global Geoparks, they contribute to protecting more than 13 million km² of terrestrial and marine ecosystems under UNESCO's umbrella).

Freshwater and the International Hydrological Programme

Freshwater work is carried out mainly through the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), an intergovernmental programme that UNESCO has run since 1975 to support hydrological research, water education and the management of shared rivers and aquifers. The IHP's research feeds into the World Water Development Report, a periodic assessment of the state of freshwater resources, water use and governance that is prepared through the UN's World Water Assessment Programme and typically released around World Water Day. The report is a major reference for policymakers and covers issues ranging from water quality and climate-driven variability to the links between water, energy and food.

Science policy instruments and cooperation

UNESCO's science policy work uses several tools. The UNESCO Science Report is a periodic global survey of research and development spending, human resources, and national science policy, and it serves as a benchmark for member states comparing their performance. The Recommendation on Open Science, adopted by the General Conference in November 2021, sets common principles for open access to research results, open data and open educational and research resources, and it asks member states to adopt national policies that match these principles. Beyond these instruments, UNESCO coordinates science cooperation through its intergovernmental programmes (the IOC, MAB and the IHP) and through capacity-building schemes that link laboratories, universities and national authorities in developing countries. These programmes operate through voluntary participation, so their results depend on the funding and engagement that member states and partners provide.

Cultural heritage and the World Heritage system

UNESCO's standard-setting for tangible heritage grew out of the damage done to monuments in war and in the wider pressures of development. The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict requires states to safeguard monuments, museums and collections during hostilities and introduced a distinctive emblem for marking protected sites. The 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property addresses the other side of the problem, the looting and cross-border sale of objects, by asking states to restrict trade in stolen material and to cooperate on returns. Both are binding only on states that ratify them.

The most visible early operation was the rescue of the temples of Abu Simbel in Nubia. Construction of the Aswan High Dam threatened to flood the rock temples of Ramesses II as Lake Nasser formed behind it. Between 1964 and 1968 the complex was cut into more than 1,000 blocks, moved about 200 metres inland and 65 metres higher, and reassembled over an artificial hill with a concrete dome behind the facade. The cost was roughly US$40 million, shared between the Egyptian government and an international campaign that drew contributions from more than 50 countries. The operation set a model for later UNESCO rescue campaigns, and its principle that major monuments belong to the world as a whole became a foundation for the 1972 treaty.

The 1972 World Heritage Convention

The World Heritage Convention, adopted in 1972, established a list of sites of "outstanding universal value" and an intergovernmental body to run it. The World Heritage Committee has 21 members elected from the states parties, and it meets once a year in an ordinary session. A nominated property must meet at least one of ten selection criteria, six for cultural sites and four for natural ones. Cultural nominations are assessed with advice from ICOMOS, and natural nominations with advice from IUCN, which serves as the official adviser on nature. The Committee then decides whether to inscribe a site, defer the nomination, refer it back for further information, or reject it.

The 48th session, held in Busan from 19 to 29 July 2026, inscribed 25 new properties (19 cultural, five natural and one mixed), bringing the List to 1,273 sites. Three of the new entries, in Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe, and South Sudan, were the first inscriptions for those countries. Decisions were adopted by consensus, and the session also resolved several earlier referrals and deferrals.

The List of World Heritage in Danger

Article 11.4 of the Convention created the List of World Heritage in Danger for properties facing serious and specific threats that require "major operations" and external assistance. Dangers are classed either as ascertained, meaning specific and imminent, or as potential, meaning threats that could have harmful effects. Typical causes include armed conflict, earthquakes, pollution, poaching, uncontrolled urbanisation and unchecked tourism development. Listing is intended to alert the international community and prompt corrective action; the Committee does not treat it as a sanction. Inscription on the List also opens access to World Heritage Fund assistance such as expert missions, training and equipment.

The Committee reviews state-of-conservation reports for each listed site, and in 2026 it considered the conservation status of 147 properties. At the Busan session it added six sites to the danger list, including the Lebanese sites of Tyre and Mount Amel Castles, the Ukrainian site of Tauric Chersonese, Sebastia in the State of Palestine, the Boma–Badingilo Migratory Landscape in South Sudan, and the Historic Inner City of Paramaribo. It removed the Historic Centre of Vienna, which had been listed in 2017 because of high-rise construction. The total number of sites on the danger list is reported differently by different sources, because it changes at each session.

Sovereignty, nomination and recognition

The system rests on a tension between national sovereignty and international recognition. A nomination must be submitted by the state party on whose territory the property lies, so the Committee cannot place a site on the List on its own initiative. Operational procedures also require consultation with the state concerned before a site is placed on the danger list. Inscription can bring prestige, tourism revenue and funding, which gives governments an incentive to nominate, but it can also make a site a focus of domestic and international disputes.

