What is UNESCO?

UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations. The organization was created by the time in 1945 after two world wars broke and seen that PEACE must be established not with political and economic agreements alone – as it is not enough, but must be constituted on the premise of humanity's moral and intellectual solidarity. Building networks among nation with such solidarity is what the organization is pursuing while "mobilizing for education", "building intercultural understanding", "pursuing scientific cooperation", and "protecting freedom of expression" ^[1].

Its cause has never been more significant.

As "war begins in the minds of men" ^[2], being the intelligence agency of the United Nations, the organization exists to instill this creative intelligence to the minds of people in order to establish notions of sustainable development and defences of peace.

In its purpose to contribute to peace and security, the organization promotes collaboration among nations through education, science, and culture, and further to uphold universal respect for justice, for the rule of law, and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the citizens of the world, without discrimination, concerning race, sex, language, or religion.

Correspondingly, knowledge is essential in all means of cooperation among diverse nations of the world. And in this regard, the maintenance, increase, and dissemination of knowledge is one of the manners in which the organization may realize its purpose, by emphasizing on the cultural, educational, and scientific aspects of each nations.

Way back in 2004, the UNESCO Club UST was established to help in building advocacies in the minds of men and women, through education, science, and culture, and to create a meaningful impact in the community.

It has since been committed to the objectives of UNESCO of 1) attaining quality education for all, 2) continuous learning policy for sustainable development, 3) addressing emerging social and ethical challenges, 4) fostering cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, a culture of peace, and 5) building inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication.

In addition, UNESCO Club UST aims to "improve the sense of nationalism" of the Thomasian community and to "develop a sense of empathy" ^[3] to our fellow Filipinos, through projects and community development that is based on the pillars of UNESCO while strengthening the Filipino culture.

Now in its 12^th year of advocating for peace and knowledge, UNESCO Club UST would further influence the Thomasian community with its continuing call in promoting the Filipino culture, its richness and importance as a part of our heritage, all the while emphasizing on the contribution of proper education.

Would you like to be a part of the cause?

#UNESCOSYNERG12E

Written by Adam Ang

References:

¹ Introducing UNESCO. http://en.unesco.org/about-us/introducing-unesco

² UNESCO Constitution. http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php URL_ID=15244&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

³ http://unescoclubust.blogspot.com/p/about.html