Backgrounder: Unesco Clubs Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed. (Preamble of the Unesco Constitution)
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I. Definition, aims, role and background of Unesco Clubs 3 What are Unesco Clubs? Unesco Clubs are groups of people of all ages and social and professional backgrounds who share Unesco s ideal, endeavour to make it known and associate themselves with its work by undertaking activities directly inspired by those of the Organization. The term Unesco Clubs is used in this booklet for the sake of simplicity because it is the one most frequently employed, although in several countries variations are found such as Unesco associations, centres, circles or groups, but all meaning the same thing. Why Unesco Clubs? Personal intellectual horizons are becoming wider every day. The man of the past was concerned merely with his village, his town or his country, but the man of today has interests extending far beyond a purely national framework. The more general availability of transport and the ideas and concepts spread by the media have given twentieth-century man a great longing to learn about foreign countries or ways of thought and expression that are different from his own. This curiosity goes hand in hand with an awareness of the innumerable international problems and tensions that arise and of the need to resolve them in an atmosphere of mutual understanding, trust and respect. The Unesco Clubs are for those moved by such curiosity and those who wish to satisfy it by trying to understand and to solve those problems. In the developing countries and, more particularly, in the newly independent States which have played a part in international life for only a short time, it is important to create a national awareness of each individual s responsibilities in the work of development and hence an awareness
4 of the need for joint efforts to build a nation, firmly rooted in the socio-cultural values that are its wealth and its unique attribute. The Unesco Clubs are intended for those who wish to contribute to this revolution of attitudes. What are the aims and the role of Unesco Clubs? The aims of Unesco Clubs are those of the Organization itself as proclaimed in its Constitution: 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. Although each Club has its own particular character, all have characteristics in common. They are the meeting place of individuals wishing to join together in a quest and in a wide variety of activities (cf. What activities can Unesco Clubs undertake? ), in a climate of complete trust and tolerance, without discrimination based on sex, nationality, race, religion, social background or political opinion. They are the meeting place of those men and women of good will who regard world peace in terms of respect for human rights, development and co-operation. The Unesco Club may be considered as a centre for lifelong education. It plays a training role of the greatest importance for its members for in addition to providing knowledge per se-something that many other associations also do-the Club aims to get its members to think and to work with open-mindedness and an understanding of other people, whether close or far. The Unesco Club is in fact a community within which programmes are drawn up and decisions made and carried out by common agreement, with respect for the rights and in accordance with the duties of each individual. As a
result, its members gradually learn how democracy oper- 5 ates in miniature. Together they become familiar with the problems of inter-personal relations and the difficulties of authority and decision-making, as well as with the value of team-work. They quickly learn that consideration has to be shown for the opinions of others and that their arguments have to be listened to and taken into account in order to reach a solution acceptable to everyone-all things that are vital for the harmonious life of a society. They come to realize that, far from being reasons for conflict, differences of opinion can be a source of profit for everyone. In short, they find that to know means to understand, that to understand means to accept (provided that human rights are not threatened), and finally that the acceptance of others is the first step, easily taken, towards friendship and brotherhood. Thereafter, they are more ready to apply these experiences to relations between groups of individuals and between countries. Club members in the developing countries have additional responsibilities. Since development is an endogenous process which can be brought about only with the will and participation of all, the Clubs have to promote among their members a real understanding of the problems inherent in their country and a readiness to participate in its development. This calls for a realization of each nation s particular cultural values and of the vital need to preserve them and to make everyone aware of their value, dignity, and unique character, in short, to show the essential contribution of these values to the common heritage of all mankind. Many Clubs understand this for themselves, learning of oral traditions from their elders, organizing orchestras and arranging for their community s cultural wealth to be recorded and put to effective use. (cf. What activities can Unesco Clubs undertake? ) Thus, whether the question studied is of local, national or international importance, whether the activities are physical or intellectual, in sport or in the arts, little by little Club members acquire the qualities whereby they first become citizens concerned for the good of their country and next, true world citizens, aware that the problems
6 facing States are becoming more complex each day and that only international action will enable them to be solved in a spirit of co-operation devoid of all selfishness or narrow nationalism. Hence the Clubs encourage the birth and growth of a feeling of universality based on the profound unity of human nature and of the destiny of mankind, above and beyond the individual characteristics of each society. In addition to this self-directed training, Club members have the desire to reach out, as they quickly become aware of the message they have to communicate and the role they can play in stimulating interest among their families and friends, in their working environment and among the public at large. In fact, in addition to activities for its members alone, every Club organizes public meetings the purpose of which is to provide information about certain national or international issues, to reveal unknown cultural treasures, or to explain the reasons for the existence of international organizations and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition. Historical and geographical background of Unesco Clubs Symbolizing the enthusiasm and idealism of the people of several countries, the Unesco Club movement grew up spontaneously following the creation of the Organization. This is well illustrated by Japan, where the Clubs were born out of the ruins of the immediate post-war period, even before the country had become a member of Unesco. Indeed, the first Unesco Club (in Japan and in the world as a whole) was set up in Sendai on 19 July 1947, followed by another in Kyoto on 18 September of the same year. Thus only a few months after Unesco was founded, there emerged a popular movement to support the new Organization for world peace, in which university people had taken the initiative. In December 1947 the Unesco Group was founded at the Steele Center in Denver, Colorado, in the United States of America.
More than a hundred associations of this sort already existed, for the most part in Japan and France, when Mr Jaime Torres Bodet-then Director-General of Unesco-on 4 November 1949, in the course of a lecture which he was giving at the Centre international d etudes pedagogiques in Sevres (France) to commemorate the third anniversary of Unesco s founding, launched an appeal for the creation of Unesco Clubs in secondary schools and universities. Following this appeal, the Unesco Club movement gradually spread throughout the world, until in 1983 there are more than 2,500 Clubs in more than eighty countries representing the different regions: Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, the Arab States, Europe and North America, and their numbers are steadily growing. 7 II. Practical information about Unesco Clubs How to set up a Unesco Club Although Unesco allows its name to be used by the Clubs, this title implies no official link between itself and these associations, which are the responsibility of the National Commission for Unesco in their country. The National Commissions are organizations of government representatives and persons able to involve in the work of Unesco the main national groups concerned with the development of education, science, culture and information. They provide a link between each Member State and Unesco and act in an advisory, executive and information capacity to their own governments and to Unesco. 1. The National Commissions, whose establishment is formally provided for in Article VII of the Constitution of Unesco as an obligation of Member States, make Unesco unique among the organizations of the United Nations system in associating directly in its work the representatives of the intellectual communities of its Member States.
8 This means that anyone wishing to set up a Unesco Club should get in touch with his National Commission, which will give him the necessary information and any advice it may consider useful for carrying out his project successfully. Once the Club has been established, it is again the National Commission s responsibility to give it official recognition and permission to use the Organization s name, once it has made sure that the new association subscribes to the founding principles of Unesco in its daily business and carries out no profit-making activities. Possible organization and structure of a Unesco Club Although at present most Clubs are to be found in secondary schools, with a few in primary schools or universities, there are many for working men and women, organized in cultural or social centres, popular education movements, factories, workers groups; libraries, information centres, voluntary associations, etc. Likewise, although to begin with Clubs were principally for young people, adult Clubs and mixed Clubs (young people and adults) are now becoming more and more frequent. In short, one feature of the Club movement which gives it its variety is its very great flexibility. Large Clubs are sometimes subdivided into special sections for various activities e.g. photography, cinematography, drama, music, stamp-collecting, travel, correspondence and documentary exchange, pot-holing, archaeology, handicrafts, lectures, vocational guidance, communication, etc. More than thirty National Commissions have encouraged the creation of national federations, which co-ordinate the work of individual Clubs, propose common activities and guidelines for Clubs of the same country, provide them with documentation and encourage contacts with Clubs and other bodies abroad. The first regional federation was established in 1974, and was called the Asian Federation of Unesco Clubs and Associations (AFUCA), with headquarters in Japan.
