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The UNESCO Office in Havana was officially inaugurated in February 1950, but its genesis dates to the Second Session of the General Conference of the Organization, held in Mexico in 1947, whose Resolutions on Foreign Affairs determined the creation of a UNESCO Regional Office in the Cuban capital. This decision was ratified at the III General Conference of UNESCO, held in Beirut in 1948, which established Havana as a Regional Center for the Western Hemisphere, which was officially inaugurated in 1950.

On July 1, 1972, the Regional Center for the Western Hemisphere became the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture for Latin America and the Caribbean, by virtue of the decision adopted within the framework of the Organization's policy of decentralization of activities approved by the 16th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO, and on the basis of Resolution 16 C/5.22, as well as the Recommendation concerning UNESCO Offices and Institutes in Latin America and the Caribbean adopted by the Conference of Ministers of Education and Ministers Responsible for the Application of Science and Technology to Development in the region, held in Caraballeda, Venezuela, in December 1971.

The Office performs multiple functions of great importance and impact on the continent, as Regional Bureau for Culture for Latin America and the Caribbean, Cluster Office for the Latin Caribbean (Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti) and UNESCO Representation to the Governments of Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

For almost 70 years, the UNESCO Office in Havana has promoted programs and initiatives in the field of Culture for the 33 Member States and 7 Associate Members of the region, with a view to contributing to the preservation of Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage, the promotion of creativity, the development of cultural industries, the promotion of pluralism and intercultural dialogue, the safeguarding of diversity and the stimulation of cultural integration processes.

Special mention should be made of the support and accompaniment provided to the Forum of Ministers of Culture and Those Responsible for Cultural Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean since its creation in 1989, as well as the coordination and financing of its main project, the "Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean" since 2002. In this area, it has also published several materials, including the periodicals Oralidad and Cultura y Desarrollo.

In the field of Education, the Office's work has been mainly devoted to assisting the countries it represents in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 4-Education 2030, in all cases based on supporting Member States in developing education systems that promote high-quality, inclusive lifelong learning for all.

In the Communication and Information sector, the Office contributes to strengthening the institutional capacities of centers dedicated to the training of communication professionals, as well as libraries and archives as channels of access to information; supports the preservation of documentary and audiovisual heritage and the production of new local content; and, in a general sense, promotes the development of inclusive and participatory knowledge societies based on the principles of freedom of expression, universal access to information, ensuring quality education for all, and respect for cultural and linguistic diversity.

In the field of natural sciences, the Office supports national plans and policies for scientific development, particularly regarding capacity-building for sustainable development, the promotion of research centers and environmental projects. In turn, in the field of Social and Human Sciences, it has worked to promote events that contribute to the analysis of contemporary processes in order to understand the transformations that are taking place in society.

The UNESCO Office in Havana has the "Jaime Torres Bodet" Documentation Center, considered one of the oldest outside the Organization's headquarters. The Center, which has been providing its services uninterruptedly from its foundation in February 1959 to the present, treasures original publications and documents dating from the creation of UNESCO. Its collection has been declared a Heritage Collection by the National Council of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Cuba.