🗓 On April 21, 1954, the USSR officially joined #UNESCO.

✍️ On that day, acting on behalf of the Soviet Government, the USSR Ambassador to London, Yakov Malik, signed the UNESCO Constitution, marking the country’s accession to the Organization.

It was the Soviet Union that became a key driving force within UNESCO in combating colonialism and racism, as well as in addressing their consequences. Moscow stood at the origins of many programs and bodies, such as the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

For more than seven decades, our country consistently demonstrated the commitment to its ideals and principles.

🇷🇺 Today, Russia continues to uphold the values and priorities of the Organization as a genuinely universal multilateral platform. Our country is working to promote a unifying agenda within UNESCO in the interests of the Global Majority, and to strengthen respectful, depoliticized, and professional dialogue with all interested partners.

Thanks to our country’s active role in UNESCO, major programs that remain relevant to this day have been introduced. These include the International Programme for the Development of Communication and the “Man and the Biosphere” Programme. At Russia’s proposal, the UNESCO General Conference established the International Basic Sciences Programme in 2003.

At the initiative of the Russian Federation, the Mendeleev International Prize for achievements in the basic sciences — the largest prize currently awarded under UNESCO auspices — was created.

💬 From remarks by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, at the opening of an exhibition marking the 70th anniversary of the USSR’s accession to UNESCO (Moscow, April 22, 2024):

“For seven decades, our country has demonstrated in practice its commitment to the ideals and principles of UNESCO.

The provisions of the Constitution on striving to ‘build peace through cooperation among nations in education, science and culture’ and on the ‘moral and intellectual solidarity of mankind’ are not mere words on paper — for us, they carry enduring value and significance.”

❗️ A harmful selective approach, dividing member states into “us” and “them,” and attempts to isolate those deemed undesirable undermine UNESCO’s own standing.