The 9th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, taking place on 22-23 November 2022, in Fez, Morocco, is a leading platform for promoting intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation.  The Forum is hosted by UNAOC, as part of its mission to improve understanding and cooperation among peoples across cultures and to reduce polarization at local and global levels. The Forum takes place against a wide array of global challenges including the surge of hate speech and racism, thus, finding pathways to peace rooted in mutual respect has never been more urgent.

Audiovisual archives tell us stories about people’s lives and cultures. They represent a priceless heritage of our collective memory and a valuable source of knowledge. The 2022 World Day for Audiovisual Heritage will be celebrated in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Memory of the World Programme. On this Day, let us remember that the world's documentary heritage belongs to all, should be fully preserved, and protected for all. Visit the UN Historical archives playlist, made up of a selection of videos digitized to make our history available to a worldwide community of users.

Around the world, artists face daily challenges when creating and sharing their work. Often, the fundamental human right to freedom of expression is threatened. UNESCO’s 2022 Global Report, Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity – Addressing culture as a global public good, draws on global data and recommendations to help better protect artists worldwide. Video credits and details available here.

In 2022, the World Heritage Convention marks its 50th anniversary. The 1,154 natural and cultural heritage sites in over 160 countries are the testament to the universal appreciation and achievement of this groundbreaking legal framework. UNESCO has launched a year-long programme to galvanize profound reflections on the future of heritage titled “The Next 50: World Heritage as a source of resilience, humanity and innovation.” The Next 50 culminates in Florence, Italy, with a major conference in November in tribute to the adoption of the Convention on 16 November 1972.

In 2018, UNESCO launched a flagship initiative to Revive the Spirit of Mosul. On the 5th anniversary of the liberation of Mosul from the shackles of violent extremism, UNESCO and its main partner, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), present the visuals of the Al-Nouri Mosque and the Al-Hadba Minaret, currently being reconstructed as they were. The mosque and the minaret will be rebuilt using the maximum of traditional materials and reusing the heritage elements that were found and collected in the rubble.

Following the evaluation of the World Book Capital Advisory Committee, the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has designated Strasbourg (France) as World Book Capital for 2024.

Following the evaluation of the World Book Capital Advisory Committee, the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has designated Strasbourg (France) as World Book Capital for 2024.

In turbulent times one feelgood gesture has connected populations across the globe. The simple act of sharing a cup of tea. We prepare tea in many ways, but this ancient ritual stretches beyond cultures. Tea is a culture in itself. Tea is bonding.

UNESCO helps strengthen the cultural and creative industries and promotes South-South cooperation to support developing countries to: design, adapt and/or implement regulatory frameworks for the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs); strengthen skills and; and create peer-to-peer mechanisms.

The Salgueiro samba school, whose theme for this year’s parade was the fight against racism, invited 20 refugees as part of a partnership with UNHCR, to promote integration of refugees into the country. Refugees from Syria, Venezuela, Angola and DR Congo took part in perhaps the most Brazilian of all events – the all-night-explosion of music, drumming, and dancing that is Rio’s annual Carnival parade.  Brazil is home to refugees from 88 countries and has received an estimated 325,000 refugees and migrants from Venezuela, in recent years.

There may be no universal understanding of creativity. The concept is open to interpretation from artistic expression to problem-solving in the context of economic, social and sustainable development. Nonetheless, creativity and culture also contribute as a highly transformative sector of the world economy in terms of income generation, job creation and export earnings. Therefore, the United Nations designated 21 April as World Creativity and Innovation Day to raise the awareness of the role of creativity and innovation in all aspects of human development.

In Romania, the hilly and mountainous territory of the Buzău Land UNESCO Global Geopark is one of the 8 new designations. One of the most geodynamically active areas in Europe, the geopark exhibits 40 million years of geological history. Over this period, it ectonic movements pushed up mountains and transformed a deep-sea environment into a terrestrial one. Its rich geodiversity has influenced a unique cultural heritage with local legends in which mud volcanoes (shown here) become dragons, mud boilers are traps made by giants to catch cattle, and the future can be predicted by looking through a lens of amber. 

Through reading we can open ourselves to others despite distance, and we can travel thanks to the imagination. The pandemic has also reminded us all of the importance of books and reading for comfort and escapism. UNESCO encourages you to challenge yourself, to explore new topics, formats, or genres that out of your ordinary. Our goal is to engage people in reading, and to have fun doing so! For this World Book and Copyright Day (23 April), UNESCO has created a #bookface challenge. Take a picture of yourself with a book cover so it blends into your reality.

After launching ‘African Folktales, Reimagined, the ground-breaking competition to find some of Sub-Saharan Africa’s up and coming filmmakers, Netflix and UNESCO announce the six winners.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, UNESCO has taken action to protect culture. The first challenge is to mark cultural heritage sites and monuments as protected.