UNESCO

UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, an organization within the United Nations. It was formed in 1945 because of World War II, with the idea that the world needed moral, educational and spiritual replenishment after the conflict had ended. It's initial focus was on instilling peace and tolerance, especially in Europe, but it quickly expanded because the destruction of cultural heritage continues to occur all over the world in various wars.

Headquartered in Paris (with branch offices throughout the world), UNESCO is governed by three entities:

• a General Conference (a gathering of 192 member states and 6 "associated members", in which each state holds one vote, meeting every other year)
• an Executive Board (58 members elected by the General Conference for staggered four-year terms, meeting twice a year)
• a Secretariat (consisting of the Director General - currently the Japanese Koichiro Matsuura - and his staff)

World heritage sites are meant to have outstanding universal value and are, after countries put forward sites for inclusion, evaluated by UNESCO personnel, but in today's political climate, nominations are rarely turned down because UNESCO evaluators have only advisory power and the nominations are driven by United Nations politics. For example, in 2021 a Saudi Arabia nominated site was determined by evaluators not to meet the threshold, yet it ultimately got listed anyway. This is a result of the U.S. having withdrawn from its funding for UNESCO in 2011, reducing UNESCO's budget by 22%, after which other nations such as Saudi Arabia replaced the U.S. funding, giving them more clout on which sites will be selected. As of 2024, the U.S. has returned and is slowly paying back its arrears, but much of its former influence has been lost.