The UNESCO mandate

UNESCO carries out its activities within the four sectors: education, culture, science and communication & information. These four themes include sub-themes that tie in with the United States' Millennium Development Goals formulated in 2000. Nations. To achieve its program objectives, UNESCO works closely with a large number of regional and national organizations, including about 350 non-governmental organizations.

Education

Since its establishment in 1945, UNESCO has specialized in education and sees it as its mission to contribute to quality improvement and the promotion of education as a fundamental right. More and more children, young people and adults are given the opportunity to learn. Today, the percentage of people who can read and write has tripled since 1965. Despite these advances, the right to education remains a problem in many countries. More than 100 million children, 55% of them girls, have never seen a classroom inside.

Download the education brochure (PDF, 422 KB)

With regard to education, UNESCO's top priority for the 2006-2008 biennium is to provide basic education to everyone. The emphasis is on literacy, HIV / AIDS prevention education and teacher training in sub-Saharan Africa. Other priorities are: secondary and higher education, including technical & ndash; and vocational education, as well as science and technology education.

Every year, UNESCO, in collaboration with other UN organizations, publishes the & lsquo; Education for All Global Monitoring Report & rsquo; out, which assesses the state of the international community on its commitment to providing primary education for all children, youth and adults by the year 2015. The 2006 Global Monitoring Report focuses on & lsquo; Literacy for Life & rsquo; . Download the summary or this year's overall report and previous years .