Annual Meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO.

The meeting with be held in the Loy Henderson Conference room at the Department of State on 

Friday, December 5, 2014 from 9:30am to 4:30pm

with a break for lunch at 12pm.  The meeting is open to the public so please feel free to share with interested parties. Anyone planning on attending must RSVP’s to dcunesco@state.gov in order to facilitate entry into the building.

U.S. Ambassador Crystal Nix-Hines is scheduled to speak with the Commission and discuss U.S. engagement with UNESCO along with her priorities.

State Department UNESCO watchers also look forward to discussing UNESCO programs and partnerships continuing to grow in the U.S. such as World Heritage, Creative Cities, the University/UNITWIN Chair Program and the Category II Centers.  

We all are looking forward to the 70^th Anniversary of UNESCO and how to best participate as a community. http://en.unesco.org/70years#view-display-id-section4. 

U.S. libraries should make a major donation of books to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a modern effort to recreate the fabled Library of Greco-Roman  Alexandria. In Ptolomaic times it had the largest collection of books in the world. The idea of recreating the library came from the University of Alexandria in 1974, and a competition for the design of the buildings was organized by UNESCO in 1988.

The modern library is trilingual, containing books in Arabic, English and French. In 2010, the library received a generous donation of 500,000 books from the National Library of France, Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). The gift makes the Bibliotheca Alexandrina the sixth-largest Francophone library in the world.

It would be a wonderful gesture of good will to the people of Egypt for the people of the United States to make a comparable donation of books to the library. It would be especially great to do this now, while the Congress is denying U.S. funding to UNESCO; a donation to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina would show support for UNESCO's mission of building defenses of peace in the minds of men.

While English language books would seem to be the obvious counterpart to the gift from the French, there might well be collections of books in Arabic in this country that would be welcomed.

Gifts of books to the library should be carefully coordinated with the its staff. It is costly for a library to organize, store and catalog new accessions, and any library will want to select its collection. Ideally organizations such as the Library of Congress or university libraries might make contributions. Perhaps some organization such as the American Library Association or the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO might assume leadership in such an effort.

Meeting of U.S. National Commission for UNESCO

Annual Meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO is scheduled for Monday, December 16.  The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the U.S. Department of State, George Marshall Conference Center. The meeting is open to the public.

If you are not a member of the National Commission and plan to attend, you must inform the National Commission staff well in advance:

phone: 202-663-0026
fax: 202-663-0035
email: dcunesco@state.gov

Registration at the State Department will begin at 9:00 a.m.  Because this meeting is being held in the State Department, staff will require your Birthday, Social Security and either Passport Number or Drivers License Number.

You will need to enter through security at the 21st Street entrance of the main State Department building.  (320 21st St NW, Washington, DC)

This should be a productive and interesting meeting and I hope you will be able to attend.

Allison Sharpe Wright Appointed Executive Director of the National Commission for UNESCO

U.S. National Commission Meeting

The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO will host its Annual Meeting on Monday, November 26, from 10:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. E.S.T. The meeting will convene in room 309 of the George Washington University Marvin Center at 800 21st Street NW., Washington, DC.

The meeting will have a series of speakers offering information about UNESCO and the current state of United States engagement with the Organization. The meeting will also feature a public comment session, limited to approximately 15 minutes in total, with two minutes allowed per speaker.Show citation box

For more information or to arrange to participate in this meeting (including requests for reasonable accommodation), individuals should contact Francine Randolph, Office of UNESCO Affairs, Washington, DC 20037. Telephone (202) 663-0026; Fax (202) 663-0035.

The National Commission may be contacted via email at DCUNESCO@state.gov, or via phone at (202) 663-0026. Its Web site can be accessed at: http://www.state.gov/p/io/unesco/.

The meeting will be held just before the Americans for UNESCO Forum, which is to be held in a neighboring room in the same building.

Thanks to Eric Woodard

Eric Woodard left the job of Executive Director of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO to become Director for Fellowships and Internships at the Smithsonian. He has done a great job improving the information coming from the State Department on UNESCO and repopulating and reviving the National Commission. He will be missed!

2011 U.S. National Commission for UNESCO Annual Meeting

The 2012 U.S. National Commission for UNESCO Annual meeting has been tentatively set for Monday 11/26/12 in Washington, DC.

The Commission will again be accepting the hospitality of George Washington University, as it did last year.