The First World Congress of Unesco Clubs met at Unesco Headquarters in,\prill978 and unanimously adopted the principle of establishing a World Federation of Unesco Clubs and Associations. The Federation was officially founded in July 1981 at the conclusion of the Second World Congress, which also met at Headquarters and was attended by representatives of Unesco Clubs and Associations from some sixty countries. The General Secretariat of the World Federation is located in Paris. Its Executive Board has ten members, two for each of the major geographical regions defined by Unesco. The World Federation represents the Unesco Club movement in the world and encourages its development in the spirit of the Unesco Constitution and in the service of peace. The Federation provides general co-ordination services and encourages active co-operation among national federations through interregional and subregional programmes. The Federation is a non-governmental organization working to further international understanding. Its main fields of action are leadership training, distributing information on Unesco s goals and programmes and promoting their application by national federations. 9 What activities can Unesco Clubs undertake? The activities a Club may take on depend on the age and interests of its members, the environment in which it is located and its financial resources and means of action. Given these factors, the choice of programmes is infinitely variable and depends only on the imagination and initiative of the director and Club members. However, the activities of the Clubs have two common characteristics-their faithfulness to the spirit of Unesco and their non-profit-making nature. Listed below are some examples illustrating activities successfully completed by Clubs with widely varying membership, age groups and locations. This list is, of course, not exhaustive.
10 - Study of basic documents: the Preamble and Constitution of Unesco, the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, etc. - Participation in the International Years proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly and Unesco General Conference: the International Year for Human Rights (1968), Education (1970), Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1971), Book Year (1972), International Women s Year (1975) and the International Year of the Child (1979) and of Disabled Persons (1981). As soon as it was declared, International Youth Year (1985) attracted the attention of many Clubs and prompted plans for activities throughout the world. - Celebration of International, Universal or World Days proclaimed by the United Nations: Human Rights Day, International Day for Peace, and for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; World Health Day, World Meteorological Day, Universal Children s Day, World Food Day, International Women s Day, International Literacy Day. - Information campaigns or days about Unesco, the United Nations and Specialized Agencies; creation of documentation centres about them. - Celebration of anniversaries of individuals worldfamous for their work on behalf of peace, human rights, science, culture, education and communication. - Participation in campaigns of international solidarity, notably by means of the Unesco Co-Action Programme; setting up projects as part of that Programme. - Establishment of relations with other Unesco Clubs throughout the world; exchanges of persons and documents; twinnings. - Organization of educational courses on films, languages, pot-holing, architecture and music. - Organization of cultural trips: educational outings (visits to museums, factories, libraries, exhibitions, etc.). - Organization of a library; an orchestra; a sports team; a choir.
- Organization of writing, poetry, drawing and photo- 11 graphy competitions on themes inspired by world current events. - Study of the problems presented by racism and racial discrimination and of discrimination in education. - Study of foreign countries and cultures through talks, round tables, debates, lectures, film and slide shows, record and tape programmes, exhibitions, trips, etc. - Study of political problems and of the origin and form of international tensions; study of world events by comparison of reports in newspapers and periodicals of different political persuasions. - Study of the problems of development. - Study of the place of women in different societies; the fight against sexism. - Study of the problems of youth; of the place of young people in society; of the problems of handicapped children and young people; of aging. - Study of the problems of hunger and malnutrition; population questions; disarmament. - Study of the biosphere, the problems of pollution, man and his environment. - Participation in literacy campaigns, campaigns for nature conservation, preservation of the cultural heritage. - Organization of work and study camps. - Efforts to integrate foreign workers and their families into their host society. - Assistance with schoolwork for children from underprivileged social environments (private lessons). - Assistance to peasants and villagers in order to make them aware of problems of agriculture, hygiene and nutrition; organization of courses on these subjects. - Collection of oral traditions by tape recordings, transcriptions, etc. - Listing and studying medicinal plants. - Study of local traditions, folklore legends and customs. - Exhibitions of works of art by Club members. - Listening together to radio and television broadcasts, with group discussion about the programmes.
