Much attention focused on the choice of Unesco to include coffee drinking in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar on the list.
Ms. D'Antoni, who followed the movement's explosive growth in her former job at the International Institute for Educational Planning, part of Unesco, said the initial focus was getting educational material onto the Web.
The charge to the High Panel on Science for Development is to identify trends in science and technology and to help UNESCO sharpen the focus of its work in promoting sustainable development, according to UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, who addressed the meeting.
Currently, UNESCO is the focus of efforts to create a rules-based convention to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions, which is designed to either separate international cultural policy governance from the WTO or strengthen the bargaining position of cultural industry interests in WTO negotiations.
The United States contributes 22 percent of Unesco's budget.
Who, controversially,became the 195th fullmember of Unesco?40.
The US had contributed 22% of Unesco's annual budget.
The director general of Unesco, Irina Bokova, also opposed the award but felt she had to follow the wishes of the executive board, Unesco officials said.
Irina Bokova is director general of Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The vote of Unesco's full membership was 107 to 14, with 52 abstentions.