More on the National Commission Meeting

This past Monday 11/28 about 85 members of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and friends of the Commission met for our annual meeting in Washington, DC.

Participants met for about 5 hours with a few breaks and engaged in a lively discussion about a range of topics related to UNESCO and U.S. engagement with UNESCO.

The defunding issue was of course a hot topic and meeting participants shared their views about the current situation, as well as ideas about the future of U.S. activity with UNESCO.

The State Department offers apologies for the quality of the picture/sound, but you can actually watch a video recording from most of Monday's meeting here. You can also see photos from our meeting here.

Thank you very much again to everybody who participated on Monday (either remotely or in person), for those who traveled in from far away, and our hosts at George Washington University.

Meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO

Photo supplied by Laura Engel

The United States National Commission for UNESCO met on Monday, November 28th at George Washington University.

Updates on UNESCO

Education (Paul Kruchoski)

Secretary Clinton visits UNESCO – In May, Secretary Clinton visited Paris for the launch of the UNESCO Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education.  The initiative brought together governments, foundations, and corporations to raise over $5 million for UNESCO’s work to strengthen education for women around the globe.  This was the first visit to UNESCO by a U.S. Secretary of State.

Teaching Respect for All and Holocaust Education – In October, the United States announced two new extra-budgetary contributions to UNESCO education programs.  The first will revive UNESCO’s work from the mid-1990s on using education to build respect in multiethnic and multicultural societies.  The project – a partnership between the United States and Brazil – will offer new curricula and tools for educators.  We plan to officially launch the program in early 2012.  The second contribution will provide $250,000 to expand UNESCO’s Holocaust Education program, which provides educational resources on how to understand the underlying social factors that led up to the Holocaust and how individuals can help prevent mass atrocities in their own societies. 

UNESCO helps to Lead ECOSOC Ministerial – UNESCO helped to shape the discussion leading up to and during the UN Economic and Social Council Ministerial in July.  This year’s ministerial session focused on the internationally agreed development goals in education, including the Education for All Goals. 

UNESCO Youth Forum – On the eve of the General Conference, UNESCO hosted its 7^th Youth Forum.  This year, we piloted a new process for selecting the U.S. youth representatives.  The process offered options for YouTube video submissions and drew heavily upon social media to spread the word.  It also engaged youth in the selection of the finalists.  Our two final reps – Blair Brettschneider and Andrew Leon Hanna – were outstanding.  You can read their thoughts on the Forum here and here. 

UNESCO Nat Com Youth Working Group hosts event in NYC – This fall, the National Commission, the State Department, and USAID co-hosted an event entitled “Youth Driving Change: Global Youth & Civic Engagement” in New York.  The event, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, brought together Under Secretary of State Maria Otero and prominent youth voices from around the world to discuss how youth are shaping transformations around the world.  The event was the first activity organized by our National Commission Youth Working Group.  You can watch archival video of the event here.

Social and Human Science (Marlese Durr)

As of October 31, 2011 the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Social and Human Science sector has undergone re-organization. The focus of the sector continues to emphasize and promote human rights research; advances education in human rights; leads the action in the fight against all forms of discrimination at the national, regional, and international levels; fosters cooperation among all sectors and networks; promotes democracy and further reflects on new forms and combating violence; while encouraging human rights research with its partners. 

Highlighting that using the idea that UNESCO Stands for Human Rights, the work within Major Program III on Social and Human Sciences will be conducted through the following streams:  

·         Human Rights and Social Inclusion

·         Human Rights, Democracy, Youth  and Social innovation

·         Human Rights and Global Environmental Change

·         Human Rights and Bioethics

Natural Sciences & Engineering (Jana Hall)

-          L’Oreal Science Awards

-          Malta Conference

-          SESAME

-          New Organization

-          Obiang Prize

-          Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)

-          International Hydrological Program (IHP)

-          Geoscience/Geoparks

-          Biodiversity/Man and the Biosphere

Communications/Information (Aaron Mitchell)

In the Communication and Information Sector (CI), the latest projects currently underway deal with expanding access to educational and scientific information to developing countries through two initiatives: Open Educational Resources and Open Access to Scientific Research. Both initiatives aim to make publically-funded research and publications available to global audiences at no cost. UNESCO recently launched online platforms designed to expand the availability of these resources online. Additionally, the CI Sector, in partnership with the Commonwealth of Learning and the Hewlett Foundation, is planning a June 2012 international celebration of the 20^th Anniversary of Open Educational Resources, which will include an updated declaration of principles and values.

