UNESCO was created in order to respond to the firm belief of nations, forged by two world wars in less than a generation, that political and economic agreements are not enough to build a lasting peace. Peace must be established on the basis of humanity’s moral and intellectual solidarity.

UNESCO strives to build networks among nations that enable this kind of solidarity, by:

• Mobilizing for education: so that every child, boy or girl, has access to quality education as a fundamental human right and as a prerequisite for human development.
• Building intercultural understanding: through protection of heritage and support for cultural diversity. UNESCO created the idea of World Heritage to protect sites of outstanding universal value.
• Pursuing scientific cooperation: such as early warning systems for tsunamis or trans-boundary water management agreements, to strengthen ties between nations and societies.
• Protecting freedom of expression: an essential condition for democracy, development and human dignity.

SIGNIS has consultative status with UNESCO and is also a member of the International Council for Film Television and Audiovisual Communication (IFTC). It has the UNESCO remit to bring together, on an international level, every professional body concerned with audiovisual communication including those concerned with new media.

In the 1980s OCIC had a project with Unesco about African cinema (CINEMADIA) to present in monographies the film culture in African countries. Since 2006, SIGNIS restarted to introduce projects to make cinema culture in different African countries known with publications and with conferences. In collaboration with UNESCO such projects were set up for DRCongo, Mozambique and Rwanda.

More info on the website .