Kabul was the host of a peace Jirga (Afghan

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1 Issue No 6 August 2010 Afghan Jirga brings peace Kabul was the host of a peace Jirga (Afghan customary council) in early June 2010 to explore options to attain peace in Afghanistan which has suffered by insecurity for more than three decades. Around 1600 delegates from across the country had participated to the three-day Jirga. holding the Peace Jirga in Kabul and further encourages such fruitful steps to be taken in the future. UNESCO Kabul activities are supports for peace, from policy-level inputs to the Ministry of Information and Culture and Ministry of Education, to the literacy classes Participants at the Peace Jirga held in Kabul (earl June 2010) Hot discussions took place among the participants on how to bring peace and stability in the country. One of the main agenda was to settle a plan for peace negotiation with the anti-government elements including Taliban. A main theme of UNESCO s mission is to promote peace by encouraging dialogue and cultural interactions. To this end, UNESCO supports any attempts which are undertaken for establishing and strengthening peace. UNESCO Kabul, therefore, welcomes the initiative by the Afghan Government for being held in the remote provinces of Afghanistan. We support press freedom, cultural diversity and quality education to promote sustainable peace across the country. We as UNESCO Kabul team firmly believe that the only effective tool to establish peace in the Afghan society and wherever a conflict exists, is to promote the culture of dialogue and tolerance. Ignoring the powerful tool of culture in settling conflicts would interpret as targeting goals at the darkness. Shigeru Aoyagi, Director, UNESCO Kabul and UNESCO Representative to Afghanistan

2 Action needed for Afghan children- almost 50% out of school The Education for All Global Action Week, like in other parts of the world, was celebrated in Kabul on 22 April This week has special significance for Afghanistan where action is needed to reach almost half of the school-aged children, who remain out of school. In his speech Mr. Sediq Patman, Deputy Minister of Education urged the International Community to pay more attention to the education sector in Afghanistan. He asked Donors to provide funds for building schools, as school construction is one of the main priorities for the Ministry of Education. How can we attract children to education when we cannot build accessible school for them? Mr. Patman asked. He also added that almost half of the existing schools in Afghanistan do not have proper school buildings. According to the Ministry of Education, in spite of the tremendous progress that has been made in the education sector, 46% of the school-aged children remain out of school, while 60% of school-aged girls do not have access to school. Mr. Aoyagi, UNESCO Kabul Director, who was speaking at the ceremony on behalf of UNESCO and the UN agencies in Afghanistan, called for more coordination among key education stakeholders in Afghanistan to meet these daunting challenges. It is important for all of us gathered here today, to work together through broad-based partnerships, coordination, and cooperation to provide sustainable and predictable aid to support continued progress in education in Afghanistan, Mr. Aoyagi stressed. The official figures provided by the Government of Afghanistan shows that only 26% of adult Afghans are able to read and write. This places Afghanistan among the countries with poorest literacy rate in the world. To meet the literacy goals set forth in the framework of the Ministry of Education National Education Strategic Plan, UNESCO has launched the Enhancement of Literacy in Afghanistan (ELA) programme to provide basic literacy skills to 600,000 youth and adults across 18 provinces by % of the total beneficiaries of this programme, which is funded by the Government of Japan and implemented in collaboration with the Afghan Ministry of Education, will be women. Page/2

3 Round table discussion to define inclusive and child-friendly education in Afghanistan context UNESCO in collaboration with the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF) supported the Ministry of Education (MoE) in organising a High Level Round Table Discussion regarding the issue of Inclusive and Child-Friendly Education at the Ministry of Education. The discussion was chaired by Mr. Sediq Patman, the Deputy Minister for Academic Affairs, several Deputy Ministers, Heads of Directorates, Advisors to the Minister, and members of UNESCO and UNICEF participated with the objectives of increasing awareness on a rights-based approach to education; developing a common understanding of the concept of inclusive and childfriendly education among high level officials of the MoE; agreeing on a common definition of inclusive and child-friendly education in Afghanistan; and developing a common understanding of some of the key measures that need to be taken by the MoE to increase enrolment in schools. Ministry of Education participants reached a clear consensus on the definition of inclusive and child-friendly education for Afghanistan : An inclusive and childfriendly education system ensures that all children have equal access to quality education regardless of their gender, age, abilities, disabilities/impairments, health conditions, circumstances, as well as socio-economic, religious, ethnic, and language backgrounds. Further consensus was reached on the need for greater coordinated efforts towards inclusive and child-friendly education in terms of resources and programmes, and it was agreed that a National Conference on Inclusive Education will be held in early October UNESCO/P. Azimi UNESCO/P. Azimi Page/3

