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Building peace in the minds of men and women

Gallery: Education transforms lives

Let us take you on a visual journey through UNESCO’s work in education since 1945. We have selected 80 photos to illustrate the scale and diversity of UNESCO’s education programme across the globe.

The message is clear: Education transforms lives.

- Explore the full selection of photos in video

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1947/Austria - UNESCO was born from the ashes of war to build peace

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UNESCO © David Seymour/Magnum Photos

1947/Austria - UNESCO was born from the ashes of war to build peace

A common sight in the aftermath of World War II, children play close to the bombed-out rubble of a building. UNESCO came into being just after this war with a mission to build a genuine and shared culture of peace and prevent future global conflicts. The development and promotion of education for everyone was one of the pillars of the newly-founded Organization.

UNESCO © David Seymour/Magnum Photos - Download

1930/Switzerland - Making international cooperation in education a priority

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© UNESCO/IBE

1930/Switzerland - Making international cooperation in education a priority

World-renowned psychologist and child development expert, Jean Piaget, sits at the centre of this group of colleagues at the International Bureau of Education (IBE). Now a UNESCO institute, the IBE was founded in 1926 as the first intergovernmental organization in the field of education. From its to provide intellectual leadership and build innovation in learning and the curriculum.

© UNESCO/IBE - Download

1945/United Kingdom - UNESCO’s foundations are laid in London

1945/United Kingdom - UNESCO’s foundations are laid in London

A packed room in London witnesses the birth of a new organization. By the end of the conference, convened in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations San Francisco Conference, representatives of 37 countries signed the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: UNESCO.

© UNESCO - Download

1945/United Kingdom - Champion of a peaceful future built on education

1945/United Kingdom - Champion of a peaceful future built on education

Ellen Wilkinson, British Minister of Education at the end of World War II and President of the United Nations Conference for the Establishment of an Educational and Cultural Organization, was key in articulating the need for an organization dedicated to building a peaceful future through education.

© UNESCO - Download

1946/United Kingdom - “Since wars begin in the minds of men…”

1946/United Kingdom - “Since wars begin in the minds of men…”

On 16 November 1945, the United Nations conference in London adopted the UNESCO Constitution with its resonating opening statement: “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.” The conference established a Preparatory Commission, which became instrumental in outlining UNESCO’s initial priorities.

© UNESCO - Download

1948/United States - Eleanor Roosevelt welcomes UNESCO staff at her New York home

1948/United States - Eleanor Roosevelt welcomes UNESCO staff at her New York home

A smiling Eleanor Roosevelt, Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights, who worked closely with UNESCO, sits surrounded by staff from the Organization in the garden of her home. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948,proclaimed: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” The Declaration also established education as a right, which is at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate.

© UN Photo/Kari Berggrav - Download

1950/Italy - Maria Montessori, founder of the child-centred education approach

1950/Italy - Maria Montessori, founder of the child-centred education approach

Pioneering educationalist Maria Montessori arrives at the UNESCO General Conference in Florence, in 1950, where she gave a speech. Montessori became involved in the work of UNESCO through her participation in the founding of the UNESCO Institute for Education, renamed UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning in 2006. In 1951, at the first meeting of the Institute’s Governing Board that she was part of, she advocated for a less abstract understanding of education, one that placed children at the centre.

© UNESCO - Download

1950/Italy - UNESCO signals and records the scale of illiteracy

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UNESCO © David Seymour/Magnum Photos

1950/Italy - UNESCO signals and records the scale of illiteracy

Children concentrate on their lessons. By the 1950s, it became clear that illiteracy was not only a problem in remote and isolated places. UNESCO reported that almost half of all countries and territories of the world had 50 per cent or more illiteracy among their adult population and in about one third of all countries there were at least a million illiterates. In 1951, less than half of the total population of Italy could read and write, and only 30 per cent had completed primary school.

UNESCO © David Seymour/Magnum Photos - Download

1950/Haiti - Overcoming challenges in the first pilot project in Haiti

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© UN Photo/Christopher Herwig

1950/Haiti - Overcoming challenges in the first pilot project in Haiti

A young girl sits by a river in Marbial, where UNESCO launched its first pilot project on fundamental education in 1947. Despite initial enthusiasm, the project faced increased challenges, which threatened to close it down until local people turned up with pickets reading “Kêbé l’Inesko Fò!” that translates from Creole as “Support UNESCO hard!”

© UN Photo/Christopher Herwig - Download

1951/Mexico - Fundamental education at the heart of UNESCO’s initial vision

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© UNESCO/Avalos

1951/Mexico - Fundamental education at the heart of UNESCO’s initial vision

A high-level UNESCO delegation, headed by Acting Director-General René Maheu perch on hard wooden benches at the Regional Fundamental Education Centre in Patzcuaro, in 1951. The concept of “fundamental education,” designed to change living conditions and build everything from literacy to citizenship, was important in the first years of UNESCO’s existence.

