Why Apply?

Patronage is UNESCO’s highest form of support. It is granted to show the organisation’s endorsement of exceptional activities and events. This means, of course, that the activity falls within one of UNESCO’s mandated programme fields – Education, Science, Culture and Communication and Information.

These can take many forms – organising a talk, a conference, an exhibition, a festival, or a symposium with international outreach.

It is not granted for organisations, personalities or activities of a commercial nature. Patronage must be limited in time. It may be granted to one-off or regularly repeated activities. In the latter case, a new request for authorization is required for each repeated activity.

The UK National Commission for UNESCO is able to grant patronage for activities in the UK that operate at a national level. The UNESCO Secretariat is responsible for granting patronage for activities and events that have an international scope. However, national activities can also be granted patronage from the UNESCO Secretariat. 

With patronage, you are granted the use of UNESCO’s name and logo for your activity, which is a symbol and standard of quality. It has the potential to raise awareness of the event or activity and promote it to a wider audience. 

The UK National Commission for UNESCO and the UNESCO Secretariat are neither financially nor legally responsible for any event or activity that they endorse.

The Process

Contact the UK National Commission for UNESCO at the earliest opportunity to inform them of your intent to apply. This will allow the UKNC to confirm your eligibility, answer any questions you may have and advise you on your application. This will also provide the UKNC with enough prior warning to identify suitable independent peer reviewers to evaluate your submission.

You will be required to submit your application or nomination to the UK National Commission for UNESCO before the final deadline for submission to UNESCO. When the application is received, UKNC staff will undertake an initial review to ensure that your application is eligible.

For each nomination or application the UK National Commission for UNESCO identifies pro bono experts in the relevant field to peer review the application. The reviewers are guided by the criteria and guidelines set out by UNESCO and their expert knowledge of the sector/issues in question. Reviewers are asked to recommend either:

Not all applications to the UK National Commission for UNESCO will be endorsed for submission to UNESCO. Not all applications submitted to UNESCO will be successful

These decisions are final, although applicants are entitled to an explanation of any decision regarding their application. We reserve the right for our independent reviewers to remain anonymous.

UNESCO has an internal review procedure of its own. A decision will be relayed to the UK National Commission for UNESCO or directly to the applicant, depending on the category of accreditation.

Not all applications submitted to UNESCO will be successful.