Address by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the inaugural lecture on Diverse Societies, Inclusive Democracies: New Skills for a Sustainable World organized by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace Delhi, India, 25 November 2014 Honourable Dr Karan Singh, Member of the Rajya Sabha and Member of UNESCO s Executive Board, Mr Anantha Duraiappah, Director of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace, Ambassadors, Excellencies, Young Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am deeply honoured to give the inaugural lecture at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace. I recall with pleasure when we launched the Institute two years ago, in the presence of His Excellency Mr Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India. First and foremost, I wish to pay special tribute to his Excellency Dr Karan Singh, who was instrumental in making this Institute a reality today -- this is one of the many contributions you have made to UNESCO, for which we are extremely grateful. This is the first such UNESCO education institute in India and the first in the Asia- Pacific region. Since the inauguration, the Institute has gotten off to a quick start, leading through innovation, to nurture the transformative power of education for human rights and DG/2014/179 Original: English
dignity, for sustainability and global citizenship. It is not by chance that I am proudly wearing this bracelet carrying the words I am a global citizen, given to everyone at the Institute s Executive Committee meeting this morning. Just earlier this month, in Nagoya, the Institute launched the YESPeace Network - a collaborative platform to strengthen work for global citizenship, peacebuilding and sustainable development. I am confident this network will provide a channel to mobilise the collective voice of young women and men and enhance their access to policy-making. The Institute is leading in consultations about global citizenship education by coordinating a position paper for the National Council of Education, Research and Training on education for peace, by provoking debates, and in an innovative approach, by developing games on peace and sustainable development through a nation-wide competition. It is extremely impressive work. I am very pleased the Institute s Governing Board is up and running, and held its first meeting last March under the chairmanship and guidance of Dr Karan Singh, and engaging today in such interesting work. It is not by chance that this Institute bears the name of a man who shaped the 20 th century and who continues to inspire the 21 st. Throughout its history, as Dr Karan Singh recalled, UNESCO has moved forward thanks to the contribution of great Indian thinkers thanks to Jawaharlal Nehru, who described UNESCO as the conscience of humanity, thanks to the legacy of the great Sri Aurobindo, whose statue stands proudly on UNESCO premises I had the great honour of visiting Auroville in 2010 -- thanks also to the wisdom of Swami Vivekananda, whose anniversary we celebrated last year, with Dr Karan Singh. Among so many great Indian humanists, Mahatma Gandhi has a very special place. His teachings, words and actions are a source of inspiration that resonate deeply with the spirit and mandate of UNESCO. DG/2014/179 - Page 2
Mahatma Gandhi once said, As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as in being able to remake ourselves. And this is what we mean when we speak about the transformative power of education Today, building on all this, I believe that we are launching a new phase in the special relationship between UNESCO and India, including an ever sharper focus on the power of education. I know this Lecture Series will be an annual event at the Institute, to explore key issues of peace and sustainable development, as well as the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi s philosophy and thinking. This is all the more important because we live in times of great opportunities, but also turbulent times, indeed In his inaugural speech to the 69 th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the scale of global transformation today, in our societies, in the environment, in the relationships between States and cultures He spoke of the surge of democracy and human rights, including gender equality, in many societies. India, the Prime Minister said, as the largest democracy in the world, stands and must continue to stand at the front of all these changes. We see the revolutionary impact of new information and communication technologies, shaping a new global public space, tying the global and the local more tightly together. DG/2014/179 - Page 3
Across the world, countries have made great strides to reach the Millennium Development Goals -- there is an unprecedented spread of prosperity in Asia and beyond. All of this carries great hope, and I see this as the essence of a new humanism, drawing on the equal rights and dignity of every woman and man, in harmony with others and the world. At the same time, inequalities are deepening. We have made significant advances in healthcare, education, and quality of life, but there remain far too many people who do not share these advances. Some estimates show that 1% of the world s population now controls between 40 to 50% of the world s wealth. In his speech, Prime Minister Modi said, When we think of the scale of want in the world 2.5 billion people without access to basic sanitation; 1.3 billion without access to electricity; or 1.1 billion people without access to safe drinking water, we need more comprehensive and concerted direct international action. I agree fully with this assessment. At UNESCO we consider this calls for stronger policies towards marginalized populations, including in terms of linguistic diversity, education in the mother tongue, for greater inclusion. Societies can be healthy, and governments can be effective, only if they are inclusive, if they bring every citizen together every woman and man, all young people, especially the most marginalised. This includes gender equality. DG/2014/179 - Page 4
