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Commission Update
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Friday March 9, 2012
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UNESCO's 189th Executive Board Adjourns
UNESCO's 189th Executive Board adjourned this afternoon. During the course of the meeting the U.S. spoke out about several issues the we view as serious challenges for the agency.
During the meeting members of the Executive Board considered several resolutions that affirmed Palestinian membership in UNESCO as a state. The U.S. voted against these; you can see our Ambassador's statement about these votes here.
The Executive Board also considered the legitimacy of Syria's position as a seatholder on the UNESCO Committee that deals with human rights. We supported the removal of Syria from this committee, you can our Ambassador's statement about that vote here.
Lastly, the Executive Board attempted to resolve a long-standing impasse relating to the funding of a proposed prize for research in the life sciences, named after Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who leads Equatorial Guinea. You can see our Ambassador's statement regarding that vote here.
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Two New U.S. UNESCO Clubs
 Our Clubs Working Group is very happy to announce the addition of two new clubs to the roster of UNESCO Clubs in the USA.
The first is the Inter-America's UNESCO Club of Houston in Houston, TX. The second is the Racines Heritage Foundation in Kensington, MD.
Welcome to the club!
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Creative Cities Getting Creative
 In the wake of UNESCO's recent budget challenges, at least for the short term, the agency has ceased funding for the coordination of it's Creative Cities network. The members of that network, including our Creative Cities, are working to find alternate ways the network might continue to thrive - both in terms of organization and funding. You can read an article here from the Iowa City Press Citizen about possible effects on Iowa City, as well as an op-ed by Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek.
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U.S. World Heritage Tentative List Open for Public Comment
On Monday our friends with the National Park Service announced a 15-Day Notice of Opportunity for Public Comment in the Federal Register.
If you would like to see the current list of tentative U.S. sites to be considered for the World Heritage Program, or weigh in the list, go here.
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Contemporary Slavery Survey
 Students from the Waldorf School of Baltimore, one of our UNESCO ASPnet schools in the U.S., have been studying the issue of contemporary slavery. As part of project with other students in the UK and Ghana, they have developed a questionaire to survey opinions about slavery in the modern world.
If you get a moment, please take a moment to add your ideas to their survey here.
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The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNACOC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are calling on youth (25 or younger) to submit original and creative videos - 5 minutes or less - focusing on migration, diversity, and social inclusion as part of a video conference.
Winners will get a free trip to New York to present their submissions to the Plural+ Youth Video Festival in December.
The deadline for video submissions is 7/1/12. For more information, go here!
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Ford to Speak
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Barbara Ford
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On Wednesday 3/21 member of the Commission Barbara Ford will be speaking about "UNESCO, Libraries, and Inclusive Knowledge Societies" at Dominican University in River Forest, IL.
For more information about this event, go here!
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Book Wings
The International Writing Program (IWP) with the University of Iowa in our UNESCO Iowa City Creative City of Literature convened a literary exchange/performance program this morning that brought together American and Russian writers and artists via video link.
As I write this, I'm watching the exchange on another screen - you can watch it live (or maybe archived) here.
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Calling Capadocia
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From left to right: Sena Singer, Guy Djoken, Irem Alpaslan
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The globetrotting Guy Djoken, chair of our Commission's, Clubs Working Group, was recently in Ankara where he met with officials of the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO. Thanks for helping us strengthen ties with other National Commissions, Guy!
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Stinky Peace
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David Lee with kids in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
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David Lee recently traveled to East Africa where he scouted new sites for his nonprofit, Stinky Peace, which was jump-started by his receiving a Laura W. Bush Travelling Fellowship in 2008.
During his visit he met with sanitation and alternative energy representatives in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the DRC. Since graduating from Georgetown University in December, he is working on getting a pilot project up and running in Goma, DRC.
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A Reason To Be Dramatic
 The U.S. International Theatre Institute (ITI) based with the Theatre Communications Group in New York City recently announced that award winning actor John Malkovich will deliver the message for this year's 50th anniversary of World Theatre Day at a special celebration at UNESCO in Paris on 3/22.
ITI and World Theatre Day were originally founded through UNESCO 50 years ago. The mark the occassion, the U.S. International Theatre Institute are coordinating a number of initiatives including...
Generation Without Borders: a call for early to mid career theatre practitioners and students to submit essays envisioning our global theature movement 50 years from now.
SHINSAI: A nationwide event on 3/11 - the first anniverary of the earthquakes and Tsunami in Japan, involving more than 50 theatres, to raise relief funds for the Japanese theatre community affected by the disaster
I AM THEATRE: An online platform for theatre people across the world to share their stories and express the diversity and vitality of the international theatre community.
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How is Your Memory?
Initiated in 1997, the Memory of the World Register is UNESCO's list of library collections and archive holdings of world significance to promote documentary heritage of universal value.
The U.S. National Commission is eligible to submit up to two nominations before 3/31. If you know of any potentially great American nominees, please check out the nomination process here and definitely let us know!
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Gender Equality in Education E-Forum
UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) is convening an e-forum on Gender Equality in Education between Monday 3/26 and Friday 4/6 and they would like you to participate.
Do you have something to say about the importance of education for women and girls? If so, shout about it here!
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Got Mad Skillzz?
 As part of the Education For All 2012 focus on skills, UNESCO is currently accepting submissions as part of an art contest open to participants ages 18 to 24.
