UNESCO

Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed; 

That ignorance of each other’s ways and lives has been a common cause, throughout the history of mankind, of that suspicion and mistrust between the peoples of the world through which their differences have all too often broken into war; 

That the great and terrible war which has now ended was a war made possible by the denial of the democratic principles of the dignity, equality and mutual respect of men, and by the propagation, in their place, through ignorance and prejudice, of the doctrine of the inequality of men and races; 

That the wide diffusion of culture, and the education of humanity for justice and liberty and peace are indispensable to the dignity of man and constitute a sacred duty which all the nations must fulfil in a spirit of mutual assistance and concern; 

That a peace based exclusively upon the political and economic arrangements of governments would not be a peace which could secure the unanimous, lasting and sincere support of the peoples of the world, and that the peace must therefore be founded, if it is not to fail, upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind. 

For these reasons, the States Parties to this Constitution, believing in full and equal opportunities for education for all, in the unrestricted pursuit of objective truth, and in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, are agreed and determined to develop and to increase the means of communication between their peoples and to employ these means for the purposes of mutual understanding and a truer and more perfect knowledge of each other’s lives; 

In consequence whereof they do hereby create the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for the purpose of advancing, through the educational and scientific and cultural relations of the peoples of the world, the objectives of international peace and of the common welfare of mankind for which the United Nations Organization was established and which its Charter proclaims.

The purpose of the Organization is to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations. 

To realize this purpose the Organization will: 

(a) Collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image; 

(b) Give fresh impulse to popular education and to the spread of culture: 

By collaborating with Members, at their request, in the development of educational activities; 

By instituting collaboration among the nations to advance the ideal of equality of educational opportunity without regard to race, sex or any distinctions, economic or social; 

By suggesting educational methods best suited to prepare the children of the world for the responsibilities of freedom; 

(c) Maintain, increase and diffuse knowledge: 

By assuring the conservation and protection of the world’s inheritance of books, works of art and monuments of history and science, and recommending to the nations concerned the necessary international conventions; 

By encouraging cooperation among the nations in all branches of intellectual activity, including the international exchange of persons active in the fields of education, science and culture and the exchange of publications, objects of artistic and scientific interest and other materials of information; 

By initiating methods of international cooperation calculated to give the people of all countries access to the printed and published materials produced by any of them. 

3. With a view to preserving the independence, integrity and fruitful diversity of the cultures and educational systems of the States Members of the Organization, the Organization is prohibited from intervening in matters which are essentially within their domestic jurisdiction.

The Programme and Budget of the Organisation (document C/5) is approved every two years by the General Conference.

UNESCO’s Programme and Budget for 2010-2011 ) translates the policy directions and focus provided by the Medium-Term Strategy for 2008-2013 into concrete thematic and policy-style approaches for the five Programme Sectors of UNESCO (Education, Natural Sciences, Social and Human Sciences, Culture, Communication and Information).

The Bureau of Strategic Planning (BSP) was created in October 2000. 

Reporting to the Director-General, the Bureau serves as a focal point to link both programmatic planning, and budgetary issues. 

BSP prepares the six-year medium-term strategy for the Organization (document C/4). Every two years BSP it is also preparing, together with the Bureau of the Budget, the biennial Programme and Budget (document C/5) of the Organization. Furthermore, BSP is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Programme, including through SISTER, and the mainstreaming of the needs of women and gender equality and youth. 

Furthermore BSP has responsibility for coordinating the organisation’s activities pertaining to the dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples as well as the Culture of Peace.

Specific responsibilities of the Bureau of Strategic Planning (BSP) include:

• Preparation of UNESCO’s Medium-Term Strategy (C/4) and related regional and sub-regional strategies, together with pertinent revisions; 
• Preparation, together with the Bureau of the Budget, of the biennial Programme and Budget of the Organization(C/5), in consultation with all programme sectors, bureaux, and field offices as well as external stakeholders; 
• Monitoring of the implementation of the approved programme and the preparation of related statutory reports (six monthly FA/4 document) to governing bodies, inter alia through the operations of the online SISTER application (System of Information on Strategies, Tasks and the Evaluation of Results) SISTER is the Organization’s programming, management, monitoring, evaluation and reporting tool in line with the result-based management approach; 
• Enhancing and adapting SISTER to UNESCO and needs of UN reforms; 
• Providing training for staff, National Commissions and delegations on SISTER concepts and usage, results formulation, interagency programming, especially at the country level and gender mainstreaming; 
• Contributing to the development of a wide range of policies and strategic issues, through dedicated task forces established by the Director-General; 
• Providing strategic focus to several issues of a cross-sectoral nature, including projects pertaining to the two cross-cutting themes (CCTs) of the Medium-Term Strategy 2001-2007; 
• Responsibility for UNESCO's participation in and contribution to inter-agency programme activities within the United Nations system, especially in the follow-up to the United Nations Millennium Declaration, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the 2005 World Summit Outcome document and UN reform; 
• Ensuring the integration of a gender equality perspective in programming in all UNESCO programmes; 
• Ensuring the mainstreaming of the youth in UNESCO’s programmes; 
• Developing, promoting, implementing and monitoring a capacity development and training program for gender and youth mainstreaming as well as for and last developed countries; 
• Coordinating the activities of the Organisation relating to the dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples; 
• Preparation of reports on activities undertaken during the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of World, (2001-2010), for which UNESCO has been designated lead agency by the UN General Assembly; 
• The implementation of policies governing UNESCO category 1 and 2 institutes and centres as well as ensuring the programmatic coherence of the new policy for UNESCO prizes.