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Foundation of Library and Information Science

Notes with observers for non-Member-States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs).

!

Caution Each country has one vote, irrespective of its size or the extent of its contribution
to the budget.
The Executive Board, in a sense, assures the overall management of UNESCO. It prepares the
work of the General Conference and sees that its decisions are properly carried out. The Secretariat
consists of the Director-General and the Staff appointed by him. As of January 2007, the Secretariat
employed around 2,100 civil servants from some 170 countries. The staff is divided into
Professional and General Service categories. Under a recent decentralization policy, more than
700 staff members work in UNESCO’s 58 field offices around the world.

15.2.3 Membership

UNESCO promotes international cooperation among its 193 (As of October 2009) Member States
and six Associate Members in the fields of education, science, culture, and communication.

15.2.4 Functions and Activities

The function of UNESCO in the field of Communication and Information is to Empower people
through the free flow of ideas by word and image, and by access to information and knowledge.
The Communication and Information Sector (CI) was established in its present form in 1990.
(i) UNISIST: It is an international project sponsored by UNESCO to foster and coordinate
international bibliographical services being provided by various organizations. It is an
inter-governmental programme to encourage and guide voluntary cooperation in the
exchange of information at national, regional and international levels.
(ii) National Information System (NATIS): NATIS is a brainchild of UNESCO. It implies that
governments at different levels (national, state and local) should maximize the availability
of all relevant information.
(iii) General Information Programme: It is the initials of its French name Program General d’
Information. It was established in 1976 combining both the NATIS and UNISIST
programmes. The primary role of PGI is to promote computer application and
communication technologies in library and information services, information network
and provision of on line facilities for sharing and exchanging information between different
countries all over the world.

(iv) Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC): For compilation of bibliographies UNESCO has
launched an ambitious project in cooperation with IFLA known as UBC.
(v) ASTINFO and APINESS: In 1984, UNESCO established Regional Network for Exchange
of Information and Experience in Science and Technology in Asia and Pacific (ASTINFO)
to promote regional cooperation, better understanding and socio-economic development
in Asia and Pacific region. Later in 1986 another network called Asia Pacific Information
Network in Social Sciences (APINESS) was established.

(vi) Others: New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO), Intergovernmental
Programmes for the Development of Communication (IDDC), International System in
Research in Documentation (ISORID), Science and Technology Policies Information
Exchange System (SPINES), Data Retrieval System for Documentation in the Social and
Human Sciences (DARE), International Bureau of Education Documentation and

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