Bangsamoro
Bangsamoro the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM, is an autonomous region within the southern Philippines. It replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region was formed after voters decided to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law in a January 21 plebiscite; the ratification was announced on January 2019, by the Commission on Elections. This marks the beginning of the transition of the ARMM to the BARMM. Another plebiscite was held in nearby regions that seek to join the area on February 6, 2019; this plebiscite saw 63 of 67 barangays in North Cotabato join Bangsamoro. Bangsamoro took the place of the ARMM as the only Muslim-majority region in the Philippines. For the most part of Philippines' history, the region and most of Mindanao have been a separate territory, which enabled it to develop its own culture and identity; the westernmost and west-central areas have been the traditional homeland of Muslim Filipinos since the 15th century before the arrival of the Spanish, who began to colonize most of the Philippines in 1565.
Majority of Mindanao was the homeland of indigenous Lumad groups, who were neither Christians nor Muslims. Muslim missionaries arrived in Tawi-Tawi in 1380 and started the colonization of the area and the conversion of the native population to Islam. In 1457, the Sultanate of Sulu was founded, not long after that, the sultanates of Maguindanao and Buayan were established. Many indigenous Lumad communities were displaced as a result of some of the area's'Islamization'. At the time when most of the Philippines was under Spanish rule, these sultanates maintained their independence and challenged Spanish domination of the Philippines by conducting raids on Spanish coastal towns in the north and repulsing repeated Spanish incursions in their territory, it was not until the last quarter of the 19th century that the Sultanate of Sulu formally recognized Spanish suzerainty, but these areas remained loosely controlled by the Spanish as their sovereignty was limited to military stations and garrisons and pockets of civilian settlements in Zamboanga and Cotabato, until they had to abandon the region as a consequence of their defeat in the Spanish–American War.
The Moros had a history of resistance against Spanish and Japanese rule for over 400 years. The violent armed struggle against the Japanese, Filipinos and Americans is considered by modern Moro Muslim leaders as part of the four centuries long "national liberation movement" of the Bangsamoro, although the term is only used in mainland Mindanao as those in the Sulu archipelago had a much distinct culture; the 400-year-long resistance against the Japanese and Spanish by the Moro Muslims persisted and morphed into a war for independence against the Philippine state. The United States' Insular Government of the Philippine Islands had only been in existence for two years in 1903 when it initiated the "Homestead Program,", meant to encourage migration of landless populations from non-muslim areas of the country into the muslim-majority areas in Mindanao. Lanao and Cotabato in particular saw an influx of migrants from Visayas; this influx of migrants led to tensions about land ownership and disenfranchisement of Lumads and Muslims, because the mostly-Christian migrants established claims on the land, whereas the native peoples of Mindanao didn't have a land titling system in place at the time.
This US-led Homestead Program, continued or copied by Philippine administrations after independence, is therefore cited as one of the root-causes of what would become the larger Moro conflict. In 1942, during the early stages of the Pacific War of the Second World War, troops of the Japanese Imperial Forces invaded and overran Mindanao, the native Moro Muslims waged an insurgency against the Japanese. Three years in 1945, combined United States and Philippine Commonwealth Army troops liberated Mindanao, with the help of local guerrilla units defeated the Japanese forces occupying the region. Under pressure to resolve agrarian unrest in various parts of the country, noting that Mindanao was rich in mineral resources and weather favorable to agriculture Philippine presidents continued the promotion of migration which the American colonial government began in 1903. Massive arrivals of non-Muslim migrants happened during the Commonwealth period under President Manuel Quezon and under right-wing presidents Ramon Magsaysay and Ferdinand Marcos.
