UNESCO at the dawn of the 21st century, 1988-1999;...
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UNESCO at the dawn of the 21st century 1988-1999
Transcript of UNESCO at the dawn of the 21st century, 1988-1999;...
U N E S C O at the dawn
of the 21st centur y
1988-1999
Typesetting and layout by UNESCOPrinted by: Imprimerie Moderne de l’Est, Paris.
Printed in France
© UNESCO 1999
... it is not the passing of time alone which can change people for
the better; our century has probably known more atrocities than
any other; it will go down in history as the most civilized and
also the most savage. The century which is about to begin may
also bring us the best or the worst. Either the peoples of the earth
will become reconciled and will have no enemies other than
ignorance, violence and disease; or on the contrary, they will live
through a nightmare of interminable religious or ethnic wars. But
the future is a blank page. The future will be what we make of it.
Amin Maalouf, text published in Rome by the Ente Teatrale Italiano, in 1997
C o n t e n t s
Foreword 7Introduction 9
Interview with Mr Federico Mayor, the Director-General of UNESCO
Par t I : A three-fold ambition
Chapter 1: Focus on peace 17Peace: The unreachable goal?Peace in everyday life
Chapter 2: Development in all its guises 35Sustainable developmentSharing development
Chapter 3: Sailing with the wind of democracy 59Democratic principlesLearning democracy
Par t II : An ideal in action
Chapter 1: Shared knowledge 71Education throughout lifeScience in the pluralCulture: memory and creativityCommunication by word and image
Chapter 2: The great projects in hand 85A culture of peace: from dream to realityEthics: the companion of knowledge and wisdomDevelopment: learning to share betterThe environment: a commitment for future generationsRe-examining Africa’s identityLeast Developed Countries: a duty of solidarityKindling the hopes of youth
Women: the other humanityDemocracy and citizenship Human rights: a never-ending struggleEducation: a sacred missionScience in the service of developmentThe cultural heritage: fragile and in need of preservationLiving together: cultural pluralismWhen words and images meet
Chapter 3: Institutional strategy 187The Member States in the leadDoing less to do betterAs close to the grass roots as possibleSeeing further ahead
Conclusion 205Interview with Mr Federico Mayor, the Director-General of UNESCO
Annexes 209UNESCO’s presence worldwideUNESCO: a few brief factsPreamble to the UNESCO ConstitutionMajor conferences of the decadeYamoussoukro Declaration on Peace in the Minds of MenDeclaration of Principles on ToleranceUniversal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights Declaration on the Responsibilities of the Present Generations Towards
Future Generations Declaration of Windhoek on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic
African Press Moscow Appeal for the Year 2000Tashkent Declaration on the Culture of Peace Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace New sites placed on the World Heritage List in 1998Bibliographic Sources
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F o r e w o r d
This document, written for the 30th session of the UNESCO General
Conference, reviews the activities carried out by the Organization dur-
ing the preceding 10 years. Although not exhaustive, it attempts to be
as analytical and objective as possible.
Preparing the Organization to enter the new millennium is not
an easy task, because it involves, as we leave behind a century marked with the
tragic scars of war and violence, constructing the defences of peace, in the human
mind, on the foundations of tolerance and solidarity.
UNESCO has not failed in its role as the world’s moral conscience,
even if that mission of reinforcing the values entrusted to it now more than
50 years ago by its founders has changed over time. That message, which aims
to reconcile humanity with itself , has not been confined to a single theme. It
obviously applies to everyone, from North to South, in the global village.
On behalf of an ethical system that knows no frontiers, within the
broad range of its areas of competence – education, science, culture, and com-
munication – UNESCO fights ceaselessly to establish the foundation for a new
way of living together that is the result of the collective will. In addition, the
Organization is committed, through the great avenues that it has already opened
up, to restoring all their meaning and all their power to the three key words of
peace, development, and democracy.
Indeed, UNESCO offers itself as an intellectual forum, for which the
need has already been amply demonstrated, for the guidance of the builders of
tomorrow’s world. This does not prevent the Organization from staying in step
with the times. It protests against – indeed, it tries to correct – those who have
drifted from their proper course; it weighs and takes up fresh challenges; and,
when it has not been able to prevail before the damage has been done, it also
responds quickly to emergencies when hostilities have unfortunately already
taken place.
