About UNESCO Brasilia

 Its main objective is to support the creation and implementation of public policies following the strategies defined by the UNESCO Member States.

UNESCO in Brazil was formally initiated on 19 June 1964, becoming a national office within the Mercosur+Chile Cluster when the Organization took its first steps towards decentralisation. It also joined other agencies of the United Nations System represented in Brazil within the framework of the technical cooperation agreement signed with the Brazilian authorities in 1964, moving from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in 1972.

For many decades, the collaboration was close and productive; however, in 1992, UNESCO signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Brazil's Ministry of Education. It was under the aegis of the World Declaration on Education for All, prepared and approved on the occasion of the World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand, 1990).

In 1993, based on the 1981 General Agreement (Technical Cooperation Agreement in Education, Science, and Culture between the Federal Republic of Brazil and UNESCO), UNESCO and the Ministry of Education signed the first work plan. Its purpose was to support the government's decision to elaborate the Decennial Plan of Education for All.

From the mid-1990s onwards, UNESCO Brasilia strengthened its action throughout the country, putting its technical expertise at the service of numerous projects and initiatives within the Organization's five thematic areas: Education, Natural Sciences, Social and Human Sciences, Culture, and Communication & information.

Thus, UNESCO continues its firm purposes in the following:

• Promoting quality and inclusive education
• Reducing poverty and social inequalities
• Protecting heritage and museums
• Fostering creativity and respecting cultural diversity
• Promoting science for a sustainable future
• Preserving biodiversity on land and underwater
• Promoting freedom of expression and safety of journalists
• Building knowledge societies