Boundary disputes are the most sensitive area. When a property straddles contested borders or sits in disputed territory, the Committee typically handles the matter so that its decisions do not prejudge any party's territorial claims. Such cases can lead to deferrals, requests for revised boundaries or buffer zones, or long negotiations over management responsibilities. The result is that the list reflects both scientific judgement about universal value and the political realities of who controls and defines a site.

Intangible heritage, documentary heritage and cultural diversity

The 2003 Convention and intangible heritage

The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was approved by the General Conference on 17 October 2003. It took effect in 2006, after thirty states had deposited their instruments of ratification. The treaty sets up two lists and a register. The Representative List, which the Committee establishes and publishes at the request of States Parties, is meant to make intangible heritage more visible and to encourage dialogue that respects cultural diversity. A separate List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding is designed to mobilise international cooperation for elements at risk. Only governments that have ratified the treaty may submit nominations. Each file has to meet five criteria, three of which apply to both lists, and failing a single one leads to rejection.

The treaty departs from tangible heritage protection in its object and its logic. Intangible heritage is treated as living: safeguarding measures aim to ensure that practices, knowledge and skills keep being renewed and passed to future generations. Its drafters also sought to correct an imbalance in the older heritage system, which favoured monumental sites, by recognising cultural practices that have no monumental form. The Representative List is often described as the intangible counterpart to the World Heritage List. Between 2008 and 2016, the Committee inscribed 365 elements on the Representative List, 47 on the Urgent Safeguarding List and 17 on the register of best safeguarding practices.

Documentary heritage and the Memory of the World Programme

The Memory of the World Programme was created by UNESCO in 1992 to prevent the irrevocable loss of documentary heritage, which includes material on paper, audiovisual media and digital supports. Its International Register was established in 1995, and the first inscriptions were added in 1997. The register covers manuscripts, oral traditions, audiovisual materials, and library and archive holdings judged to be of global significance. Nominations are reviewed by an International Advisory Committee, and the Director-General endorses the recommended entries. The programme also encourages national and regional committees and registers that focus on material of more local importance.

Inscriptions are added in cycles, so the totals change over time. In 2023, UNESCO announced 64 new collections, bringing the total to 494. A later Indian government page gives 570 entries from 193 countries, which reflects subsequent additions. Recent cycles have included collections linked to the history of slavery and to women's archives, as well as records of international cooperation such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1991 Windhoek Declaration on press freedom.

The 2005 Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

The General Conference adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions on 20 October 2005, by 148 votes to two. The treaty was pushed by ministers of culture who wanted cultural policies shielded from trade liberalisation. Its objectives recognise the dual nature of cultural expressions, which are both objects of trade and carriers of cultural value, and affirm the sovereign right of governments to adopt cultural policies. Article 7 requires parties to promote diversity, Article 8 allows measures to protect expressions at risk, and Article 9 requires reports every four years. Article 16 provides for preferential treatment of artists and cultural goods from developing countries in international exchanges.

The relationship with trade rules was the main point of contention during negotiations. Some commentators regarded the treaty as a barrier to the spread of American films and media, while the United States argued that the text might be misread as permitting new trade barriers. The relationship with the World Trade Organization was left unresolved in Article 20, which was drafted so that it could be read in either direction. Reported party counts vary by source and date; one source gives 153 parties and another 152.

The Creative Cities Network

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network, launched in 2004, links cities that have chosen creativity as a strategic development resource. Member cities are grouped under creative fields such as crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts and music. Membership supports exchanges of experience, local creative industries and the role of culture in urban planning. The network is intended to help cities use cultural production as a driver of local economic and social development.

Communication, information and freedom of expression

Constitutional basis

The communication mandate starts in the 1945 constitution. Article I directs the organization to recommend international agreements that can promote the free flow of ideas by word and image, through all means of mass communication. The preamble ties this to a wider belief in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, which the drafters saw as a way to build mutual understanding between peoples. In the organization's own legal commentary, the phrase mandates UNESCO to protect and promote freedom of expression, both online and offline. Freedom of expression is treated as the basis of the organization's media work, with press freedom and access to information as its corollaries, and this is the reason communication sits within the core programmes rather than as a side activity.

The clause was given practical form after World War II, when the end of the Cold War in 1990 opened a new phase. A roundtable convened by Director-General Federico Mayor only weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall led to the 1991 Windhoek seminar, which focused on the democratization of media in Central and Eastern Europe. The resulting declaration became a reference point for independent and pluralistic media and for the promotion of freedom of expression in transitional societies.

Press freedom and the safety of journalists

The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was created in 1997 and honours a Colombian journalist, Guillermo Cano Isaza, who was shot dead in front of the offices of his newspaper in Bogotá on 17 December 1986. The prize carries a monetary award of US$25,000 and is presented every year on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May. The laureate is selected by an independent jury of media professionals, and for 2026 the prize went to the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate. Its citation documented 32 journalists' deaths since fighting broke out in 2023, along with hundreds of violations against media workers. The award ceremony was held at Paris headquarters on 4 May, with Director-General Khaled El-Enany presenting the prize.

Beyond the prize, the organization maintains a regular practice of publicly condemning attacks on journalists, and the Director-General issues statements after killings of media workers, particularly in conflict zones or where impunity is high. This work relies on case monitoring and reporting by member states, and it links journalism safety to broader questions of democracy and accountability.

Media development and information literacy

Media development is pursued mainly through the International Programme for the Development of Communication, an intergovernmental body that supports independent media, training and institutional capacity in developing countries. The Information for All Programme complements it by bringing governments, libraries, archives and civil society into a shared policy dialogue on access to information. Media and information literacy, a field the organization promotes through curricula and teacher training, aims to help citizens find, evaluate, and create information responsibly, which the organization regards as essential to resisting misinformation and disinformation.

Internet Universality and digital governance

The organization's approach to online communication is framed by the concept of Internet Universality. The General Conference endorsed this framework in 2015, and it rests on four principles that the organization summarises as ROAM: the internet is based on human Rights, it is Open, it should be Accessible to all, and it is nurtured by Multistakeholder participation. A set of 303 indicators allows national stakeholders to assess their internet environment against these principles, and a core subset of 109 "core indicators" is used for quicker assessments. More than forty countries have taken part in the first generation of the assessments.

The revised framework, introduced in 2024, reduced the core set to 49 core questions and 88 core indicators. It also updated themes such as privacy, platform governance, meaningful connectivity and children's rights, and added new dimensions on the environmental impact of digital technology and on artificial intelligence. These updates link communication policy to the wider agendas on data governance, data privacy and the digital divide, and to the open science and digital access programmes described elsewhere in this article.

Ethics and normative instruments

UNESCO's standard-setting in ethics grew out of human genetics and later widened to bioethics. The Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (2005) was drawn up by an independent panel of experts, the International Bioethics Committee, and then negotiated by member states. Governments finished the text in two meetings of government experts in 2005, and the General Conference approved it "by acclamation" on 19 October 2005 at its thirty-third session. Its scope is broad. It covers respect for human dignity and human rights, the priority of individual interests over the sole interest of science or society, beneficence and non-maleficence, autonomy, informed consent, protection of persons unable to consent, and special attention to vulnerable persons, and it also sets out professional integrity and the establishment of independent, multidisciplinary and pluralist ethics committees. Because it sits in the category of declarations, it is non-binding, so member states must incorporate it into national laws, regulations or policies for it to take effect. Its approach of joining bioethics to international human rights law has also drawn criticism, since some observers prefer to consider bioethics and human rights separately.

The World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) is the advisory body that supports this work. UNESCO set it up in 1998 as an advisory body and forum of reflection. It has eighteen leading scholars appointed in their individual capacity, along with eleven ex officio members. Its task is to formulate ethical principles that could provide decision-makers with criteria that extend beyond purely economic considerations. Its agenda has covered environmental ethics, with reference inter alia to climate change, biodiversity, water and disaster prevention, the ethics of nanotechnologies, questions raised by information-society technologies, science ethics and gender issues. COMEST's advice goes to the Director-General, not to member states directly.

The 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence is the most recent major instrument of this kind. In November 2021, the 193 Member States of UNESCO signed the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, the first global normative instrument in its domain. Some UNESCO-linked summaries give a figure of 194 members, so the count depends on the source and date. The Recommendation provides a framework to ensure that AI developments align with the promotion and protection of human rights and human dignity, environmental sustainability, fairness, inclusion and gender equality. Since states are at different levels of preparedness, UNESCO committed to two implementation tools. The first is the Readiness Assessment Methodology, which is a macro level instrument that will help countries understand where they stand on the scale of preparedness to implement AI ethically and responsibly. The second is the Ethical Impact Assessment, a method for evaluating individual AI systems across their life cycle. The readiness tool was officially launched on 13 December 2022. A third-party summary reports that an updated version, RAM 2.0, followed in September 2026, with added input from women, people with disabilities and Indigenous peoples. Its assessment covers a country's legal, social, economic, educational, and technical readiness for AI.

UNESCO's normative instruments fall into three categories with different legal force. Conventions are treaties that states ratify, so they create binding obligations for those that join. Recommendations and declarations are non-binding statements of principle addressed to governments, and they rely on moral and political pressure, along with the expectation that states will adapt their own laws. Monitoring follows the same pattern. Conventions usually require periodic reports from states parties to a body that reviews compliance, while non-binding instruments are tracked through voluntary national reporting, peer exchange and the assessment tools described above. The Bioethics Declaration and the AI Recommendation both belong to the non-binding group, and the AI Recommendation's implementation mechanisms are a deliberate effort to give it practical reach. Unlike other international instruments the AI Recommendation was designed to include monitoring chapters, which set it apart from many earlier texts.

UNESCO also treats education as a means of countering racism, discrimination and hatred. Its 1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education is a binding treaty that obliges ratifying states to remove discriminatory practices from their school systems. Other work uses curricula, teacher training and teaching resources on topics such as the Holocaust and intercultural understanding. UNESCO carries out some of this work in partnership with regional bodies, including the European Union, which combines standard-setting with practical projects in member countries.

Funding, the UN system and partnerships

UNESCO's finances rest on two broad sources. The first is assessed contributions: mandatory payments from Member States based on the United Nations framework, which ensure financial stability and allow for better resource planning. The second is voluntary money, which comes in different funding modalities: flexible, tightly earmarked, multi-donor and self-benefiting. The organization's Integrated Budget Framework groups these together with Revenue Generating Funds, so the regular budget is only one part of the total resources available for programmes.

The balance between the two sources shapes what UNESCO can do. Funds-in-trust, a major category of extrabudgetary income, are contributions from governments, organizations, foundations and private companies used for activities consistent with the Organization's aims, carried out on the donor's behalf and at its request. Donors often prefer earmarked money because it yields visible, short-term results, and the World Heritage Centre has noted that heritage work still depends on a limited number of donors, mostly bilateral government funding partners, which exposes it to financial vulnerability. Critics across the UN system argue that large shares of earmarked money move decisions away from the governing bodies, because the size of voluntary contributions and the nature and extent of any earmarks are determined by individual donors. The imbalance is also a matter of national contributions: after the United States returned in 2003, Congress appropriated between $73 million and $84 million in assessed contributions per fiscal year, or about 22% of UNESCO's annual regular budget. Withholding such payments creates immediate gaps; the United States withheld funding to UNESCO from FY2012 through FY2014.

Arrears and funding gaps have direct effects on staffing and the field network. The revised programme and budget for the 2026–2027 period, prepared by the Secretariat, records constrained delivery, with limited capacity to implement priorities and mobilize additional resources, and lists post reductions, including the abolition of 14 posts and further posts to be suspended as staff retire. It also records reduced technical capacity due to staffing cuts. Reform measures have included decentralising activity toward field offices, while keeping a share of resources at headquarters to protect statutory functions. These responses sit within a wider liquidity crisis in the United Nations. The UN regular budget for 2026 was about $270 million, or 7.25 per cent lower than the $3.72 billion budget for 2025, and the reduction was accompanied by plans to abolish 2,900 positions. UNESCO's budget is approved separately from this regular budget, since budgets for peacekeeping missions and specialised agencies such as UNESCO and the World Health Organisation are approved separately, but the same pressures on contributions apply to the wider system. Arrears were a central problem in that system, with arrears as of December 1 totalling $1.586 billion.

UNESCO's coordination with other parts of the UN system runs through several channels. Its partnership strategy commits it to engage more actively within the UN Country Teams on substantive issues, to identify new ways to build partnerships and mobilize resources, which links its work to the broader UN reform agenda. In the field, its country-level presence is supported by the UNESCO National Commissions, which play a role in liaison with partners and in supporting UNESCO's engagement with partners at country level. UNESCO's funding listings also name international financial institutions and regional bodies among contributors, including the World Bank/I.B.R.D./Global Partnership for Education and the European Union. Cooperation with other intergovernmental bodies is described as collaboration with a wide range of other intergovernmental organizations with global and regional mandates, with whom it holds shared values and objectives, and the organization operates within the United Nations system and its coordination mechanisms.

Partnerships with non-state actors have become a larger part of the financing model. UNESCO says it is moving beyond traditional funding models, and creating partnerships with governments, the private sector, foundations and others. Its private-sector partners include business enterprises, including small and medium-size firms, national, international and multinational corporations, philanthropic and corporate foundations, financial institutions and private individuals. Foundations have a formal status: under the directives on relations with foundations, UNESCO enjoys official relations with 33 foundations. A recent example is a three-year framework agreement with the Omenaa Foundation, under which the foundation pledged EUR 1 million to UNESCO, supporting education, culture, heritage and the creative economy.

Cities and professional networks form another category of partners. Through its engagement with networks and programmes of cities, UNESCO is working on regional and local development strategies and carrying out projects in and with cities. The Creative Cities Network, for instance, aims to strengthen international cooperation between cities that have recognized creativity as a strategic factor of their sustainable development. Universities and schools take part through the UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN networks, the Associated Schools Network and the UNEVOC Network of vocational institutions, which together carry UNESCO's work in education, science and heritage into classrooms, campuses and local institutions.

Withdrawals, disputes and reform

United States withdrawals and returns

Washington has left UNESCO three times, and the longest absence ran from 1984 to 2003. The United States was a founding member in 1945 but withdrew in 1984, citing concerns over financial mismanagement and a perceived bias against US interests. The US rejoined in 2003. The second exit was announced in 2017 by the Trump administration, which cited anti-Israel bias, and that decision took effect a year later. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert linked the move to mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti-Israel bias. The US was then meant to provide a fifth of UNESCO's funding. The Biden administration rejoined the agency in 2023, arguing that US absence had allowed China and other strategic competitors to gain influence over standards set by the agency.

The third withdrawal was announced in July 2025. The Trump administration ordered a review of US membership in February, and a report was submitted to the White House in May. On 22 July 2025, the United States informed Director-General Audrey Azoulay of its decision to withdraw, stating that continued involvement was not in the national interest of the United States. The State Department accused UNESCO of advancing divisive social and cultural causes and of an outsized focus on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, which it described as a globalist agenda at odds with its foreign policy. The White House, through spokesperson Anna Kelly, called the organisation "woke" and pointed to diversity policies and what it called pro-Palestinian and pro-China bias. The withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2026, and the US will remain a full member until that time.

The 2011 admission of Palestine and the funding crisis

On 31 October 2011, the General Conference voted to admit Palestine as a full member. The vote was 107 to 14 and included 52 abstentions. Acting under a legal requirement to cut US funds to any U.N. agency that recognizes a Palestinian state, the State Department announced that the United States had stopped funding UNESCO. The contribution at stake was large: US contributions represented 22 per cent of the agency's overall budget. Washington was due to make a $60 million payment in November and did not do so. Israel also announced the freezing of its annual contribution to UNESCO.

The financial effects were immediate. Director-General Irina Bokova reported a $65 million hole in the agency's 2011 budget, and new commitments were put on hold while activities were reviewed. Arrears later had institutional consequences: the United States and Israel lost their voting rights in November 2013 after failing to pay their dues in time, a loss that provoked a major financial crisis at the agency and put hundreds of jobs in jeopardy.

Azoulay's tenure and the transition to El-Enany

Azoulay had served as UNESCO Director-General since 2017 when she was succeeded by Khaled El-Enany. Her response to the 2025 decision was that the reasons put forward by the United States were the same as seven years earlier, even though political tensions had receded and UNESCO remained a rare forum for consensus on concrete, action-oriented multilateralism.

El-Enany was elected with 172 out of 174 votes and became the first Director-General from an Arab country and only the second from Africa, after Amadou Mahtar M'Bow. He was due to assume the role on 15 November 2025. He has framed his agenda as the UNESCO80 reform, with key priorities to strengthen the Organization's effectiveness, coherence and global impact. He stresses intersectorality, encouraging collaboration across sectors to avoid silos and deliver as One UNESCO on the ground. He has also championed a more decentralized approach and the diversification of funding sources. On Africa, his candidacy emphasised capacity-building, heritage financing, and the empowerment of African peoples and institutions. Gender equality is among the priorities he has reaffirmed with partners such as the European Union.

Contested positions

Supporters of UNESCO have stressed its multilateral role. Azoulay described the 2025 withdrawal as contradicting the fundamental principles of multilateralism, and she pointed to the organisation's work in Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism as evidence against the criticisms. In 2025, the American Jewish Committee urged Washington to stay in the organisation, stating that Azoulay had taken an active role in combating antisemitism, hate speech and anti-Israel bias.

Critics in the US government have focused on the scope of the agenda and on Palestine. The State Department questioned the organisation's focus on divisive social and cultural causes, while the 1984 and 2017 decisions pointed to financial management and arrears. Some observers argued that US disengagement creates openings for other powers; experts cited in one report said the nation's exit would allow China to increase its influence on the UN system. Israel's foreign minister welcomed the decision as necessary to promote justice and Israel's right to fair treatment in the UN system.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Holocaust

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