Key achievements

Since its creation, UNESCO has had a broad field of action to develop a better sustainable future and peace in the world.

UNESCO's Major Achievement in 2023

82 countries and 1,200 organizations joined the UNESCO-led Greening Education Partnership to get every learner climate-ready;
US$ 117 million were raised with the help of 15 international partners, notably the United Arab Emirates and the European Union, for the Revive the Spirit of Mosul flagship initiative, UNESCO's most ambitious reconstruction plan in decades;
10 million km² of land protected by UNESCO designated sites: 748 Biosphere Reserves, 185 Global Geoparks, 1,199 World Heritage sites;
50,000 Ukrainian teachers have been trained online in digital pedagogy by UNESCO and Ukraine's Ministry of Education;
20 countries have now ratified the Global Convention on Higher Education;
29,4% of the world's entire ocean floor is now mapped thanks to the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 project which began in 2017. The map has grown from 22 million to 90 million km² (equal to twice the Asian continent's landmass);
20% of the world's mapped plant and animal species richness, many endangered, are harboured in UNESCO World Heritage sites;
Over 1,600 journalists were killed around the world between 2006 and 2023, and nearly 9 out of 10 of theses cases remain judicially unresolved according to UNESCO's Observatory of Killed Journalists;
250 million children and youth are out of school, a 6 million increase since 2021 according to UNESCO latest global estimates;
85% of citizens are worried about the impact of online disinformation, according to an IPSOS poll conducted for UNESCO, with over 8,000 respondents in 16 countries where elections will be held in 2024;
More than 50 countries have worked with UNESCO in designing their national Ethical AI Policies in 2023.

UNESCO's Major Achievement in 2022

280 educational institutions completely rehabilitated in Lebanon's capital thanks to UNESCO;
For 50 years, the UNESCO World Heritage Convention has encouraged the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage;
150 countries unanimously recognized culture as a 'global public good' at the UNESCO World Conference MONDIACULT 2022;
Over US$ 9.4 million from the International Fund for Cultural Diversity have funded 129 cultural projects in 65 Member States since 2010;
Over US$ 105.5 million mobilized by UNESCO through 15 international partners for the Revive the Spirit of Mosul initiative;
10 million km² of land protected by UNESCO designates sites: 738 Biospheres Reserves, 177 Global Geoparks, 1,157 World Heritage sites;
100% of at-risk communities worldwide will be trained by UNESCO through its Tsunami Ready Programme by 2030;
Over 2000 young African filmmakers applied to a UNESCO-Netflix competition to promote and support the next generation of movie makers in the continent;
86% is the global impunity rate for journalists killing, according to UNESCO data from 2022;
244 million children and youth are out of school and 771 million adults are illiterate, according to UNESCO 2022 global estimates;
Between 2 and 3 billion people worldwide experience water shortages, according to the 2022 edition of the UN World Water Development Report published by UNESCO and UN-Water;
Only 30% of the world's researchers are women, according to a new UNESCO Institutes for Statistics (UIS) interactive tool;
Glaciers in 1/3 of World Heritage sites are set to disappear by 2050, according to a 2022 UNESCO-IUCN report;
50,000 computers distributed by UNESCO and Google to Ukraine teachers to help them deliver classes remotely;
Over 24,000 judges trained by UNESCO in the last decade to protect journalists.