The Division of Women, Youth and Special Strategies

This Division of the Bureau of Strategic Planning, BSP/WYS, focuses on ensuring mainstreaming and co-ordination of UNESCO strategies and programmes pertaining to women, youth and least developed countries as well as co-ordinating the Organization's activities pertaining to the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World and the United Nations Year for Dialogue among Civilizations.

The Division’s responsibilities include, inter alia:

• Assisting programme sectors in advocating policies and in implementing actions in favour of women’s empowerment and gender equality within UNESCO’s fields of competence.

• Giving impulse and coherence to UNESCO's action with and for Youth, communicating directly with young people through a wide network of youth associations and NGOs and mobilizing support from Member States and other partners to enhance youth participation.

• Ensuring the formulation and implementation of an Action Plan to be used as the Organisation’s follow-up to the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations.

• Initiating and promoting activities in the spirit of a culture of peace and the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World and to co-ordinate sustained global movement throughout UNESCO and the United Nations in these areas .

• Providing follow-up to results and implementation of commitments made and deliverables agreed at the 2001 United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries.