UNESCO - what is it? This is often asked by children from their parents. Many adults do not even know what to answer crumbs. Social advertising with the logo of the organization is familiar to everyone. But what is she like? It is impossible to parse the abbreviation in Russian. And in the news they constantly talk about the UNESCO World Heritage, how to save him and what to do next. Let's deal with the features of the "overseas" organization together.
Strange abbreviation
UNESCO - what is it? From the point of view of a philologist, this is an abbreviation in English. It is written like this: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. As you can see, the first letters of each word constitute the abbreviation of UNESCO. What is this in translation? Literally, it can be translated as follows: the United Nations department, which oversees the issues of science, education and culture in the world. The UN affiliate created a UNESCO list, whose facilities are carefully guarded and inspected by commission members. It was formed in November 1945. Today, nearly 200 countries all over the world have sworn allegiance to this organization.
Tasks
Today, UNESCO’s main mission is to promote peace, resolve various conflicts, and strengthen the cultural ties of states. The organization also expands cooperation of different peoples in the fields of science, education and culture. UNESCO promotes mutual respect, justice, equality of human rights, regardless of race, gender, religion, nationality and so on.
Legacy to man from man and man from nature
When the world wars ended, a person thought about the destruction and consumption of natural resources. Finally, people came up with the idea to preserve and preserve the wealth of nature created and given to us for use. So there was a list of UNESCO, implemented in 1972. Today, this list consists of more than a thousand items located in 161 states of the planet. Among them are objects and natural phenomena, as well as what is created by human hands. Now you will find out by what criteria the objects are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Compliance criteria
To understand the importance and value of the applicant to the list, it is necessary for the members of the commission to decide whether this is an artificial or natural object.
For the first, characteristics such as:
- the relationship of human values;
- architectural development;
- uniqueness of the object;
- link to the public domain;
- beauty;
- aesthetics.
For natural objects, the approach is special. Other characteristics are important here in order to get the monument into the UNESCO heritage:
- exceptional aesthetic qualities of the phenomenon or terrain;
- an example of a story stage;
- an example of a stage in biology or geology;
- the value of the diversity of flora or fauna.
UNESCO Heritage. List snippets by country
It should be noted that the record holders in this list are, of course, Russia, Mexico, China, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Germany, the United Kingdom, the USA, Brazil and Canada.
Only man-made objects are protected in Armenia - the monasteries of Sanahin and Haghpat. In Afghanistan, there are natural and man-made monuments: minarets in Jem and a cultural landscape with finds in the Bamyan province. In Bangladesh, the Mangroves are famous. In Israel, seven objects are protected: the old cities in Acre and Jerusalem, as well as the Bible hills and the Incense Road. In India, 28 monuments are already guarded! Their list includes national parks, temples, churches, mausoleums, mountain railways, Manas wildlife sanctuary and so on. In Turkey, whole historical areas of Istanbul are cherished.
Russian objects are also protected in large numbers. Once even the question was raised about excluding Lake Baikal from the heritage list, since our state did not fulfill its obligations to the organization. Then the leaders of our country closed the pulp and paper mill located on the shores of the lake. In the Russian Federation, the whole suburbs of St. Petersburg are protected by UNESCO: Gatchina, Strelna, Kronstadt, Pavlovsk and others. Red Square with the Kremlin, the white-stone churches of Vladimir and Suzdal, and the historical centers of Yaroslavl and St. Petersburg are on the same list. The natural list includes Lake Baikal, the golden mountains of the Altai Republic, volcanoes in Kamchatka, the pristine forests of the Komi Republic, the Curonian Spit, and so on.
So, after reading our article, you can no longer be afraid of the child’s question: “UNESCO - what is it?” Moreover, you, as a parent, feel free to tell what kind of organization it is, what tasks it performs and what monuments are included in its list!