The German Commission for
UNESCO is one of 195
National Commissions for UNESCO worldwide, a unique structure in the
UN system, foreseen by UNESCO's constitution of 1946. The German Commission was founded on May 12, 1950, one year before West Germany was officially admitted to UNESCO. It has a liaison function for German Multilateral Foreign Cultural Policy; thus, its regular budget is financed by the Foreign Office. It is a chartered non-profit voluntary association with up to 114 members: Its members represent the
German Federal government and the governments of the
Laender, representatives of important German institutions working within UNESCO's fields of competence as well as individual experts.
The German Commission for UNESCO advises the government, parliament and all other public bodies on UNESCO issues, as well as on other issues of multilateral policy in education, culture and science. It coordinates the contribution of German government, academia, expert institutions and civil society to UNESCO’s programme activities: Education, Natural and Social Sciences, Culture, Communication and Information. Notable activities are the international volunteer service "kulturweit", the German implementation of the UN decade on "Education for Sustainable Development", the German implementation of the UNESCO convention on cultural diversity and a cooperation framework with Africa.
The Secretariat with about 45 staff members is located in Bonn and Berlin. Since 2002, the President is Walter Hirche and since 2004, the Secretary-General is Dr. Roland Bernecker. The Bureau and the executive committee of the German Commission for UNESCO are elected for two years, by a general assembly meeting once annually.
UNESCO National Commissions
UNESCO was founded in 1946 as the
United Nations Specialized Organization for
Education,
Science and
Culture. Within its fields of competence, UNESCO will "contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture". It is the only UN Organization having National Commissions. All 193 member states of UNESCO dispose of a National Commission, with varying structures and architecture. All of them have similar tasks though: they involve the educational, scientific, and cultural communities as well as communication media of their countries into the planning, implementation, communication and evaluation of the multi-faceted programmes of UNESCO.
Germany's membership in UNESCO
In 1951, UNESCO was among the first of the United Nations Specialized Agencies in which the
Federal Republic of Germany became a Member State, thus ending Germany's intellectual isolation provoked by the Nazi Regime 1933 to 1945. By joining UNESCO in 1972, the
GDR
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
also became a Member State, actually for the first time in a UN Organization. Since German unification on October 3, 1990,
Germany is used as official name; the German Commission for UNESCO integrated the functions of the dissolved GDR National Commission.
After the United States of America and Japan, Germany makes the third largest financial contribution to UNESCO. Like most other Member States, Germany has a Permanent Delegation to UNESCO in Paris. It ensures constant working contact with UNESCO and is in charge of Germany's political relations with UNESCO.
Germany is participating very actively in UNESCO's programmes. There are more than 30
World Heritage Sites in Germany, 15
UNESCO biosphere reserves, some 200
UNESCO Associated Schools, 10
UNESCO chairs, 10 UNESCO clubs and national committees for the
IHP
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,
MAB
A monoclonal antibody (mAb, more rarely called moAb) is an antibody produced from a cell Lineage made by cloning a unique white blood cell. All subsequent antibodies derived this way trace back to a unique parent cell.
Monoclonal antibodies ca ...
, the
IOC, the
IGCP, the
MoW Programme, and the UN Decade on
Education for Sustainable Development.
Activities
In 1972, it organized
German-Polish Textbook Commission with its counterpart of Poland.
References
External links
* http://www.unesco.de - Website of the German Commission for UNESCO
* http://www.ups-schulen.de - Website of the German UNESCO associated schools
* http://www.bne-portal.de - German website for the United Nations Decade
Education for Sustainable Development
* http://www.unesco.org - Website of UNESCO
{{Authority control
National Commissions for UNESCO
Foreign relations of Germany
Organisations based in Bonn