Question

explain the contribution of UNESCO to library education in India

Answer 1

UNESCO's work is carried out principally in the fields of education, the natural sciences, the social and human sciences, culture, and communication.

At the 27th session of the General Conference (1993), a broad consensus emerged on the need to concentrate efforts on two of the objectives common to the United Nations system as a whole—the consolidation of peace and the promotion of sustainable human development. The General Conference also underlined the importance of UNESCO's role in promoting international intellectual cooperation, that is, acting as an international "think tank."

The Organization's Constitution outlines UNESCO's fundamental mission of promoting access to, and the transfer and sharing of knowledge. UNESCO's continued role of offering guidance, advice, and assessment when needed calls for strengthening activities in the following areas: anticipating and preparing innovative strategies, gathering and circulating reliable information on the present situation and probable trends in the Organization's fields of competence; and encouraging political leaders at the highest level to make firm commitments.

UNESCO's recent actions have been largely determined by commitments made at the major intergovernmental conferences it has recently convened—solely or jointly with other UN agencies—or in which it has participated, in particular the World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien, Thailand, in March 1990, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992, the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, China, in September 1995, and the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August and September 2002.

The increasingly global nature and growing complexity of the problems in today's world call for a multidisciplinary or transdisciplinary approach in many of UNESCO's activities. A good example is the interdisciplinary project "Environment and population education and information for human development," conceived following the Rio Conference and aimed at the adoption of an integrated approach in order to achieve a development that is people-centered, equitable, and sustainable.

UNESCO's transdisciplinary Action Programme to Promote a Culture of Peace was created in 1993 to initiate activities in favor of the consolidation of peace following conflict. This involves reconstituting social infrastructures, fostering national reconciliation, reintegrating displaced persons, constructing a basis for a democratic citizenship, helping to create endogenous capabilities and ensuring the broadest possible involvement of the population in development efforts.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, UNESCO has been at the forefront of UN and international action in Central and Eastern Europe. The 26th Session of the General Conference (1991) called for UNESCO "to establish intersectoral coordination to support the introduction of democratic reforms" and "to establish close cooperation for carrying out this activity with international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, funds and other bodies" in support of Central and eastern Europe and in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. It was decided that the many existing activities in the region could be better focused if they were brought together under a single program, and the Programme for Central and Eastern European Development (PROCEED) was created.

Finally, the Organization's action in recent years has been focused on satisfying the needs of three priority target groups—the least developed countries, the UNESCO member states of Africa, and women.