Author of children’s books Lauren Child and UNESCO partnership for children in need

• © UNESCO/Françoise Pinzon-Gil
• Lauren Child with children from the Renacimiento centre in Mexico

Lauren Child, British author and illustrator of children’s books, has signed a partnership with UNESCO launched officially on 25 June in London. Under the terms of the partnership, Ms Child and her publisher Hachette Children’s Books will donate the royalties from her best-selling book “That Pesky Rat” to UNESCO’s Programme for the Education of Children in Need.  More

Nuevos datos sobre calidad de la educación en América Latina y el Caribe

• © UNESCO
• Segundo Estudio Regional Comparativo y Explicativo, SERCE.

El clima escolar es el factor que más influye en el rendimiento de los alumnos, según una investigación entre 200.000 estudiantes de 16 países de América Latina y el Caribe, que revela también que la distribución del ingreso familiar repercute en el aprendizaje. El estudio, realizado por el Laboratorio Latinoamericano de Evaluación de la Calidad de la Educación y coordinado por la UNESCO, se presentó el 20 de junio en Santiago de Chile.  More

Geoparks, showcases for geological heritage

• ©UNESCO/Peter Coles
• Torbay with raised beaches in cliffs showing signs of past sea level change.

The third international conference on geoparks will be held in Osnabrück (Germany) from 22 to 26 June 2008. More than 300 participants coming from 35 countries are expected at the meeting, which aims to highlight the planet’s geological riches and the need to preserve them.  More

Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras designated UNESCO Artists for Peace

• ©Hans Speekenbrink

Renowned Spanish viola da gambist, conductor and composer Jordi Savall and soprano Montserrat Figueras have been designated UNESCO Artists for Peace by the Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, in a ceremony at Organization Headquarters on 17 June.  More

¿Qué futuro para la educación superior en América Latina y en el Caribe?

• © UNESCO

Más de 3.000 participantes de 37 países debaten sobre el futuro de la educación superior en América Latina y el Caribe en una conferencia que se celebra en Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, del 4 al 6 de junio.  More

Claude Lévi-Strauss: The View from Afar

• © UNESCO/Michel Ravassard
• Claude Lévi-Strauss at UNESCO, 2005.

Listen to "Race and Culture" read by Claude Lévi-Strauss at UNESCO in 1971. Watch the video coverage of his last public speech, made on the same podium in 2005. This month's Courier, published in his 100th year, pays special tribute to Claude Levi-Strauss, a man who has changed his century.  More

Underprivileged children: doubly disadvantaged at school

• © Dave Adair
• School children in an Indian village

A new study by UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics (UIS) highlights the strong effect of social inequality on primary education systems in many countries and the challenge to provide all children with equal learning opportunities.  More

Storm surges: how to get better prepared

• © Grant Cameron

Improving storm surge warning systems in zones threatened by tropical cyclones is urgent. This is the conclusion of the UNESCO/Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s (IOC) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at a joint press conference in Geneva on 21 May.  More

World Day for Cultural Diversity

• © UNESCO/ Mark Romanelli

UNESCO is celebrating the dialogue of cultures through words, sounds and images on 21 May, World Day for Cultural Diversity. The entry into force a year ago of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions throws a particular light on this year’s celebration of the event.  More

UNESCO: Europe must improve its literacy levels

• © UNESCO/ M. Ravassard

Knowing how to read and write is no longer enough in today’s world to find a job, this necessity is being discussed at UNESCO’s Regional Conference in Support of Global Literacy in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 14 to 16 May.  More

Information: a game of hide and seek

• © UNESCO/Aleksandar Džoni-Šopov

“As long as I live, I will continue to write and writing will keep me alive.” says Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro (45), who will receive this year’s UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize in a ceremony UNESCO is organizing in Maputo, Mozambique, to mark World Press Freedom Day, 3 May. This month’s UNESCO Courier publishes her exclusive interview which introduces several of the subjects covered in its pages.  More

Educación para todos: Semana Mundial de Acción 2008

• © UNESCO/Françoise Pinzon Gil
• Clase al aire libre (Pakistán).

