The Establishment, Purposes and Functions of UNESCO: History of Formation, Core Principles and Global Mission
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article examines the preconditions for the establishment of UNESCO, the stages of its formation, the purposes and functions laid down in its Constitution, and the core principles of its activity, using historical-comparative and systemic analysis. The intellectual roots of the Organization are traced to the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations (1922) and to the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education (1942–1945). The signing of the Constitution in London on 16 November 1945, its entry into force on 4 November 1946 and the subsequent eighty years of the Organization’s development are periodised into five stages. The study demonstrates that the Constitution does not list UNESCO’s principles separately, and on the basis of the Preamble and the initial articles it identifies eight core principles, together with the tensions among them that shaped the main crises and reforms in the Organization’s history. UNESCO’s global mission in education, the natural and social sciences, culture, and communication and information is analysed on the basis of normative instruments and recent statistical data. The article argues that the main strength of UNESCO lies not in its financial resources but in standard-setting and the coordination of international cooperation. Finally, the principal results of cooperation between Uzbekistan and UNESCO are presented, including the significance of the 43rd session of the General Conference held in Samarkand in 2025.
DOI: 10.51699/fw4jfh52
Author: Khojayeva, Inobat Matyokubovna
Institution: Mamun University
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7225002006