United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Performance evidence

Overview

UNESCO is a specialised agency of the United Nations. Its mandate is to “contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, and sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information”. UNESCO's mandate and comparative advantages position it as a key actor in the international development architecture. Within this architecture, UNESCO has a distinctive role, contributing to the broader SDG agenda through its specialised areas of expertise. UNESCO’s mandate spans a much broader range of interconnected areas than any other multilateral organisation, allowing it to address complex development challenges from a holistic and interdisciplinary perspective.

Performance rating summary

UNESCO organisational performance wheel — Organisational performance

Key findings

An innovative and agile organisation, positioned to respond effectively to current and future challenges. It adapted and led effectively during times of change to shape global discussions and responses to key issues, including during COVID-19.
UNESCO mainstreams gender equality, environment and human rights effectively across the range of its work and is increasingly active in providing support in crises preparedness and response. It has enhanced its ability to drive innovative interdisciplinary work.
UNESCO excels in helping governments, institutions, and populations to address global challenges by providing high-quality policy advice across its fields of expertise, influencing policies and building capacities in member states.
Strong leadership in the promotion of education by setting global standards and promoting inclusive and equitable quality education.
UNESCO’s audit, evaluation and RBM functions and systems increasingly support performance monitoring and learning, though progress has been uneven.

Ensure that the field office network is effectively resourced and managed, equipped with the necessary policies, and that there is a clear and appropriate division of responsibilities between the Bureau of Strategic Planning and Priority Africa and External Relations.
Modernisation of UNESCO’s corporate systems should continue at pace, including improvement of the Enterprise Risk Management, strengthened human resource planning and implementation of UNESCORE ensuring it meets needs and underpins strong performance and results management.
UNESCO must strengthen its capacity to track performance, efficiency and results, and its RBM approach needs to be applied more consistently across the organisation.
UNESCO needs better quality financing – more flexible, predictable and less fragmented funding – to implement the mandate members states have given it.
Member states and the Secretariat should reset behaviours to ensure that UNESCO can respond effectively and efficiently to opportunities and changing circumstances and strengthen accountability.