Kingdom of Tonga NATIONAL POLICY STATEMENT by MRS. LUCY MOALA-MAFI Deputy Director, Ministry of Education and Training & Secretary-General, Tonga National Commission for UNESCO on the occasion of the General Policy Debate 37 th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO 07 November, 2013 Paris, France Original - English 1
The President of the General Conference, The Chairperson of the Executive Board, The Director-General of UNESCO, Hon. Ministers, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen I am deeply honored to be given the opportunity to deliver my country s National Policy Statement, and to bring you warm greetings from His Majesty, King George Tupou V1, and His Government and People of the Kingdom of Tonga. Mr. President: Like all eloquent speakers before me, I, too, would like to add my congratulations on your election as the President of the 37 th Session of the General Conference. Tonga and China have developed and maintained strong diplomatic and cultural relations, and we wholeheartedly express our joy and confidence in your presidential-ship to lead the work of this Session. 2
Ladies and Gentlemen: Tonga is a small island developing state located in the South Pacific with a population of just over a 100,000 people, and with 176 islands scattered over 700,000 square kilometres. We belong to the Pacific Sub-region comprising of 17 Member States. Tonga is famous for two things (1) being the only remaining monarch in the Pacific and (2) being fearful rugby opponents. Since the last rugby world cup, we definitely feel at home in France. Before I continue, I would like to thank UNESCO for partially sponsoring the cost of my attendance at this Session - for without such assistance, it would not have been possible to be here to celebrate and deliberate on the achievements and future direction of UNESCO. Tonga strongly agrees with the reflections and emphasis of the Director-General during her address at the Opening Session on Tuesday, that UNESCO is today more in demand, more relevant, more performing..to the challenges facing the world. Since Tonga joined UNESCO in 1980, UNESCO has continued to provide her with a beacon of hope for poverty eradication, stability, peace and sustainable development. It is therefore only befitting, that, whilst I stand at this podium in front of the UNESCO Family, I take the honour to reconfirm and renew Tonga s support, commitment and trust in UNESCO. It is our dream that every human being on the face of 3
this earth thinks UNESCO, acts UNESCO and be UNESCO for we continue to strongly believe that wars and poverty of all kinds individually, within families, within groups, within countries, across borders etc can be solved through the peaceful minds of men and women, boys and girls. Mr. President: The Kingdom of Tonga has achieved quite a number of significant milestones in UNESCO s areas of competence. Our Tonga Strategic Development Framework 2011-2014 permits us to address and monitor progress towards the achievement of our own national goals, the Pacific Plan, Internationally Agreed to Goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals and Education For All Goals. As time will not permit me to share all the success stories, I will only make mention of some that have strongly supported the implementation of UNESCO s areas of competence and priority areas. Educational Reform in Tonga is now targeting three main priority areas: students competencies, teachers competencies, and teaching and learning standards from ECE to Post-secondary level. Tonga is being guided and driven by her very own 100% locally developed Tonga Education Lakalaka Policy Framework for 2012-2017. The focus of the 4
framework is on achieving excellence, universal access, equity, relevance, and sustainability. Main areas of work include, but are not limited to curriculum and assessment reform, training of untrained teachers, sourcing and developing partnership with communities and development partners, peace building and elimination of violence, and monitoring and evaluation. Under a new Education Act 2013 passed by Parliament in October, Tonga has expanded the compulsory age of schooling from 6 to 14 to 4 to 18. This, in itself, has already achieved MDG Goal 2 on Universal Access to Primary Education. In the Natural Sciences, Tonga is now implementing a very ambitious Tonga Energy Roadmap 2010 2020 which is a ten year plan to reduce reliance on imported fuel for electricity generation and reach 50% generation from renewable sources by 2020. Tonga depends on imported diesel for over 90% of its electricity needs culminating in high costs for consumers. Preliminary results of activities implemented under the roadmap such as pre-pay metering technology, photovoltaic solar farms, biogas, installation of solar systems in schools, homes and the community are showing favourable progress. Tonga has also developed a Joint National Action Plan on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management to ensure it addresses national and global priorities and concerns to enable the people and environment of Tonga to adapt to the impacts of climate change and to mitigate disaster risks. The geographical, geological and socio-economic characteristics of Tonga make it susceptible to the impacts of climate change and disaster risks. 5
In the Social and Human Sciences, a new Ministry of Internal Affairs has been created to monitor relevant issues in this sector such as social and cultural values, social problems, gender equality, gender and development, women empowerment, anti-doping in sports, violence, human rights. Recently, Parliament passed the Tonga Family Protection Bill 2013. In Culture, Tonga has signed the 1972 and 2003 Culture Conventions and is working with a number of Development Partners for the implementation of these Conventions, including Category 11 Centres in Asia under the auspices of UNESCO. Tonga, however, is still in need of professional assistance from UNESCO to progress her Tentative List to World Heritage listing, and for the development of a museum, archives and documentary heritage. The Government of Tonga has recently endorsed a National Cultural Policy and Implementation Plan. The Ministry of Education and Training has also completed its work on reforming the curriculum for three subjects that support cultural development in primary schools, that is: Tongan Society and Culture, Movement and Fitness and Creative Technology. In Communication and Information, there is a rapid growth of internet and ICT development as a result of the launching and commissioning in August of a submarine fibre optic cable that has connected Tonga to the global telecommunications network. Tonga also launched its Freedom of Information policy in June 2012, and has developed an 18 month implementation plan and toolkits for both public authorities and those seeking public information. Tonga is also developing a roadmap for Tonga s transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting. Tonga has also recently launched an official website of the Tonga Government to serve as the point of entrance to all Government 6
Ministries for the provision of important and updated government information online. Despite the significant investment Tonga has made in all the areas that have been mentioned, as well as being ranked high in the UN Human Development Report 2011, it still has many challenges to face and address. It is sad to state that the quality of education does not seem to be improving as proven by diagnostic tests for literacy and numeracy. Peace and stability is being threatened through loss of cultural heritage and values, increasing crime, poor ethical and citizenship values, inter-school violence, domestic violence, natural disasters and rising sea levels. Our large oceans and land which we depend on heavily for our livelihoods may desert us one day. We therefore fully appreciate the theme that UNESCO has dedicated to the Leaders Forum: UNESCO mobilizing for and contributing to the post 2015 Agenda through Education, the Sciences, Culture and Communication and Information to prepare us for the fast pace of evolutionary transformation and erosion of culture, values and humanism. We also welcome the declaration by the United Nations of 2014 as the International Year of SIDS and beg UNESCO to be committed and to take a pro-active engagement in addressing the needs and challenges of SIDS. One such challenge is on the issue of possible migration as a result of natural disasters and the adaptation and cultural preservation of displaced populations in new environments. We humbly 7
ask UNESCO also to continue to commit itself to Education for Sustainable Development for we strongly believe that ESD can improve the lives and attitudes of citizens worldwide and make them agents of positive change and growth. In conclusion, Mr. President, Tonga very much looks forward to strengthened cooperation with the Secretariat and all other stakeholders flagging and harmonizing the mission and spirit of UNESCO. I wish to take this opportunity also to thank the three eminent women who have been instrumental in directing UNESCO s ship towards the right course for the past two years under very difficult circumstances: the Director-General of UNESCO, Mrs. Irina Bokova, the outgoing President of the General Conference, Mrs. Katalin Bogyay of Hungary and the Chairperson of the Executive Board, Mrs. Alissandra Cummins - thank you so much for your overwhelming support and inspirational leadership for women worldwide. I wish everyone a successful General Conference, and May God Bless You All - Tu a Ofa Atu 8