The mission of UNESCO Addis Ababa is to contribute to sustainable human development in a culture of peace underpinned by tolerance, democracy, and human rights through programs and projects in UNESCO's fields of competence: Education, Natural Sciences, Human and Social Sciences, Culture and Communication and Information.
The UNESCO Addis Ababa Office comprises of the Liaison Office with African Union Commission (AUC ) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the National Office for Ethiopia, under the Nairobi Multisectoral regional office, covering the East Africa region.
The Liaison Office to AU and ECA has the function of:
- Institutional representation: promoting UNESCO’s mandate, programmes and activities
- Advocacy and outreach
- Information analysis and brokering: channelling and relaying information, including the Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) for Africa
- Building partnerships
The Ethiopian National Office for UNESCO implements programmes and projects in all UNESCO fields of competence to foster a culture of peace and sustainable development in Ethiopia.
Specifically the office:
- Enhances UNESCO’s support to national development priorities
- Develops and delivers UNESCO programmes in the country
- Engages in the mobilization of extra-budgetary resources at the national level
- Represents UNESCO and acts as a senior adviser to the Government of Ethiopian on matters pertaining to UNESCO’s mandate