UNESCO’s Executive Board approves India’s proposal to set up Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace & Sustainable Development as UNESCO Category-I Institute
India is poised to become the first country in Asia to have an UNESCO Category – I Institute, which will be named Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development. The Executive Board of UNESCO has approved India’s proposal to set up a Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace & Sustainable Development as UNESCO Category I Institute. This approval was accorded by acclamation in the Joint Administrative and Finance Commission of the Executive Board at its 182nd Session which was held on 18th September, 2009.
This would be the first Category-I Institute of UNESCO to be established in the Asia Pacific region. At present, there are eleven UNESCO Category-I institutes and except 3 of them, all are located in developed countries and none is located in Asia.
The overall focus of the activities of the proposed Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace & Sustainable Development activities will be on fostering a culture of peace through education, promoting sustainable economic and social development and respect for human rights. The decision is being viewed as a historic one and reinforces India’s key role in UNESCO and its leadership position in building the defences of peace in the minds of men.
The proposal will be formally approved by the General Conference of UNESCO in its 35th Session, which is going to be held from 6 – 23 October, 2009 at its headquarters at Paris.
