DG/2001/62 Original: Spanish UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION Address by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the Plenary Meeting of the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO Barcelona, 18 June 2001
1 Mr Chairman, Mr Secretary-General, Distinguished representatives, Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great pleasure for me to be with you in the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO. Allow me to express my appreciation of the warm hospitality that I have received. The main purpose of my presentation today is to share with you the key features of the programmatic reform UNESCO is undergoing. This is a major challenge in which a great deal is at stake not only for UNESCO itself but also for the Member States and the beneficiaries of UNESCO s work. Let me begin, however, by recalling with you that last year was the International Year for a Culture of Peace. So far, 75 million people have signed the Manifesto 2000. I commend all the members of the civil society, the universitites, the UNESCO Clubs and foundations, who have contributed significantly to the success of the Year in collaboration with the Spanish National Commission. The subsequent designation by the UN General Assembly of UNESCO as lead agency for the United Nations Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World, is indeed a source of great satisfaction. As strongly confirmed during the recent session of the Executive Board of which Spain is a Member helping to preserve peace in all its dimensions remains an abiding challenge for the international community in general and UNESCO in particular. Just a few weeks ago, I submitted the Draft Medium-Term Strategy for 2002-2007 and the Draft Programme and Budget for the biennium 2002-2003 to UNESCO s Executive Board. I am glad that both documents have been extremely well received by the Board Members. They are an integral part of the overall reform effort of the Organization, complementing my earlier measures of administrative, structural and personnel reform. Given the current international context, UNESCO will have to be equipped and ready to perform in an environment which is increasingly competitive and which pays a premium for competence, innovation and swift response. For the challenges we face as we enter the 21 st century, characterized by ever-accelerating globalization and scientific and technological advance, are both new and momentous. At the same time, it is unacceptable that we should have failed to eradicate poverty which has now rightly become the overriding international development target. With well over a billion human beings living on one dollar a day, poverty is
2 indeed a denial of human rights and the greatest impediment to development. The harsh reality is that, despite many efforts during recent decades, poverty and exclusion have deepened and they remain pervasive. Given the disturbing persistence of poverty, I welcome the fact that, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, the global community set itself the target to halve extreme poverty by 2015. Globalization is coinciding with a trend towards the formation of knowledge-based societies, largely driven by ICTs. The leaders of virtually all countries have professed their desire to transform their countries into learning economies and knowledge societies. Knowledge and information are increasingly determining new patterns of growth and wealth creation and also opening up possibilities for more effective poverty reduction. For these reasons, activities relating to the eradication of poverty, especially extreme poverty, and the contribution of the new information and communication technologies to the construction of a knowledge society, will permeate the entire range of UNESCO s activities during the next six years. The promotion of quality basic education for all (EFA), is an important means to overcome poverty, through formal and non-formal channels. The World Education Forum (Dakar, Senegal, April 2000) constituted a watershed for the Organization as it confirmed UNESCO as coordinator for the global Education for All (EFA) initiative. The right to education is a fundamental human right. The massive task before us is to make the right to education a practical reality. It will not be easy. While in relative terms progress has been registered, in absolute terms illiteracy numbers have grown dramatically on a global scale and for many regions. Preventive education also figures centrally in the global campaign to fight HIV/AIDS. The impact of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases in many countries is as devastating as any war. The HIV/AIDS pandemic not only hampers development, it reverses it by destroying capacity in all areas of social endeavour. It is a moral imperative that we address this situation as effectively and urgently as possible. In recent years, much international attention has been paid to the digital divide. It is held responsible for accentuating disparities in development and for excluding entire groups and countries from the
3 potential benefits of ICT developments. Bridging the digital divide will be an important challenge which UNESCO will take on. But UNESCO will also seek to play a central role in bridging another divide, that between traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge. Moreover, developments in biogenetics, new medical discoveries and other scientific and technological advances increasingly call for serious ethical reflection and, possibly, normative action through the formulation of relevant policies and the design of appropriate standard-setting instruments. UNESCO will seek to discharge its ethical mission, set in its Constitution, in these important areas. Another UNESCO priority, which is vital for the survival of the world s cultural diversity at large, will be the promotion of intangible cultural heritage in all its dimensions as a vital complementary dimension of our common heritage alongside the safeguarding of our tangible cultural heritage. On 18 th May, I proclaimed, for the first time, Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage, following the recommendations of an eminent international jury. This first proclamation of nineteen Masterpieces is an important step in the collective mobilization for the preservation of cultural diversity, and I am convinced that it will mark the beginning of an important era in the history of the Organization. In parallel, UNESCO is working on standardsetting action in the same area. As I have said, facing these challenges required a concentrated focus, and therefore a determined drive to set real priorities in our programmes. Let me briefly outline what has been done in the draft Programme and Budget for 2002-2003, which the Executive Board has just endorsed. These priorities are: Basic education for all Water resources and ecosystems The ethics of science and technology Cultural diversity, pluralism and intercultural dialogue Broader access to information, in particular information in the public domain. Ladies and Gentlemen, Setting priorities and achieving clear strategic vision are of course crucial. But they will get nowhere without equal clarity in our
4 programming modalities, in the organization of our partnerships, and in the efficient management of this Organization. Accordingly, I have laid as much emphasis in my Programme and Budget proposals, on other key and novel features. First of all, I have introduced a results-based approach, providing a basis for better evaluation and results-based monitoring and assessment. The design of a context map listing numerous partnerships and alliances with organizations of the UN system, other intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and actors of civil society and the private sector is another innovation. And in respect of decentralization, I have stressed not only the setting in place of a new field network structure, but also a substantial decentralisation of programme funds. This will give practical meaning to my commitment to reinforce the action of the Organization at the country level. I wish to underscore the role of National Commissions here. They are the Organization s constitutional partners in the Member States and UNESCO s key linkage to civil society. At the recent Executive Board session, I submitted proposals on appropriate measures to be undertaken in order to increase the participation of National Commissions in the execution of UNESCO s programmes. I am happy to note that the Spanish delegation on the Board, in particular, expressed its full satisfaction with the proposed measures while inviting UNESCO to make a tailor-made approach to each situation taking into account the varied capacities of the 189 National Commissions in the world. National Commissions are important partners in all our endeavours. At this point I wish to applaud the Spanish National Commission for hosting important meetings on, for example, the General Histories series, the Associated Schools project, and on education for the prevention of AIDS. The Commission has also contributed significantly to UNESCO priority areas such as the promotion of human rights, environmental protection, and the impact of the new information and communication technologies on children and young people. In 2004 your country will be hosting an important international event; the Universal Forum of Cultures. This event, expecting some five million visitors, has been conceived as a universal encounter of civil society. A framework Agreement between UNESCO and Barcelona 2004 was approved by the 156 th session of the Executive Board, and a parity consortium, composed of Spanish governmental representatives at different levels, was created in July 1998. Within UNESCO, I have set up
5 a special team, which is responsible for the intellectual cooperation with the Universal Forum of Cultures. This event will undoubtedly give further momentum to UNESCO s unique mandate in the area of culture, and reinforce the valuable relationship between Spain and UNESCO. You have the Secretariat s commitment to that, and I look forward to working even more closely with the National Commission to that end. Thank you.