The human rights which fall under the responsibility of UNESCO are the right to education, the right to benefit from scientific progress, the right to participate freely in cultural life and the right to information, including freedom of opinion and expression. In connection with these, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any instrument and across borders, the right to protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production and the right to freedom of assembly and association are significant to the work of the Agency.

In the field of bioethics, two committees operate at UNESCO: the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) and the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee (IGBC).

1. The IBC was established in 1993, particularly thanks to the efforts of the then-Director-General of UNESCO Federico Mayor, and is made up of 36 independent experts coming from different geographical and disciplinary backgrounds. Its mission is to follow progress in life science and its applications in order to ensure respect for human dignity and human rights and to promote reflection on the ethical and legal issues raised by research in the life sciences and their applications. To this end, over the years the IBC has published a number of recommendations and other documents, the most significant of which is the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in 2005. The Committee meets once a year when summoned by the Director-General of UNESCO.
2. The IGBC was created in 1998 pursuant to art. 11 of the IBC Statute. It is composed of thirty-six Member States who are elected by the UNESCO General Conference, whose representatives meet at least once every two years to examine the proposals and recommendations of the IBC and to forward these proposals, accompanied by its own opinions, to the other UNESCO Member States.