Scientific United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN agency established in 1946 to promote international collaboration through scientific, educational, and cultural activities. Its policy-making general conference meets biennially at its Paris headquarters. UNESCO has helped develop education in poorer countries and arranges scientific and cultural exchanges. Both the United States and Britain withdrew from UNESCO in 1985, charging that the organization was being manipulated for political purposes with an anti-American slant.

See also: United Nations.