Limited financial resources coupled with a mission that seems to
support all types of initiatives force UNESCO to apply restrictions related to
efficiency, to do less in order to do better. Today more than ever, the Organization
feels the need to work in the field, in close cooperation with its Member States,
and, on a broader scale, to involve in its tasks partners, public or private, who
share the same ideals. In reality, peace will stop being a slogan only when it
becomes the concern of everyone.
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9
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1. Are you of the opinion that, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, peace has made
progress on the ground and in human minds?
After the boundless hope resulting from what has been called the end
of ideologies, it was very disappointing to discover that we were
not capable of taking advantage of this rare opportunity to bring about
a radical change in international relations and to steer boldly towards a
culture of peace on a world scale. The chance to promote democracy,
a spirit of fairness and sharing, and morality in international relations
was to a large extent thrown away. As a result, peace has not progressed
as it could and should have done.
On the ground, the results are obviously mixed at best. War hasn’t
stopped, although it has changed its nature; violence now takes extreme
forms and appears to have spread. As soon as one fire of tension is
put out or dies down, another one is kindled or flares up in some other
part of the planet. Nevertheless, peace has scored a few points, in Africa,
for example, in Latin America, and in the Middle East, even if such
progress has often been followed by disheartening steps backward.
In human minds, yes, I believe that peace is finding its way – think
about what I have seen and heard in South Africa, in Central America
and in Asia; I think about all the young people who, on every continent,
dream of peace and demand it.
If we listen to them, if we think about the world that we want to
leave them, then peace will establish itself in human souls and behaviour.
Interview with Mr Federico Mayor,Director-General of UNESCO
2. Do you think, when it comes to promoting peace, development, and democracy,
that UNESCO has a particular role to play within the United Nations system?
Of course, and that role has been defined once and for all in UNESCO’s
Constitution, a basic text that should be frequently reread and pondered.
Everything is contained in it, including present changes and ways
of anticipating or adjusting to them. Our mission is to be carried out
in intellectual and moral spheres, not in the political realm, which
is reserved for the United Nations. UNESCO is an Organization with a
special intellectual vocation; this is both its strength and its weakness,
because its work is often hard to see, touch, and measure. But is it not
in the resources of the mind (intelligence and judgement together) that
human beings have always found the means to advance?
I have often said, and I repeat it here: peace, development and
democracy, synergistically linked, are also a matter of individual behaviour
and, in this way, sink their roots into the depths of the individual.
It is in the heart of each man and each woman that UNESCO prepares
for their coming.
3. Doesn’t UNESCO run the risk of becoming merely a moral figurehead through
its appeals and warnings, which are largely ignored and unanswered?
UNESCO’s mission is clearly long-term. Peace cannot be established
in people’s minds in a day, or even a decade. Such an undertaking
requires confidence and perseverance.
Moreover, what UNESCO does is not always easy to see. There are,
of course, brilliant successes with regard to saving the world heritage,
such as the Nubian temples, to cite only a single example that everyone
remembers. But there are also invisible, or less visible, successes. Peace
and happiness have no history, newspapers don’t cover them. Nobody
makes a fuss when preventive actions succeed, as they often do.
UNESCO sows seeds, and continues to sow them. We do not always
know what the harvest will be. But we have to keep on sowing, even on
stony ground.
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4. Is UNESCO not more and more often called upon to intervene in the field in
urgent cases, as it did, for example, in the former Yugoslavia by means of its
operational unit?
In reality, given that the world is now permanently under the camera lens,
the tribulations and sufferings that certain populations have undergone
and that others continue to endure have greatly disturbed the conscience
of humanity. It is therefore necessary for us to act, and act quickly,
try one more time, and, I would add, to go on trying forever, to promote
peace and respect for human dignity.
For this purpose, the Organization has developed its operational
capacity in the field so that it can put its principles into practice as
rapidly as possible in each of its fields of competence. For example, in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, UNESCO is trying to re-establish, under emergency
conditions, a multicultural, pluralist society. Besides rebuilding schools,
supplying teaching materials, teaching refugee children, and
reconstructing the educational system in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the most
important thing is to monitor school curricula and syllabuses to ensure
that they reflect a sense of tolerance and to avoid discriminatory teachings
or segregation in the classroom. Didn’t the Kosovo conflict begin because
of the inequality between Albanian Kosovars and Serbs in the schools?