As a result, the proportion of indigenous peoples in Mindanao to shrink from majority in 1913 to minority by 1976. The best lands in Mindanao were given to settlers and owners of corporate agriculture, while most development investments and government services were offered to the Christian population; this caused the Muslim population to rank among the poorest in their own country. The resettlement programme was not peaceful as some settlers managed to obtain land from the native Muslims through harassment and other violent efforts which drove the Muslims out of their own lands; the Muslims felt alienated by the Philippine government and felt threatened by the migrants' economic and political domination in their own homeland, the same way the Lumads were displaced centuries ago when Islam arrived in the Philippines. Some Muslim groups to turn to extortion and violence to protect their land and avoid being displaced; these efforts at “integration” are credited for helping the Moro identity in mainland Mindanao crystallize, because the Muslims’ ability to identify with the rest of Filipino nation suffered in li
Lake Lanao
Lake Lanao is a large ancient lake in the Philippines, located in Lanao del Sur province in the country's southern island of Mindanao. With a surface area of 340 km2, it is the largest lake in Mindanao, the second largest lake in the Philippines and counted as one of the 15 ancient lakes in the world. Scholars have been pushing for the lake's inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List; the lake was formed by the tectonic-volcanic damming of a basin between two mountain ranges and the collapse of a large volcano. It has a maximum depth of 122 m, a mean depth of 60.3 m. The basin gets progressively deeper towards the south; the lake is fed by four rivers. Its only outlet is the Agus River, which flows northwest into Iligan Bay via two channels, one over the Maria Cristina Falls and the other over the Tinago Falls. A hydroelectric plant installed on the Lanao Lake and Agus River system generates 70% of the electricity used by the people of Mindanao; the lake is a home of legends of the Meranaw tribe.
The name Meranaw was derived from the name of the lake and it means "the people living around the lake". Lake Lanao was proclaimed as a watershed reservation in 1992 through Presidential Proclamation 971 to ensure protection of forest cover and water yield for hydropower and domestic use; the lake is home to 18 endemic species of cyprinid fish in the genus Barbodes. It supports a large number of waterfowl. An investigations in 1992 only managed to locate three of the endemic fish species, only two were located in 2008, it is believed that overfishing and competition from introduced species caused the extinction of the remaining. In October 2006, a study from the Mindanao State University discovered massive algae contamination in Lake Lanao. Poor sewage and agricultural waste management were seen as the culprit to the contamination. However, the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources stated that soil erosion from indiscriminate logging and extensive land use and farming are the problems that caused the algae contamination.
The freshwater crab Sundathelphusa wolterecki is endemic to the lake region. The 18 endemic cyprinid species of Lake Lanao: Barbodes amarus Herre Barbodes baoulan Herre ** Barbodes binotatus Valenciennes Barbodes clemensi Herre Barbodes disa Herre ** Barbodes flavifuscus Herre Barbodes katolo Herre Barbodes lanaoensis Herre Barbodes lindog Herre ** Barbodes manalak Herre ** Barbodes pachycheilus Herre Barbodes palaemophagus Herre Barbodes palata Herre ** Barbodes resimus Herre * Barbodes sirang Herre sirang. Long ago, there was a polity known as Mantapoli centered in Lake Lanao; the people of the polity increased in population due to advancements in many fields. Because of the sudden growth in population and power, the equilibrium between Sebangan and Sedpan was broken; this problem soon came to the attention of archangel Diabarail. Afterwards, Diabarail told Allah the news. Sohora, the vice of Allah, advised Diabarail to go to seven regions beneath the earth and seven regions in the sky to summon the angels.
Sohora said that when Allah establishes the barahana, they will remove Mantapoli from its location and transfer it into the center of the world. When the angels were summoned and the barahana made, Mantapoli was soon teleported into the earth's center, leaving a vast hole in its former location; the hole filled with water and turned into a deep blue-colored lake. When Diabarail saw the tides of water, he went to heaven to report to Allah, he told Allah. Hearing this, Allah commanded Diabarail to summon the four winds to blow the excess waters and establish outlets where these waters will flow to. After three trails, the winds succeeded and the Agus river was established. A Meranaw is a language of Maranao people. SarimanokSarimanok is a Meranau symbol of Meranaw people. How the Angels Built Lake Lanao
Flag
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design and colours. It is used for decoration; the term flag is used to refer to the graphic design employed, flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification in environments where communication is challenging. The study of flags is known as "vexillology" from the Latin vexillum, meaning "flag" or "banner". National flags are patriotic symbols with varied interpretations that include strong military associations because of their original and ongoing use for that purpose. Flags are used in messaging, advertising, or for decorative purposes; some military units are called "flags" after their use of flags. A flag is equivalent to a brigade in Arab countries. In Spain, a flag is a battalion-equivalent in the Spanish Legion. In antiquity, field signs or standards were used in warfare that can be categorised as vexilloid or'flag-like'; this is considered originated in Assyria. Examples include the Sassanid battle standard Derafsh Kaviani, the standards of the Roman legions such as the eagle of Augustus Caesar's Xth legion, or the dragon standard of the Sarmatians.
