Secretary Jewell Announces Nomination of San Antonio Missions as World Heritage Site

The Alamo: Red lines show original size, on photo of current location

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced that the United States is nominating the San Antonio Missions, consisting of most of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park as well as the Alamo, for inclusion on the World Heritage List, which recognizes the most significant cultural and natural sites on the planet.  

“World Heritage Sites represent an incredible opportunity for the United States to tell the world the whole story of America and the remarkable diversity of our people and beauty of our land,” Jewell said. “The San Antonio Missions represents a vital part of our nation’s Latino heritage and the contributions of Latinos to the building of our country.”

Jewell credited former Secretary Ken Salazar, who visited San Antonio Missions in July 2012 to announce the department’s intention to move forward with the nomination, for playing a key role in making it possible.

Read more of the press release.

Source

Paducah, a UNESCO Creative City

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.

Movement to make Seattle a UNESCO City of Literature

"At a reading to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Elliott Bay Book Company, local author Ryan Boudinot made a proposal "for the benefit of not just Elliott Bay Book Company, but the whole city." His pitch: "Let's seek formal recognition for Seattle as a UNESCO City of Literature." Boudinot explained that, as part of their Creative Cities program, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization launched the City of Literature designation to "recognize cities around the world that honor the literary arts through public and private means."

"A few Cities of Literature that have been named since the project's inception in 2004 include Reykjavik, Dublin, Melbourne, and Iowa City.:" Read more....

And still more here...

World Heritage University-Level Training Programs

Here are some of the programs that I have found in no special order. If you know of others, please leave information in the comments.

Check:

• UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks in the field of Cultural Heritage http://j.mp/127EE1a 
• UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks in the field of Cultural Tourism http://j.mp/18odiwf

United States

World Heritage in Practice: Paris- - University of Florida Design, Construction and Planning http://j.mp/JeopYv

Center for World Heritage Studies University of Minnesota
http://j.mp/It8Pcl

Japan

World Heritage Studies, University of Tsukuba
http://j.mp/128IyYC

Ireland

University College Dublin offers a Masters degree in World Heritage Management http://j.mp/10sxJTT

Trinity College Dublin, Cultural Heritage program
http://j.mp/15C66HK

England

Ironbridge Institute,  Masters in World Heritage Studies
http://j.mp/1apSpPx

The University of Cambridge has an MPhil and PhD program in cultural heritage, based at the Department of Archaeology
http://j.mp/13gmIWK

The University of Cambridge also has a research program on Cultural Heritage After Conflict
http://j.mp/12SLR6N

The University of Birmingham offers an MA program in World Heritage Studies
http://j.mp/1apXkQC

MA International Cultural Heritage Management at Durham University
http://j.mp/12SNPE1

Germany

Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Master in World Heritage Studies
http://j.mp/1aLBryN

Italy

Masters in Cultural Heritage for Development at the Turin School of Development http://j.mp/13AHIdL

University of Bologna, Italy, Master’s degree Course in science for the conservation-restoration of cultural heritage (SCoRe)
http://j.mp/15ixzyk

Other

Master in Cultural Heritage Management at the French University in Egypt. in partnership with the IREST Unesco Chair in Cultural Tourism and Development at the University of Paris. http://j.mp/19JnalB

Heritage Management Course managed between the University of Kent in the UK and the Athens University of Economics and Business.
http://j.mp/13qlPqu

The Future Generations Graduate School offers a Master's Degree in Applied Community Change with concentrations in Conservation and Peacebuilding.
http://www.future.edu/

The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies at the University of Arkansas and its Geospatial Modeling and Visualization?
http://cast.uark.edu/
http://gmv.cast.uark.edu

Crystal Nix-Hines nominated as U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO

Crystal Nix-Hines, has been nominated to be the permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO. The post, which must be confirmed by the Senate, carries to rank of ambassador.

I quote from Wikipedia:

Crystal Nix-Hines is Of Counsel at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in Los Angeles.  Previously, she served as Of Counsel at Fairbank & Vincent from 2006 to 2007, Special Counsel in the Litigation Department of O’Melveny & Myers, LLP from 1997 to 2000, and Assistant to the General Counsel/Senior Vice President of Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. from 1992 to 1993.  From 1993 to 1997, she held several positions at the State Department, including Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Member of the Department’s Policy Planning Staff, and Special Assistant to the Legal Adviser.  From 1991 to 1992, she clerked on the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice Thurgood Marshall and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.  She also clerked for Justice William A. Norris on the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 1990 to 1991.  During her career, Ms. Nix-Hines has also been a writer and producer on several network television shows such as Commander-in-Chief, Alias, and The Practice.  She began her career as a reporter for New York Times. 