La Semana Mundial de Acción por la educación se celebra del 21 al 27 de abril en todo el mundo y, este año, se centra en promover la educación inclusiva, único medio para lograr la Educación para Todos, prioridad absoluta de la UNESCO.  More

Education for All: Global action Week 2008

• © UNESCO/Françoise Pinzon Gil
• Open air lesson in Pakistan

Global Action Week, 21 to 27 April, focuses this year on the promotion of quality education to end exclusion. On this occasion, UNESCO experts draw attention to the fact that, despite promises made, aid remains well below the levels required to achieve universal quality basic education.  More

The UNESCO Courier: Planet Hot-Spot

• ©Mark Bakker, The Netherlands

Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, encourages us to change our lifestyle to minimize our ecological footprint.
How can we “manage the unavoidable to avoid the unmanageable”, according to Italian climatologist Filippo Giorgi’s formula, is the question raised by this issue of the Courier, devoted to the International Year of Planet Earth.  More

Global Action Week 2008

• © UNESCO/Michel Ravassard
• Literacy classes for immigrant workers in Bobigny, France

Quality and inclusion are key factors in attaining Education for All, UNESCO's top priority, and are at the heart of this year’s Global Action Week. Numerous events in the Organization’s field offices, a session of the “World's Biggest Lesson” (23 April) and a month-long internet forum are among the events planned during the Week.  More

21 March - International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

• © UNESCO

Each year, UNESCO puts together a rich programme to mobilize its diverse partners, with the aim to sensitise the public of the dangers represented by the current rise of racism, xenophobia and intolerance.  More

World Water Day 2008

• © PSI

The theme of this year's World Water Day, celebrated on 20 March, is sanitation. According to UN-Water's figures, more than 40% of the world's population still lives without satisfactory water sanitation.  More

Experts meet in Athens to discuss the return of cultural property

• © UNESCO/Niamh Burke
• Return, in April 2005, of the Aksum obelisk to Ethiopia

Lawyers, museum professionals, archaeologists, academics and cultural property experts will meet in Athens, Greece*, on 17 and 18 March to reflect upon and exchange experiences on the issue of the “Return of Cultural Property to its Country of Origin”, on the basis of several successful return cases.  More

Education Ministers from high-population countries to address teacher shortage

• © UNESCO/Brendan O'Malley

Improved teacher education is the theme of the Seventh Ministerial Review Meeting of the Nine High-Population Countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan) being held from 10-12 March in Bali, Indonesia.  More

Education Ministers from high-population countries to address teacher shortage

• © UNESCO/Brendan O'Malley

Improved teacher education is the theme of the Seventh Ministerial Review Meeting of the Nine High-Population Countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan) being held from 10-12 March in Bali, Indonesia.  More

Launch of International Year of Languages

• © Henry Claasen

International Mother Language Day, celebrated on 21 February every year since 2000, also marks this year the start of the International Year of Languages proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, which has entrusted its coordination to UNESCO.  More

International Year of Planet Earth

• © UNESCO / Patrick Lages
• Students at the launch of IYPE

Making the Earth a better place for humankind by engaging Earth Sciences for Society is the motto of the declaration adopted on 12 February 2008 at the Global Launch Event of the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) being held at UNESCO on 12 and 13 February 2008  More

World Congress of Biosphere Reserves

• © florAnimal
• The Rostowsky reserve (Russian Federation)

The Rostowsky reserve (Russian Federation) and the Marietas Islands (Mexico) are joining UNESCO’s world network of biosphere reserves. This decision was approved at the World Congress of Biosphere Reserves being held in Madrid from 4 to 9 February.  More

El Director General participa en el Foro Económico de Davos

• © UNESCO/ M. Ravassard

El Director General de la UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, participa en una serie de mesas redondas sobre educación, cultura, cambio climático y gestión de los riesgos financieros en el Foro Económico que se celebra en Davos (Suiza) hasta el 26 de enero.  More

Director-General at Davos Economic Forum

• © UNESCO / M. Ravassard

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, will take part in a series of roundtable debates on education, culture, climate change, and financial risk management at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, from 23 to 26 January.  More

Primer Forum de la Alianza de Civilizaciones en Madrid

• © UNESCO/Eric Bonnier

El primer Forum de la Alianza de Civilizaciones se reunió en Madrid del 15 al 16 de enero con el objetivo de explorar maneras de hacer frente a la creciente polarización entre naciones y culturas.  More