Flag as recognized today, made of a piece of cloth representing a particular entity, is considered invented in the Indian subcontinent or Chinese Zhou dynasty. Chinese flags depicted animals decorated in certain colors. A royal flag is considered being used as well, required to be treated with a similar level of respect attributed to the ruler. Indian flags were triangular shaped and decorated with attachments such as yak's tail and the state umbrella; these usages spread to Southeast Asia as well, considered transmitted to Europe through the Muslim world where plainly colored flags were being used due to Islamic prescriptions. In Europe, during the High Middle Ages, flags came to be used as a heraldic device in battle, allowing more to identify a knight than only from the heraldic device painted on the shield. During the high medieval period, during the Late Middle Ages, city states and communes such as those of the Old Swiss Confederacy began to use flags as field signs. Regimental flags for individual units became commonplace during the Early Modern period.
During the peak of the age of sail, beginning in the early 17th century, it was customary for ships to carry flags designating their nationality. Flags became the preferred means of communications at sea, resulting in various systems of flag signals. Use of flags outside of military or naval context begins only with the rise of nationalist sentiment by the end of the 18th century. One of the most popular uses of a flag is to symbolise a country; some national flags have been inspirational to other nations, countries, or subnational entities in the design of their own flags. Some prominent examples include: The flag of Denmark, the Dannebrog, is attested in 1478, is the oldest national flag still in use, it inspired the cross design of the other Nordic countries: Norway, Finland and regional Scandinavian flags for the Faroe Islands, Åland and Bornholm, as well as flags for the non-Scandinavian Shetland and Orkney. The flag of the Netherlands is the oldest tricolour, its three colours of red and blue go back to Charlemagne's time, the 9th century.
The coastal region of what today is the Netherlands was known for its cloth in these colours. Maps from the early 16th century put flags in these colours next to this region, like Texeira's map of 1520. A century before that, during the 15th century, the three colours were mentioned as the coastal signals for this area, with the three bands straight or diagonal, single or doubled; as state flag it first appeared around 1572 as the Prince's Flag in orange–white–blue. Soon the more famous red–white–blue began appearing, becoming the prevalent version from around 1630. Orange made a comeback during the civil war of the late 18th century, signifying the orangist or pro-stadtholder party. During World War II the pro-Nazi NSB used it. Any symbolism has been added to the three colours, although the orange comes from the House of Orange-Nassau; this use of orange comes from Nassau, which today uses orange-blue, not from Orange, which today uses red-blue. However, the usual way to show the link with the House of Orange-Nassau is the orange pennant above the red-white-blue.
It is said that the Dutch Tricolour has inspired many flags but most notably those of Russia, New York City, South Africa. As the probable inspiration for the Russian flag, it is the source too for the Pan-Slavic colours red and blue, adopted by many Slavic states and peoples as their symbols; the national flag of France was designed in 1794. As a forerunner of revolution, France's tricolour flag style has been adopted by other nations. Examples: Italy, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Mexico; the Union Flag of the United Kingdom is the most used. British colonies flew a flag bas
Austronesian peoples
The Austronesian peoples or more Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a group of various peoples in Southeast Asia and East Africa that speak Austronesian languages. The nations and territories predominantly populated by Austronesian-speaking peoples are known collectively as Austronesia, they include Taiwanese aborigines, the majority of ethnic groups in Brunei, East Timor, Madagascar, Micronesia, the Philippines and Polynesia, as well as the Malays of Singapore. They are found in the regions of Southern Thailand, the Cham areas in Vietnam and Cambodia, parts of Myanmar, the Hainan island province of China, parts of Sri Lanka and some of the Andaman Islands. Additionally, modern-era migration brought Austronesian-speaking people to the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, Cocos Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Hainan, Hong Kong and West Asian countries. Ethnic Maldivians possess a genetic connection to the Austronesian-speaking groups of maritime Southeast Asia via gene flow from the Malay Archipelago.
Another term used by Wilhelm G. Solheim II to refer to Austronesian-speakers with a maritime-oriented culture is Nusantao, as part of his Nusantao Maritime Trading and Communication Network hypothesis; the linguistic connections between Madagascar and Southeast Asia were recognized early in the Colonial Era by European authors the remarkable similarities between Malagasy and Polynesian numerals. The first formal publications on these relationships was in 1708 by the Dutch Orientalist Adriaan Reland, who recognized a "common language" from Madagascar to western Polynesia; the Spanish philologist Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro devoted a large part of his Idea dell' Universo to the establishment of a language family linking the Malaysian Peninsula, the Maldives, the Sunda Islands, the Philippines, the Pacific Islands eastward to Easter Island. Multiple other authors corroborated this classification, the language family came to be known as "Malayo-Polynesian," first coined by the German linguist Franz Bopp in 1841.
