1. UNESCO Constitution (1945)

(Adopted in London, United Kingdom, 16 November 1945)

The Governments of the States Parties to this Constitution on behalf of their peoples declare:

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[...] 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.

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Article I Purposes and functions

1. The purpose of the Organization 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 realize this purpose the Organization 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 work 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;

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