4 Press freedom in Afghanistan The Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture MoIC with the cooperation of the Journalists and Civil Society and UNES- CO Kabul support, celebrated the World Press Freedom Day on 03 May The main theme of this year s world press freedom was freedom of information, the subject that shows its importance in present Afghanistan context. In the ceremony Mr. Shigeru Aoyagi UNESCO Kabul Director read the message of UNESCO Director General and all the participants silenced a minute to recognize the journalists who lost their lives during past year, four of them in Afghanistan alone. Mr. Aoyagi further stated, World Press Freedom Day will be a starting point for a renewed commitment for all of us to advance the notion of freedom of information and freedom of press in Afghanistan. The Afghan Minister of Information and Culture Mr. Sayed Makhdom Raheen, stressed on the importance of freedom of information and freedom of press as a natural right of human being everywhere in the world. He pointed to the great improvements made in the media sector, at least in term of quantity. According to Minister Raheen the media expansion has been a major outcome of the post-taliban Government in Afghanistan backed by the International Community. He pointed out that currently over 700 means of media including 53 state run and private TV channels operate across the country. Mr. Seddiqullah Tawhidi, Director of the Nai supporting Open Media in Afghanistan reported that during 2009 aggression against journalists increased 70% compared to In 2009, as Mr. Seddiqi indicated, totally 73 cases of aggression against journalists reported to this organization which four cases ended to the Journalists death. The journalists at the ceremony voiced concern over the challenges to access to information caused by the unstable security in the country and some of them criticized the Government and Journalists unions for not doing enough for the safety and welfare of journalists. Mr. Wakil Ahmad Ihasas, an Afghan Journalists told that there are many challenges hurting journalists which are neither considered by the Government nor by the Journalists Unions. Not receiving their salaries and being physically harassed while doing their jobs are among those challenges that Mr. Ihsas highlighted. Page/4

5 Caring for the most important achievement of the Afghan Government In the afternoon session the participants in working groups discussed four topics of challenges and problems threatening freedom of information in Afghanistan; the role of media, Government and people in expansion of democracy in society; the role of media in the upcoming election and ensuring the professional rights of journalists in Afghanistan. The first Group concluded the lack of supporting law and lack of cooperation by the Government as the key hurdles to access to information. In addition to the aforementioned points, insecurity and low capacity of the media workers highlighted as other major obstacles. The second group specified the role of media, Government and society on democracy expansion in society. The main responsibility of media termed as awareness providing for the mass on the importance of democracy and individual rights within society. Also media, according to their conclusion, should encourage people to participate to social, economical and political affairs which finally contribute to sustainable development of society. In relation to the upcoming parliamentarian election in September, the participants in third working group stressed on the important role of media to provide relevant information to the mass and encourage them to participate to the voting process. Also the participants called on the Government and the media organizations to do their best to ensure the professional rights of media workers. The need of on the job training for journalists stressed in the working group recommendations. Mr. Raheen the Afghan Minister of Information and Culture speaks to media on World Press Freedom Day Mr. Shigeru Aoyagi, UNESCO Kabul Director gives speech on World Press Freedom Day Mr. Ihsas, reporter, points out the Afghan Journalists challenges Page/5

6 Page/6 UNESCO Kabul Cultural diversity celebrated in diverse society Mujtaba Mirzaei Conflicts and wars are associated with the Afghanistan s history at least in past three decades. The ray of optimism for peace which was formed in 2001 after the fall of the Taliban regime from power is fading away by increasing insecurity. The indisputable fact about Afghanistan is its multi-ethnical and multi-cultural characteristic which some have blamed as a cause of the chronic internal conflicts. However, in contrary UNESCO believes that cultural diversity is a great tool for peace and stability as its Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity indicates, As a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. The World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development on 21 May declared by UNESCO in the wake of the terrorist attack to the World Trade Center in New York in 2001 has its own significance in Afghanistan which is directly affected by the outcome of the attack. The Day was celebrated by the Afghan Official from the Ministry of Information and Culture MOIC and UNESCO support in Kabul museum in late May Mr. Omar Sultan Cultural Deputy of MOIC termed the day as having the utmost importance in the Afghanistan context. We need to respect the cultural diversity if we want sustainable peace in our country, he said. Mr. Brendan Cassar UNESCO Kabul Programme Specialist for Culture highlighted the importance of Cultural Diversity for making a sustainable peace. He emphasized that a main mandate of UNESCO globally and particularly in Afghanistan is to enhance peace through cultural interaction and dialogue.

7 Managing museum in post conflict condition Head of statues belonging to 5-7c AD, in Kabul Museum Wooden works from eastern Afghanistan-late 18 th century turning point in safeguarding the cultural heritage of Afghanistan is the Nation- A al Museum, located in Kabul. The museum like other infrastructures in the country was devastated and plundered during the years of wars, however, since 2002 and with technical support of UNESCO the museum has significantly revitalized. Omar Khan Massoudi, Director of National Museum along with his team is happy with the current situation of the museum. This is the heritage of all Afghanistan- we are working to keep them for the future generations says Mr. Massoudi. This year, in late May 2010 and in line with the previous years interventions, UNESCO conducted a week long workshop for the National Museum staff as well as participants from the provincial museums, on theme of Safeguarding Cultural Heritage: Post-conflict and Post-disaster Strategies for Sustainable Museum Management. Mr. Alessandro Califano UNESCO consultant believes that the topic selected for this workshop was in perfect harmony with the ground realities. The actions to restore Museum in a post conflict country like Afghanistan are certainly different to normal conditions, says Mr. Califano. Kabul National Museum after reconstruction with UNESCO support Page/7

8 The wide diffusion of culture, and the education of humanity for justice and liberty and peace are indispensible to the dignity of men and constitute a sacred duty which all the nations must fulfill in a spirit of mutual assistance and concern; UNESCO Constitution UNESCO Kabul is working along the Afghan Government to prvomote peace, through culture, education, communication and information. We are working to nurture peace in the minds of people. Please share you feedback and comments to: Mohammad Amin Sadiqi- Editor and Public Information Officer a.sadiqi@unesco.org Telephone: +93 (0) Website: