
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 22USC287m]

 
               TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
 
           CHAPTER 7--INTERNATIONAL BUREAUS, CONGRESSES, ETC.
 
 SUBCHAPTER XVII--UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND CULTURAL 
                              ORGANIZATION
 
Sec. 287m. Acceptance of membership by the United States

    The President is hereby authorized to accept membership for the 
United States in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and 
Cultural Organization (hereinafter referred to as the ``Organization''), 
the constitution of which was approved in London on November 16, 1945, 
by the United Nations Conference for the establishment of an 
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, and deposited in the 
Archives of the Government of the United Kingdom.

(July 30, 1946, ch. 700, Sec. 1, 60 Stat. 712.)


Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural 
                              Organization

the governments of the states parties to this constitution on behalf of 
                          their peoples declare

that since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men 
that the defences of peace must be constructed;

that ignorance of each other's ways and lives has been a common cause, 
throughout the history of mankind, of that suspicion and mistrust 
between the peoples of the world through which their differences have 
all too often broken into war;

that the great and terrible war which has now ended was a war made 
possible by the denial of the democratic principles of the dignity, 
equality and mutual respect of men, and by the propagation, in their 
place, through ignorance and prejudice, of the doctrine of the 
inequality of men and races;

that the wide diffusion of culture, and the education of humanity for 
justice and liberty and peace are indispensable to the dignity of man 
and constitute a sacred duty which all the nations must fulfill in a 
spirit of mutual assistance and concern;

that a peace based exclusively upon the political and economic 
arrangements of governments would not be a peace which could secure the 
unanimous, lasting and sincere support of the peoples of the world, and 
that the peace must therefore be founded, if it is not to fail, upon the 
intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind.


                           for these reasons,

the States parties to this Constitution, believing in full and equal 
opportunities for education for all, in the unrestricted pursuit of 
objective truth, and in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, are 
agreed and determined to develop and to increase the means of 
communication between their peoples and to employ these means for the 
purposes of mutual understanding and a truer and more perfect knowledge 
of each other's lives;


                         in consequence whereof

they do hereby create the United Nations Educational, Scientific and 
Cultural Organisation for the purpose of advancing, through the 
educational and scientific and cultural relations of the peoples of the 
world, the objectives of international peace and of the common welfare 
of mankind for which the United Nations Organisation was established and 
which its Charter proclaims.


                               article i.

                     Purposes and Functions

    1. The purpose of the Organisation is to contribute to peace and 
security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, 
science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, 
for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms 
which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of 
race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.
    2. To realise this purpose the Organisation will:
            (a) collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual 
        knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of 
        mass communication and to that end recommend such international 
        agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas 
        by word and image;
            (b) give fresh impulse to popular education and to the 
        spread of culture;

          by collaborating with Members, at their request, in the 
            development of educational activities; by instituting 
            collaboration among the nations to advance the ideal of 
            equality of educational opportunity without regard to race, 
            sex or any distinctions, economic or social;

          by suggesting educational methods best suited to prepare the 
            children of the world for the responsibilities of freedom;
            (c) maintain, increase and diffuse knowledge;

          by assuring the conservation and protection of the world's 
            inheritance of books, works of art and monuments of history 
            and science, and recommending to the nations concerned the 
            necessary international conventions;

          by encouraging cooperation among the nations in all branches 
            of intellectual activity, including the international 
            exchange of persons active in the fields of education, 
            science and culture and the exchange of publications, 
            objects of artistic and scientific interest and other 
            materials of information;

          by initiating methods of international cooperation calculated 
            to give the people of all countries access to the printed 
            and published materials produced by any of them.
    3. With a view to preserving the independence, integrity and 
fruitful diversity of the cultures and educational systems of the States 
Members of this Organisation, the Organisation is prohibited from 
intervening in matters which are essentially within their domestic 
jurisdiction.


                               article ii.

                           Membership

    1. Membership of the United Nations Organisation shall carry with it 
the right to membership of the United Nations Educational, Scientific 
and Cultural Organisation.
    2. Subject to the conditions of the agreement between this 
Organisation and the United Nations Organisation, approved pursuant to 
Article X of this Constitution, States not members of the United Nations 
Organisation may be admitted to membership of the Organisation, upon 
recommendation of the Executive Board, by a two-thirds majority vote of 
the General Conference.
    3. Members of the Organisation which are suspended from the exercise 
of the rights and privileges of membership of the United Nations 
Organisation shall, upon the request of the latter, be suspended from 
the rights and privileges of this Organisation.
    4. Members of the Organisation which are expelled from the United 
Nations Organisation shall automatically cease to be members of this 
Organisation.


                              article iii.

                             Organs

    The Organisation shall include a General Conference, an Executive 
Board and a Secretariat.


                               article iv.

                     The General Conference

A. Composition.
    1. The General Conference shall consist of the representatives of 
the States Members of the Organisation. The Government of each Member 
State shall appoint not more than five delegates, who shall be selected 
after consultation with the National Commission, if established, or with 
educational, scientific and cultural bodies.
B. Functions
    2. The General Conference shall determine the policies and the main 
lines of work of the Organisation. It shall take decisions on programmes 
drawn up by the Executive Board.
    3. The General Conference shall, when it deems it desirable, summon 
international conferences on education, the sciences and humanities and 
the dissemination of knowledge.
    4. The General Conference shall, in adopting proposals for 
submission to the Member States, distinguish between recommendations and 
international conventions submitted for their approval. In the former 
case a majority vote shall suffice; in the latter case a two-thirds 
majority shall be required. Each of the Member States shall submit 
recommendations or conventions to its competent authorities within a 
period of one year from the close of the session of the General 
Conference at which they were adopted.
    5. The General Conference shall advise the United Nations 
Organisation on the educational, scientific and cultural aspects of 
matters of concern to the latter, in accordance with the terms and 
procedure agreed upon between the appropriate authorities of the two 
Organisations.
    6. The General Conference shall receive and consider the reports 
submitted periodically by Member States as provided by Article VIII.
    7. The General Conference shall elect the members of the Executive 
Board and, on the recommendation of the Board, shall appoint the 
Director-General.
C. Voting
    8. Each Member State shall have one vote in the General Conference. 
Decisions shall be made by a simple majority except in cases in which a 
two-thirds majority is required by the provisions of this Constitution. 
A majority shall be a majority of the Members present and voting.
D. Procedure
    9. The General Conference shall meet annually in ordinary session; 
it may meet in extraordinary session on the call of the Executive Board. 
At each session the location of its next session shall be designated by 
the General Conference and shall vary from year to year.
    10. The General Conference shall, at each session, elect a President 
and other officers and adopt rules of procedure.
    11. The General Conference shall set up special and technical 
committees and such other subordinate bodies as may be necessary for its 
purposes.
    12. The General Conference shall cause arrangements to be made for 
public access to meetings, subject to such regulations as it shall 
prescribe.
E. Observers
    13. The General Conference, on the recommendation of the Executive 
Board and by a two-thirds majority may, subject to its rules of 
procedure, invite as observers at specified sessions of the Conference 
or of its commissions representatives of international organisations, 
such as those referred to in Article XI, paragraph 4.


                               article v.

                         Executive Board

A. Composition
    1. The Executive Board shall consist of eighteen members elected by 
the General Conference from among the delegates appointed by the Member 
States, together with the President of the Conference who shall sit ex 
officio in an advisory capacity.
    2. In electing the members of the Executive Board the General 
Conference shall endeavour to include persons competent in the arts, the 
humanities, the sciences, education and the diffusion of ideas, and 
qualified by their experience and capacity to fulfill the administrative 
and executive duties of the Board. It shall also have regard to the 
diversity of cultures and a balanced geographical distribution. Not more 
than one national of any Member State shall serve on the Board at any 
one time, the President of the Conference excepted.
    3. The elected members of the Executive Board shall serve for a term 
of three years, and shall be immediately eligible for a second term, but 
shall not serve consecutively for more than two terms. At the first 
election eighteen members shall be elected of whom one third shall 
retire at the end of the first year and one third at the end of the 
second year, the order of retirement being determined immediately after 
the election by the drawing of lots. Thereafter six members shall be 
elected each year.
    4. In the event of the death or resignation of one of its members, 
the Executive Board shall appoint, from among the delegates of the 
Member State concerned, a substitute, who shall serve until the next 
session of the General Conference which shall elect a member for the 
remainder of the term.
B. Functions
    5. The Executive Board, acting under the authority of the General 
Conference, shall be responsible for the execution of the programme 
adopted by the Conference and shall prepare its agenda and programme of 
work.
    6. The Executive Board shall recommend to the General Conference the 
admission of new Members to the Organisation.
    7. Subject to decisions of the General Conference, the Executive 
Board shall adopt its own rules of procedure. It shall elect its 
officers from among its members.
    8. The Executive Board shall meet in regular session at least twice 
a year and may meet in special session if convoked by the Chairman on 
his own initiative or upon the request of six members of the Board.
    9. The Chairman of the Executive Board shall present to the General 
Conference, with or without comment, the annual report of the Director-
General on the activities of the Organisation, which shall have been 
previously submitted to the Board.
    10. The Executive Board shall make all necessary arrangements to 
consult the representatives of international organisations or qualified 
persons concerned with questions within its competence.
    11. The members of the Executive Board shall exercise the powers 
delegated to them by the General Conference on behalf of the Conference 
as a whole and not as representatives of their respective Governments.


                               article vi.

                           Secretariat

    1. The Secretariat shall consist of a Director-General and such 
staff as may be required.
    2. The Director-General shall be nominated by the Executive Board 
and appointed by the General Conference for a period of six years, under 
such conditions as the Conference may approve, and shall be eligible for 
re-appointment. He shall be the chief administrative officer of the 
Organisation.
    3. The Director-General, or a deputy designated by him, shall 
participate, without the right to vote, in all meetings of the General 
Conference, of the Executive Board, and of the committees of the 
Organisation. He shall formulate proposals for appropriate action by the 
Conference and the Board.
    4. The Director-General shall appoint the staff of the Secretariat 
in accordance with staff regulations to be approved by the General 
Conference. Subject to the paramount consideration of securing the 
highest standards of integrity, efficiency and technical competence, 
appointment to the staff shall be on as wide a geographical basis as 
possible.
    5. The responsibilities of the Director-General and of the staff 
shall be exclusively international in character. In the discharge of 
their duties they shall not seek or receive instructions from any 
government or from any authority external to the Organisation. They 
shall refrain from any action which might prejudice their position as 
international officials. Each State Member of the Organisation 
undertakes to respect the international character of the 
responsibilities of the Director-General and the staff, and not to seek 
to influence them in the discharge of their duties.
    6. Nothing in this Article shall preclude the Organisation from 
entering into special arrangements within the United Nations 
Organisation for common services and staff and for the interchange of 
personnel.


                              article vii.

                  National Co-operating Bodies

    1. Each Member State shall make such arrangements as suit its 
particular conditions for the purpose of associating its principal 
bodies interested in educational, scientific and cultural matters with 
the work of the Organisation, preferably by the formation of a National 
Commission broadly representative of the Government and such bodies.
    2. National Commissions or national co-operating bodies, where they 
exist, shall act in an advisory capacity to their respective delegations 
to the General Conference and to their Governments in matters relating 
to the Organisation and shall function as agencies of liaison in all 
matters of interest to it.
    3. The Organisation may, on the request of a Member State delegate, 
either temporarily or permanently, a member of its Secretariat to serve 
on the National Commission of that State, in order to assist in the 
development of its work.


                              article viii.

                    Reports by Member States

    Each Member State shall report periodically to the Organisation, in 
a manner to be determined by the General Conference, on its laws, 
regulations and statistics relating to educational, scientific and 
cultural life and institutions, and on the action taken upon the 
recommendations and conventions referred to in Article IV, paragraph 4.


                               article ix.

                             Budget

    1. The budget shall be administered by the Organisation.
    2. The General Conference shall approve and give final effect to the 
budget and to the apportionment of financial responsibility among the 
States Members of the Organisation subject to such arrangement with the 
United Nations as may be provided in the agreement to be entered into 
pursuant to Article X.
    3. The Director-General, with the approval of the Executive Board, 
may receive gifts, bequests, and subventions directly from governments, 
public and private institutions, associations and private persons.


                               article x.