The contest asks youth to address the question of what skills young people need to create a better future.
If you (or somebody you know) would like to participate in this contest, please send them here.
First prize is a trip to Paris; deadline for submissions is Sunday 4/1!
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Khalifa Prize for Using Information and Communication Technology
Educating Youth for Responsible Global Digital Citizenship
UNESCO is currently accepting nominations for the King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technology in Education.
This $50,000 UNESCO prize sponsored by the Government of Bahrain is split equally between two recipients who demonstrate best practices and creative uses of technology to enhance learning, teaching, and overall education.
This year's theme is Educating Youth for Responsible Global Digital Citizenship. Our Commission can submit two nominations, but we have to have them in by Mon 4/16. For more details, look here and here.
If you know of any U.S. individuals or organizations who might be excellent candidates for this honor, please let me know!
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To Russia, With Love
 The Russian Committee of the UNESCO Information for All Program and the Interregional Library Cooperation Centre, along with a number of other partners are convening a conference in Moscow between Mon 6/25 and Wed 6/27 entitled "Media and Information Literacy for Knowledge Societies."
Our Commission has been invited to designate an American expert to attend the conference. Would you, or do you know somebody in the field, who would like to go?
Sorry to say we can't help with travel costs, but we will gladly put you in touch with the conference organizers. It would be great to have the U.S. represented at this conference! See more information here.
If you or someone you know is interested, please let me know. Deadline for signing up for the conference is Sunday 4/15.
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Hey! Are you on the Twitter?How about the Facebook?
 So is the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO! If you haven't liked us yet, we won't take it personally. But...what are you waiting for! Like us here. 
Do you do the Twitter? If so, follow us here! If you are too respectable for Facebook or Twitter, that's ok. But how about connecting to our group on LinkedIn?  |
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Have some UNESCO-esque Stuff?
....That you'd like spread around here for the good of the order? Please let me know know!
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UNESCO in the USA
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Important Dates
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Sun 3/11: Japan Tsunami Anniversary World Theatre Day Shinsai Event
Wed 3/14 12 pm - 2 pm: UN Foundation International Women's Day Lunch (Washington, DC)
Thurs 3/15 9:30 am - 11:30 am: UNESCO World Heritage Independence Hall Event (Philadelphia)
Thurs 3/15 12 pm - 2 pm: UNESCO Lunch hosted by U.S. ICOMOS (Philadelphia)
Thurs 3/15: Penn UNESCO Chair in Learning and Literacy Dedication events (Philadelphia)
Thurs 3/15 - Tues 3/20: 32nd Ordinary Session of the Executive Board of the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centers, and Associations (Veracruz, Mexico)
Fri 3/16 11:45 am - 1:30 pm: Chicago Council on Global Affairs Women and Global Development Forum (Chicago)
Sun 3/18 - Wed 3/21: Intersessional Meeting of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (New York, NY)
Wed 3/21 6 pm: UNESCO Libraries and Inclusive Knowledge Societies Lecture with Barbara Ford (River Forest, IL)
Thurs 3/22: World Theatre Day Celebration (Paris)
Fri 3/23 - Fri 3/30: Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Commemorative Events
Mon 3/26 - Thurs 3/29: Planet Under Pressure Conference (London)
Mon 3/26 - Fri 4/6: UNESCO IIEP Gender Equality in Education e-Forum
Tues 3/27: World Theatre Day
Thurs 3/29: 14th Annual L'Oreal - UNESCO Awards for Women in Science (Paris)
Sat 3/31: Memory of the World Register Nomination Deadline
Sun 4/1: Education for All Art Contest Submission Deadline
Mon 4/16: UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize Application Deadline
Thurs 4/19: 3rd Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body of the Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage (Paris)
Fri 4/27: World Book Capital 2014 Nomination Deadline
Thurs 5/3: World Press Freedom Day
Thurs 5/10 - Sat 5/12: Canadian National Commission for UNESCO Annual Meeting (Ottawa)
Mon 5/21: International Day for Cultural Diversity, Dialogue, and Development
Thurs 5/31: Education For All Challenge Deadline
Thurs 5/31 - Sat 6/2: US/ICOMOS 15th Annual Symposium (San Antonio, TX)
Fri 6/1: Digital Replay Submission Deadline
Wed 6/20 - Sun 6/24: 6th Annual National Underground Railroad Conference (St. Augustine, FL)
Mon 6/25 - Wed 6/27: Conference on Media and Information Literacy for Knowledge Societies (Moscow)
Fri 6/29 - Sat 6/30: UNESCO Center of Peace First Ladies' Youth Infusion Summit (Annapolis, MD)
Sun 7/1: Plural+ Youth Video Contest Submission Deadline
Tues 7/10: UNESCO Director General Information Session (Paris)
Wed 7/18 - Sat 7/28: UNESCO Center for Peace 6th Annual IMUN Conference (Frederick, MD)
Wed 9/26 - Fri 9/28: Memory of the World in the Digital Age Conference (Vancouver)
Wed 10/3 - Thurs 10/18: 190th Session of the UNESCO Executive Board (Paris)
Wed 4/10/13 - Thurs 4/25/13: 191st Session of the UNESCO Executive Board (Paris)
Wed 10/2/13 - Thurs 10/17/13: 192nd Session of the UNESCO Executive Board (Paris)
Mon 11/4/13 - Tues 11/19/13: 37th Session of the UNESCO General Conference (Paris)
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