Unesco Sweden

The Swedish National Commission for UNESCO

In May 1949 the Swedish government appointed a committee to investigate if Sweden should join UNESCO, and if so how to organise a Swedish National Commission for UNESCO. Their conclusions were presented to the government in the autumn of 1949 and Sweden joined UNESCO in January 1950, and then became Member State number 52.

The Swedish National Commission for UNESCO was established in the autumn of 1951, in accordance with the Constitution of UNESCO (art VII) that says

‘Each Member State shall make such arrangements as suits its particular conditions for the purpose of associating its principal bodies interested in educational, scientific and cultural matters with the work of the Organisation, preferably by the formation of a National Commission broadly representative of the government and such bodies’.

The Swedish National Commission for UNESCO has its office at the Ministry of Education and Research. The members of the Commission are appointed by the Government for a period of four years. The members represent UNESCO's fields of competence and the standing committees for education and culture of the parliament.

"Can I apply for an internship?"

The Swedish National Commission for UNESCO works mainly in Sweden and in Swedish. Our administration is very limited (3 full time staff members) and we have very limited possibilities to accept the responsibility of internships. Those who want to apply for an intership at the UNESCO secretariat in Paris can find information on the UNESCO central web.

The New Model Proposal

The Swedish National Commission for UNESCO has put forward a proposal for a New Model for the elaboration of the documents containing the proposals for programme and budget for the coming two year period. This proposal is elaborated as a part of the preparations for the General Conference in 2005. The programme for Education in the new version can be downloaded below in pdf format as well as the accompanying letter that Member States can use if they want to argue for the New Model in their replies to the UNESCO secretariat concerning the coming programme and budget.

The programme for Education in the new version
(pdf format, will open in a new window)

The accompanying letter
(pdf format, will open in a new window)