© UNESCO/Avalos - Download

1952/Germany - A post-war commitment to Germany

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© UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning

1952/Germany - A post-war commitment to Germany

A welcome tea-break for participants at the first seminar held at the newly created UNESCO Institute for Education in Hamburg in 1952. The creation of the institute was an expression of the international community’s post-war commitment towards Germany and intended as a vehicle to promote human rights and international understanding. The seminar was titled “Adult Education as a Means of and Political Responsibility.”

© UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning - Download

1954/Republic of Korea - UNESCO works to rebuild the post-war Republic of Korea

1954/Republic of Korea - UNESCO works to rebuild the post-war Republic of Korea

Workers carry out maintenance on a machine at the National Textbook Printing Plant at Yong Dong Po near Seoul. The plant was one element of UNESCO’s post-war cooperation with the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency and made its contribution to producing millions of textbooks, one of which found its way into the hands of the future UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. Reconstruction aid covered everything from sending educational kits to rebuilding the education system.

© UN Photo - Download

1955/El Salvador - A hive of activity in El Salvador

1955/El Salvador - A hive of activity in El Salvador

Students cluster around a UNESCO expert offering assistance in beekeeping techniques. The activity, not one normally associated with UNESCO’s mission, highlights the attempt to transform “intellectual solidarity” into a tangible response to the real needs of local communities. Projects like this resulted in a hands-on application of fundamental education principles.

© UNESCO/R. de Clerck - Download

1955/Colombia - Bringing books to the people

1955/Colombia - Bringing books to the people

An eager queue of girls at a UNESCO mobile library in Medellin. For UNESCO, public libraries were seen as a living force for popular education, international understanding and peace building. They also became an essential element in developing fundamental education programmes. UNESCO supplied equipment and experts for the newly established public libraries in 1954, and where there was no library, the Organization brought the books directly to the people.

© UNESCO - Download

1956/Liberia - A “spirit” gives the green light to build a school in Liberia

1956/Liberia - A “spirit” gives the green light to build a school in Liberia

A midwifery class underway at the Fundamental Education Centre in Klay area gives little sign of the unusual story behind its creation. In order to build the centre, one of UNESCO’s technical assistants had to negotiate with the “spirit” of the place. Members of the society devoted to the spirit Jobai granted a meeting and as a result, the village became the second in the Klay district to build its own fundamental education school. The centre went on to offer classes for village midwives and local women.

© UNESCO/Eric Schwab - Download

1957/France - UNESCO clubs, centres and associations help develop human rights education

1957/France - UNESCO clubs, centres and associations help develop human rights education

Discussions at a UNESCO Club at the pilot secondary school in Enghien in 1957. More than 70 years after the founding of the first UNESCO Association in 1947 in Japan, some 4000 clubs, centres and associations for UNESCO operate in more than 100 countries. This network promotes international understanding and education, and especially human rights education.

© UNESCO/C. Bablin - Download

1958/Iraq - Open air literacy classes in Iraq

1958/Iraq - Open air literacy classes in Iraq

A professor takes villagers through an outdoor literacy class at the UNESCO Technical Assistance Abu Sharib Fundamental Education Centre. Starting in 1949, UNESCO gave top priority to projects that directly supported the United Nations Technical Assistance programmes. Fundamental education was a central component, and “teaching minds” became as important as “training hands”, as UNESCO Director-General Jaime Torres Bodet phrased it.

© UNESCO/Reiman - Download

1959/Ghana - Good food for good health in Ghana

1959/Ghana - Good food for good health in Ghana

A man spreads the word about UNESCO’s Fundamental Education Programme after a demonstration of new cooking methods in the Kumasi Region. This pilot project aimed at helping people live fuller and happier lives by teaching them about nutrition, diet, food and their impact on health, and was carried out by UNESCO and the Government of Ghana. Project experts produced a guidebook entitled Good Food for Good Health as a teaching aid. Leaflets on better diets were produced by the Bureau of Ghana Languages.

© UNESCO/P. Almasy - Download

1961/Peru - UNESCO literacy classes reach the Andean highlands

1961/Peru - UNESCO literacy classes reach the Andean highlands

An old man uses his newfound literacy skills to decipher the local newspaper aided by a UNESCO expert. Reaching people living in the Andean highlands of Peru posed particular challenges but was part of UNESCO’s technical assistance programme to reach previously disadvantaged groups. The old man learned to read the newspaper after attending literacy classes at the UNESCO Technical Assistance “Andina” Fundamental Education Mission in Chincera.

© UNESCO/P. Almasy - Download

1962/Chad - Illiteracy and underdevelopment linked

1962/Chad - Illiteracy and underdevelopment linked

Student and teacher work together at an Accelerated Vocational Training Centre in Fort-Lamy. UNESCO provided technical assistance for students in Chad as part of its work identifying the direct connection between illiteracy and underdevelopment. Programmes of this type, launched in many parts of the world, fitted into a coherent pattern of supporting development through practical education.

© UNESCO - Download

1963/Ecuador - A new schools network pledges to break down barriers

1963/Ecuador - A new schools network pledges to break down barriers

Students leave their school in San Pablo del Lago, part of UNESCO’s Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet). In 1952, the General Conference of UNESCO passed the resolution “Education for Living in a World Community,” a practical application of UNESCO’s mandate of building peace and removing ignorance of “each other’s ways and lives.” One year later, fifteen UNESCO Member States formed ASPnet.

© UNESCO/R. Corpel - Download

1966/France - A new international institute for educational planning

1966/France - A new international institute for educational planning

Philip Coombs, first Director of the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) gets ready to carve up an edible UNESCO temple. IIEP was created by UNESCO in 1963 in Paris to support the new countries in the global South in developing their educational systems. UNESCO’s interest in and promotion of South-South cooperation in education started in 1959, with the compilation of an inventory of needs in primary and secondary education in Africa with special emphasis on girls and women.

© IIEP-UNESCO - Download

1965/Lebanon - Experimental programme in functional literacy

1965/Lebanon - Experimental programme in functional literacy

An interpreter translates the class given by a foreign teacher into Arabic at the Regional Training Centre of Senior Educational Personnel in Lebanon created under the auspices of UNESCO. In 1964, UNESCO’s General Conference launched the first experimental programme for functional literacy. Language classes were an important part of the training.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1965/Gaza - UNESCO and UNRWA support education for refugee children

1965/Gaza - UNESCO and UNRWA support education for refugee children

An intense stare straight at the camera from a small refugee boy in a primary school. UNESCO joined the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in providing materials including visual teaching aids and support for children in different refugee camps. The two organizations work to remind the world that behind the legal definitions and conventions, refugees are people looking for shelter and children needing the safety and psychological comfort of school.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1965/Lebanon - The rights of refugees include access to education

1965/Lebanon - The rights of refugees include access to education

An impromptu reading class for Palestinian schoolchildren refugees. Visual materials were prepared and supplied to the camp by UNRWA and the UNESCO Department of Education in Beirut. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees underlined that protecting the rights of the refugees meant protecting their human rights. UNESCO’s support focused on access to education.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1968/Afghanistan - The life-changing role of teachers is recognized

1968/Afghanistan - The life-changing role of teachers is recognized

Afghan teacher trainees and an UNESCO expert attentive in a chemistry laboratory at the Higher Teacher Training College in Kabul. UNESCO helped develop curricula, teaching methods and materials at the college as part of a teacher training programme implemented with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Adopted in 1966, the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers affirmed the life-changing role teachers play for children, families and communities and firmly established teaching as a profession.

© UNESCO/A. Shaw - Download

1967/Mexico - Technical teacher training crucial for developing countries

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© UNESCO/Dominique Roger

1967/Mexico - Technical teacher training crucial for developing countries

A teacher who benefited from technical training uses an armature winding machine in an electricity workshop. In 1960, the UNESCO General Conference and the United Nations General Assembly focused on the impact of technical training, education and pre-investment assistance in economic development
and encouraged support for the UN bodies promoting them especially through the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance and the UN Special Fund. In Mexico, UNESCO worked as implementing agency following an agreement between UNDP and the Mexican Government.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1967/Ivory Coast - Experts, fellowships and equipment

1967/Ivory Coast - Experts, fellowships and equipment

A science class at the Secondary School Teacher Training centre in Abidjan. The Institute received support from UNESCO, the implementing agency for UNDP. Assistance consisted of expert services, fellowships and equipment.

© UN - Download

1967/Iran - Skills development and literacy go hand in hand

1967/Iran - Skills development and literacy go hand in hand

Women take part in a sewing class taught alongside literacy classes as part of the work-orientated Adult Literacy Pilot Project in Iran. The Experimental World Literacy Programme was established following the First World Congress of Ministers of Education on the Eradication of Illiteracy in Tehran in 1965. The conference defined the concept of “functional literacy” and its links to economic development. In 1966, the UNESCO General Conference declared 8 September as International Literacy Day.

© UNESCO/R. Greenough - Download

1969/Pakistan - UNESCO leads the way for International Education Year

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© UNESCO/Mireille Vantier

1969/Pakistan - UNESCO leads the way for International Education Year

Women stake their claim to higher education in a classroom in Pakistan, an emerging economy, where female access to education represented a priority. UNESCO was the lead agency responsible for the implementation of the goals of International Education Year, celebrated in 1970. It focused on experimental projects on women’s access to education, rural development, the use of new techniques in primary school teacher training, youth education and integrated schemes for science teaching.

© UNESCO/Mireille Vantier - Download

1970/Trinidad and Tobago - Teacher training to boost quality education

1970/Trinidad and Tobago - Teacher training to boost quality education

Welcome to the Engineering Faculty of the West Indies University College, a UNESCO initiative established in cooperation with UNDP. UNESCO focused its efforts on offering support in improving the quality of education through teacher training. The college was one of many teacher training colleges set up as part of the collaboration between the two agencies.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1970/Ethiopia - Literacy reaches across generations

1970/Ethiopia - Literacy reaches across generations

A young Ethiopian boy teaches his father to read from a textbook prepared and distributed under a UNESCO literacy project. The challenge of illiteracy remained high on UNESCO’s agenda, despite important progress since 1945. In the 1970s, it was again acknowledged that literacy cannot be an end in itself but must support the acquisition of life skills.

© UNESCO/Nagata - Download

1971/Senegal - Literacy through the airwaves in Senegal

1971/Senegal - Literacy through the airwaves in Senegal

A man listens intently to a literacy class recorded by UNESCO experts for Radio Senegal as part of its educational broadcasting programme. In the 1960s and 1970s, numerous countries used audio-visual media in their literacy programmes to supplement and sometimes replace traditional teaching. Radio continues to be used for educational programmes as well as to stimulate interest and mobilize public opinion in support of literacy campaigns.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1971/UNESCO Headquarters - The Faure Report changes the direction of education

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© UNESCO/Dominique Roger

1971/UNESCO Headquarters - The Faure Report changes the direction of education

Chairman Edgar Faure (front row, second from left) presides over the International Commission on the Development of Education, established by UNESCO in 1971. The former Prime Minister and Minister of Education of France made a significant contribution to UNESCO and education through the report Learning to be - The world of education today and tomorrow, which discussed for the first time concepts such as “lifelong education” and “the learning society.”

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1971/Tunisia - Television debuts as a teaching aid

1971/Tunisia - Television debuts as a teaching aid

An education revolution takes place in Tunisia as a local TV station broadcasts classes for adults. Despite the power and potential of television in education, it had a relatively slow start, being first used in a small number of countries mostly to teach reading, writing and arithmetic.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1972/UNESCO Headquarters - Intellectual powerhouses lend their minds to UNESCO

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© UNESCO/R. Lesage

1972/UNESCO Headquarters - Intellectual powerhouses lend their minds to UNESCO

World-renowned poet and writer Pablo Neruda during a radio interview at UNESCO’s Headquarters. He was Permanent Ambassador of Chile to UNESCO and served as a member of the UNESCO Executive Board in 1972 and 1973, contributing to the ongoing policy debates within the Organization. As board member he declared “Education will be our epic!... the noble task, the best thing humanity has done and can do.”

© UNESCO/R. Lesage - Download

1973/South Africa - A new education recommendation reaches beyond borders

1973/South Africa - A new education recommendation reaches beyond borders

A family looks out onto a wasteland. In 1974, UNESCO adopted the Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The document put forward a belief in a “world society” reaching beyond the frontiers of individuals and political systems. It reflected the growing interdependence between regions and nations, and called for new commitments, obligations and duties for the world community as well as for individuals.

© UN Photo/Pendl - Download

1976/Malawi - Creativity sparked to bring science to developing regions

1976/Malawi - Creativity sparked to bring science to developing regions

A boy scans the skies through a home-made telescope at the Domasi Scientific Training Centre, part of a joint UNESCO/UNICEF initiative aimed at training as many as 1500 science teachers for 250 schools in Malawi. Training primary school science teachers represented a particular challenge as many regions lacked the necessary laboratories and instruments. UNESCO called for creativity in using local materials.

© UNESCO/R. Greenough - Download

1976/Kenya - Only a more just world can create peace

1976/Kenya - Only a more just world can create peace

Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow, UNESCO Director-General, receives the title Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Nairobi in 1976. As UNESCO Director-General, he was deeply interested in the connection between education, development and peace. He believed that lasting peace between nations could not be based on the absence of war alone but only be achieved through building a more just world.