12 - Production of a periodical newsletter, information documents. - Translation and/or adaptation into national and local languages of basic texts and documents of Unesco and the United Nations. - Promotional campaigns for the establishment of other Unesco Clubs. Relations between Unesco Clubs and Unesco As has been seen, the Clubs were born of individual initiative. From the beginning to the present day, they have been set up in answer to a widespread feeling among their members of the need to participate more actively in international life, in harmony with Unesco s approach and within its fields of competence. Their activities are directed towards the ideal set forth in the Preamble to the Unesco Constitution, and repeated at the beginning of this booklet; Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed. Unesco soon appreciated the importance of the Clubs whose action... is especially valuable because it is voluntary action and because it reaches both young people and the general public, which is often ill-informed about Unesco, its aims, activities and problems and-why not admit it?-its difficulties. (Director-General s address at the opening of the First World Congress of Unesco Clubs.) Thus, the various sessions of the General Conference of the Organization have adopted resolutions authorizing the Director-General to offer or to increase support given by Unesco to the Clubs bearing its name and to collaborate closely with the World Federation. However, Unesco Clubs s rule has always been to respect the Clubs freedom. It therefore refuses to become unduly involved in their establishment and development, since that could jeopardize their spontaneity and originality. However, it does try to help them whenever the occasion arises:
Intellectual assistance: Unesco encourages initiative, suggests where it believes the establishment of new Clubs is desirable, replies to requests for advice on activity programmes. It attempts to establish a two-way flow of information with the federations or Clubs so as to help Clubs to make the most of the successful experiences of other Clubs, and so that it can itself play its advisory role more effectively. It suggests study themes connected with its programme and corresponding to the major decisions of the General Conference. It encourages exchanges of individuals and information between Clubs in different countries and in this connection publishes the twice-yearly newsletter Inter-Clubs which gives brief reports of the Clubs activities. Finally, various versions of a Unesco Club Manual have already been issued to help present or future organizers of Clubs in their work, and an international directory of Unesco Clubs and Associations is published periodically on the basis of. information received either directly by Unesco or through the National Commissions. Material assistance: Unesco makes available to all Clubs, free of charge, publications of general interest about the Organization and tries, in exceptional cases, to provide more specific materials on a given topic. Where there are national federations, Unesco sends them stocks of its publications for distribution to the various Clubs. Financial assistance: It should be noted that Unesco Clubs does not subsidize the Clubs and, with rare exceptions, does not provide them with direct financial support. Clubs must direct their requests through their country s National Commission for Unesco. Because of the small sums available, Unesco is forced to be selective in dealing with the requests it receives. Priority is given to the following activities: organization of regional or subregional meetings of directors and Club members; organization of national meetings for the establishment of a federation; organization of Unesco Weeks or any other activities to make Unesco and its work known; preparation or adaptation of information material for Clubs in languages other than the 13
14 official languages of the Organization; Unesco Club promotional activities in a country or group of countries; isolated activities in individual locations prompted by the Organization s programme priorities; activities promoting co-operation between Clubs of different countries and regions. III. Conclusion Unesco considers Unesco Club activities throughout the world to be of vital importance for the creation of a true international spirit. It hopes to give them increasing assistance and support with the means at its disposal. In order to do this, it must receive regularly, from the federations and from individual Clubs, information about their activities, their experiences, the difficulties they encounter and their plans. HELP US TO HELP YOU!