Higher education in Asian countries and the role of international ...

5.1.2.13 Cluster offices
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A cluster office covers a group of countries and is the central component in the field, around,
which are organized national offices and regional bureaus. There are 27 cluster offices in the
world, which cover148 Member States and these cluster offices are the main supporting structure
of UNESCO Secretariat‟s network in the field. In Asia-Pacific region there are seven Cluster
offices and Arab States their number is four. While ten in Africa, five in Latin America and the
Caribbean region and only one for Europe and North America. A cluster office must ensure
interaction;
between the Member States of its cluster in the Organization‟s fields of competence;
with other United Nations agencies in the context of joint programming frameworks;
between each Member State within its remit and the other components of the Secretariat
network, in particular by fostering links of solidarity with the National Commission;
between each Member State within its remit and the international community;
with the other Secretariat units;
between the sectors and disciplines.
Cluster offices in Asia-Pacific and Arab region
1. Almaty Cluster Office for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
2. Apia Cluster Office for Pacific states (serves sixteen independent countries and one
territory in the Pacific from Papua New Guinea in the West, the Republic of the Marshall
Islands in the North, to the Cook Islands in the East and New Zealand in the South)
3. Bangkok Cluster Office coordinator of UNESCO activities, across sectors, in the
Mekong region - directly in Thailand, Myanmar and Lao PDR and indirectly in support
of UNESCO country offices in Viet Nam and Cambodia.
4. Beijing Cluster office: it serves China, North Korea South Korea, Japan and Mongolia.
5. Jakarta Cluster Office (represents UNESCO in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, and Timor L‟este in all UNESCO fields of competence: