Address by Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the 14th Summit of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Bamako, 20 February 2010 Your Excellency Mr Amadou Toumani Touré, President of the Republic of Mali, Chairman in Office of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Your Excellencies, Mr Thomas Yayi Boni, President of the Republic of Benin, Mr Blaise Compaoré, President of the Republic of Burkina Faso, Mr Malam Bacai Sanhá, President of the Republic of Guinea Bissau, Mr Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal, Mr Faure Gnassingbé, President of the Republic of Togo, Mr Chairman of the West African Economic and Monetary Union Commission, Madam Coordinator of the United Nations System in Mali, Your Excellencies, Distinguished participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very honoured to be invited here today to address your noble Assembly at this 14th Summit of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). I am lucky to have this privilege. I extend warmest thanks to His Excellency Mr Amadou Toumani Touré, President of Mali and President in Office of the WAEMU, for his kind invitation. I should also like to express heartfelt thanks to him for the warm welcome that I have received here in Bamako, on the banks of the Niger River. My delegation and I have been gratified by the hospitality, kindness and attention lavished upon us from the moment we arrived in Mali, home of Emperor Soundiata Keïta; of the writer Amadou Ampâthé Bâ and of many other illustrious figures. DG/2010/019 Original: French
This is my very first visit to sub-saharan Africa since Member States meaning you! elected me Director-General of UNESCO. My excitement is as great as the importance that I attach to this visit. I should like to share with you my convictions and my full commitment to the ideals of UNESCO, a house of dialogue. I shall lay particular emphasis on education, science and culture which, in my opinion, are key to development. Education, research, technological innovation, access to information and the fruits of intellectual labour all spring to mind, as do all fields of knowledge that preserve the achievements of past generations and ensure the future of those to come. Men and women speak and understand one another owing to shared points of reference. We may be in Mali, but the writer Amadou Hampaté Bâ, the musicians Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté, the director Souleymane Cissé, the singer Salif Keïta and the photographer Malick Sidibé are names well-known far outside Africa. A dozen or so languages are spoken here great wealth of which the country can be proud! I shall speak for education, science and culture every day if necessary, in particular at the end of the year at the Summit on the Millennium Development Goals at the United Nations in New York. You can count on me. In a world gripped by multiple crises, in which benchmarks are not as clear as before, our Organization s mandate is as vibrantly relevant as ever. My our great challenge today is to use an unfavourable international climate to move resolutely forward. In view of the risk of identity-retrenchment, the marginalization of the most vulnerable communities and the widely held entrenched view that only economic measures can solve today s problems, we can promote a new humanism. It is not naive to believe we have an opportunity to create a more democratic and humane world in which all economic or political decisions are founded on dignity, equal opportunity, access to information and human rights. Human beings are fulfilled if they recognize themselves in others, respect others and seek to live in peace with them as though they were the closest of neighbours even when they DG/2010/019 - Page 2
are complete strangers living in another hemisphere. Owing to the new technologies, we are all next-door neighbours. I cannot stress enough that all of those goals can be achieved through education. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stresses the great importance of education: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups. I recall the World Education Forum held in Dakar which resulted in the adoption of a Framework for Action entitled: Education for All: Meeting our Collective Commitments. The question now is: what has been achieved in the ten years since we undertook to make education a basic priority?. Great progress has been achieved and decisive steps have been taken to give everyone access to quality education, owing to proactive policies and courageous measures to ensure that education is given top priority. One example among many is the decision to provide education free of charge in Benin and Togo. Another is the significant increases in State budget allocations for education more than 30% in Mali and Senegal! This is a remarkable investment in the future, although the decision was not an easy one. You, the Heads of State, have decided to stay on course in order not to compromise the fruitful efforts made in the last decade. You have done so despite the current threats of energy resource depletion, economic and financial crises, rising food prices and, of course, climate change. Sub-Saharan Africa will not, however, meet 2015 literacy targets. According to the most recent estimates, adult illiteracy rates will drop by 31%. This in itself is wonderful, but our goal is to halve the rate. Despite efforts during the United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012), literacy is still too often excluded from global poverty reduction strategies. In 12 African countries, the illiteracy rate is more than 50%. DG/2010/019 - Page 3
This means that you still have a vital role to play in education, not only by making this sector a policy priority, but also by strongly supporting these priorities internationally. Once again the Millennium Development Goals spring to mind. It is a heavy responsibility, but I have no doubt that continued support for education will yield results sooner than previously thought. You may rest assured that UNESCO is more determined than ever to encourage and assist Member States in their efforts to promote education from primary school to the university. To that end, I shall on Monday co-chair a meeting of the High- Level Group on Education for All in Addis Ababa. I shall be in company with Mr Jean Ping, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union and His Excellency Mr Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia. The importance of turning commitments to education made by the international community into concrete action will again be stressed at that meeting. As you know, UNESCO takes a holistic approach to education. We therefore welcome the training and higher education partnership established with your subregional organization. In that regard, I have indeed noted WAEMU s desire, expressed in October 2009, to enhance cooperation between our institutions, in particular, by supporting reforms aimed at harmonization in higher education and quality assurance and the mutual recognition of degrees. The goals of facilitating academic mobility, evaluating centres of excellence, establishing a structured higher education network and, lastly, developing common policies throughout the subregion reflect our concern constantly to improve education systems. UNESCO also welcomes and supports the initiative taken by His Excellency President Wade and the Commission of the African Union to establish a Pan- African University. This university could ultimately spearhead improvements to regional integration promoted through expertise, research and knowledge sharing. DG/2010/019 - Page 4