© UNESCO/Mirza - Download

1980/Denmark - A bill of rights for women impacts education

1980/Denmark - A bill of rights for women impacts education

A speaker at the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women (1976-1985) in Copenhagen in 1980, the second global meeting solely devoted to women’s issues. The previous year saw the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women by the UN General Assembly. The convention, often described as an international bill of rights for women, had an important impact on education as it defined what constituted discrimination against women and proposed practical measures to address it.

© UN Photo/Per Jacobsen - Download

1980/Sierra Leone - Education and work skills shake hands with the real world

1980/Sierra Leone - Education and work skills shake hands with the real world

Students learn to use a lathe at the Kissy Trade Centre in Freetown. Adapting education systems to the world of work became a pressing necessity for development. One of the recommendations of the Third United Nations Development Decade, starting in 1981, was an increase in the resources allocated by countries for education and training in technical skills, while taking into account that “development is an integral process, embodying both economic and social objectives.”

© UN Photo/Redenius - Download

1982/France - New technologies usher in a new era for education

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© UNESCO/Dominique Roger

1982/France - New technologies usher in a new era for education

Old meets new as a student uses a computer to learn Latin at the Ampère school in Lyon. The introduction of new teaching technologies marked a new era in education. At the same time, important questions concerning accessibility, economic disparities and the ethics of educational software were raised, debates which continue today.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1984/People’s Republic of China - The link is made between education, art and culture

1984/People’s Republic of China - The link is made between education, art and culture

A young girl creates her contribution to an art exhibition organized by UNESCO in Beijing to promote art education. Linking education to creativity, arts, aesthetics and culture represented an important step, supported by UNESCO’s focus on lifelong learning and the breaking of boundaries between disciplines.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1990/Thailand - The Jomtien Conference changes international education dialogue

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© The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO)

1990/Thailand - The Jomtien Conference changes international education dialogue

Delegates stand at the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, which coincided with the International Literacy Year in 1990. UNESCO Director-General, Federico Mayor, is standing fourth from the left. The conference was a milestone in international dialogue on the place of education in development policy, placing a special focus on primary education and the elimination of adult illiteracy.

© The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) - Download

1990/Nigeria - The world faces the truth about global literacy

Education transforms lives

L'éducation transforme la vie

1990/Nigeria - The world faces the truth about global literacy

Women crowd into a literacy class, taking the first steps to improving their lives. In 1990, declared the International Literacy Year, surveys showed that over 900 million adults were illiterate, and 125 million children were not enrolled in school, with women dominating the illiteracy statistics. The International Year focused on this dramatic situation, especially in Africa.

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1990/Cabo Verde - Literacy breaks the cycle of poverty and injustice

1990/Cabo Verde - Literacy breaks the cycle of poverty and injustice

A woman still in hair curlers and with her child on her knees attends a literacy class in a rural part of the country. UNESCO recognized the far-reaching benefits of literacy in fighting poverty, exclusion and injustice. A symposium organized in 1975 by UNESCO in Persepolis, Iran, declared that literacy work, like education in general, is a political act. Literacy classes were especially important for rural areas to break the cycle of poverty and ignorance.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1993/India - Mother Teresa recognized for her global contribution to peace education

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© UNESCO/Marianne Hook

1993/India - Mother Teresa recognized for her global contribution to peace education

Mother Teresa is presented with the 1992 UNESCO Peace Education Prize awarded in Calcutta by UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor. The following year, the International Congress on Education for Human Rights and Democracy held in Montreal adopted the World Plan of Action on Education for Human Rights and Democracy.

© UNESCO/Marianne Hook - Download

1980/Australia - Education for everyone includes disabled persons

1980/Australia - Education for everyone includes disabled persons

An undergraduate student born without arms and legs uses a typewriter at the Western Australian Institute of Technology in Perth in 1980. The following year was declared International Year of Disabled Persons and a World Conference on Special Needs Education was held in Salamanca, Spain in 1994. The Conference proposed for educational policies to stipulate that disabled children should be integrated in local schools.

© UN Photo/P Strange - Download

1998/France - UNESCO releases declaration on education and peace

1998/France - UNESCO releases declaration on education and peace

A little girl raises her hands during a practical lesson in peace education with a poster in the background that reads “Tolerance stops violence”, at the Maxim Gorki School in Nanterre, a UNESCO Associated School. The Declaration and Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy endorsed by the UNESCO General Conference in 1995, offered basic guidelines concerning education for peace, human rights and democracy.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

1996/UNESCO Headquarters - The Delors Report introduces four pillars of education

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© UNESCO/Inez Forbes

1996/UNESCO Headquarters - The Delors Report introduces four pillars of education

Jacques Delors, chairperson of the International Commission for Education for the 21st Century, holds up a copy of Learning: the Treasure Within at a press conference at UNESCO. Sitting beside him is UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor. The Commission was set up in 1993 and the resulting report, published in 1996, illustrated four main pillars as the bases of education: learning to know, learning to do, together. Jacques Delors was former French Minister of Economy and Finance, and President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995.

© UNESCO/Inez Forbes - Download

1998/Spain - Industrialized countries have their own illiteracy challenges

1998/Spain - Industrialized countries have their own illiteracy challenges

A literacy class for adults in Spain. Industrialized countries also face important literacy challenges with one fifth or more of the adult population being unable to cope adequately with the demands of increasingly complex living and working environments.

© UNESCO/Alberto Jonquières - Download

1980s/Senegal - The path from Utopia to the real world

1980s/Senegal - The path from Utopia to the real world

A lone student strolls away from the Central University Library in Dakar. The First World Conference on Higher Education entitled “Vision and Action” was held in Paris in 1998 and marked a big step on the long journey toward making the utopian ideals of education a reality. The conference showed that 21st century knowledge-based societies needed a new type of higher education that was able to adapt to shifting priorities and information technologies. It also concluded that the development of higher education should be one of the highest national priorities.

© UNESCO/Dominique Roger - Download

2000/Senegal - A world forum in Dakar reaffirms the commitment to basic education

2000/Senegal - A world forum in Dakar reaffirms the commitment to basic education

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations (centre) and the heads of several UN agencies including UNESCO, during a press conference at the World Education Forum in Dakar in 2000. The Forum reaffirmed the international community’s collective commitment to ensuring that the basic learning needs of every child, youth and adult were met within a generation and sustained thereafter. As a result, UNESCO’s work focused even more on developing education systems that were authentic, affordable and accessible to all.

© UNESCO/Tine Ismaël - Download

2000/United Nations Headquarters - World leaders adopt the Millennium Declaration in New York

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© UN Photo/Terry Deglau (Eastman Kodak)

2000/United Nations Headquarters - World leaders adopt the Millennium Declaration in New York

The world leaders at a record gathering at the United Nations Millennium Summit in New York in 2000. At the Summit, the Millennium Declaration was adopted with its 8 Millennium Development Goals. One of these goals focused exclusively on education – Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education – and all recognized education as a firm development base. The Summit brought together 149 Heads of State and Government and high-ranking officials from over 40 other countries.

© UN Photo/Terry Deglau (Eastman Kodak) - Download

2014/Pakistan - A flagship report monitors education progress worldwide

2014/Pakistan - A flagship report monitors education progress worldwide

The launch of the 2013/4 Global Monitoring Report in Islamabad. Now called the Global Education Monitoring Report, it was first published in 2002 when it focused on the Education for All Goals. The yearly report published by UNESCO today focuses on monitoring progress in education within the Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015.

© UNESCO - Download

2007/UNESCO Headquarters - A decade of work to boost literacy worldwide

2007/UNESCO Headquarters - A decade of work to boost literacy worldwide

In 2003, the United Nations launched the Literacy Decade with UNESCO’s Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) as its strategic framework. Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States of America and UNESCO Honorary Ambassador for the Decade meets UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, at a roundtable discussion focused on literacy and teacher training for educational practitioners.

© UNESCO/Michel Ravassard - Download

1999/Mexico - Educating youth is key in the fight against AIDS

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© UN Photo/Armando Waak

1999/Mexico - Educating youth is key in the fight against AIDS

Young people listen attentively at an AIDS information class in Mexico City in 1999. Recognizing the vital role of education in national responses to AIDS, the UNAIDS Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations launched EDUCAIDS – the Global Initiative on Education and HIV and AIDS – in 2004. Led by UNESCO, EDUCAIDS supported national efforts on HIV and AIDS by assisting governments and other key stakeholders to implement comprehensive, scaled-up education programmes on HIV and AIDS.

© UN Photo/Armando Waak - Download

2004/Bangladesh - UNESCO’s LIFE programme brings literacy to rural areas

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© UNESCO/Brendan O’Malley

2004/Bangladesh - UNESCO’s LIFE programme brings literacy to rural areas

Rural women gather for a literacy class at the Madhukari Ganokendra (People’s Centre), in western Bangladesh. UNESCO’s Literacy Initiative for Empowerment focused on 35 countries where literacy rates were below 50 per cent and which had populations of more than 10 million adults without literacy competencies. As the majority of the illiterates were women, the LIFE programme aimed to empower women and girls, particularly in rural areas.

© UNESCO/Brendan O’Malley - Download

2005/Egypt - Women face a better future

2005/Egypt - Women face a better future

Students follow an information and communication technologies (ICT) class called “Women of the Future” at a computer centre in Egypt, as part of UNESCO’s Literacy Initiative for Empowerment. In order to improve women’s access to education and work, UNESCO’s actions in Egypt focused on strengthening literacy and improving life skills, as well as the use of modern ICTs.