The term "Malayo-Polynesian" was first used in English by the British ethnologist James Cowles Prichard in 1842 to refer to a historical racial category equivalent to the Austronesian peoples today, not to the language family. However, the Malayo-Polynesian language family excluded Melanesia and Micronesia, due to what they perceived were marked physical differences between the inhabitants of these regions from the Malayo-Polynesian speakers. However, there was growing evidence of their linguistic relationship to Malayo-Polynesian languages, notably from studies on the Melanesian languages by Georg von der Gabelentz, Robert Henry Codrington and Sidney Herbert Ray. Codrington coined and used the term "Ocean" language family rather than "Malayo-Polynesian" in 1891, in opposition to the exclusion of Melanesian and Micronesian languages; this was adopted by Ray who defined the "Oceanic" language family as encompassing the languages of Southeast Asia and Madagascar, Micronesia and Polynesia. In 1899, the Austrian linguist and ethnologist Wilhelm Schmidt coined the term "Austronesian" to refer to the language family.
Schmidt had the same motivations as Cordington. He proposed the term as a replacement to "Malayo-Polynesian", because he opposed the implied exclusion of the languages of Melanesia and Micronesia in the latter name, it became the accepted name for the language family, with Oceanic and Malayo-Polynesian languages being retained as names for subgroups. The term "Austronesian", or more "Austronesian-speaking peoples", came to refer the people who speak the languages of the Austronesian language family; some authors, object to the use of the term to refer to people, as they question whether there is any biological or cultural shared ancestry between all Austronesian-speaking groups. This is true for authors who reject the prevailing "Out of Taiwan" hypothesis and instead offer scenarios where the Austronesian languages spread among preexisting static populations through borrowing or convergence, with little or no population movements. Despite these objections, the general consensus is that the archeological, cultural and linguistic evidence all separately indicate varying degrees of shared ancestry among Austronesian-speaking peoples that justifies their treatment as a "phylogenetic unit."
This has led to the use of the term "Austronesian" in academic literature to refer not only to the Austronesian languages, but the Austronesian-speaking peoples, their societies, the geographic area of Austronesia. Serious research into the Austronesian languages and its speakers has been ongoing since the 19th century. Modern scholarship on Austronesian dispersion models is credited to two influential papers in the late 20th century: The Colonisation of the Pacific: A Genetic Trail, The Austronesian Dispersal and the Oigin of Languages; the topic is interesting to scientists for the remarkably unique characteristics of the Austronesian speakers: their extent and rapid dispersal. Regardless certain d
Columbidae
Pigeons and doves constitute the animal family Columbidae and the order Columbiformes, which includes about 42 genera and 310 species. They are stout-bodied birds with short necks, short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres, they feed on seeds and plants. Pigeons and doves are the most common birds in the world; the distinction between "doves" and "pigeons" in English is not consistent, does not exist in most other languages. In everyday speech, "dove" indicates a pigeon, white or nearly white. In contrast, in scientific and ornithological practice, "dove" tends to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones, but this is in no way applied; the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the terms. The species most referred to as "pigeon" is the species known by scientists as the rock dove, one subspecies of which, the domestic pigeon, is common in many cities as the feral pigeon. Pigeon is a French word that derives from the Latin pipio, for a "peeping" chick, while dove is a Germanic word that refers to the bird's diving flight.
The English dialectal word "culver" appears to derive from Latin columba. Doves and pigeons build flimsy nests using sticks and other debris, which may be placed on trees, ledges, or the ground, depending on species, they lay one or two eggs at a time, both parents care for the young, which leave the nest after 7–28 days. Unlike most birds, both sexes of doves and pigeons produce "crop milk" to feed to their young, secreted by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop. Young doves and pigeons are called "squabs"; the family Columbidae was introduced by the English zoologist William Elford Leach in a guide to the contents of the British Museum published in 1820. Columbidae is the only living family in the order Columbiformes; the sandgrouses were placed here, but were moved to a separate order Pteroclidiformes based on anatomical differences. Recent phylogenomic studies support the grouping of pigeons and sandgrouse together, along with mesites, forming the sister taxon to Mirandornithes.