Her law practice currently focuses on several areas, including  Entertainment and Media Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation, Structured Finance and Derivatives Litigation and Transnational Litigation.

According to Variety:

Nix-Hines was a bundler for President Obama in the most recent election cycle, raising between $200,000 and $500,000. She was a classmate of Michelle Obama’s at Princeton and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1990, a year before Barack Obama.

This appears to be an exceptional appointment. Nix-Hines' career path indicates that she is exceptionally talented, energetic and innovative. She has appropriate, high-level experience in the State Department. Her legal work in structured finance should be invaluable in dealing with UNESCO's budget issues. Her television background givers her professional standing with respect to UNESCO's culture program. Her legal work in intellectual property law gives her professional standing with regard to UNESCO's copyright conventions and their implementation. As a former New York Times reporter she brings special understanding to UNESCO's defense of reporters and press freedom. And last, but not least, she has personal standing that means her voice can be heard in the halls of the State Department and the White House.

Why UNESCO is important.

US Permanent Delegation to UNESCO

UNESCO lists the permanent delegation of the United States to the Organization as follows:

Permanent Delegation of the United States of America to UNESCO

U.S. Mission to UNESCO
American Embassy
12, avenue Raphaël
75016 PARIS

Telephone :	01.43.12.74.56
Fax :	01.43.12.74.58
E-mail :	ParisUNESCO@state.gov
Web site :	http://unesco.usmission.gov/

The Permanent Delegation requests that all correspondence be addressed to :
U.S. Mission to UNESCO
Miollis House - Room 4.45
75015 PARIS

H. E. Mr David Killion
Ambassador
Permanent Delegate (27/08/2009)
Mrs Kristin Eager Killion

Telephone :	01 43 12 74 16
E-mail :	ParisUNESCO@state.gov

Ms Kathleen A. Kavalec
Deputy Permanent Delegate, 

Telephone :	01 43 12 74 85
E-mail :	k.kavalec.us@unesco-delegations.org

M. Scott Turner
First Secretary (Political Affairs)

Telephone :	01 43 12 74 82
E-mail :	s.turner.us@unesco-delegations.org

Mrs Megan Larson-Kone
First Secretary (Communications/Culture)

Telephone :	01 43 12 74 46
E-mail :	m.larson-kone.us@unesco-delegations.org

Mr James Ryan Grizzle
Second Secretary (Education)

Telephone :	01 43 12 74 81
E-mail :	r.grizzle.us@unesco-delegations.org

Mrs Janel Heird
Second Secretary, Science Officer

Telephone :	01 43 12 74 99
E-mail :	j.heird.us@unesco-delegations.org

Mrs Daniela Morich
Program Specialist

Telephone :	01 43 12 74 53
E-mail :	d.morich.us@unesco-delegations.org

Facts and figures on UNESCO’s reform

UNESCO defines a budget covering two years of operation. The budget in the above graph are in millions of US dollars. The budget defined in the 30th General Conference (2000-2001) was $544 million. The following budgets showed increases until the 36th General Conference (2012-2013) which reached $653 million. Following the most recent reforms, the budget for 2014-2015 is $465 million. In addition to the regular budget financed by assessed contributions, UNESCO also receives voluntary contributions for additional programs and activities.

The international professional staff is composed of persons in the following career steps:

• Junior professionals (grade P-1/P-2) 

The principal goal of employees at these levels is to demonstrate your expertise by participating in the execution of programs and projects, moving in the course of your apprenticeship to higher levels of responsibility. 

• Middle-ranking professionals (grade P-3/P-4) 

Staff at these levels serve as a project leaders in charge of small teams; They launch and develop particular facets of the UNESCO program and gain further professional experience. 

• Management professionals (grade P-5 and D) 

Responsibilities as head of a section, director of a division or director of a UNESCO field office will include direct participation in the preparation and execution of the Organization’s strategy. At this level, staff members will manage budgets and assume leadership roles. 

As the graph shows, the numbers of junior and middle-ranking professionals have increased since 2000, while the numbers of management professionals have decreased.