© UNESCO/Hany Ali Ahmed - Download

2005/UNESCO Headquarters - Hand in hand to protect the planet

2005/UNESCO Headquarters - Hand in hand to protect the planet

In 2005, UNESCO was declared the lead agency for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). The Decade sought to mobilize the educational resources of the world to help create a more sustainable future. It was built on a vision of a world where everyone had the opportunity to benefit from education and learn the values, behaviour and lifestyles required for a sustainable future and for positive societal transformation.

© UNESCO - Download

2006/Kenya - First ever UNESCO World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education

2006/Kenya - First ever UNESCO World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education

Children of the nomadic Loipi tribe of northern Kenya remind everyone of the importance of play. They benefitted from an early childhood programme which offered nutritious food, health checks and interaction with caring adults. The ground-breaking World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) organized in Moscow in 2010 encouraged the development of regional ECCE programmes adapted to local contexts and community needs.

© Bernard van Leer Foundation - Download

2012/People’s Republic of China - Boosting skills for work and life at a congress in China

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© UNESCO/D. Schlenker

2012/People’s Republic of China - Boosting skills for work and life at a congress in China

The panel is seated for the start of the Third International Congress on Technical Vocational Education and Training - Transforming TVET: Building skills for work and life, in Shanghai in 2012. The Congress explored strategies for transforming and expanding Technical and Vocational Education and Training and how it might contribute to sustainable development.

© UNESCO/D. Schlenker - Download

2016/Japan - Education for Sustainable Development

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© UNESCO/Okayama ESD Promotion Commission

2016/Japan - Education for Sustainable Development

Children knee-deep in muddy water help to clean a river in Okayama as part of a project to improve the environment. The project was one of the laureates of the 2016 UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development and characterizes UNESCO’s approach in this area, which empowers youth to take action responsibly for the future. It is part of UNESCO’s actions following the World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, in 2014, which saw the launch of the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development.

© UNESCO/Okayama ESD Promotion Commission - Download

2014/UNESCO Headquarters - First ever Chinese Head of State visit to UNESCO

2014/UNESCO Headquarters - First ever Chinese Head of State visit to UNESCO

President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping records his visit to UNESCO Headquarters watched by his wife, First Lady Peng Liyuan and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. The 2014 visit underscored China’s strong support for UNESCO’s education initiatives. In addition, the First Lady was named a UNESCO Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls’ and Women’s Education.

© UNESCO/Nora Houguenade - Download

2015/UNESCO Headquarters - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gets a glimpse of his past at UNESCO

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© UN Photo/Mark Garten

2015/UNESCO Headquarters - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gets a glimpse of his past at UNESCO

While on a visit to UNESCO Headquarters, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was delighted to recognize an old familiar schoolbook he had as a child in the Republic of Korea. The book was published at a time when UNESCO was working with the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency to rebuild the country’s education system after the end of the war.

© UN Photo/Mark Garten - Download

2015/Republic of Korea - A forum in Incheon charts a new way for education

2015/Republic of Korea - A forum in Incheon charts a new way for education

Laureate of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Kailash Satyarthi shakes hands with Qian Tang, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education as UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova looks on. They met at the World Education Forum in Incheon in 2015, which built on the legacy of education world forums, held in Jomtien, Thailand, and Dakar, Senegal, to chart a new course for education policies.

© UNESCO/Kim Hyung Soo - Download

2015/United Nations Headquarters - A summit to stimulate action on education

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© UN Photo/Cia Pak

2015/United Nations Headquarters - A summit to stimulate action on education

A film lights up UN Headquarters to introduce the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and marks the 70th anniversary of the Organization. At the landmark United Nations Sustainable Development summit held in New York in 2015, the global development agenda took a huge step forward to focus on 17 Sustainable Development Goals, of which Goal 4 focuses specifically on education.

© UN Photo/Cia Pak - Download

2015 - Malala lends her courage and strength to SDG 4

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© Project Everyone

2015 - Malala lends her courage and strength to SDG 4

The quiet power of Malala Yousafzai is evident as she helps promote Sustainable Development Goal 4, the education goal that aims to “Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning”. Malala overcame terrible odds to become a champion of education especially for girls. She was the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate and stands, with UNESCO, for the reduction of persistent education disparities between regions, gender and social classes.

© Project Everyone - Download

2015/UNESCO Headquarters - UNESCO takes a lead role in the Education 2030 Agenda

2015/UNESCO Headquarters - UNESCO takes a lead role in the Education 2030 Agenda

A round of applause as the SDG 4 Education 2030 Framework for Action is ushered in at UNESCO Headquarters in November 2015. It is the most ambitious agenda ever adopted for education. UNESCO is mandated to lead and coordinate the Education 2030 Agenda, which seeks to reach the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 4.

