German Commission for UNESCO

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. They involve the educational, scientific, and cultural communities as well as the communication media of their countries into the planning, implementation and evaluation of the multi-faceted UNESCO programmes.

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 German Democratic Republic (GDR) also became a Member State of a UN Organization for the first time. With German unification on October 3, 1990, Germany is used as official name. 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.

The German National Commission

The German Commission for UNESCO was founded on May 12, 1950, preceding Germany's official admission to UNESCO on June 11, 1951. As a result of German unification, it integrated the functions of the dissolved GDR National Commission into its structure.

The German Commission for UNESCO has a liaison function for German Multilateral Foreign Cultural Policy, its regular budget being financed by the Foreign Office. It is a registered organization with up to 100 members comprising representatives of the German federal government and the governments of the federal entities, the Laender, representatives of institutions working at an international or federal level within UNESCO's fields of competence as well as experts for UNESCO's major programmes.

Activities of the German Commission for UNESCO cover each of UNESCO's major programme areas: a) Education, b) Natural and Social Sciences, c) Culture, d) Communication and Information.

The President of the German Commission for UNESCO is Walter Hirche (since 2002). Secretary-General is Dr. Roland Bernecker (since 2004). The Secretariat of the German Commission for UNESCO, with about 35 staff members, has its headquarters in Bonn. The Bureau and the executive committee of the German Commission for UNESCO are appointed by its general assembly meeting once a year.

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.dekade.org German website for the United Nations Decade Education for Sustainable Development
* http://www.unesco.org - Website of UNESCO