The Columbidae are divided into five subfamilies inaccurately. For example, the American ground and quail doves, which are placed in the Columbinae, seem to be two distinct subfamilies; the order presented here follows al. with some updates. The arrangement of genera and naming of subfamilies is in some cases provisional because analyses of different DNA sequences yield results that differ radically, in the placement of certain genera; this ambiguity caused by long branch attraction, seems to confirm the first pigeons evolved in the Australasian region, that the "Treronidae" and allied forms represent the earliest radiation of the group. The family Columbidae also contained the family Raphidae, consisting of the extinct Rodrigues solitaire and the dodo; these species are in all likelihood part of the Indo-Australian radiation that produced the three small subfamilies mentioned above, with the fruit doves and pigeons. Therefore, they are here included as a subfamily Raphinae, pending better material evidence of their exact relationships.
Exacerbating these issues, columbids are not well represented in the fossil record. No primitive forms have been found to date; the genus Gerandia has been described from Early Miocene deposits in France, but while it was long believed to be a pigeon, it is now considered a sandgrouse. Fragmentary remains of a "ptilinopine" Early Miocene pigeon were found in the Bannockburn Formation of New Zealand and described as Rupephaps. Apart from that, all other fossils belong to extant genera. Taxonomy based on the work by John H. Boyd, III, a professor of economics. Pigeons and doves exhibit considerable variation in size, ranging in length from 15 to 75 centimetres, in weight from 30 g to above 2,000 g; the largest species is the crowned pigeon of New Guinea, nearly turkey-sized, at a weight of 2–4 kg. The smallest is the New World ground dove of the genus Columbina, the same size as a house sparrow, weighing as little as 22 g. With a total length of more than 50 cm and weight of 1 kg, the largest arboreal species is the Marquesan imperial pigeon, while the dwarf fruit dove, which may measure as little as 13 cm, has a marginally smaller total length than any other species from this family.
Overall, the Columbidae tend to have short legs, short bills with a fleshy cere, small heads on large, compact bodies. In a series of experiments in 1975 by Dr. Mark B. Friedman, using doves, their characteristic head bobbing was shown to be due to their natural desire to keep their vision constant, it was shown yet again in a 1978 experiment by Dr. Barrie J. Frost, in which pigeons were placed on treadmills; the wings are large, have eleven primary feathers, low wing loading.
Mindanao
Mindanao or still known as Southern Philippines, is the second largest island in the Philippines. Mindanao and the smaller islands surrounding it make up the island group of the same name. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, as of the 2010 census, the main island was inhabited by 20,281,545 people, while the entire Mindanao island group had an estimated total of 25,537,691 residents. According to the 2015 Philippine Population Census, Davao City is the most populous city on the island, with a population of 1,632,991 residents, followed by Zamboanga City, Cagayan de Oro City, General Santos City, Iligan City, Butuan City and Cotabato City. About 70% of residents identify as Christian, 20% identify as Muslim. Mindanao is divided into six regions: the Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, the Caraga region, the Davao region, SOCCSKSARGEN, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Native ethnic groups in Mindanao include the Lumads and the Moros (namely the Maguindanaos, the Maranaos, the Tausugs, the Yakans, the Iranuns, the Sama concentrated within the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Joining them are the indigenous Butuanons and the Surigaonons of the Caraga region as well as the Zamboangueños of the eponymous peninsula, along with descendants of settlers from the Visayas and Luzon, among them the Cebuanos and the Hiligaynons. Mindanao is considered the major breadbasket of the Philippines, with eight of the top 10 agri-commodities exported from the Philippines coming from the island group itself. Mindanao is known for its moniker being The Philippines' Land of Promise. Archaeological findings on the island point to evidence of human activity dating back to about ten thousand years ago. At around 1500 BC Austronesian people spread throughout the Philippines; the Subanon are believed to have established themselves on Mindanao Island during the Neolithic Era, or New Stone Age, the period in the development of human technology beginning around 10,000 BC according to the ASPRO chronology. The evidence of old stone tools in Zamboanga del Norte may indicate a late Neolithic presence.
Ceramic burial jars, both unglazed and glazed, as well as Chinese celadons, have been found in caves, together with shell bracelets and gold ornaments. Many of the ceramic objects are from the Ming periods. Evidently, there was a long history of trade between the Subanon and the Chinese long before the latter's contact with Islam. In the classic epoch of Philippine history, the people of Mindanao were exposed to Hindu and Buddhist influence and beliefs from Indonesia and Malaysia. Indianized abugida scripts such as Kawi and Baybayin was introduced via Sulawesi and Java, the cultural icons of the sarong, the pudong turban and batik and ikat weaving and dyeing methods were introduced. Artifacts found from this era include the Golden kinnara, Golden Tara, the Ganesh pendant; these cultural traits passed from Mindanao into the Visayas and Luzon, but were subsequently lost or modified after the Spanish arrival in the 16th century. The Hindu-Buddhist cultural revolution was strongest in the coastal areas of the island, but were incorporated into local animist beliefs and customs tribes that resided more inland.