© UNESCO/P. Chiang-Joo - Download

2016/South Sudan - The power of sport to build citizenship

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© Tdh/Ollivier Girard

2016/South Sudan - The power of sport to build citizenship

Children perfect their hula-hoop skills in South Sudan as part of a sport education project helping to reintegrate people affected by the civil war. As the United Nations’ lead agency for Physical Education and Sport, UNESCO supports the teaching of values through sport education. Sport has the power to provide a universal framework for learning values and contributing to the development of skills needed for responsible citizenship.

© Tdh/Ollivier Girard - Download

2017/UNESCO Headquarters - Keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive

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© UNESCO/Christelle Alix

2017/UNESCO Headquarters - Keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive

Letters, a spoon and other simple everyday items take on a powerful significance as part of the Archeologia exhibition mounted by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum atUNESCO in 2017. Education about the Holocaust and genocide is part of UNESCO’s Global Citizenship Education programme supporting educators and learners to become critical thinkers and active global citizens who value human dignity and reject anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of prejudice that canlead to violence and genocide.

© UNESCO/Christelle Alix - Download

2017/Ghana - Listening, learning and literacy in Ghana

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© Literacy Bridge/Scott Sweeney

2017/Ghana - Listening, learning and literacy in Ghana

Villagers in Ghana tune in to the Talking Book Programme, part of Project Literacy, a UNESCO-backed initiative that combines the oral tradition of storytelling with modern technology, to present topics related to agriculture and health services. UNESCO promotes mobile learning as a means to boost literacy, the first critical step on a lifelong learning journey.

© Literacy Bridge/Scott Sweeney - Download

2017/Kenya - Righting the balance: girls’ education in science

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© UNESCO/Gaia Paradiso

2017/Kenya - Righting the balance: girls’ education in science

The message is clear – girls choose science at an event promoting girls and women’s participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in Nairobi. Globally, far fewer women than men take part in STEM studies and careers. UNESCO is invested in reducing the gender imbalance by making gender equality one of its global priorities.

© UNESCO/Gaia Paradiso - Download

2017/Canada - United for Global Citizenship Education

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© Finnsquare.com

2017/Canada - United for Global Citizenship Education

Participants gather at the “UNESCO Week for Peace and Sustainable Development: The Role of Education” held in Ottawa, in 2017. Global Citizenship Education is UNESCO’s response to world challenges such as rapid globalization, human rights violations, inequality, and poverty. It empowers learners of all ages to think globally and actively promote peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable societies.

© Finnsquare.com - Download

2017/India - Indian youth say ‘yes’ to peace

2017/India - Indian youth say ‘yes’ to peace

A selfie snatched at a YESPeace Network (Youth for Education, Sustainability and Peace) town hall meeting at UNESCO’s New Delhi office. UNESCO’s initiatives to prevent violent extremism support education systems to contribute to national and international prevention efforts. The UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) organized the event to support the YESPeace network and the youth leading it.

© UNESCO/MGIEP - Download

2017/Thailand - Celebrating diversity in Thailand

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© UNESCO/Warren Field

2017/Thailand - Celebrating diversity in Thailand

Rainbow umbrellas and a colourful celebration on International Day Against Homophobia/Transphobia in Thailand. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, will be impossible if students are discriminated against or experience violence because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2011, UNESCO convened the first UN international consultation on homophobic bullying in educational institutions.

© UNESCO/Warren Field - Download

2017/Syrian Arab Republic - Education for children and youth affected by conflicts

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© UNESCO/Yayoi Segi-Vltchek

2017/Syrian Arab Republic - Education for children and youth affected by conflicts

Children gaze out the window of a school in the Ancient City of Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where UNESCO supported school rehabilitation in 2017. Over 13 million children and youth in the Arab Region are unable to attend school as a result of ongoing conflict. UNESCO is assisting children and youth in the affected countries by supporting local education initiatives, improving the quality of education, and offering support for reconstruction of schools.

© UNESCO/Yayoi Segi-Vltchek - Download

2018/Senegal - Education is at the heart of UNESCO’s work

2018/Senegal - Education is at the heart of UNESCO’s work

On a visit to a bustling suburb of Dakar in 2018, UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay meets women attending UNESCO supported literacy classes in Wolof, one of the country’s official languages. The visit took place on the occasion of the Financing Conference of the Global Partnership for Education, of which UNESCO is a member. Education continues to be the most powerful transformative force we have to build the world of tomorrow on a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable basis.

© UNESCO/Tine Ismaël - Download