About UNESCO Montevideo

UNESCO Montevideo was established shortly after the birth of the Organization worldwide, under the name of UNESCO Centre for Scientific Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was the first UNESCO centre for scientific cooperation in the world.

It was created at the request of the Second General Conference of UNESCO held in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to convene leading experts to advise the Organization on the best way to help advance science in Latin America. In 1949, the first UNESCO Centre for Scientific Cooperation in the world was established: the Regional Bureau for Science and Technology for Latin America and the Caribbean, based in Montevideo.

With seven decades of existence, UNESCO Montevideo has seen its functions and challenges increase and today its action is revealed through a large number of projects involving governments, social organizations and citizens from 33 countries and 4 Associate Members from Latin America and the Caribbean. 

On its 70th anniversary, the UNESCO Representation for Sciences in Latin America and the Caribbean renewed its commitment to the fundamental principles underlying its constitution, contributing to peace through education, science, culture and communication, in order to ensure universal respect for justice, human rights and fundamental freedoms.