The Rajahnate of Butuan, a Hindu kingdom mentioned in Chinese records as a tributary state in the 10th century AD, was concentrated along the northeastern coast of the island around Butuan. The Darangen epic of the Maranao people harkens back to this era as the most complete local version of the Ramayana; the Maguindanao at this time had strong Hindu beliefs, evidenced by the Ladya Lawana epic saga that survives to the modern day, albeit Islamized from the 17th century on wards. The spread of Islam in the Philippines began in the 14th century by Muslim merchants from the western part of the Malay Archipelago; the first Mosque in the Philippines was built in the mid-14th century in the town of Simunul. Around the 16th century, Muslim sultanates: Sulu and Maguindanao were established from Hindu-Buddhist Rajahnates; as Islam gained a foothold over most of Mindanao, the natives residing within the Sultanates were either converted into Islam or obligated to pay tribute to their new Muslim rulers.
The largest of the Muslim settlements was the Sultanate named after the Maguindanaoans. Maps made during the 17th and 18th centuries suggest that the name Mindanao was used by the natives to refer to the island, by Islam was well established in Mindanao and had influenced groups on other islands to the north. On 2 February 1543, Ruy Lopez de Villalobos was the first Spaniard to reach Mindanao, he called the island "Caesarea Caroli" after Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire. Shortly after Spain's colonization of Cebu, they moved on to colonize Butuan and the surrounding Caraga region in northeast Mindanao and discovered significant Muslim presence on the island. Over time a number of tribes in Mindanao converted to Roman Catholicism and built settlements and forts throughout the coastal regions of the island; these settlements endured despite incurring attacks fr
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris. Its declared purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through educational and cultural reforms in order to increase universal respect for justice, the rule of law, human rights along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the United Nations Charter, it is the successor of the League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation. UNESCO has 11 associate members. Most of its field offices are "cluster" offices covering three or more countries. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs: education, natural sciences, social/human sciences and communication/information. Projects sponsored by UNESCO include literacy and teacher-training programs, international science programs, the promotion of independent media and freedom of the press and cultural history projects, the promotion of cultural diversity, translations of world literature, international cooperation agreements to secure the world's cultural and natural heritage and to preserve human rights, attempts to bridge the worldwide digital divide.
It is a member of the United Nations Development Group. UNESCO's aim is "to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture and information". Other priorities of the organization include attaining quality Education For All and lifelong learning, addressing emerging social and ethical challenges, fostering cultural diversity, a culture of peace and building inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication; the broad goals and objectives of the international community—as set out in the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals —underpin all UNESCO strategies and activities. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, to elect a Commission to study feasibility; this new body, the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation was indeed created in 1922.
On 18 December 1925, the International Bureau of Education began work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development. However, the onset of World War II interrupted the work of these predecessor organizations. After the signing of the Atlantic Charter and the Declaration of the United Nations, the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education began meetings in London which continued from 16 November 1942 to 5 December 1945. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an international organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States and the USSR; this was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944. Upon the proposal of CAME and in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, held in San Francisco in April–June 1945, a United Nations Conference for the establishment of an educational and cultural organization was convened in London 1–16 November 1945 with 44 governments represented.
The idea of UNESCO was developed by Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom, who had a great deal of influence in its development. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, a Preparatory Commission was established; the Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCO's Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place from 19 November to 10 December 1946, elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General; the Constitution was amended in November 1954 when the General Conference resolved that members of the Executive Board would be representatives of the governments of the States of which they are nationals and would not, as before, act in their personal capacity. This change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the ICIC, in how member states would work together in the organization's fields of competence.
As member states worked together over time to realize UNESCO's mandate and historical factors have shaped the organization's operations in particular during the Cold War, the decolonization process, the dissolution of the USSR. Among the major achievements of the organization is its work against racism, for example through influential statements on race starting with a declaration of anthropologists and other scientists in 1950 and concluding with the 1978 Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice. In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO saying that some of the organization's publications amounted to "interference" in the country's "racial problems." South Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela. UNESCO's early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, started in 1947; this project was followed by expert missions to other countries, for example, a mission to Afghanistan in 1949.
In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States should make free primary education compulsory and universal. In 1990, the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, launched a global movement to provide basic education for a
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