Statement by The Rt Hon Raila A Odinga EGH MP Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya during the Leaders Forum at the 36th session of the Unesco General Conference Paris, France October 26, 2011 Mr Chairman; the President of the General Conference; the Chairman of the Executive Board; Director-General Mrs Irina Bokova; Honourable Ministers; Distinguished Delegates; Your Excellencies; Ladies and Gentlemen ALLOW me first, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Kenya and of our national delegation here today, to
2 congratulate Unesco for initiating a Leader s Forum as one of the activities of this Conference. I trust and believe that the forum s resolutions will contribute significantly to strengthening Unesco s promotion of the kind of peace that fosters meaningful social and economic development. You have Kenya s full support in this. I should like to thank Mrs Irina Bokova, the director-general of Unesco, as well as the Government and the people of France, for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to us since our arrival in Paris. Ladies and gentlemen In my view, peace and sustainable development are two sides of the same coin. Neither can truly exist without the other. The onus is upon us, therefore, to pursue a culture of peace from the individual through the national, regional and global levels. Unesco has done an amazing job since its inception more than 60 years ago. But there is always room for ever-more practical and
3 innovative solutions, to help us meet the changing and developing challenges of the 21 st Century. International co-operation, collaboration, and partnership are the watchwords. None among us can any longer act in isolation. We must all willingly co-operate, especially in instituting governance systems that prevent violence. The preamble to Unesco s Constitution says it well: Peace begins in the minds of men, and it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed. The fact is that the kind of peace we can achieve will depend on our ability to transform both the way people think and the systems that dominate the world order. We all desire a world with workable ways of resolving conflict. Destructive, expensive wars must be a thing of the past, for violence has never been a solution to political and economic challenges.
4 All empirical evidence shows that an absence of peace stifles development and denies citizens the ability to chart their own destinies and develop their intellectual potential. Without peace there is neither freedom nor dignity, and ultimately all human life is threatened. As pointed out by the Global Peace Index in May this year, had the world been even a quarter more peaceful over the preceding year, the global economy would have benefited by an additional $2 trillion equal to the two per cent of global GDP per annum required to mitigate global warming, as well as covering the costs of achieving the Millennium Development Goals and with some left over to meet other development challenges.. Ladies and gentlemen You will recall that, in December last year, the UN adopted a resolution emphasising the importance of culture in meeting sustainable development objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals.
5 By that time, we in Kenya had not only incorporated the cultural component into our national development strategy, which we call Vision 2030, but we had also embraced culture as one of the four major pillars of our foreign policy. We fully believe that communication, education, science and culture are vital vehicles for peace-building. Education and international exposure teach our youth about different cultures, different lifestyles and different religious beliefs. Using these vehicles to reach out across national borders lessens the hostility engendered by prejudice and ignorance, and fosters appreciation, tolerance and mutual awareness. Unesco s efforts have long been at the heart of this kind of international understanding. We have noted with appreciation that, as the lead agency for the 2005 to 2014 United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, Unesco is supporting member states as they integrate the principles, values and practices of sustainable
6 development into the design and development of inclusive education policies. This will no doubt go a long way towards achieving the desired societal reform. But we must not forget that ultimate responsibility for inculcating and nurturing a culture of peace lies with individual member states. Through this forum, we have the chance to seek, reexamine and share knowledge and mechanisms that could guarantee lasting solutions and benefit all nations, individually and communally. Ladies and gentlemen The paradox of Africa is the extensive wealth of its human and natural resources on the one hand, and the extreme poverty of its people on the other. African countries have for decades faced the challenges of underdevelopment, armed conflict, refugees, the proliferation of
7 illicit small arms and light weapons, malaria, Aids, and other communicable diseases. More recently, Africa has also faced disproportionate threats to human security those brought about by terrorism, piracy, and human and drug-trafficking. This is another reason it is imperative that we strengthen international co-operation and collaboration, to eliminate these evil threats to peace and development. Kenya has already been in the forefront of promoting peace, stability and security in Africa. Our officers are frequent participants in regional peace initiatives and in peace-keeping missions in different parts of the world. Recently, we have made a significant contribution to the pursuit of peace in the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. Our biggest current challenge is the urgent security and humanitarian crisis in Somalia, and I should like to take this
8 opportunity to call for continued support from the international community for the Somali political process. One vital step towards peace is the uplifting of living standards removing people from grinding, hopeless poverty. The world needs scientific and technological innovation and knowledge to improve health, find low-cost energy solutions, enhance food security, and effectively reclaim and conserve eco-systems. To this end, we must redouble our efforts to ensure access to new technology is made available to communities where the social and economic impact will be greatest. Ladies and gentlemen In conclusion, may I pay tribute once again to Unesco s long experience in building a peace culture, both through the implementation of UN declarations and through its own focussed programmes.
9 It is our challenge to look at what has been successful, and to absorb the lessons learned and the experiences gained, so that we have the tools to change cultural mindsets for the better. We must commit to proposing and approving practical measures that will really make a difference. Let us not be afraid to do whatever it takes to lead the way in nurturing a culture of peace in the minds of men. Thank you very much, and I wish all conference attendees very fruitful discussions. The Rt Hon Raila A Odinga EGH MP Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya