UNESCO

The 70th anniversary of UNESCO
UNESCO was created after the Second World War as a platform for peace on the basis
of humanity’s moral and intellectual solidarity. Throughout the decades, it has helped
to change the way people understand each other and the planet. As much remains to be done,
its founding principles are the source of inspiration to meet present and future challenges.
Across all five continents, numerous events were held to celebrate the 70th anniversary
of the Organization, its ideals and achievements, and its vision for the 21st century.
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© UNESCO
From past to future
UNESCO was founded in 1945 to develop
the ‘intellectual and moral solidarity
of mankind’ as a means of building
lasting peace. In its early years, UNESCO
worked to rebuild schools, libraries and
museums destroyed during the Second
World War, and served as an intellectual
forum for exchanging ideas and scientific
knowledge.
As many countries acquired
independence in the 1960s and 1970s,
the Organization devoted its energy to
working for access to education for all, the
protection of the environment, the end of
racism, safeguarding cultural and natural
sites of outstanding universal value,
advocating for freedom of expression and
the rights of citizens to information, and
helping lay the foundations of tomorrow’s
Knowledge Societies, among other issues.
The world held its breath for an instant on
12 August 1965 when a team of experts, engineers,
archaeologists and contractors removed the enormous
mass of rock overhanging the Abu Simbel temple,
threatened by the construction of the Aswan High
Dam and the consequent flooding of an extensive
stretch of the Nile Valley. The international campaign
for safeguarding the Nubian monuments in Egypt
was one of UNESCO’s major contributions to the world
and the origin of the 1972 Convention concerning the
Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
Although UNESCO has achieved
much, millions of girls and boys
still have no access to education,
biodiversity is still shrinking, climate
change is a major threat especially
to some of the poorest countries in
the world, and cultural heritage and
diversity are being challenged in many
situations. To meet the requirements
of the 21st century, UNESCO’s agenda
today is based on policies that address
sustainable development in all its
dimensions – economic, social, cultural,
environmental, scientific and economic
– with the intention to foster inclusive
development and dignity for all. This is in
line with UNESCO’s 70-year-old founding
principles, at a time when UNESCO’s
soft power – providing cooperation
for human rights and dignity, and
supporting sustainable development and
lasting peace – has never been in such
high demand.
Starting with a tribute to Nelson
Mandela, on 31 October 2014, followed
by a special event ‘UNESCO: 70 Years
in the Service of Human Dignity’
on 28 April 2015, and ending with
a new edition of the Leaders’ Forum
on 16 November 2015, UNESCO’s 70th
anniversary celebrations took place
all around the world.