UNESCO Conventions Ceremony

The Conventions Ceremony, held on the margins of the sessions of the General Conference, is aimed at highlighting the standard-setting activity of UNESCO and the importance of implementing the normative instruments adopted by the Organization.
 Conventions Ceremony
Last update:23 November 2023

During this formal event, representatives of Member States have the opportunity to submit instruments of ratification or to sign UNESCO's conventions. By taking part in this collective effort, Member States of the Organization reaffirm their determination to cooperate in order to achieve the objectives pursued by the various conventions of UNESCO. 

[…] The international conventions we uphold are not mere legal frameworks; they are the symbols of our shared commitment to work together to conquer ignorance, intolerance and the erosion of our cultural tapestry. Each Convention is a testament to our collective will to protect what defines us as a global community.

The Ceremony was hosted by the Director of the Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs and Legal Advisor of UNESCO, Mr Santiago Villalpando, accompanied by the Assistant Director-General for Education, Ms Stefania Giannini, and the Assistant Director-General for Culture, Mr. Ernesto Ottone-Ramírez. 

The Ceremony, which was attended by H.E. Ms Simona-Mirela Miculescu, President of the 42nd General Conference as well as a number of Member States’ representatives, put an emphasis on the essential role that UNESCO's normative mandate can play towards the pursuit of the Organization's objectives.

Family photo at the end of the Third Conventions Ceremony
Mr Santiago Villalpando, Director of the Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs and Legal Advisor of UNESCO, delivers the opening statement of the Third Convention Ceremony
Ms Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, delivering her introductory remarks
Mr Ernesto Ottone-Ramirez, Assistant Director-General for Culture, also delivered some introductory remarks
Mr. Daryll Matthew, Minister of Education, Sports, and Creative Industries of Antigua and Barbuda signs the Regional Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Diplomas and Degrees in Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean
Mr. Hamat Bah, Minister of Culture of the Gambia, deposits the instruments of ratification of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage
Mr. Nesmy Manigat, Minister of National Education and Professional Training of Haiti, signs the Regional Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Diplomas and Degrees in Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean
Mr. Ahmed Fakak Al-Badrani, Minister of Culture of Iraq, deposits the instrument of ratification of the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage
Mr. Mussa Mahmud, Minister of Education and President of the Libyan National Commission for Education, Culture, and Science of Libya, deposits the instrument of ratification of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
Mr. Daniel Nivagara, Minister of Science, Technology, and Higher Education of the Republic of Mozambique, deposits the instrument of ratification of the Convention against Discrimination in Education
H.E. Ms Nancy Ovelar de Gorostiaga, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Delegate of Paraguay to UNESCO, signs the Regional Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Diplomas and Degrees in Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean
H.E. Mr Nasser Hamad Hinzab, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the State of Qatar to UNESCO, deposits the instrument of ratification of the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage
H.E. Mr Mohammed Saleh Ahmed Jumeh, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Yemen to UNESCO, deposits the instruments of ratification of the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education and the Revised Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Diplomas and Degrees in Higher Education in the Arab States

3rd Conventions Ceremony (November 2023)

The third UNESCO Conventions Ceremony will be celebrated on 10 November 2023, on the margins of the 42nd session of the General Conference.

An information meeting on the third UNESCO Conventions Ceremony was held for Permanent Delegations on Wednesday 21 June 2023, at 10:00 a.m., in Room IV. This information meeting was chaired by Mr Santiago Villalpando, Legal Adviser and Director of the Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs. 

Invitation to the third Conventions Ceremony
Invitation information session on the third Conventions Ceremony
Invitation to the information session on the third Conventions Ceremony
Invitation information session on the third Conventions Ceremony

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Model Instrument of Ratification
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Model of Full Powers for Signature
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List of conventions ratified and non-ratified Conventions by country

Comprehensive list of conventions deposited with the Director-General

 

 

List of conventions opened for signature

 

 

2nd Conventions Ceremony, held on the margins of the 41th session of the General Conference

The second UNESCO Conventions Ceremony was celebrated on 19 November 2021, on the margins of the 41st session of the General Conference, bringing together the representatives of Zambia, Tunisia, Cuba and Botswana who made public their commitment to the normative mandate of UNESCO. Instruments of ratification of four different conventions in the fields of culture and education were deposited on that day.

This General Conference is a reminder of the power of our normative mission, a very important function and aspect of our mandate, which is less known to the wider public, but which is actually, again, the skeleton that defines and unites us.

Audrey AzoulayDirector-General of UNESCO

The Ceremony was attended by H.E. Mr. Santiago Irazabal Mourão, President of the General Conference and H.E. Mr. Agapito Mba Mokuy, Chairperson of the Executive Board, as well as a number of States’ representatives.

The four instruments of ratification which were deposited during the Ceremony bring their respective conventions a step closer towards their universal scope and confirm that the normative mandate of the Organization is as relevant today as ever. The prominent attendance of this solemn event reaffirms the central role that UNESCO’s conventions and recommendations play in pursuance of the noble goal for which UNESCO was created 75 years ago. This is further demonstrated by the adoption of the General Conference, at its 41st session, of the two new recommendations, on open science and on ethics of artificial intelligence.

1st Conventions Ceremony, held the margins of the 40th session of the General Conference

On the margins of the debates of the 40th session of the General Conference, UNESCO took a moment, on 15 November 2019, to celebrate its normative mandate with the convening of its first Conventions Ceremony. The conference room of the Executive Board was brimming with Ministers and Ambassadors, who honoured the event emphasizing their States’ commitment to UNESCO’s normative mandate. The diversity of conventions on which States took action at the Ceremony reflects the broadness of UNESCO’s interdisciplinary mandate, in areas as diverse as the recognition of diplomas of higher education, the prevention of doping in sports and the protection of cultural heritage.

To exist, a treaty must be signed, ratified and then implemented; and ideally by all States. We aim at this universality [...] For this international legal language to be spoken by everyone – not just legal professionals – our standards need to be shared as widely as possible.

Audrey AzoulayDirector-General of UNESCO

The Ceremony was organized by the Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs, on behalf of the Director-General as Depositary of the UNESCO Conventions. In this role, which is less known to the general public, the Director-General is the custodian of the original of the UNESCO Conventions and receives the signatures and the instruments by which States formally accept treaty commitments. The Ceremony gave prominence to a legal process that, while often taking place behind the scenes of international relations, still plays a central role in the life of an international treaty and the pursuit of the goals of our Organization.

The Ceremony was a solemn event, during which representatives of twelve States apposed their signatures to UNESCO Conventions or handed to the Director-General the instruments expressing their consent to be bound by these Conventions. It is noteworthy that, following the deposit of four new instruments of ratification during the Ceremony, the Revised Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Certificates, Diplomas, Degrees and Other Academic Qualifications in Higher Education in African States (Addis-Ababa, 2014) entered into force on 15 December 2019.

The success of the Ceremony reaffirms that conventions are at the core of UNESCO’s mandate. It is in this spirit that a new tradition of celebrating the Member States’ commitment to the Organization’s normative mandate is born.