German UNESCO Commission

Coordinates: 50 ° 43 '54.2 "  N , 7 ° 5' 37.7"  E

The current logo of the German UNESCO Commission

The old logo of the German UNESCO Commission (until 2009)

The German UNESCO Commission e. V. (DUK) is an intermediary organization of the foreign cultural and educational policy of Germany based in Bonn and is funded by the Federal Foreign Office . Since it is the National Commission for Germany according to Article VII of the UNESCO Constitution, it can be regarded as the national “ UNESCO presence in Germany ”, even though it is an organization that is independent of UNESCO. UNESCO is one of the first United Nations organizations to join Germany. With the accession, the intellectual isolation that Germany had gotten into by the Second World War ended.

The National Commissions of UNESCO form a network, unique in the United Nations system, to promote the goals of UNESCO in their member states and to put them into practice. They involve the organizations and institutions of the respective country dealing with education, science, culture and communication in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the wide-ranging UNESCO program.

goals and tasks

The association is a coordination, liaison and advice center in all program areas of UNESCO. It ensures the presence of UNESCO in Germany and is responsible for the implementation of the UNESCO program.

"According to its statutes, the German UNESCO Commission takes on the following tasks:

• to advise the Federal Government, the Bundestag and the other competent bodies on all questions arising from the membership of the Federal Republic of Germany in UNESCO,
• to help shape Germany's membership in UNESCO and to develop and implement contributions to international understanding and international cooperation,
• to contribute to a cosmopolitan and sustainable knowledge society in Germany in the sense of the peacekeeping work of UNESCO,
• to promote international understanding, openness to the world and the cultural commitment of young people through international encounters and exchanges,
• inform the public about the purposes and work of the Commission
• as well as to raise funds for the realization of the tax-privileged purposes of UNESCO as a whole.

The Charter of the UNESCO National Commissions (1978) expressly emphasizes that each commission should organize its work freely according to its ideas and in accordance with the interests of its members. "

- UNESCO : tasks

The German UNESCO Commission represents UNESCO as the holder of the rights to the name and the UNESCO logo for Germany. It is usually also the coordination point for the implementation of the UNESCO program in Germany.

History, legal form, organization

Maria Böhmer , President of the German UNESCO Commission since June 2018

The German UNESCO Commission was founded on May 12, 1950 before the Federal Republic of Germany joined UNESCO (July 11, 1951). On October 3, 1990, she also became the legal successor to the UNESCO Commission of the GDR. As an intermediary organization for foreign cultural policy, the German UNESCO Commission is financed by the Federal Foreign Office. According to its legal form, it is a registered association.

The German UNESCO Commission has up to 114 members, including representatives of the federal government and the state ministries of culture and science, as well as representatives of institutions and experts elected by the general assembly. The general assembly meets once a year and elects the presidium and a board. Maria Böhmer has been President of the German UNESCO Commission since June 2018 . The secretariat of the German UNESCO Commission is based in Bonn. Roman Luckscheiter has been General Secretary since January 1, 2020.

Germany is accredited by a " permanent representation " at UNESCO in Paris. This maintains ongoing working contact with the UNESCO Secretariat and is responsible for maintaining relations with UNESCO. Ambassador Stefan Krawielicki has been the permanent representative of Germany at UNESCO since 2016 .

The focus of work corresponds to the four program areas of UNESCO: education, science, culture and communication / information. The work is coordinated by the respective specialist committees.

education

“Learning sustainability” is a focus in the education department of the German UNESCO Commission. It has convened a German National Committee for the United Nations World Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014) . It has developed a national action plan and brings partners, projects and initiatives together.

The German UNESCO Commission supports UNESCO in the “Education for All” program and the World Decade of Literacy (2003–2012).