El Correo de la UNESCO cumple 60 años

• © UNESCO

El primer número del Correo de la UNESCO se publicó en 1948. Hoy, esta publicación emblemática de la Organización puede consultarse en línea.  More

• © UNESCO/Eric Bonnier

UNESCO wishes you happy holidays and a prosperous New Year. Together with all United Nations' Organizations, we will celebrate, in 2008, the International Year of Languages and the International Year of Planet Earth.  More

Compromiso en pro de la educación básica

• © Antonio Fiorenti

Al término de la reunión del Grupo de Alto Nivel sobre la Educación para Todos que se desarrolló en Dakar (Senegal) del 11 al 13 de diciembre, los participantes se comprometieron a llevar la instrucción a los grupos marginados, mejorar la calidad de la educación y aumentar la financiación de la educación básica.  More

Diversidad de las Expresiones Culturales: reunión en Canadá

• © UNESCO/Marc Romanelli

El Comité Intergubernamental para la Protección y la Promoción de la Diversidad de las Expresiones Culturales celebra su primera reunión del 10 al 13 de diciembre de 2007 en Ottawa (Canadá).  More

60º aniversario de la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos

• © UNESCO/Ivaldo Alves

Desde el 10 de diciembre, Día de los Derechos Humanos, y durante 12 meses, la UNESCO conmemora el sexagésimo aniversario de la Declaración Universal.  More

Lancement du Rapport mondial de suivi de l'éducation pour tous 2008

• © UNESCO/Antonio Fiorente

La 6e édition du Rapport mondial de suivi de l'éducation pour tous est lancée aujourd'hui par l'UNESCO au siège des Nations Unies à New York. Le rapport évalue les progrès réalisés par les pays dans la réalisation des six objectifs de l’éducation pour tous, à mi-chemin de l’échéance de 2015.  More

Construction of bridge likely to lead to delisting of Dresden Elbe Valley from World Heritage List

• © UNESCO/Niamh Burke

UNESCO regrets the decision of a German court to authorize the construction of a bridge likely to lead to the deletion of the cultural landscape of Dresden Elbe Valley (Germany) from the World Heritage List. The status of the property on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List is due to be reviewed by the World Heritage Committee at its next meeting in July 2008.  More

First Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations

• © UNESCO/Eric Bonnier

The first Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations met in Madrid (Spain) on 15 and 16 January. It examined ways to promote mutual understanding in the face of growing polarization between nations and cultures.  More

UNESCO hosts Iraqi Cultural Week

• © UNESCO/Giovanni Boccardi

The wealth and diversity of Iraq’s arts and culture is celebrated at UNESCO Headquarters from 12 to 21 November. The week long programme of events will highlight Iraq’s leading contemporary artists, musical traditions and its millenary heritage.  More

General Conference defines UNESCO’s strategy for the coming six years

• © UNESCO/Michel Ravassard

The 34th session of UNESCO’s General Conference which ended 2 November was marked by the adoption of the Organization’s strategy for the six years ahead and of its new programme and budget for 2008 and 2009.  More

Twenty-three new biosphere reserves join UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) network

• © F. Cardigos SRAM
• Isla Graciosa, Portugal

The Bureau of the International Co-ordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) has added 23 new reserves sites in 18 countries to its global network. The additions were made by the Bureau during its meeting from 18 to 20 September at Organization Headquarters in Paris.
The additions were made by the Bureau during its meeting from 18 to 20 September at Organization Headquarters in Paris.
The additions were made by the Bureau during its meeting from 18 to 20 September at Organization Headquarters in Paris. The additions were made by the Bureau during its meeting from 18 to 20 September at Organization Headquarters in Paris.  More

Las empresas que invierten en la diversidad cultural, ya sea en el plano de la gestión, de los recursos humanos o del marketing, pueden sacar un beneficio económico de esa inversión. Esta es una de las conclusiones a las que se llega en el Informe Mundial de la UNESCO titulado Invertir en la diversidad cultural y el diálogo intercultural, presentado el 20 de octubre en la sede de la Organización.  More