In addition to the above initiatives, the CI Sector continues its work on documentary preservation, press freedom, media development, and technology competency. As the culmination of ongoing programs, the sector recently released the “UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers.” This framework serves as curriculum guidance for secondary and tertiary level educators to develop coursework for increasing literacy, understanding and awareness of technological tools and their applications.

Culture (Mindy Fountain)

40^th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention

The Culture sector is gearing up for the celebration of the 40^th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention in 2012.  We are working with interagency colleagues on planning and developing U.S. celebrations and would appreciate suggestions and input from the Commissioners.

International Jazz Day

 One of the successes of this fall’s General Conference was the adoption of our resolution identifying April 30^th as International Jazz Day. The first celebration will be in 2012, and preparations are already underway in conjunction with Goodwill Ambassador to UNESCO Herbie Hancock and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. More information will circulate as it becomes available.

The International Center for Women Artists (ICWA)

Another success at the General Conference was the approval of the International Center for Women Artists, to be established in Amman, Jordan, as a UNESCO Category II Center. As many of you know this is a project that has received leadership and support from both our Mission to UNESCO as well as members of the U.S. National Commission.

With the UNESCO Category II status now approved, it is hoped that UNESCO will help organize an international design competition for the creation of a new logo for ICWA, which will be paired with the UNESCO logo for all of ICWA's communications in the future. 

Commissioner Sheree Wen is working on the formation of a new ICWA Advisory Council to bringing together international business partners to assist with development.

New Director General Elected at recent International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultureal Property (ICCROM) Conference

Stefano de Caro, a highly regarded museum expert with a background in archeology, was just elected by the ICCROM Council as their new Director General. De Caro, an Italian, is based in Naples and has worked on World Heritage issues in the past.

Ongoing work on Cultural Preservation

One program we’d like to highlight for you is the U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, run out of the Education and Cultural Affairs office at the Department of State. ‘This program has supported more than 700 projects in over 100 countries since its inception in 2001, including more than 100 projects at over 60 World Heritage Sites.  The program has expended more than 34 million dollars towards preserving tangible and intangible cultural heritage, such as the restoration of historic buildings, assessment and conservation of museum collections, and documentation of vanishing traditional craft techniques.  Especially in the current political climate surrounding UNESCO, this is a great example to use of U.S. engagement with and commitment to cultural preservation around the world.  The U.S. continues its commitment to cultural preservation and also remains engaged in work related to the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Cultural Property, and of course the 1972 World Heritage Convention.  

U.S. National Commission Meets on Monday 11/28/11

The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO is set to convene a full meeting on Monday 11/28 at 10:00 am EDT, That is the Monday after Thanksgiving.

The meeting will convene on the campus of George Washington University in Washington, DC. The meeting will run from 10 am 2 pm. More details will be forthcoming.

This meeting will include some updates about UNESCO, but will mostly be designed for action - with plenty of caucusing, action teams, and whiteboards. 

If you wish to attend, please inform the secretariat now right here!!!

NATIONAL COMMISSION MEETS ON MONDAY 11/28

The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO is set to convene a full meeting on Monday 11/28 around 10:00 am EDT It is to convene on the campus of George Washington University in Washington, DC. The meeting will run from 10 am into the afternoon (maybe 2 pmish?). More details will be forthcoming. This meeting will include some updates about UNESCO, but will mostly be designed for action - with plenty of caucusing, action teams, and whiteboards. We will be doing a lot of brainstorming re: programming for 2012. If you plan to attend the annual meeting now inform the secretariat right here!!!

NatCom Commissioner Wen creates links to Microsoft

Left to Right: Eric Basha, Sheree Wen, David Ostroff, Josh Rice

U.S. National Commissioner for UNESCO, Dr. Sheree Wen, met recently with senior Microsoft management in Seattle to discuss the company's newest software innovations for education and art.  Dr. Wen is also president and chief executive officer of the Wen Technology Group.

Dr. Wen met with Josh Rice, Microsoft's Senior Director for Worldwide Technology, and Mr. Eric Basha, Microsoft's Managing Director for Government in their Worldwide Public Sector on August 22.  