This is the urgent challenge in terms of equality, and the greatest potential for growth and social inclusion, and I say this twenty years after the Beijing Declaration on Women s Rights adopted in 1995 at the Beijing World Conference on Women. This commitment towards inclusion also concerns persons with disabilities. Yesterday, I was honoured to open the International Conference From Exclusion to Empowerment: The Role of ICTs for Persons with Disabilities, organised by UNESCO and the Government of India, with Mr Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mr Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ms Shrimati Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister for Human Resource Development, and you Dr Karan Singh this shows true commitment to innovation and inclusion, for all society to move forward. I was very privileged to have extensive discussions with Minister Irani on our cooperation. All of this calls for new skills and equal access for men and women and this starts with education. It calls for quality education for technical and vocational training to fight unemployment, to stimulate entrepreneurship. Social and economic transformations are calling out for more innovative approaches to foster development, to reconcile growth with social justice, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. Real sustainability goes beyond the reach of States -- it must be grounded in the rights and dignity of every woman and man, in their abilities, skills and behaviours, in their capacity to transform their lives, anticipate the future, make the most of change. Again this starts with education, where this Institute has a vital role to play, to integrate this vision into policies and social strategies. Let us think of the environment, where we see the rising costs of natural disasters. We see the deepening impact of climate change. DG/2014/179 - Page 5
We see the planet is under pressure -- we are reaching the limits of its boundaries, as scientists often remind us. This is a call to action, and this has been the spirit guiding the United Nations Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), led by UNESCO. There has been great progress in terms of awareness and political commitment -- but here again, we need to translate this into everyday skills, into sustainable behaviours, and this was the main message of the latest UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, earlier this month in Aichi Nagoya in Japan. As the Conference demonstrated in its decisions and substantive debates, sustainability cannot be built on technical or financial solutions alone -- to build green economies, we need green societies. Sustainability requires changes in how we produce and consume. Fundamentally, it requires new ways of seeing the world, new ways of thinking about our responsibilities to each other and the planet, new ways of acting and behaving as global citizens. This is why education is the bedrock for sustainability, because it can shape the new values, skills and knowledge we need for the century ahead. Education is the way to connect the dots between the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. And here again, this Institute can make a decisive difference. We need new skills for a new world. We need transformative learning environments and a renewed focus on experiential learning, where text book knowledge is supplanted by new forms. Today, as UNESCO s Education for All Global Monitoring Report shows, over 250 million children in the world leave school without being able to read a simple DG/2014/179 - Page 6
sentence. Something is not working in education systems and we need innovative solutions to change this, and I believe this Institute can make a decisive contribution to make quality education a reality. As Mahatma Gandhi said: Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever. I believe this same message was sent by the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Committee, awarded to Kailash Satyarthi, a proud Indian advocate for human rights, children s rights and education, who I visited this morning in his office, and to Malala Yousafzai, the young girl from Pakistan, a courageous advocate for girls education both are close friends of UNESCO and relentless advocates for the message that education is the most important value for families, communities and societies. It is no surprise that India, as chair of the E-9 countries initiative, has taken a leadership role in advancing literacy and widening access to education, as a precondition for inclusive democracy and sustainable development. This is the thrust of UNESCO s leadership of the Global Education First Initiative, launched by the United Nations Secretary General two years, where fostering new skills for global citizenship is among its key objectives. Not a single one of us can say that our future is independent of anyone else s. There is an urgent need for our education systems to move beyond literacy and numeracy, and inculcate the values, knowledge and skills on peace, sustainable development, human rights and democracy in them. Education for Global Citizenship, one of the three pillars of the Secretary-General s Initiative, seeks to build competencies to translate that vision into action. It features among the education objective that the international community is expected to endorse next September, when it adopts the sustainable development goals. DG/2014/179 - Page 7
