MPs to hold a debate on the 80th anniversary of UNESCO

The debate, secured by Jonathan Davies MP (Mid Derbyshire), Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for World Heritage, will celebrate the establishment of UNESCO in London in November 1945 by a cross-party group of MPs, including Rab Butler and Ellen Wilkinson. It will also underscore the enduring significance of UNESCO’s mission to promote peace through education, science, culture, and communication.

“Today, the peoples of the world are ‘islands shouting at each other over seas of misunderstanding’. They do not understand each other’s history, each other’s ways of living, each other’s way of thinking. The better they understand each other, the more they will realise how much they have in common and why and how they differ, and the less prone they will be to take up arms against each other. ‘Know thyself’, said the old proverb. ‘Know your neighbour’, we say today. And the whole world is our neighbour”

Clement Attlee, Conference for the Establishment of UNESCO, November 1945.

Eighty years on, the UK’s UNESCO designations and programmes have evolved into a remarkable national network, encompassing more than 15% of the UK’s landmass, spanning over 170 Parliamentary constituencies, and home to an estimated 9 million people. Together, these World Heritage Sites, Biosphere Reserves, Global Geoparks, Creative Cities, and UNESCO University Chairs and Centres demonstrate how UNESCO’s values are being put into practice across the UK.

The debate will recognise the collective contribution of this network to the UK’s cultural, environmental, and educational landscape, as well as its role in advancing sustainability, international collaboration, and community resilience.

The event will take place at 9:30am on Tuesday 18 November in Westminster Hall and will be live-streamed on Parliament TV

A full transcript will be available shortly afterwards in Commons Hansard.