education – Government Publications Blog

We often publicize a particular database or new publication from an intergovernmental organization and so it seems fitting to highlight just how generous many of these organizations are in terms of providing their publications/statistics/working papers for free to all comers. Not only do they offer high quality, scholarly work but you might also be surprised by the breadth of their interests. Here are some prime examples:

Asian Development Bank: You might have guessed from the name that this organization focuses its work on developing Asian countries – but you might be surprised by just how broad the ADB’s interests are.
- Despite the word “bank” in its name, the ADB is interested in a wide range of social topics and socio-economic topics including urban development, climate change, gender equality, HIV/AIDS, education, anti-terrorism and food security.
- Also, the ADB is focused on the entire Asian region – so you will find research and studies for countries as far flung as Azerbaijan, the Cook Islands, Armenia, Timor-Leste, Hong Kong and Vietnam. For a complete list of its member countries click here
- Print versions of its books are “for fee” but most are freely available as pdf downloads. To access ADB publications click here and to access ADB economic research/statistics click here.

UNESCO: is probably most famous for its work with protecting world heritage sites, but the organization is involved in a wide variety of other activities and interest areas including climate change, gender equality, HIV/AIDS, education, post-disaster & post-conflict response, and youth programs.
- The best way to find all the fantastic free statistics and publications on the UNESCO site is by means of the “Themes” tab at the top of the home page. Click on your relevant theme and a topic-based portal will open – with links to theme-related news, downloadable books, statistics/databases, teaching tools and related resources.
- In addition to the resources that you will find in the theme portals, UNESCO also has an Institute for Statistics which offers a rich array of its statistics and statistical publications covering all of its themes. UNESCO is particularly strong in education, gender mainstreaming, and science & technology.

Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO): We have highlighted several of the FAO’s resources before, but wanted to take this opportunity to stress the broad array of its interest areas. Of course the organization is keenly interested in agriculture, food security and sustainability, but did you know that it also works in areas including information management, gender equality, education, banking/microfinance and HIV/AIDS?
- You can access its publications here, its statistical databases here and its country-based research here.

Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) conduct surveys; publish research findings; collect and disseminate high quality statistics; produce reports, articles, newsletters, and much more. In short, IGOs can be a terrific resource for you when conducting your own research. Examples:

Imagine you are looking for articles and data related to education and gender inequality.

You wouldn’t want to miss the World Bank’s “Key Issues” page on Girl’s Education. This part of the Bank’s site offers links to its (freely downloadable) publications and statistics on the topic.
Also: check out UNICEF’s “Basic Education and Gender Equality” section. Provides press releases, publications, and podcasts.
The United Nations has established a special initiative to tackle girls education in particular – the “Girls Education Initiative.” Provides press releases, publications, video & audio programs, and links to findings from the GAP Report (Gender Achievements & Prospects in Education).
While these groups don’t have subject pages for this topic, they are all working on related projects, conducting research and publishing materials on gender and access to education: the International Labour Organization (ILO); UNESCO; and the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Another Example: Imagine you are looking for facts & figures related to telecommunications/broadband access and usage around the world.

The OECD has a “Broadband Portal” that brings together all the organization’s statistics related to broadband – including number of subscribers per 100 inhabitants, penetration rates, cable modem coverage, DSL coverage, broadband pricing, speeds and more. Also links to OECD telecommunication indicators and telecom reports.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has a wide array of free telecommunication statistics
UNESCO maintains a portal for websites that provide statistics related to our “information society.” Includes links to the OECD and ITU as noted above, and other useful sites such as country statistical agencies; related EU/Europa sites and sites from scholarly societies/institutes

For further information on IGOs and what they can add to your research efforts check out our guide to Intergovernmental Organizations. Features a Google Custom Search Engine that will allow you to search the sites for more than 30 high quality/reputable IGOs from a single search box.