ABSTRACT
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was created in 1946 in response to the emerging needs of the end of World War II and to address the urgent necessity to build peace around the world, develop mutual understanding among people and cultures, and structure international co-operation in specific areas such as education, science, and culture. Although communication is not mentioned at the same level as other disciplines, it has been important to the organization since its inception, as indicated in its constitution:
At its inception, the founders hesitated between making UNESCO a purely intellectual organization or an intergovernmental body. They finally adopted a compromise, combining the best of both structures. As a result, the organization has organic links with member state governments, academics, and intellectuals through national commissions, and with what is now called the civil society, with representatives of a large spectrum of international nongovernmental organizations. These constituencies, as well as the Secretariat comprised
of approximately 2000 international civil servants based mainly in Paris led by a directorgeneral, have shaped UNESCO’s unique profile over more than five decades.
