INDIA and UNESCO have signed the agreement to establish the Mahatma Gandhi Institute Of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development on 9th July 2012 at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. 

Based in New Delhi, this is the first institute in the Asia-Pacific Region belonging to UNESCO’s Category 1 family, meaning that it is institutionally part of UNESCO and forms an integral part of the Organization’s programme and budget.

Category – I institutes and centres are an integral part of UNESCO and its governing bodies are either elected by the General Conference or appointed in whole or part by the Director General, UNESCO and report to the General Conference. 

These are governed by UNESCO’s rules and regulations and are an integral part of the organisation’s programme and budget. These institutes are designed to serve as centres of excellence and expertise in the area of specialisation to member states and to contribute to UNESCO’s programmes, objectives and strategies.  

The Institute’s core activity will lie in research and capacity building. It will encourage knowledge exchange, regional networking and catalyse innovation by helping to design and test new approaches to education. The Institute would be greatly inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of peace and sustainability. 

The decision to establish the Institute followed a unanimous decision by UNESCO’s 35th General Conference in 2009.

There are 11 Category I Institutes of UNESCO in the world. Nine are located in the developed countries and two in developing countries, namely, Ethiopia and Venezuela. Establishment of institute will help India to emerge as a global leader in the Asia-Pacific region in the areas of education for peace and sustainable development.