UN
The IPA works with the United Nations on two main projects:
- Launched in 2019, the SDG Book Club enables children to interact and better understand the principles behind the UN’s Global Goals. Developed for children aged between 6-12, the club provides a curated reading list of books from around the world, available in all six official UN languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. New local language chapters continue to be added to the SDG book club family.
- The SDG Publishers Compact, developed in 2020 by the UN and the IPA, features 10 action points that publishers, publishing associations and others can commit to undertaking in order to accelerate progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Signatories aspire to develop sustainable practices and act as champions of the SDGs, publishing books and journals that will help inform, develop and inspire action.
See our dedicated SDG dashboard for more information on how publishers are engaging with the Sustainable Development Goals.
UNESCO
World Book & Copyright Day: Each year the World celebrates World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April, an international day recognized by UNESCO in 1995 to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright. In world literature, 23 April is a symbolic date. Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died on 23 April 1616. The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George’s Day, booksellers traditionally give a rose as a gift with each book sold.
Learning Never Stops coalition, as the COVID Pandemic impacted education around the world, UNESCO created the Learning Never Stops coalition to bring stakeholders together to try to keep children everywhere learning despite school closures.
WIPO
IPA is an accredited observer at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – the United Nations specialized agency for intellectual property (IP). It is a self-funding agency of the United Nations, comprising 193 member states with a mission to lead the development of a balanced and effective international IP system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all. As well as attending WIPO Committees that deal with issues related to copyright (e.g. Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, SCCR), IPA also collaborates with WIPO as a board member of the Accessible Books Consortium, the WIPO for Creators initiative, and on development projects to support the publishing sector e.g. Global Publishing Statistics, Publishers Circles, Publishers IP toolkit.
WTO, UNCTAD, OECD
IPA also monitors developments at other international bodies such as the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (which conducts the PISA education surveys).