United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

The fifth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization had authorized the Director-General (Bodet) “to assist in the establishment of a World Braille Council”, but subsequent investigation had revealed that the existing state of development of Braille in the different regions of the world, and the lack of properly established national or regional organizations, rendered impossible the creation of an independent council. UNESCO's Executive Board, therefore, at its twenty-eighth session, authorized the Director-General to establish provisionally a World Braille Council attached to UNESCO in the form of an advisory committee, in which connection the Director-General summoned a committee of experts to work out the composition and role of the proposed council. The consultative committee met in Paris from December 10 to 12, 1951, prepared draft statutes for the council, and made recommendations as to the methods of work of the council and the tasks which it should undertake. Under the terms of the proposed statutes, the World Braille Council (WBC), to be composed of nine members with technical and regional qualifications and to be convened at least once every five years at the call of UNESCO's Director-General, would have the following functions: 1) advise the Director-General on all matters relating to the maintenance or extension of uniformity in Braille usage; 2) advise the Director-General as to the best means of establishing liaison with interested organizations'; and 3) deal with any other matters referred to it by the Director-General. Further, the consultative committee recommended, for the purpose of the council's work, the division of the world into eight lingual zones and suggested that WBC's program include musical notation, mathematical and science symbols, the compilation of an international catalogue, the establishment of regional councils, and assistance in the continuation and coordination of uniform Braille systems for the African and southeast Asian languages.