United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

'UNESCO is the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.

• World Heritage

Among other things, it maintains a list of 690 [world heritage]? sites. See UNESCO's website, http://www.unesco.org/whc/

World heritage sites in Germany, complete list, http://my.bawue.de/~wmwerner/welterbe.html

It was responsible for the founding of OANA. UNESCO provides funding to the International Council of Science.

UNESCO has at times been highly controversial. During the 1970s and 1980s, Western countries, especially the United States and the United Kingdom, believed it was being used as a forum for Communist and Third World countries to attack the West. UNESCO developed a plan called the "New International Information Order", to stop alleged lies and misinformation being spread about developing countries. The West rejected it as an attempt by Third World and Communist dictatorships to destroy [freedom of the press]?, and the United States and the United Kingdom withdrew from the organization in protest.

[Official UNESCO site]