UNESCO prizes celebrate those whose work furthers the Organisation’s mandate in building peace, security and sustainable development.
#Communication&Information
Discover our Communication & Information Programme
We implement UNESCO’s Communication & Information programme through four pillars:
⚖️ Legal framework Step n°1
? Policy advice Step n°2
? Expert Advice Step n°3
? Sites & initiatives Step n°4
We monitor legal instruments the UK has ratified as a member of UNESCO, work with leading experts to advise the UK and devolved governments on UNESCO programmes and support UNESCO designations in the UK.
#LatestCommunication&Information
Browse some of the most important and relevant UNESCO programmes for the UK
#Spotlight
Spotlight
Browse our #InFocus Programmes
Introduction
Discover UNESCO’s communication and information programme in the UK. Find out more about UNESCO’s role in setting global standards, the UK’s world-leading experts and their contribution to ensuring everyone has the right to freely express their opinions.
UNESCO has been concerned with the uneven distribution of communication and information across the globe since its inception in 1945. Recognising the fundamental role of communication and information to fostering peace and development, the programme is built on the right we should all share to freedom of expression, to hold our own opinions, and to express them freely.
UNESCO works to protect these rights and its current programme is firmly rooted in the demands and needs of 21st Century citizens. It leads the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists; offers guidance on combating online hate speech and misinformation; promotes Open Educational Resources and access to information for marginalized people; co-ordinates approaches to Artificial Intelligence and preserves and promotes the world’s documentary heritage.
Through this work the programme contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals which recognize the importance of public access to information and the protection of fundamental freedoms to peaceful and inclusive societies.
Discover our communication and information role and browse our communication and information programmes below
#MediaFreedom #MediaLiteracy #ArtificalIntelligence #SafetyofJournalists #MemoryoftheWorld #OpenEducation #DocumentaryHeritage #UniversalAccess #IPDC #RemoteAccessTechnologies
UNESCO establishes an international normative framework through its Conventions, Recommendations and other agreements
⚖️ #LegalFramework step n°1
COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION FRAMEWORK
UNESCO establishes international frameworks for communication and information through Conventions and other agreements.
There are two Conventions, fifteen Recommendations and three Declarations covering Communication and Information. They encourage Member States to deal with issues including new technologies, the free flow of information and ideas and international cultural cooperation. Together they establish a robust international framework for protecting global rights and promoting participation and therefore laying the foundation for sustainable development.
#KeyCommunication&InformationFramework
International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations
26 OCT 1961
? #RatifiedConvention
The agreement extended copyright protection for the first time from the author of a work to the creators and owners of physical manifestations of intellectual property, such as audio or video cassettes.
Recommendation concerning the preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage including in the digital form
17 NOV 2015
? #Recommendation
The Recommendation marks a milestone in those efforts by establishing guidelines and fostering international cooperation. It helps Member States identify documentary heritage and provides advice on what kind of policy measures are needed to preserve it.
Recommendation concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace
15 OCT 2003
? #Recommendation
Recognising the essential role of the internet and online communication to education and media and information literacy, this Recommendation seeks to ensure internet content is available in forms and languages that are accessible to all.
ALL UNESCO FRAMEWORK
Discover the full repertoire of UNESCO frameworks, from our standard setting instruments to our institutes and centres.
Discover our #Framework
Each and every accredited expert within our network is tasked with a specific committee or programme within UNESCO’s framework
📕 #PolicyAdvice step n°2
COMMUNICATION & INFORMATION POLICY
The UK National Commission for UNESCO informs and advises on international and domestic communication & information policy to UNESCO and UK Government.
UNESCO places a strong emphasis on the needs of lesser developed countries in its C&I work but the programme is also vital for the UK’s own national and international information and communication activities and UK Experts are playing a leading role.
KEY POLICY AREAS
The UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks programme remains relevant in most cases and highly sought-after, with a near doubling in its size over the past decade.
Category 2 Centres represent a valuable worldwide network of resources, the full potential of which should be realised to help deliver UNESCO’s strategic priorities.
UNESCO uses a variety of reporting methods to describe and evidence the results of its various global initiatives.
ALL OUR POLICY WORK
Are you interesting in becoming a UNESCO Chair? Find out more below
Discover our #Policy
SPOTLIGHT
Our Case Studies in #Communication&Information
#Communication #Information
Explore our communication #CaseStudies
Each and every accredited expert within our network is tasked with a specific committee or programme within UNESCO’s framework
#ExpertAdvice step n°3
COMMUNICATION & INFORMATION EXPERTS
We work with a network of experts across the UK who support UNESCO’s global mission to build peace in the minds of men and women.
Our Expert Network is made up of pro-bono specialists who help to advise the UK and Devolved Governments on policy relating to UNESCO’s programmes.
