• The Austrian Commission for UNESCO
  • Functions and responsibilities
  • Modus operandi
  • Presidium
  • Secretariat
  • Annual report
• Austria and UNESCO
• UNESCO
• Contact

Functions and responsibilities

The Austrian Commission for UNESCO was established as a national liaison office pursuant to Article VII.1 of the UNESCO Constitution of 1949 (Federal Law Gazette no. 49/1949). Initially located within the Ministry of Education, it was divested in 2001 and re-established as a registered association.

Under its statutes, the Austrian Commission for UNESCO has the following responsibilities:

• advising the federal and state governments as well as other governmental and non-governmental institutions with a view to implementing UNESCO’s objectives in Austria;
• instituting and maintaining contacts between UNESCO and stakeholder institutions and individuals in Austria;
• contributing to the response to enquiries by UNESCO;
• cooperating with UNESCO-relevant regional initiatives;
• participating in preparing for the General Conference and the Executive Board;
• informing the public of UNESCO goals and programmes, implementing them as well as providing information about UNESCO;
• cooperating with UNESCO Commissions of other countries.

Analogously to the two-year programme of UNESCO, the Austrian Commission for UNESCO concentrates its activities on the following focus subjects:

• Education
  literacy, intercultural peace education, cultural education, education for sustainable development, UNESCO Schools
• Science
  Biosphere Reserves
• Culture
  Cultural diversity, World Heritage, Intangible Cultural Heritage, protection of Cultural Heritage
• Communication and information
  Digital heritage, freedom of the press, Information for All Programme

The Austrian Commission for UNESCO obtains its finances from an annual membership contribution by the Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture, which covers expenditure on infrastructure, staff and educational activities. It does not have any budget for funding outside activities. The Commission acts on behalf of UNESCO as the holder of the copyright to the name and logo of UNESCO for Austria and is therefore entitled to authorise the use of the UNESCO logo.