History
The representation of UNESCO in Brazil formally initiated on 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.
UNESCO Brasilia Office Directors
1975 - 1977 - Alfonso de Silva (Peru)
1977 - 1982 - Gustavo Lopes (Colombia)
1982 - 1984 – No country director
1984 - 1986 - Carlos Carrasco Fernandez (Bolivia)
1986 - 1989 - Gil Fernandez (Cape Verde)
1989 - 1996 - Miguel Angel Enriquez Berciano (Spain)
1997 - 2005 - Jorge Ricardo Werthein (Argentina)
2006 - Rosamaria Durand, officer in charge (Canada)
2006 - 2011 - Vincent Defourny (Belgium)
2012 - 2017 - Lucien André Muñoz (France)
2017 - 2018 - Marlova Jovchelovitch Noleto, officer in charge (Romania/Brazil)
2018 - - Marlova Jovchelovitch Noleto (Romania/Brazil)
National Office
UNESCO Office in Brazil, Brasilia, is a national office in Latin America and the Caribbean Region. Its main objective is to support the creation and implementation of public policies that are in accordance with the strategies set by the UNESCO Member States.
The strategy in Brazil is aligned to UNESCO Mid-Term Strategy for 2014-2021 (C/4 document) that together with the Programme and Budget for the biennium (C/5 document) represent the programmatic pillar of the Organization. The mid-term strategy and the biennial programmes allow tracing the evolution of UNESCO international cooperation in the country.
The Office’s actions occur through projects of technical cooperation in partnership with various government levels and with different sectors of civil society whenever their purposes contribute to public policies for sustainable development.