Excellencies, Distinguished Presidents, I believe that the development of quality tertiary education is the only way to sustain high-level scientific research and encourage the necessary technological innovations. Moreover, science and innovation must be undoubtedly central to the debate on international development action. This will be a priority during my term of office. As to culture, I will urge all of our partners to ensure that the role of science in development is better acknowledged. To that end, UNESCO has already launched the African Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Initiative in partnership with NEPAD and the African Union. In a few months time, statisticians from 15 West African countries will meet here in Mali to establish statistical indicators for science, technology and innovation. The goal is to analyse the existing situation and related trends accurately so that future action can be more effective. It is by creating a solid knowledge base that we can move forward confidently. I shall not dwell here on the African Union s regional initiatives that fall within UNESCO s fields of competence and are already being implemented under Africa s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action. I prefer to look to the future. I should like, for example, to mention a specific initiative undertaken in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. As you know, the brain drain is a serious problem in Africa, as your best talents sometimes leave to work in Europe or the United States of America. Our Brain Gain Initiative programme consists in giving African researchers better access to global scientific and computer networks and should be a means for them to collaborate with experts all over the world and gain access to the latest web applications and the most recent databases, while remaining in Africa. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, At the African Union s Summit in Khartoum in 2006, you recognized the fundamental importance of the links between education, science and culture. As you know, I regret that culture is not one of the Millennium Development Goals. I do DG/2010/019 - Page 5
intend, however, to resume discussions on the vital links between culture and development. Owing to the various dance, cinema, theatre, photography, visual arts and crafts festivals held in your respective capitals, your region superbly showcases the links between culture, the living arts and development. All cultural industries have a role to play in contributing to a better future, since culture is crucial to the cohesiveness of the social fabric. They illustrate all the wealth that Africa has to offer the world. They maintain the vitality of creative forces. I have said before and I will now repeat here in Bamako, in a country enriched by multiple influences over the years, I firmly believe that intercultural dialogue is the answer to all forms of intolerance. This is the message that must be conveyed during this the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures. According to Malian writer Amadou Hampaté Bâ People can achieve a common goal without using the same means. Culture is the tool for building a harmonious society, based on knowledge of others, tolerance, mutual understanding, observance of rights and human dignity. UNESCO thus appreciates the true value of the contribution of the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN) to the promotion of national languages in education. Cultural diversity is our greatest treasure. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, As you know, Africa is one of UNESCO s priorities. During my term of office at the helm of this Organization, I firmly intend to give fresh impetus to our action in that regard. I have already established a working group which is drawing on the Secretariat s expertise to give me new ideas in order to improve the impact, visibility and effectiveness of our cooperation with countries on the African continent. I am awaiting an assessment of the current situation and proposals to ensure that Priority Africa will feature more visibly in our activities. DG/2010/019 - Page 6
I am determined to find ways of meeting more effectively requests made by African countries and the African Union concerning, in particular, countries that have experienced conflict or natural disasters. Our goal is to optimize our methods. Admittedly, we do not operate at the same level as a development bank, but we can we must provide quality support in our fields of competence. We shall join forces so that our sustainable development action will be more operational in the field and more visible to our Member States and partners. This will also entail making UNESCO more visible to beneficiary population groups. Excellencies, Distinguished Presidents, To attain these ambitious goals in the fields of education, science and culture, our best guarantees for success are your endorsements of UNESCO s ideals, your support for its missions, your political backing for its action and your respective governments commitment. I am convinced that during my term of office, I can count on you. For this, I thank you in advance. I should also like to commend the close ongoing cooperation between UNESCO and WAEMU. As a result of our joint activities, the priorities of Africa in general and of your subregion in particular are now taken more effectively into account. Those activities fostered, when necessary, the adoption of common African positions and contributed to the process of regional and subregional integration. I believe that economic communities are essential pillars for the regional integration process. They are pre-eminent partners of UNESCO. They transmit their Member States priorities to the Organization and contribute to the conduct of joint action, encouraging new activities and making assessments and adjustments when necessary. In view of the multiple challenges facing the world in general and Africa in particular, such flexibility and solidarity are vital. In that regard, I wish to pay tribute to Mr Soumaïla Cissé, President of the WAEMU Commission, who has contributed actively, with his secretariat s support, to the promotion of cooperation between UNESCO and NEPAD. Moreover, he has been personally involved in strengthening UNESCO WAEMU cooperation. DG/2010/019 - Page 7
Furthermore, it is within the framework of its cooperation agreement with WAEMU that UNESCO has established for the 2010-2011 biennium a joint commission bringing together both of our Organizations. It will evaluate our activities and identify the best means of enhancing the Priority Africa programme. We continuously seek to form new partnerships to consolidate our development action in Africa. With civil society, researchers, journalists and the cultural community, we will work for the better. In view of the rapid pace of change, the forces of globalization and instability that threatens to weaken individuals, solid partnerships are the best solution at present. Believe me, UNESCO s doors are wide open in that regard. It is no longer possible to act alone. I hope that our partnership with Africa, and with you, will be strong, fulfilling and lasting. I wish that you will join me, as standard-bearers of education, science and culture. I shall meet you in New York City in a few months time. Thank you. DG/2010/019 - Page 8