UNESCO is bringing this message to the negotiations underway between States on shaping an ambitious global sustainable development agenda to follow 2015 -- with inclusive quality education and lifelong learning at its heart. Earlier this year, in Fortaleza, Brazil, the Ministers of Education from India, Brazil, China and Russia the BRICS countries jointly recognized the strategic importance of education for sustainable development and inclusive economic growth. At the same time, global social transformations require new skills to embrace cultural diversity and make it a force of tolerance, respect and mutual understanding. This is related to the issue of identity as your rightfully mentioned, Dr Karan Singh. Identity is defined by inherited traditions and customs, linked to heritage, religion, language, and nationality but its boundaries are increasingly evolving and it is increasingly plural. Here again, the words of Mahatma Gandhi are inspiring: Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position. Differences should not be perceived as a threat, but as an opportunity for all, guided by respect for human rights. This is a key issue of civic education for inclusive democracies today. It is a message of large countries like India that are so diverse, linguistically, ethnically, religiously. For too long, cultural diversity has been seen as a potential challenge to universal human rights. DG/2014/179 - Page 8
In ever more diverse societies, we must learn to reconcile the two the cultural diversity that enriches us and the universal human rights that unite us as a single family we must learn to live together, not just side-by-side. This is one of the pillars of education for the 21 st century, identified in the 1996 Delors Report Learning: The treasure Within -- which you Dr Karan Singh helped shape, and we are revising it today, adapting it to the needs of the new century, while acknowledging the continued deep meaning and relevance of this Report for our times. Let me remind you of another important document, UNESCO s 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity sets a clear framework for moving ahead -- No one may invoke cultural diversity to infringe upon human rights, nor to limit their scope. Our task is to transform these principles into daily behaviours for tolerance and respect - through educational guidelines, through support to teacher training and curricula design, as well as through concrete projects all to deepen understanding of different cultures and shared histories, to foster new skills for intercultural dialogue. This is not an easy task. Globalization has opened unprecedented opportunities for exchange, but, with increasing connections, has come heightened fear from many communities. Culture has moved to the frontline of conflicts. Extremists, armed with pick-axes and shovels, set out to destroy Timbuktu s ancient mosques and mausoleums, because they claimed these did not fit with their narrow vision of their faith. In Iraq, extremists are seeking to cleanse an entire society of its rich cultural diversity, persecuting minorities and destroying heritage. The stakes are high. DG/2014/179 - Page 9
We must respond to extremism, to narrow visions of history, values and humanity, guided by the vision of Mahatma Gandhi, who said clearly, no culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive. What wise words and how relevant they are today. I recall the speech given by Professor Amartya Sen during the World Culture Forum in Bali last year, when he said that what is called "Western science" in fact draws on a long chain of intellectual relations, linking Western mathematics and science to a wide range of distinctly non-western practitioners and traditions. He took the example of the world s oldest university, Nalanda, which flourished on pan-asian cooperation, involving India, Indonesia and China, but also Korea, Japan, Thailand, and other countries, from about 1500 years ago. I am convinced knowledge about the depth of such interaction can help reduce tensions today. This is why UNESCO has crafted normative instruments and programmes, to safeguard the common heritage of humanity and to promote the diversity of cultural expressions and this is why UNESCO is advocating for the post-2015 development agenda to recognise the enabling power of culture for poverty eradication, for social inclusion, sustainability and tolerance. Last but not least, the wealth of India s cultural heritage including 32 World Heritage Sites, from the Buddhist monuments at Sanchi, the Taj Mahal to the Hill forts of Rajhastan -- is a gift to the world, part of the shared history of humanity, and a foundation for global citizenship. The two new sites inscribed this year, Rani-ki-Vav the Queen s Stepwell at Patan, Gujarat, and the Great Himalayan National Park, in Hamachal Pradesh - embody the concept of outstanding universal value at the heart of the World Heritage Convention. UNESCO also works to safeguard heritage stretching across entire continents -- embodied, for instance, in the inscription of the Qhapaq Ñan on the World Heritage List, the Main Andean Road bringing together Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, DG/2014/179 - Page 10