David Ostroff from the U.S. Mission to UNESCO in Paris also participated in the meeting.  Dr. Wen has been named as the Chairman of the newly formed Advisory Council for the International Center for Women Artists, and has been working to develop the Center's virtual presence.  

The Amman-based International Center for Women Artists, strongly supported by the U.S., will be formally approved as a UNESCO Category II center at the upcoming UNESCO General Conference in November.  Through its website, ICWA will have a major virtual presence, permitting visitors from all over the world to visit, engage in and learn about the incredible work of women artists from around the world.  

The U.S. Had Great Hopes for UNESCO When UNESCO Was Founded

President Harry Truman believed UNESCO could make "the greatest contribution in the history of the world to the welfare of the world as a whole", as quoted in the Miami News article covering the meeting of the U.S. National Commission on Educational, Scientific and Cultural Co-operation (now known as the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO) on September 27, 1946.

According to that article, the National Commission made several recommendations:

Regional Meeting of the National Commissions

Delegates at the 2008 Regional Consultation

The UK National Commission for UNESCO hosted the UNESCO Director-General’s Regional Consultation with National Commissions for UNESCO of Europe and North America on the Preparation of the Draft Programme and Budget for 2012-2013 (36C/5) from 5-8 June 2010, in London.

Read

• The Draft Agenda for the meeting.
• The Director General's Opening Address to the meeting.
• The May Information Bulletin from the National Commission Section of UNESCO

Meeting of the U.S. NatCom

The long-awaited annual meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO (U.S. NatCom) took place May 25-27 in downtown Washington, D.C. and, reportedly turned out much quite successful in spite of an unusually tight schedule. It was difficult to know the exact number of Commissioners in attendance but 40-50 is a reasonable estimate plus various invited guests and the not too numerous "public" of whom six were members of the AU Board.

Though not described as having overall themes, the meeting featured science, women and youth in the presence of Dr. Gretchen Kalonji, the new UNESCO ADG/SC due to assume her duties July 1st. An American young woman, former participant in the Young Professional Program, now a staff member in the Science Sector described her entry into the UNESCO world with enthusiasm. Another young woman was equally enthusiastic about her participation in the Youth Forum (held during last year's General Conference). Finally, the United States contribution to various aspects of UNESCO's work in the field of water was eloquently described by the President and Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Dr. Susan Avery, and two US scientists dealing with the International Hydrological Program.

Annual Meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO

The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO will host its Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 and Thursday, May 27, 2010 at the Embassy Suites in Washington, D.C. (900 10th Street NW).

The Commission will host a series of informational plenary sessions and subject-specific committee and thematic break-out sessions on Wednesday, May 26. The Commission will meet in plenary session to discuss its final recommendations on Thursday, May 27, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

The meetings will be open to the public, and those who wish to attend should contact the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO (202-663-0026; DCUNESCO@state.gov) no later than Wednesday, May 19th for further information about admission, as seating is limited. Requests for reasonable accommodation should also be made before that dat

Meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO

Liz Kanick, the Executive Director of the National Commission, has just confirmed that the public sessions of the meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO will be held on May 26 and 27. The announcement will soon appear in the Federal Register.

Meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO

I have heard unofficially that the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO will meet in Washington, D.C. from May 25th to May 27th, 2010. The meeting should soon be announced on the National Commission website.

National Commission to hold Telephone Meeting Tomorrow

The Annual Meeting Teleconference will take place on Thursday, December 17.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10am and last until approximately 1pm. There is a fifteen minute period of time set aside for members of the public to either make comments or ask questions. That portion of the call is scheduled to take place at approximately 12:25pm.

You may still be able to participate by contacting the National Commission secretariat in the Department of State.

Virtual Meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO

The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO will host its Annual Meeting on Thursday, December 17, 2009, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Eastern Time by telephone conference.

The meeting will have a series of subject-specific reports and allow for brief question and answer periods. The Commission will accept brief oral comments or questions from the public or media during a portion of this approximately three-hour conference call. The public comment period will be limited to approximately 15 minutes in total, with two minutes allowed per speaker. Those who wish to present oral comments or listen to the conference call must make arrangements with the Executive Secretariat of the National Commission by December 14, 2009.

The National Commission may be contacted via e-mail at DCUNESCO@state.gov, or via phone at (202) 663-0026. Its Web site can be accessed at: http://www.state.gov/p/io/unesco/.