United States Mission to UNESCO

UNESCO helps provide sustainable water resources to communities in Iraq by rehabilitating ancient irrigation systems, called "karez." Here, UNESCO water specialist Casey Walther inspects a karez in Zebarok Village. (UNESCO/Sebastian Mayer)

The U.S. Mission works with the Natural Sciences Sector and member states to strengthen the quality of UNESCO's programs in the sciences. U.S. priorities include the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), which focuses on the study of the ocean, addressing individual and collective ocean and coastal problems including coordination of the international tsunami warning system, and the International Hydrological Program (IHP), which focuses on freshwater issues, including water resources management, education and capacity-building. The importance of these efforts is underscored by the fact that the U.S. remained engaged in these programs even during our nineteen-year absence from UNESCO.

In addition, another important U.S. science priority is capacity building, which is intended to help give countries tools and knowledge to address their development challenges. As a result of U.S. leadership, UNESCO is also placing a greater emphasis on cross-sectoral activities. The U.S. Mission views capacity building as playing a vital role in helping to ensure that UNESCO's science initiatives will have long-term sustainable results.

Other Science Sector programs address earth sciences, basic sciences, engineering, protecting coasts and small islands, science policy and sustainable development, and natural disaster reduction. A particularly significant program is Science for Peace in the Middle East (SESAME), which brings together scientists from all over the Middle East to work together in fields such as structural molecular biology, molecular environmental science, surface and interface science, micro-mechanical devices, X-ray imaging, archaeological microanalysis, material characterization, and medical applications.

The U.S. also actively participated in the Science Review Panel established by the UNESCO Director-General to make recommendations on strengthening both the Natural Sciences and the Social and Human Sciences Sectors.