Ecuador and Peru. These are six countries with a common history, sharing cultural tangible and intangible heritage, and a great civilization. Think also of the silk roads or the tradition of Nowruz, shared across Asia these are ways to understand how different people and cultures have always worked together and how they can do so today. The UNESCO Slave Route Project is guided by similar objectives and spirit. Initiated in 1994, we celebrate the Project s 20 th anniversary this year this September, UNESCO hosted a fascinating exhibition on African diaspora in India, organized by the Delegation of India. I recall also a very interesting presentation during the last session of the World Heritage Committee, on shared maritime heritage across the Indian Ocean, showing the links that trade and travels have woven between peoples. I believe that theories of the clash of civilization ignore these realities -- and in an increasingly interconnected world, we must tirelessly recall this truth, especially to you, young people, to foster cohesion, cultural literacy, understanding dialogue and peace. So, in the spirit of the call by Prime Minister Modi for greater entrepreneurial skills among young people -- I appeal for the development of intercultural skills across all society. This is the way to build stronger unity, not only within countries, but across the world. As the Prime Minister said in his speech on India s Independence Day, We walk together, we move together, we think together, we resolve together and together we take this country forward. This vision has deep roots in Indian history and society. DG/2014/179 - Page 11
Harnessing cultural diversity is essential to mobilise new ideas, to stimulate innovation and creativity. We have an abundance of examples showing why it is important for culture to be recognized. This is why UNESCO has called for recognition of culture as an enabler for sustainability in the global development agenda that will follow 2015. I believe countries that invest today in cultural literacy, in intercultural skills, will hold the keys to cooperation among societies and within them. This does not happen by itself and the importance of the Institute comes in here it takes new forms of dialogue and skills, including linguistic skills, and that is the importance of this Institute, to support the process of designing effective policies and guidelines for teachers, policy makers, as well as ordinary citizens. The same goals guide the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Culture (2013-2022), announced by the United Nations General Assembly last year, which UNESCO is leading forward across the United Nations system. Ladies and Gentlemen, young friends, UNESCO s cooperation with India shows what can be done, to make concrete change happen. Think of the Internal Migration in India Initiative, spearheaded by the UNESCO Office in New Delhi. Recognizing the lack of sufficient knowledge about issues emerging from internal migration, this Initiative brings together partners from Government, civil society, the private sector and key UN partners to identify key challenges faced by internal migrants. In response, ten areas of innovative practice have been identified, providing evidence-based capacity development for those working on the ground. DG/2014/179 - Page 12
Another example is the Gender, Youth and Migration Web Portal, developed by UNESCO with UNICEF and UN Women here in Delhi. The project provides an online knowledge sharing platform, linking researchers, policy practitioners and decision makers, for knowledge sharing, for stronger public action. I am convinced the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development is model platform for the innovation all societies need today, to foster new skills for new times. The future will be built here and on the benches of schools. I know that 65% of India s population is under the age of 35 -- they need jobs, they need skills to become lawyers, engineers, entrepreneurs, researchers, scientists, teachers, to move this country forward, to move the world forward. UNESCO will bring all of its experience to support this revolution of skills -- to nurture not only effective and competent workers, but inclusive and tolerant citizens. Nearly 70 years ago, when the UNESCO constitution was first signed, it read: That a peace based exclusively upon the political and economic arrangements of governments would not be a peace which could secure the unanimous, lasting and sincere support of the peoples of the world, and that the peace must therefore be founded, if it is not to fail, upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind. These words have not aged a day. Sustainability must be built upon a firm commitment to put education and training at the centre of all public policies, to empower learners to transform their lives and build a more sustainable world. DG/2014/179 - Page 13
This is the vision this Institute is promoting, and in doing so, it contributes to rejuvenating the spirit of UNESCO, to renewing UNESCO to the needs of the world today, as we celebrate our 70 th anniversary. So, I dare say, this Institute is something of a gift of India to the UNESCO family. Standing with you today, I can feel the immense hope that exists, that something is changing in the world, drawing on Mahatma Gandhi s eternal legacy -- Be the change you wish to see in the world. In this spirit, I thank you again. DG/2014/179 - Page 14