“Around 200 work in the worldwide school network of UNESCO, of which 155 are recognized and 45 cooperating German unesco project schools. They exemplify international understanding, sustainability and intercultural learning. "

- ups-schulen.de : About us

science

The research and monitoring of the oceans and the water cycle, ethical questions of biotechnology or the participation of developing countries in scientific progress are specific fields of work in UNESCO's science program. The German UNESCO Commission supports the implementation of these programs in Germany and in international cooperation, including in the IHP and the IOC . Among other things, she supports the “UNESCO Engineering Initiative” and coordinates the UNESCO World Philosophy Day .

A special focus on sustainable development put UNESCO biosphere reserves . This global network includes the Swabian Alb , the Rhön and the Elbe river landscape . These model regions promote economic forms that generate income for the population and at the same time preserve the natural foundations of life.

In 2014, the German UNESCO Commission, in cooperation with UNESCO and the Federal Foreign Office, hosted the first meeting of the UN Secretary General's Scientific Advisory Board .

World Heritage Sites in Germany

Culture

The German Commission for UNESCO is involved in the implementation of the "Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage" (World Heritage Convention) . Numerous sites in Germany are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including the Aachen Cathedral , the Ensemble Klassisches Weimar and the Zeche Zollverein .

The association coordinates the development and application of international legal instruments for the protection of cultural property in Germany. In the nationwide “Coalition for Cultural Diversity” it has combined the expertise of the most important German cultural organizations on the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions . The German Commission for UNESCO has campaigned for the human right to cultural self-determination to be anchored in international law with the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions .

The office intangible cultural heritage since 2012 with the implementation of the UNESCO - Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in charge from 2003 in Germany. The tasks of the office include the coordination of the application and selection process for the nationwide directory of intangible cultural heritage .

The German Commission for UNESCO conceived and organized since the beginning of 2009, the new international volunteer service kulturweit in cooperation with the Foreign Office . The voluntary service enables young people from Germany to do a voluntary service for 6 or 12 months in the field of foreign cultural and educational policy in Germany . Partners are the German Academic Exchange Service , the German Archaeological Institute , the Goethe Institute , the DW Akademie , the Pedagogical Exchange Service , the Central Office for Schools Abroad and the PASCH schools . In addition, volunteers are deployed in the UNESCO national commissions of the respective countries.

Communication and information

The German UNESCO Commission supports UNESCO's activities to promote freedom of the press and media technology for developing countries. The aim is for all people to participate in information technology progress.

The UNESCO program “Memory of the World” combines media technology and cultural preservation . The aim is to preserve the documentary heritage of mankind and to make it accessible worldwide through digitization. A nomination committee of the German UNESCO Commission proposes German contributions to the UNESCO world register of document heritage. The “world memory” includes, for example, the literary legacy of Goethe and the Göttingen Gutenberg Bible .

International cooperation

The association is in daily contact with the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The worldwide exchange of ideas and opinions is also ensured through the UNESCO offices spread across all continents and the international specialist institutes of UNESCO. Partners in Germany are the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning in Hamburg and the UNESCO International Vocational Training Center in Bonn.

In accordance with the “Charter of UNESCO National Commissions”, the German UNESCO Commission works directly with national commissions from all other regions of the world. Since the 1960s she has been particularly committed to improving relations with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Together with the Polish UNESCO Commission, the German UNESCO Commission set up the German-Polish Textbook Commission in 1972 . Together with the Israeli and Palestinian Commission for UNESCO, the German Commission for UNESCO has launched projects on peace and security in the Middle East. The changes within Europe and the new division of labor among the European state organizations ( EU , Council of Europe , OSCE , OECD ) mean that the German UNESCO Commission is working more closely with other European commissions.

The cooperation between Germany and UNESCO also takes place in some of the 20 or so intergovernmental committees and programs of UNESCO. Examples are the International Bioethics Committee (IBC), the Environment Program “Man and the Biosphere” (MAB), the International Hydrological Program (IHP), which deals with issues of water management, or the council of the International Program “Information for All "(IFAP).

In addition to the German UNESCO Commission, other actors are involved in international cooperation under the umbrella of UNESCO: the around 200 German UNESCO project schools , the eleven German UNESCO chairs , the 38 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Germany, the eleven German UNESCO clubs as well as the two UNESCO depot libraries in Berlin and Leipzig.

Publications (selection)

(in chronological order)

• UNESCO today. Journal of the German UNESCO Commission. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 1990–2012, ISSN  0937-924X .
• “Learning ability - our hidden wealth” - Education for the 21st century (= UNESCO report of the International Commission “Education for the 21st Century”). 2nd Edition. Luchterhand-Verlag, Neuwied 1998, ISBN 3-472-02988-9 .
• Human rights education. A guideline for presenting the topic of "human rights" in textbooks and in the classroom. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 1998, ISBN 3-927907-69-3 .
• Culture of peace. A new UNESCO project to maintain world peace. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 1998, ISBN 3-927907-68-5 .
• History and Memory - Memory and Perception. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 2000, ISBN 3-927907-78-2 .
• Learning goal cosmopolitanism. 50 years of German participation in UNESCO. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 2001, ISBN 3-927907-81-2 .
• Basic texts of UNESCO and the German UNESCO Commission. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 2003, ISBN 3-927907-86-3 .
• UNESCO medium-term strategy 2002–2007. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 2003, ISBN 3-927907-85-5 .
• Klaus Hüfner, Wolfgang Reither, Norman Weiß: Human rights violations. What can I do against it? Human Rights Proceedings in Practice. 2nd updated and expanded edition. UNO-Verlag, Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-923904-55-X .
• General declaration on bioethics and human rights. Guide to the internationalization of bioethics German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 2006, ISBN 3-927907-87-1 .
• Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Magna Charta of International Cultural Policy. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 2006, ISBN 3-927907-89-8 .
• World Heritage Manual. Handbook for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention in Germany. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 2006, ISBN 3-927907-88-X .
• UNESCO World Heritage in Germany. 2nd, expanded and updated edition. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-940785-14-5 .
• Convention for the Conservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 2013, DNB 1033293156 .
• 60 years of UNESCO project schools in Germany. Cosmopolitan learning in a global network. German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 2013, DNB 1043695265 .
• Disaster control at world heritage sites German UNESCO Commission, Bonn 2017, DNB 1137288655 .

Web links

• Official website of the German UNESCO Commission
• Permanent representation of the Federal Republic of Germany at UNESCO
• 60 years of German participation in UNESCO (PDF; 2.56 MB; 2011)
• Website of the voluntary service culture-wide
• Website of the Foundation for the Cultures of Africa of the German Commission for UNESCO ( Memento from February 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
• Literature by and about German UNESCO Commission in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UNESCO: Tasks - accessed July 24, 2014.
2. ↑ Who we are. In: Unesco.de. Retrieved June 9, 2018 . 
3. ↑ German Unesco Commission with new chairman. In: Deutschlandfunk.de. June 8, 2018, accessed June 9, 2018 . 
4. ↑ Address and contact person. In: Unesco.de. Retrieved June 9, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Contact. In: Unesco.de. Retrieved February 22, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Press release Dr. Roman Luckscheiter. In: Unesco.de. Retrieved February 22, 2020 . 
7. ^ Permanent representation of Germany at UNESCO. In: Unesco.de. Retrieved June 9, 2018 . 
8. ↑ Education Committee. In: Unesco.de. Retrieved June 9, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Scientific Committee. In: Unesco.de. Retrieved June 9, 2018 . 
10. ↑ Culture Committee. In: Unesco.de. Retrieved June 9, 2018 . 
11. ↑ Communication and Information Committee. In: Unesco.de. Retrieved June 9, 2018 . 
12. ↑ About us at ups-schulen.de, accessed on July 14, 2014.
13. ↑ Actors. Website culture wide. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
14. ↑ UNESCO: UNESCO Chairs in Germany - accessed on July 14, 2014.