Do you know about the Peace Program"

The Peace Program was created to support capacity development in the universities serving the Palestinian people. It is implemented by an international Network, The Network counts at present (March 2011) of 66 members: 53 European and 13 Palestinian universities. It cooperates closely with the major NGOs of higher education: the International Association of Universities (IAU) the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP), the European Association of Universities (EAU), the Association of Arab Universities (AARU), the Community of Mediterranean Universities (CUM), etc.

As an interuniversity network which seeks to promote international academic cooperation with the Palestinian universities, PEACE focuses its action on those areas in which international cooperation has made full proof of its efficiency, notably by contributing to raising the quality, efficiency and relevance of teaching and research at Palestinian universities and enhancing their institutional and staff development.

The support of UNESCO was instrumental in setting up the PEACE Network and developing its activities. When UNESCO launched its UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme in 1992, PEACE was recognized as a UNITWIN Network and has been functioning within that framework ever since. An office of the Programme was established at UNESCO, in Paris, in 1995.

An international conference on research development in Palestinian universities was held by UNESCO in Paris in 2007 in conjunction with the Research Network.

Before Dialogue: Fear, Responsibility, and the Path Towards a New Humanism

University of Oregon UNESCO Chair
 for Transcultural Studies, Interreligious Dialogue and Peace 
Dr. Steven Shankman

Steven Shankman, UNESCO Chair for Transcultural Studies, Interreligious Dialogue and Peace at the University of Oregon Center for Intercultural Dialogueis working to organize a conference entitled “Before Dialogue: Fear, Responsibility, and the Path Towards a New Humanism” in Paris this September.

In the context of humanism the conference will focus on the kinds of attitudes that need to be in place before dialogue beings vs. attitudes that inhibit the possibility of dialogue in the first place. You can see a working concept paper of the conference here. 

The UNESCO Courier: How youth drive change

The International Year of Youth (August 2010 – August 2011) turned out to be more revolutionary than expected. At the beginning of 2011, young people rose up in Tunisia and then in Egypt, and the movement spread to other countries in the region, also rousing countries in Europe such as Spain.  Elsewhere in the world, youth are mobilizing for a range of causes, as varied as the means they use. Much more involved than we tend to think, young people have decided to take things in hand. And in this issue of the Courier, it is they who are speaking out, expressing their concerns and explaining their actions.

To read this issue please click here (PDF-56 pages)

Cover "How youth drive change" of the UNESCO Courier (July - September, 2011) - © UNESCO 

• Young people in the world: So different and so alike, Monique Coleman
• Mobile revolution, Gigi Ibrahim
• Spring of outrage, Alfredo Trujillo Fernandez
• Miracle Weapons, Serge Amisi
• When poetry is louder than a bomb,Nate Marshall
• Moonlight stars, Carol Natukunda
• A young sughar, Noshan Abbas
• Rebels with a cause, Jens Lubbadeh
• Prescriptions for a sick planet, Zhao Ying
• Green architecture, Carlos Bartesaghi Koc

OUR GUEST

• Revolution: one of the great feats of civilization, Khaled Youssef

MILESTONES

• UNESCO welcomes, Hillary Clinton, Ban Ki-moon, Forest Whitaker, Shashi Tharoor...

PROFILES: AMERICANS AT UNESCO

Dr. Raymond Wanner

The U.S. Mission to UNESCO has opened a facet for its website highlighting Americans working at or with UNESCO. One of the first to be highlighted is Ray Wanner. Ray, the Senior Vice President of Americans for UNESCO, also currently serves as Senior Adviser on UNESCO Affairs to the United Nations Foundation, and Governing Board Chair of UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). Read an interview with Dr. Wanner!

World Bank and UNESCO: Expanding Opportunities for Collaboration on Culture and Sustainable Development

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and
Ms Inger Anderson, World Bank Vice President, Sustainable Development,

UNESCO and the World Bank have cooperated informally over the past decades, in particular on conservation efforts in the World Heritage sites. Today the two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding formalizing that on-going collaboration and expanding it to encompass a larger strategic scope.

Thanks to this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed by Inger Andersen, World Bank Vice President, Sustainable Development and Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, concrete joint initiatives have been identified in an effort to pursue common objectives of the two organizations in the areas of culture and sustainable development. Read more,,,,,

Opening of the UNESCO-related Center on the use of Space Technologies for Cultural and Natural heritage"

On 25 July 2011 the UNESCO space partner, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, opens an International Center under the auspices of UNESCO.

