The representation of UNESCO in Brazil formally initiated in 19 June 1964. It became national office within Cluster Mercosur+Chile, at a time when the Organization was taking its first steps towards decentralisation. It joined other Agencies of the United Nations System represented in Brazil as part of the technical cooperation agreement signed with the Brazilian authorities in 1964. The Office moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in 1972.

For many decades, collaboration was close and productive; however, it was only in 1992 that UNESCO signed an ample cooperation agreement with Brazil’s Ministry of Education. It was under the aegis of the World Declaration on Education for All, prepared and approved on the occasion of the World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand, 1990).

In 1993, based on the General Agreement of 1981 (Technical Cooperation Agreement in Education, Science, and Culture between the Federal Republic of Brazil and UNESCO) UNESCO and the Ministry of Education signed the first working plan. Its purpose was to support the government’s decision in elaborating the Decennial Plan of Education for All.

From the mid-nineties on, the UNESCO Brasilia Office strengthened its action throughout the country, putting its technical competence at the service of innumerable projects and initiatives within the Organization’s five thematic areas: education, natural sciences, social science, culture, communication and information.