         Relations with the United Nations Organisation

    This Organisation shall be brought into relation with the United 
Nations Organisation, as soon as practicable, as one of the specialised 
agencies referred to in Article 57 of the Charter of the United Nations. 
This relationship shall be effected through an agreement with the United 
Nations Organisation under Article 63 of the Charter, which agreement 
shall be subject to the approval of the General Conference of this 
Organisation. The agreement shall provide for effective co-operation 
between the two Organisations in the pursuit of their common purposes, 
and at the same time shall recognise the autonomy of this Organisation, 
within the fields of its competence as defined in this Constitution. 
Such agreement may, among other matters, provide for the approval and 
financing of the budget of the Organisation by the General Assembly of 
the United Nations.


                               article xi.

Relations with Other Specialized International Organisations and 
                            Agencies

    1. This Organisation may co-operate with other specialised inter-
governmental organisations and agencies whose interests and activities 
are related to its purposes. To this end the Director-General, acting 
under the general authority of the Executive Board, may establish 
effective working relationships with such organisations and agencies and 
establish such joint committees as may be necessary to assure effective 
co-operation. Any formal arrangements entered into with such 
organisations or agencies shall be subject to the approval of the 
Executive Board.
    2. Whenever the General Conference of this Organisation and the 
competent authorities of any other specialised inter-governmental 
organisations or agencies whose purposes and functions lie within the 
competence of this Organisation, deem it desirable to effect a transfer 
of their resources and activities to this Organisation, the Director-
General, subject to the approval of the Conference, may enter into 
mutually acceptable arrangements for its purpose.
    3. This Organisation may make appropriate arrangements with other 
inter-governmental organisations for reciprocal representation at 
meetings.
    4. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural 
Organisation may make suitable arrangements for consultation and co-
operation with non-governmental international organisations concerned 
with matters within its competence and may invite them to undertake 
specific tasks. Such co-operation may also include appropriate 
participation by representatives of such organisations on advisory 
committees set up by the General Conference.


                              article xii.

                Legal status of the Organisation

    The provisions of Articles 104 and 105 of the Charter of the United 
Nations Organisation concerning the legal status of that Organisation, 
its privileges and immunities shall apply in the same way to this 
Organisation.


                              article xiii.

                           Amendments

    1. Proposals for amendments to this Constitution shall become 
effective upon receiving the approval of the General Conference by a 
two-thirds majority; provided, however, that those amendments which 
involve fundamental alterations in the aims of the Organisation or new 
obligations for the Member States shall require subsequent acceptance on 
the part of two-thirds of the Member States before they come into force. 
The draft texts of proposed amendments shall be communicated by the 
Director-General to the Member States at least six months in advance of 
their consideration by the General Conference.
    2. The General Conference shall have power to adopt by a two-thirds 
majority rules of procedure for carrying out the provisions of this 
Article.


                              article xiv.

                         Interpretation

    1. The English and French texts of this Constitution shall be 
regarded as equally authoritative.
    2. Any question or dispute concerning the interpretation of this 
Constitution shall be referred for determination to the International 
Court of Justice or to an arbitral tribunal, as the General Conference 
may determine under its rules of procedure.


                               article xv.

                        Entry into force

    1. This Constitution shall be subject to acceptance. The instruments 
of acceptance shall be deposited with the Government of the United 
Kingdom.
    2. This Constitution shall remain open for signature in the archives 
of the Government of the United Kingdom. Signature may take place either 
before or after the deposit of the instrument of acceptance. No 
acceptance shall be valid unless preceded or followed by signature.
    3. This Constitution shall come into force when it has been accepted 
by twenty of its signatories. Subsequent acceptances shall take effect 
immediately.
    4. The Government of the United Kingdom will inform all members of 
the United Nations of the receipt of all instruments of acceptance and 
of the date on which the Constitution comes into force in accordance 
with the preceding paragraph.
    In faith whereof, the undersigned, duly authorised to that effect, 
have signed this Constitution in the English and French languages, both 
texts being equally authentic.
    Done in London the sixteenth day of November, 1945 in a single copy, 
in the English and French languages, of which certified copies will be 
communicated by the Government of the United Kingdom to the Governments 
of all the Members of the United Nations.
    [Here follow the signatures of the heads of the delegations.]
