UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that was created in 1946 to promote International collaboration in education, science and culture. Its permanent headquarters are in Paris, France. UNESCO's initial emphasis was on rebuilding schools, libraries and museums that had been destroyed in Europe during World War II. Since then its activistes have been mainly facilitative, aimed at assisting, supporting and complementing the national efforts of member states to eliminate illiteracy and to extend free education. UNESCO also seeks to encourage the free exchange of ideas and knowledge by organizing conferences and providing clearinghouse and exchange services. As many less developed countries joined the UN beginning in the 1950s, UNESCO  began to devote more resources to their problems, which included poverty, high rates of illiteracy and underdevelopment. Besides its support of educational and science programs, UNESCO is also involved in efforts to protect the natural environment and humanity's common cultural heritage. For example, in the 1960s UNESCO helped sponsor efforts to save ancient Egyptian monuments from the waters of the Aswan High Dam and in 1972 it sponsored an international agreement to establish a World Heritage List of cultural sites and natural areas that would enjoy government protection.