Click here for the original source of these data. 

UNESCO to make its publications available free of charge as part of a new Open Access policy

UNESCO will make its digital publications available to millions of people around the world free-of-charge with an open license. Following a decision by the Organization’s Executive Board in April, UNESCO has become the first member of the United Nations to adopt such an Open Access policy for its publications. The new policy means that anyone will be able to download, translate, adapt, distribute and re-share UNESCO publications and data without paying.

Read more!

Quotation

Quotation

A New Video on UNESCO's History and Programs

Published on Jun 14, 2013

An overview of the principal events that helped create UNESCO.

 In 1945, UNESCO was created in order to respond to the firm belief of nations, forged by two world wars in less than a generation, that political & economic agreements are not enough to build a lasting peace. It is in the minds of men and women that the defenses of peace & the conditions for sustainable development must be built.

Eleanor Roosevelt & Human Rights

When Eleanor Roosevelt was chairing the United Nations Committee that was writing the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, UNESCO was asked to obtain information on whether there were indeed human rights recognized by all cultures. This book was the result of the work of UNESCO drawing upon the foremost thinkers in the world on the topic.

A recent broadcast on American History TV (on CSpan) was devoted to the three volume biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. At the end of the video a member of the audience brings up the fact that the United States is withholding its contributions to UNESCO, and that it will lose voting rights by the time of the next UNESCO General Conference unless it restores that funding.

Click here to watch the video.

The CRS has made a report on UNESCO for the U.S. Congress.

Luisa Blanchfield and Marjorie Ann Browne of the Congressional Research Service have produced a report on UNESCO for the U.S. Congress. The report was published on March 18, 2013.

Here are my comments on the report:

The report may leave the impression that the member states of UNESCO granted membership in the organization to the PLO. They granted membership to Palestine. 

In considering whether Palestine has "the internationally recognized attributes of statehood" you might mention that 107 member states of UNESCO elected Palestine to be a fellow member state. 138 members states of the United Nations have also elected Palestine to the status of "non-member observer state", not "observer organization". According to Wikipedia, as of April of this year 132 of the 193 member states of the United Nations have recognized the State of Palestine. 

You might also have noted that -- in spite of the provisions of the law -- the United States has continued to fund a number of UN agencies that include as member states entities that do not have "the internationally recognized attributes of states".  

The United States did not make a "decision to withdraw from the UNESCO between 1984 and 2003." It made a decision to withdraw from UNESCO in 1984. 

The United States made a separate decision to rejoin UNESCO in 2003. It was explicitly stated at that time that the effectiveness of UNESCO justified membership. UNESCO effectiveness had been further improved after 2003, although it has been damaged since 2011 by the United States withholding funds. 

You address several issues being considered with respect to the U.S. withholding funds from UNESCO. One that you might consider is the effect on U.S. foreign policy. I believe many UNESCO member states feel that the United States is acting inappropriately by refusing to accept the vote of the majority of member states. That and the soon to occur loss of the U.S. vote will compromise the Department of State's ability to achieve foreign policy aims in and through UNESCO. 

In discussing the budget of UNESCO, you do not mention the voluntary contributions which have been comparable in magnitude to the assessed contributions. The U.S. contribution of 22% of the regular budget influences the total program of UNESCO, and should be seen as roughly 11% of that total. 

Thank you for your attention. 

Here is a more complete set of comments on the study by Ray Wanner. 

How to write a stereotype-free textbook

“A good textbook must engage students and relate to their reality,” declares Jean Bernard of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO. A producer of learning materials and advisor on textbook quality, Bernard believes that all textbooks and learning materials should reflect the principles of education for citizenship and peace 

 UNESCO has designed a new toolkit for writing stereotype-free textbooks. The toolkit is designed to help remove cultural, religious and gender-biased stereotypes from curricula and learning materials. To test the tool before its publication in September 2013, UNESCO organized a workshop in Rabat (Morocco) from 6-9 May 2013 for authors, publishers, curriculum developers and experts in textbook development from 15 countries to work with the toolkit designers and test for usability and relevance. The feedback will be used to improve all aspects of the toolkit.

Read more on the effort!

Tracking the Election of the UNESCO Director General

Global Memo has begun to track information on the election of the Director General of UNESCO which is to take place this Fall. Click here to access the archive of its posts.

Video: UNESCO's Priorities for the XXI Century

Video: UNESCO's History