#Sites&Initiatives step n°4
COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SITES, ACTIONS & INITIATIVES
The Communication and Information Sector within UNESCO aims to advance freedom of expression, media development, and access to information. This is aligned closely with UNESCO’s mandate to “promote the free flow of ideas by word and image”. The sites and initiatives in the present in the UK help to advance these aims by increasing visibility and exchanging ideas.
Through the Memory of the World Programme, UNESCO closely cooperates with Member States to identify, preserve and promote access to the world’s documentary heritage, to make it available to all, including future generations. This list ensures the knowledge of and access to some of the worlds most important written and drawn information – creating a living canvas.
The initiatives UNESCO organises worldwide directly contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (including SDGs 4, 5, 8, 9, 10,11,13,16 and 17) set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with specific attention to the social, political and economic mutations of the digital age.
Since 1946, the UK National Commission for UNESCO’s role is to ensure the UK’s leading specialists, intellectuals and academics are contributing and shaping UNESCO’s science manadate. We also advise the UK and Devolved Government on policy relating to UNESCO’s scientific activities. This advice ensures the UK Government is adhering to the text of these legal instruments by fulfilling its obligations and promoting their aims and intentions within the UK.
🏆 Apply to our #CommunicationPrizes
OUR COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION PRIZES
UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
SINCE – 1997
? #Prize
Created in 1997, the annual UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize honours people or organisations for outstanding contributions to the defence and promotion of press freedom, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger.
UNESCO-Jikji Memory of the World Prize
SINCE – 2004
? #Prize
Established in 2004, the UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize rewards individuals or organisations for outstanding efforts towards the preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage.
UNESCO-Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prize for Digital Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
SINCE – 2002
? #Prize
The UNESCO/Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah Prize rewards individuals and organisations who have made a significant contribution to the inclusion of people with disabilities in society through digital solutions, resources and technologies.
BLOGS FROM OUR C&I PRIZES
INTERNATIONAL DAY International Migrants Day 18.12 Home → What's On → Events → International Days → December 18 We celebrate the International Migrants Day on December 18. READ MORE BELOW MIGRANTS DAY Photo credit, from top to bottom: Nicola Fioravanti, UNESCO Migration is a global phenomenon driven by many forces. These start with aspirations for…
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INTERNATIONAL DAY International Day of Persons with Disabilities 03.12 Home → What's On → Events → International Days → December 3 We celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3. READ MORE BELOW DAY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Photo credit, from top to bottom: Nathan Anderson, Arisa Chattasa. The annual observance of the…
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INTERNATIONAL DAY International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People 29.11 Home → What's On → Events → International Days → November 29 We celebrate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29. READ MORE BELOW SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE Photo credit, from top to bottom: Ahmed Abu Hameeda, Cole-Keister.…
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INTERNATIONAL DAY International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 25.11 Home → What's On → Events → International Days → November 25 We celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25. READ MORE BELOW END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Photo credit, from top to bottom: United Nations, Karl…
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At their root, UN International Days contribute to the achievement of the purposes of the UN Charter and promote awareness of and action on important political, social, cultural, humanitarian or human rights issues. International days are at the heart of the United Nations Charter.
🌞 Find communication #IntlDays
COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION INTERNATIONAL DAYS
World Book and Copyright Day
23 APRIL – SINCE 1995
? #Intl’Day
World Book and Copyright Day is a celebration to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. Each year, on 23 April, celebrations take place all over the world to recognize the scope of books – a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures.
World Press Freedom Day
03 MAY – SINCE 1993
? #Intl’Day
3 May acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Just as importantly, World Press Freedom Day is a day of support for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom.
International Day for Universal Access to Information
28 SEP – SINCE 2019
? #Intl’Day
28 September is widely-celebrated globally by civil society, information commissioners, governments and inter-governmental organisations alike, with events to raise awareness of everyone’s right to request and obtain information from public bodies.
NEWS FROM OUR C&I INTL’ DAYS
INTERNATIONAL DAY International Migrants Day 18.12 Home → What's On → Events → International Days → December 18 We celebrate the International Migrants Day on December 18. READ MORE BELOW MIGRANTS DAY Photo credit, from top to bottom: Nicola Fioravanti, UNESCO Migration is a global phenomenon driven by many forces. These start with aspirations for…
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INTERNATIONAL DAY International Day of Persons with Disabilities 03.12 Home → What's On → Events → International Days → December 3 We celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3. READ MORE BELOW DAY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Photo credit, from top to bottom: Nathan Anderson, Arisa Chattasa. The annual observance of the…
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INTERNATIONAL DAY International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People 29.11 Home → What's On → Events → International Days → November 29 We celebrate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29. READ MORE BELOW SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE Photo credit, from top to bottom: Ahmed Abu Hameeda, Cole-Keister.…
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INTERNATIONAL DAY International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 25.11 Home → What's On → Events → International Days → November 25 We celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25. READ MORE BELOW END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Photo credit, from top to bottom: United Nations, Karl…
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