NOTE:  A group of  social science colleagues chosen by, and under the auspices of, the Spanish Commission for UNESCO and chaired by Dr. Luis Ramallo, then Secretary-General of the International Social Science Coucil convened in Avila to discuss the operations of UNESCO. For decades criticisms had been levied against that organisation by politicians, governments, NGOs, and, not least, scholars. Attempts at reform from within had only partial success, most notably in financial accounting. Antics at the General Conference, the "parliament", revealed the blatant self-interest, and in some fields ignorance, of governments and their representatives, which the bureaucracy used to maintain the status quo.  The object of the Avila Group was not to re-hash the criticisms as such, but to attempt to create an objective but far-reaching plan of reform in support of UNESCO's objectives.  The membership included the Secretary-General of the Commission, and about eight scholars with UNESCO experience, drawn from various disciplines from law to anthropology (the numbers and membership varied from time to time) and the unofficial presence of Spain's Ambassador to UNESCO.

The Group did not issue a formal report. What follows below is my own version of its conclusions, published in DIVERSA, an occasional journal of the Royal Society of Canada, Vol III, No.3 Fall, Automne, 1988.

Shortly after the meeting which reached its conclusions, the Group met with the new UNESCO Secretary-General, Federico Mayor Saragosa over dinner in the Ambassdor's home in Paris.  The discussions were informal but frank, and the Group had high hopes, although Mr. Mayor had cautious reservations.  It appears that the UNESCO "machine" was too powerful and, at that time, there were few changes.

I now feel that UNESCO reform can only be undertaken in the framework of a massive, and perhaps revolutionary, re-organisation of the total system of the United Nations and its associated organisations. This is unlikely to happen until the informed public has the will and strength to dominate weak-kneed politicans...................