Founded in the same year as UNESCO, by Julian Huxley and Bertrand Russell, the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) wishes to reaffirm its commitment to the goals of UNESCO. IHEU welcomes the outline of the resolutions adopted and notably the sustained efforts towards universal literacy, to defend and conserve natural landscapes and cultural heritage, education, the sciences, culture, communication and the freedom of expression of information".

UNESCO has recently published a series of reports on education[1] for the year 2010. All reports warn: Education is at risk worldwide as a result of armed conflicts and the financial crisis.

UNESCO has been under pressure from religious lobbies for a number of years. So the IHEU delegation has been facing the same problems as in other UN agencies, though in a more “cultural” form. This situation highlights the need to maintain steady and regular action in UNESCO.

Since September 2007, a new IHEU delegation has been in place to represent Humanism at UNESCO in Paris. In a new report, Sam Ayache, head of IHEU’s delegation to UNESCO, reports on their progress against the odds.

Frederik Dezutter

From 30 September to 2 October 2005, more than 200 young people from around the world gathered at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris for the 4th UNESCO Youth Forum. There were 184 official delegates, and 45 NGO-representatives were present with observer status.

From 30 September to 2 October more than 200 young people from all over the world gathered at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris for the fourth UNESCO Youth Forum. IHEYO was present as one of the observers and was able to remind people that there are also non-religious life stances. Some references to general lifestances were included in the final resolutions.

The theme of this year's Forum, held in connection with the 33rd session of the UNESCO General Conference, was 'Young people and the Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations - ideas for action in education, the sciences, culture and communication'.

Taslima Nasrin, well known Bangladeshi Humanist and former IHEU NGO Representative at UNESCO, Paris, has been awarded the prestigious 2004 UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence.

Speech on Behalf of IHEU at UNESCO

Jean-Claude Pecker gave the following speech as IHEU Representative at UNESCO in September 2003. Prof. Pecker is a distinguished scientist and a Member of the French Academy of Sciences.

Science, Power and Responsibility Extracts from speech by Prof.

BAMIYAN BUDDHAS: IHEU's STATEMENT TO UNESCO

5 March 2001

The IHEU, NGO maintaining operational relations with UNESCO, would like to sign the international petition for the rescue of afghan cultural heritage.