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Born in the ashes of war, UNESCO embarked on the task of reconstruction right from its very first programmes. Sixty years hence, it continues to bring succour to those recovering from conflicts or natural disasters. Some highlights:

1946 – The first session of the General Conference sets up an information centre to collate data on assistance needs of countries devastated by the Second World War. It also establishes a programme of education for international understanding.

1947 – The Temporary International Council for Educational Reconstruction starts to mobilize and coordinate efforts from the private sector, comprising 30 international and 700 national organizations.

1948 – The first volume of Study Abroad is published, detailing thousands of opportunities for fellowships and exchanges. Some 180 students receive grants within the reconstruction programme.

1950 – UNESCO heads the education department of the UN Relief and Works Agency, launching a school programme for Palestinian refugee children in the Near East. Four decades later, 400,000 pupils will have been taught by 11,000 teachers in 640 schools.

1954 – Representatives of 50 countries adopt the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict in The Hague (Netherlands).

1955 – The UN Korean Reconstruction Agency and UNESCO intensify rebuilding efforts, inaugurating a printing press able to supply 20 million textbooks a year.

1961 – A daring programme to reform education in the former Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), recruits over 100 specialists and 800 teachers to replace those who have left the country.

1977 – UNESCO responds to a request for assistance from the Lebanese Government in the country’s reconstruction and development.

1990 – The Executive Board decides to create the Chernobyl Programme to remedy the consequences of the nuclear disaster four years earlier.

1991 - The return of peace in Cambodia paves the way for an international programme for the protection of Angkor, spanning more than a decade.

1992 - UNESCO launches a major educational programme for the training of school and university administrators and managers in post-apartheid Africa.

1993 – The Programme for Education for Emergencies and Reconstruction (PEER) brings aid to Somali refugee children. This new programme will henceforth respond to crises elsewhere in Africa and the rest of the world.

1994 – The Teacher Emergency Package (TEP), a kit containing basic classroom materials for teachers and children, is tested for the first time on a nationwide scale in Rwanda.

1996 – UNESCO is designated as lead agency for assistance to independent media during the period of reconstruction in the former Yugoslavia. UNESCO will later lead aid efforts in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iraq.

2000 – The World Education Forum in Dakar (Senegal) adopts an action framework which includes a provision for education in emergency situations.

2002 – The minaret of Jam is the first site in Afghanistan to be placed in the World Heritage List. Aside from cultural preservation, UNESCO has ongoing projects in education and communications across the country.

2003 – Rwanda is the first subject of a series of publications on current efforts to restore and transform education systems in post-conflict countries. Among others to follow: Kosovo, Palestine, Timor-Leste.

2004 -The reconstructed Old Bridge of Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina), destroyed in the 1993 conflict, is inaugurated in July, thus concluding a UNESCO international fund-raising campaign. Two years later, it is inscribed in the World Heritage List.

2005 – A massive tsunami sweeps through countries bordering the Indian Ocean. UNESCO proposes putting in place a warning system similar to that already existing in the Pacific.

2006 – UNESCO responds to Lebanon’s post-conflict recovery and reconstruction, focusing on education, culture and communication. A mission reports on war damage to its cultural heritage.

Sources: 50 Years of Education, UNESCO, 1997; The Courier archives.

José Banaag