© Cnes 2009 - Distribution Astrium Services / Spot Image.
The Ilulissat Icefjord monitored from space.

The new established International Center under the auspices of UNESCO is being hosted by the Centre of Earth Observation and Digital Earth (CEODE). CEODE is an outstanding institution of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that has, under the same roof, activities related to satellite data reception, satellite date processing and the Digital Earth initiative. This International Center, established in collaboration with UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Sector, will bring to UNESCO all the expertise and know-how of CEODE with the aim of strengthening inter-sectorial cooperation.  Read more.....

Herbie Hancock UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador

United States UNESCO Youth Forum Representatives Announced

Blair Brettschneider of Chicago, Illinois and Andrew Hanna of Jacksonville, Florida will travel to UNESCO Headquarters in Paris this October to participate in the biennial conference.

Blair Brettschneider

The UNESCO Youth Forum brings together youth from over 80 countries and gives them a voice on how UNESCO addresses global problems within its mandate. At the Forum, youth delegates will discuss UNESCO’s work and provide recommendations on how UNESCO can better foster youth development and strengthen youth participation in civic life. The outcome from the Forum will be forwarded to the UNESCO General Conference for consideration.

Blair Brettschneider graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelors degree in Communication and American Studies in 2009. Brettschneider currently serves as a Development Assistant for RefugeeOne, a program that helps refugee girls adjust to life in the United States. Andrew Hanna is a sophomore studying Public Policy at Duke University. Hanna serves as the Duke University Class of 2014 President and was a Global Youth Summit American Delegate in 2010.

Andrew Hanna

UNESCO Clubs to meet in Viet Nam in August

The Vietnam Federation of UNESCO Associations has been authorized to host the 8th World Congress of the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centers and Associations (WFUCA) in Hanoi from 18th to 22nd August 2011.

Check out:

• The website of the World Federation
• The press release announcing the meeting
• The UNESCO website supporting UNESCO Clubs, Centers and Associations

The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO identifies three UNESCO clubs in the United States. While there are an estimated 3,800 clubs in 80 nations worldwide, the number in the United States is quite small, probably due to the fact that the United States withdrew from UNESCO for 18 years. Apparently, only Americans for UNESCO of the U.S. UNESCO clubs remained active during all of that interval. With the reentry of the United States into UNESCO in 2003, it would seem time to renew and revive the network of U.S. UNESCO clubs.

Left to Right: Guy Djoken of the UNESCO Center of Peace, Eric Woodard of the U.S. Naitonal Commission for UNESCO, and Andre Varchaver of Americans for UNESCO.

Guy Djoken, the President of the UNESCO Center for Peace in Frederick Maryland has recently been named to chair a working group to help coordinate the UNESCO clubs in the United States. Read more...

Frank Lloyd Write Buildings for the World Heritage List

Falling Water

A collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings will be nominated by the U.S. for inclusion on the World Heritage List, a prestigious honor that recognizes the most significant cultural and natural treasures in the world, places such as the Taj Mahal and the pyramids at Giza.

Read:

• "Fallingwater may gain global historic status" in the Pittsburg TribLive
• "Frank Lloyd Wright buildings to be nominated to World Heritage List" in JSOnline
• "Wright buildings, Louisiana’s Poverty Point to be nominated for World Heritage List" in the Washington Post
• "Price Tower listed for possible UNESCO World Heritage designation" in KJRH.com

The International Center for Capacity in Africa

Part 1 - Dr. Temechegn Engida, UNESCO-IICA... by MSEthiopiaNGODay2011

Dr. Temechegn Engida, UNESCO-IICA describes some of the programs of the IICA.

UNESCO center in Frederick Maryland to host summer camp

The Frederick-based UNESCO Center for Peace is receiving students from around the world for its International Model United Nations Summer Camp running through July 30. The Center for Peace expects between 65 and 70 students ages 13 to 21 from China, India, Brazil, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Canada and the United States, according to Lola Bokini, special director for the summer camp.

The camp will feature meditation sessions by Sahaja Meditation, swimming and a mini Olympics at the Hagerstown Pool and Community College grounds, shopping in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and trips to the National Mall and museums, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the U.N. headquarters in New York.

