Operational Cooperation with the United Nations System

Main Areas of Potential Cooperation

• The Millennium Development Goals Report (2006)

UNESCO seeks partnerships with the UN system, based on its areas of expertise defined by its mandate, especially in implementing all agreed commitments, goals and targets on international development objectives including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The Secretary-General’s 2002 agenda for further UN reform calls for increased joint programming and pooling of resources to further enhance the effectiveness of the United Nation’s system in developing countries, and to ensure the system’s combined resources are put to best use. The Millennium Development Goals Report of 2005 shows us how much progress has been made in some areas and how large an effort is needed to meet the Goals in others. This means that there is still progress to be made and to be fostered by a global partnership for development. In this regard, UNESCO promotes and seeks cooperation from UN sister agencies that share the same interest and whose priorities meet those of UNESCO.

Therefore there is more than one area where cooperation can be fostered. In fact, UNESCO’s biannual Programme and Budget provides a sound basis and framework for partnership.

EDUCATION, among key partners are UNICEF/UNDP/ UNAIDS/ UNHCR/ UNFIP/UNFPA
UNESCO as the lead agency gathers its efforts to meet the Dakar World Education Forum commitments, through especially the Education for All (EFA) Programme. It strengthens its coordination role and support to national efforts aimed at achieving quality basic education for all and at pursing MDG 1 and 2.

UNESCO will be further exploring cooperation in the following areas:
- EFA Coordination
- Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) and United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD)
- Teacher Education Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa
- the Global Initiative on Education and HIV/AIDS (EDUCAIDS)
- Secondary Education
- Support to the rehabilitation and reform of education systems in post-conflict situations

NATURAL SCIENCES, among key partners are UNEP/UNFIP/UNDP/GEF/ISDR/OCHA
The sciences programmes of UNESCO represent a multidisciplinary effort designed to enable countries to adapt to change through a balanced and equitable transition towards knowledge societies. The Natural Sciences Major Programme of UNESCO, as it was defined by the 32nd General Conference, in October 2003, is structured in two programmes:
• Science, environment and sustainable development, aimed to improve human security through a better management of the environment;
• Capacity-building in science and technology for development, that seeks to enhance human and institutional capacities in science and technology to allow the widest possible participation in the knowledge society, and to adapt science policy to societal needs.

Partnership will be in particular encouraged, in the framework of this biennium, in Natural disaster prevention and mitigation through the following areas:
- Scientific assessment of hazards and vulnerability; disaster preparedness; post-disaster rehabilitation;
- Focus on vulnerability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to disasters;
- Tsunami early-warning systems, especially in the Indian Ocean

SOCIAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES, among key partners are UNAIDS/UNOPS/UNFPA
UNESCO’s mandate in the fields of social and human sciences is to advance knowledge, standards and intellectual cooperation in order to facilitate social transformations conducive to the universal values of justice, freedom and human dignity through the provision of research, identification and analysis of trends. It also encourages empowerment and participation in the emerging knowledge society through equitable access, capacity-building and knowledge-sharing.

In particular, partnership is being sought for bioethics and ethics of science and technology.

CULTURE, among key partners are UNDP/UNFIP/UNV/OCHA/UNAIDS/UNEP
UNESCO contributes to sustainable development through World Heritage Programme. It enables the promotion of existing legal Instruments of UNESCO and their application, including support to management plan of World Heritage Sites and to implementation of the Action Plans of the Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In this regard, coordination is constantly strengthened especially for promoting the intercultural dialogue after the adoption of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which empowers the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity.

Potential areas of cooperation would notably include Capacity-building for tangible and intangible cultural heritage, especially through:
- Capacity-building for World Heritage management;
- Capacity-building for intangible cultural heritage;
- Capacity-building for protecting cultural property

Communication & Information, among key partners are UNDP/OCHA/OHCHR/UNV
ICT plays an important role for development. To make it more efficient, efforts are made to improve synergies with the UN ICT Task Force, and UN system, especially in the implementation of the Action Plan of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS, 2003 Geneva, 2005 Tunis). Moreover, UNESCO has gained considerable experience in the promotion of freedom of expression and media independence and pluralism, including conflict areas and post-disaster situations over the past years.

In particular, cooperation will be further enhanced in fostering the use of ICTs in Education but also strengthening freedom of expression and the role of media in support of democratic governance.


Description of Acronyms:
UNDP: United Nations Development Program
UNAIDS: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
OCHA: Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs
OHCHR: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNHCR: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
WHO: World Health Organisation
UNFIP: United Nations Fund for International Partnership
UNEP: United Nations Environment Programme
UNISDR: United Nations International Strategy Disaster Reduction