Presentation
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is committed to making information about its policies, strategies, programs and operations accessible to the public. The Access to Information Policy (hereafter “the Policy”) sets out the guiding principles and terms of this approach.
UNESCO is committed to freedom of information and views public access to information as an essential aspect of its commitment to openness and transparency and its accountability to parties. stakeholders [1]. It recognizes the existence of a positive correlation between the sharing of information, guaranteeing a high level of transparency, and the participation of the public in the activities supported by it.
The policy is based on the premise that any information concerning UNESCO’s policies, strategies, programs and operations referred to in the paragraph Policies: Public Access should in principle be accessible to the public.
Exceptions to Open Access are described in the Policies: Exceptions section.
Definitions
“Information” means any printed or electronic materials.
Policies
Public access:
The public can access UNESCO-related information that is normally made available through a variety of means, including:
the UNESCO public website;
the UNESCO website for Member States and their National Commissions;
the UNESCO Data Portal [2];
the UNESCO Digital Library;
the UNESCO “Careers” website;
the following UNESCO information services:
General questions
Visits or via Cultival external website
public access to information as an essential aspect of its commitment to openness and transparency and its accountability to stakeholders [1]. It recognizes the existence of a positive correlation between the sharing of information, guaranteeing a high level of transparency, and the participation of the public in the activities supported by it.
The policy is based on the premise that any information concerning UNESCO’s policies, strategies, programs and operations referred to in the paragraph Policies: Public Access should in principle be accessible to the public.
Exceptions to Open Access are described in the Policies: Exceptions section.
Definitions
“Information” means any printed or electronic materials.
Policies
Public access:
The public can access UNESCO-related information that is normally made available through a variety of means, including:
the UNESCO public website;
the UNESCO website for Member States and their National Commissions;
the UNESCO Data Portal [2];
the UNESCO Digital Library;
the UNESCO “Careers” website;
the following UNESCO information services:
General questions
Visits or via Cultival external website
Logo
Archives
Library
Copyright and Reproduction of Publications
Media and audio-visual materialsOr, the “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) devoted to certain topics:
General
World Heritage
Intangible cultural heritage
The following categories of information relating to UNESCO are publicly available:
general information regarding the role and functions of the Organization;
statements made public by the Organization, including statements by the Director-General;
the main documents relating to the strategy and the Program and Budget of the Organization;
documents relating to the public meetings of the governing bodies (Executive Board and General Conference), including the decisions taken by them and the summary records of their work;
information regarding UNESCO’s activities carried out under the Regular Program and voluntary contributions;
UNESCO country strategies (UCS documents);
general information on UNESCO projects funded by voluntary contributions;
the audited financial statements of the Organization;
other types of financial information:
financial information on program and budget execution published and submitted to the Executive Board of UNESCO every six months;
financial information on particular projects (available on the UNESCO Data Portal);
status of collection of contributions from Member States, as published once a month on the UNESCO website;
financial information on the nature of funding, donors and expenditure published annually on the United Nations System Chief Executives Board website;
purchase information:
Beneficiaries and amounts of contracts over US$150,000 published on the UNESCO Procurement Portal;
program and project evaluation reports;
final reports of the External Auditor;
results of all internal audits;
publications and technical notes, such as studies, reports and working papers of the Secretariat;
open access resources (available on the UNESCO Digital Library) [3];
archives (in accordance with established access rules).
Exceptions
UNESCO is committed to openness and transparency. However, the proper functioning of the Organization, confidentiality requirements and the need to protect staff, stakeholders and partners prevent the disclosure of certain categories of information. This policy complies with the provisions of the UNESCO Sensitive Information Classification Standard. Categories of information to which access is restricted include:
Sensitive information contained in the archives of the Secretariat, such as correspondence and administrative files, and in particular:
files containing sensitive information on relations between UNESCO and its Member States as well as between UNESCO and the United Nations and intergovernmental or non-governmental organizations, and between UNESCO and its partners, including the UNESCO believes that disclosure would seriously undermine consultation with Member States or implementing partners;
personal files, and any other information the disclosure of which could endanger or jeopardize the life, health or safety and security of staff members and their families or other persons associated with the Organization. The rules in force at UNESCO oblige it to establish and enforce appropriate protection measures ensuring respect for the privacy of UNESCO employees and the confidentiality of personal information concerning them. Accordingly, UNESCO does not provide access to information that could compromise these safeguards;
Information the disclosure of which might damage the reputation of certain individuals, infringe their privacy or threaten their security;
Information the disclosure of which might endanger or compromise the security or proper conduct of any operation or activity of UNESCO;
Information covered by professional secrecy, or relating to an internal investigation or inquiry;
Commercial information, the disclosure of which could harm the financial interests of UNESCO or associated third parties, or which is covered by a confidentiality agreement;
Information regarding internal UNESCO deliberations and communications.
Roles, authorities and responsibilities
Access to Information Office
The Administration and Management Sector Executive Office (ADM/EO) is responsible for administering the policy through the Access to Information Office. ADM/EO also provides the Secretariat for the UNESCO Working Group on Access to Information (hereinafter referred to as the “Working Group”).
Access to Information Working Group
The Working Group is mandated to help the Director General monitor the application of the policy and to examine any appeal relating to a request for information. Its main function is to examine the appeals submitted to it and to determine whether the policy has been correctly applied. In doing so, he must be guided by the principle of seeking amicable settlements according to the request and the parties likely to be affected by the disclosure of the information.
The Working Group consists of five members, all appointed by the Director General. It can deliberate with a quorum of three members. The Chair of the Working Group is chosen from among, and by, its members. Members serve for a period of two years, renewable once at the discretion of the Director General.
Members of the Working Group are selected on the basis of the following criteria: in-depth knowledge and full understanding of UNESCO’s policies, structures, programs and activities at Headquarters and in field units; very good knowledge of information disclosure and access to information policies; proven ability to work with UNESCO partners.
The Working Group meets virtually or on-site whenever there is an appeal to consider. It may also meet to consider matters relating to the access to information policy and its application, if necessary.
The Working Group may decide to call on additional internal or external expertise when it deems it appropriate.
The Working Group reports annually to the Director General on the number and content of appeals examined by it during the year. If deemed appropriate, the Working Group may include in its report recommendations on how to improve the implementation of the policy.
Staff members and other employees are responsible for ensuring that any request for information received by their administrative unit is handled in accordance with this policy. The Access to Information Office (access-to-Information@unesco.org) should be copied on all responses and communications with applicants.
Operational procedures
Freedom of Information Requests
Information not accessible on UNESCO websites and via information services (see paragraph Policies: Public Access) may be communicated on an exceptional basis upon request.
Requests of this nature should be directed to: Access to Information Office
Executive Office of the Administration and Management Sector
UNESCO
Address: 7, Place de Fontenoy, 75007 Paris, France
Email: access-to-Information@unesco.org
Receipt of all access to information requests is acknowledged and normally responded to within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt. In the case of requests requiring the search and/or reproduction of documents, UNESCO may charge the costs of providing the documents and labor, which are communicated to the requester and must be paid in advance.
Disclosure of information in response to an access request does not constitute a waiver, express or implied, of any of the privileges and immunities accorded to UNESCO by the 1947 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies and its Annex IV, or under other texts.
UNESCO may reject an application, in whole or in part, in the following cases:
under the exceptions set out or referred to in this policy;
whether the request would be of such a nature as to excessively burden the resources of UNESCO;
if the request is abusive and/or repetitive.
If a request is refused, the decision of refusal is justified in writing and accompanied by information on the appeals provided for in the paragraph Operational procedure: Review and appeal below.
Review and appeal
If a formal request for information is rejected, its originator may request that the decision be reconsidered by the Working Group (see paragraph Roles, Authorities and Responsibilities: Working Group a on Access to Information).
Receipt of any request for reconsideration is acknowledged within 30 calendar days. The Working Group examines the rejection of the request for access to a document or part of a document, and renders its final decision within 90 calendar days of the date of receipt of the appeal request.
Harm test and public interest override: In exceptional circumstances, UNESCO reserves the right to disclose information deemed confidential under the Policies: Exceptions paragraph. The Working Group reviews all applications. UNESCO may exercise this right if it determines that the overall benefits and public interest of such disclosure outweigh the likely harm to the interest(s) protected by the exception(s). These may include situations in which the disclosure of certain confidential information could, in UNESCO’s opinion, prevent imminent and serious harm to public health or public safety, and/or adverse effects imminent and important on the environment. Such disclosure by UNESCO shall be on the most limited basis necessary to achieve the purpose of the disclosure. If the confidential information has been provided by a Member State or a third party or concerns a Member State or a third party, UNESCO shall make such disclosure only after having informed the Member State or the third party of its concerns and taken take into account the plans of the parties concerned to remedy or mitigate any harm.
Guidelines
Not applicable.
Forms and templates
Not applicable.
Additional support
Privacy Notice
UNESCO:
collects and uses the information you provide to process your request. This information will not be used for any purpose other than that for which it was collected;
only shares the information you provide with those employees who need it to process and respond to your request;
retains your information on its servers for the time necessary to process your request;
keep a summary of each request for statistical analysis;
communicate, where applicable, your name and credit card information to the Organization’s payment processor (see paragraph Operational procedures: Access to information requests (3)).
For more information, see the UNESCO Principles of Personal Data Protection and Privacy.
[1] UNESCO is the lead agency for SDG indicator 16.10.2.
The UNESCO Data Portal publishes data according to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) activity standard. It has been designed to provide public access to information on the Organization’s activities across sectors, countries and regions, as well as detailed budget and donor data – Find out more: https://core.unesco.org/en/home.
In 2013, UNESCO adopted an open access policy for the Organization’s publications (191 EX/Decision 5.II).