Read more about the camp in the Frederick News Post!

Congratulations to the UNESCO Youth Forum Finalists

Every other year, before UNESCO holds its General Conference, the organization also hosts a youth forum, where delegates from around the world identify common concerns and shared experiences. The delegates, all of whom are under 24 years old, then deliver their suggestions directly to the UNESCO General Conference. Two delegates from the United States will be designated from the following group of finalists:

• Sasha Anderson
• Blair Brettschneider
• Alexandria J. Croom
• Alex Fogleman
• Fernando Cutz
• Andrew Hanna
• Sejal Hathi
• Courtney Ivins
• Kim Karalekas
• Kelsey Leonard
• Noelle Little
• George Demetrios Papadopoulos
• Ryan Ruggiero
• Dale J. Stephens
• Tiffany Taylor

Read Assistant Secretary of State Esther Brimmer announcement of the finalists!

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:

Jazzman Herbie Hancock named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova will designate American jazz musician Herbie Hancock as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 22 July.

Recognizing Herbie Hancock’s “dedication to the promotion of peace through dialogue, culture and the arts,” the Director-General has asked the celebrated jazz musician “to contribute to UNESCO’s efforts to promote mutual understanding among cultures, with a particular emphasis on fostering the emergence of new and creative ideas amongst youth, to find solutions to global problems, as well as on ensuring equal access to the diversity of artistic expressions.”

Read:

• The UNESCO announcement of the appointment
• The UN News Center announcement

Check out Herbie Hancock's website!

Crooks Use UNESCO in Scam in the United States

Approaches were made to the Oglala Sioux, the Colusa and perhaps other tribes by a person purporting to represent an organization affiliated with UNESCO. Tribal councils were apparently offered large sums of money to support tribal development. UNESCO's total budget is much less than the amount that was mentioned to the Oglala Sioux. While UNESCO does support native populations in areas such as preservation of endangered languages, it would not make large grants for general development.

Read more from Indianz.com

Brian O’Dwyer appointed to UNESCO commission

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has appointed New York Irish-American attorney Brian O’Dwyer as Commissioner of the United States National Commission for UNESCO. The panel works with the State Department to further American participation in the United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization.

O’Dwyer, managing partner of the renowned Manhattan-based law firm of O’Dwyer and Bernstien, regularly commentates on legal issues for Fox TV, Court TV, CNBC, New York 1 and CNN en Español.

Widely known for his advocacy in support of the rights of labor unions and immigrants, he presently serves as chairman of New York’s Emerald Isle Immigration Center and Asociacion Tepeyac, which serves the city’s Mexican immigrant community.

Read more from the Irish Emigrant Online!

American film star Forest Whitaker's new role: UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador

Forest Whitaker with
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova

UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova will designate American actor, director and producer Forest Whitaker as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation. The nomination ceremony will take place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 21 June, at 6 p.m.

The designation comes in recognition of Mr Whitaker’s humanitarian and artistic commitment. This is most visible in his projects, such as “Better Angels”, a film about Ugandan child soldiers or “Common Destiny”, a documentary about the common goals of achieving peace and mutual understanding, and the power of education in promoting peace and reconciliation between and within communities.

Forest Whitaker was born in 1961 in Texas, USA. He studied opera in California to become a tenor singer but decided to focus on film acting eventually and moved to study in London. Since his film debut in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” in 1982, he has been one of Hollywood’s most accomplished figures. His best known performances include his roles as jazzman Charlie Parker in “Bird”, for which he was awarded the Palme d’Or in Cannes for best actor in 1989, and as Ugandan leader Idi Amin in “Last King of Scotland”, for which he received an Academy Award in 2006.

China Moses for US UNESCO

American jazz singer, China Moses, performs with pianist, Alain Jean-Marie, at a U.S. Mission to UNESCO dinner. The dinner was held in honor of the High-Level Panel on Girls Education, created as part of the Global Partnership for Girls' and Women's Education.

Interview with George Papagiannis

The U.S. Mission to UNESCO sat down with George Papagiannis, the Officer in charge of the UNESCO Office in Baghdad, to find out how he ended up in Iraq, what work he is doing there with UNESCO, and why UNESCO matters. This is one of a series of interviews with Americans working in UNESCO.