About the Hungarian National Commission for UNESCO
UNESCO is the only UN Agency to have a global network of national cooperating bodies known as National Commissions for UNESCO. National Commissions make part of the overall constitutional architecture of the Organization.
Set up by their respective governments in accordance with the Article VII of the UNESCO Constitution, the National Commissions operate, on a permanent basis, for the purpose of associating their governmental and non-governmental bodies in education, sciences, culture and communication with the work of the Organization. Beside the Constitution of UNESCO, the current legal framework for the Hungarian National Commission for UNESCO is Government decree 299/2021. (VI. 1.).
The structure of the National Commission:
The President is appointed by the Minister responsible for culture in agreement with the Minister responsible for education, the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the Hungarian Academy of Arts. The Secretary-General is appointed by the Minister responsible for culture. The Secretariat is composed of two professionals and is located in the Ministry responsible for culture.
The President of the Commission: Miklós Réthelyi
Secretary-General: Gábor Soós
The National Commission is composed of 27 members including the President, the Secretary-General, the Chairs of the Permanent Committees, 9 delegates of various ministries, one delegate of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, one delegate of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, and 11 members appointed by the Minister responsible for culture upon the proposal of the President.
Permanent Committees:
Hungarian National Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage (23 members and 4 invited delegates without voting rights), its Secretariat is provided by the Ministry responsible for culture.
Hungarian National Committee for Man and Biosphere, its Secretariat is provided by the Ministry responsible for nature protection.
Hungarian National Committee for Geoparks, its Secretariat is provided by the Ministry responsible for nature protection.
Presently, there are 199 National Commissions for UNESCO across the world. They constitute a truly global family as an authoritative network of stakeholders, partners and experts and offer a comparative advantage to the Organization within the United Nations system. This network plays a significant role in the liaison with partners, the coordination of activities and the promotion of UNESCO’s visibility at the country level.
The Paris-based UNESCO Secretariat main communication channel with Hungary are the Permanent Delegation of Hungary to UNESCO and the National Commission, as well as the ministries concerned.
Archive
Before 2022, the legal framework for the Hungarian National Commission for UNESCO was Government decree 17/2012. (II. 16.). The Commission had seven Committees such as Education, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Culture, Communication and Information, Intangible Cultural Heritage, and World Heritage. Operational and administrative task related to the Commission were provided by the Secretariat which is a unit headed by the Secretary-General within the Ministry of Human Capacities. Chairs of the Committees and the President of the Commission were appointed jointly by the Minister of Human Capacities, the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the President of the Hungarian Academy of Arts.
The President of the Commission: Miklós Réthelyi
Secretary-General: Gábor Soós
Education Committee: Katalin Czippán
Natural Sciences Committee: Ervin Balázs
Social Sciences Committee: Ferenc Miszlivetz
Culture Committee: László Csorba
Communication and Information: László Z. Karvalics
Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee: Eszter Csonka-Takács
World Heritage Committee: Gábor Virágos