Polish National Commission for UNESCO

“In each Member State, the National Commission ensures the permanent presence of UNESCO in its country and contributes to the Organization’s effort to promote international cooperation in the field of intellectual activities.”

(Charter of National Commissions for UNESCO, Article 3.1)

Who we are?

The Commission is a consultative and advisory institution of the Council of Ministers. It acts as a liaison between the Organization, whose headquarters are in Paris, and Polish governmental institutions and non-governmental organisations. It can support the initiatives of entities that contribute to the implementation of the UNESCO programme in Poland. This support is usually of an organisational nature. Often it takes the form of honorary patronage or mediation between interested social actors, government partners and UNESCO.

The Polish National Commission for UNESCO is composed of representatives of governmental institutions cooperating with UNESCO, whose competences overlap with the main fields of activity of the Organization, and persons representing scientific and creative circles. Ad hoc expert teams may be established under the Commission. The Commission is headed by its chairperson. This role is currently held by Prof. Michał Kleiber. The programme of the Commission is implemented by the Secretariat headed by the secretary general. This function is held by dr hab. Alicja Jagielska-Burduk. The Commission is an institiution financed from budgetary funds allocated through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

What we do?

The Polish National Commission for UNESCO, like other national commissions, has an advisory, coordinating and informative function. In cooperation with governmental and social partners, it takes care of the implementation of normative acts to which UNESCO is a depositary and to which Poland is a party. It implements UNESCO programmes in Poland. It is a public institution coordinating the development of the Polish position on issues related to current work at UNESCO. For these purposes, it maintains regular contact with the ministries concerned: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Ministry of Sport and Tourism, Ministry of Climate and Environment, as well as other institutions, organisations and experts. The Commission also cooperates with the Polish Permanent Delegation to UNESCO in Paris. It makes efforts to involve Polish creative circles in the preparation and implementation of the UNESCO programme. Representatives of the Commission and experts cooperating with it represent our country at UNESCO and participate in the work of the Organization. The Polish National Commission for UNESCO care for strengthening contacts with other national commissions within the framework of regional and supra-regional cooperation. It disseminates information on UNESCO's activities and promotes among young people the ideas developed by the international community at the forum of the Organization.

The Polish National Commission for UNESCO works in cooperation with national institutions. In the field of education it deals inter alia, with the coordination of the activities of the network of UNESCO Associated Schools in Poland and the implementation of fellowship programmes for foreigners within the framework of cooperation with UNESCO. In the field of culture, the Commission's interests focus on the issues of the implementation in Poland of the UNESCO convention on the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage, the convention on the protection of intangible cultural heritage and all other UNESCO conventions. The Commission pilots scientific cooperation, developing within the framework of UNESCO, through international scientific programmes oriented towards the exchange of experience in the fields of social sciences, environmental protection, hydrology, oceanography and geology. Ongoing activities also address issues related to access to information, the use of modern techniques in culture and education and the Memory of the World Programme for the preservation of documentary heritage. The book collection of UNESCO publications and the website of the Polish National Commission for UNESCO are intended to promote knowledge about the Organization.

Contact

Polish National Commission for UNESCO

Palace of Culture and Science, 7th floor, 713
Plac Defilad 1, 00-901 Warsaw

e-mail: komitet@unesco.pl
tel.: (48) 22 620 33 62, (48) 22 624 24 96