The same holds true of the reconstruction of the country’s cultural
heritage, in particular the restoration of the old Mostar bridge.
In addition to the simple rebuilding of a bridge, UNESCO’s objective
here is to recreate the bonds of mutual understanding between the
different communities of the region. It is a matter of putting into practice
in the field the humanistic principles contained in our Constitution.
This is also true of the general situation in the Balkans. However,
field activities have also taken place, for example, in Burundi, where
working directly with the different components of Burundian society
led to a meeting between the former enemies that allowed them to talk
to one another around a table and take the first steps towards a mutual
agreement and, as a consequence, a real democratic process.
It is only by its presence in the field that UNESCO can act
in this type of situation. However, in addition to direct intervention
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in emergencies, UNESCO has become the ardent defender, in dealings
with the international community, of the necessity to link the idea
of aid to those of rehabilitation and long-term development – in other
words, taking into account as much as possible long-term needs once
the first emergency phase is over.
Yes, UNESCO will be present in the field whenever it is necessary.
5. Does UNESCO have a particular role to play in helping to prevent today’s
conflicts, which are of a different kind, and in easing the passage from
the exaltation of cultural diversity to the construction of cultural pluralism?
This is a major question. Yes, conflicts have changed. Yes, cultural
diversity – an unavoidable reality – is sometimes difficult to accept,
which leads to more or less violent confrontations. Yes, the intercultural
dimension seems to me to be the key to the future. For a long time
UNESCO has been trying to facilitate the arrival of what today is called
cultural pluralism, whose importance is reflected in the structure of the
Secretariat itself, where an entire Division is dedicated to it, as well as
in the projects and exchanges that UNESCO coordinates or sponsors.
The Pérez de Cuéllar report on culture and development gives cultural
prominence to it, as has the Delors Report in the sphere of education.
The role of UNESCO in this regard is always the same. It involves
educating; opening up minds to knowledge – to knowledge of the other,
in particular; freeing them from fear, prejudice, and false representations.
Only education enables UNESCO to play the preventive role that is
incumbent upon it.
6. Is the North-South conflict, which at the end of the 1980s somewhat destabilized
UNESCO with regard to the establishment of a new international information
order, definitely over?
I think I can say that it is; this controversy has become a thing of the
past. My main preoccupation at first, when I took up my responsibilities
at the head of the UNESCO Secretariat, was to eliminate all
uncertainties, all doubts about the role of the Organization with respect
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to the dissemination of information. Since then, I have never stopped
trying to develop communication in all countries, by all possible means.
Freedom of expression has always been a pillar of democracy.
It is one of the fundamental freedoms that it is UNESCO’s mission
to defend and promote. I believe that, today, no one doubts the sincerity
or the effectiveness of our commitment in this area.
7. What seem to you to be the two or three most significant activities that
UNESCO has carried out during the last 10 years in the fields that constitute its
areas of competence, and, conversely, the major obstacles it has encountered,
both internally and externally, in carrying out its work?
In Jomtien, in Thailand, in March 1990, a grand alliance, that was
intended to respond to the fundamental educational needs of humanity
took shape. Held at the joint request of the World Bank, UNDP,
UNICEF, and UNESCO, the World Conference on Education for All
represented, in reality, a public recognition and proclamation of the high-
priority objective that basic education represents for the international
community and gave impetus to a movement that is still going strong.
This was a very joyous occasion and is still a source of great pride for
UNESCO. In a more general way, UNESCO has given the international
community guidelines with regard to education. Within a framework
of studies, reports, meetings, and conferences, the Member States have
been able to identify their priorities, their hopes, and their commitments.
They themselves decided to invest in education – which seems to indicate
that their burden of debt has not increased.
I should also like to mention the work that the Organization
has undertaken within the context of its new communication strategy,
the new directions that it is taking in this area and the credibility that it
has won by doing this, since the beginning of the 1990s. In such a rapidly
evolving sector, I am happy to be able to point out that UNESCO
is generally present, wherever and whenever it is needed.
Finally, I am also very proud that UNESCO is living up to its
ethical vocation, as indeed it should, in a world where technology
often leaves no time for reflection. Whether it involves biotechnology,
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the human genome, cloning, or our responsibilities towards future
generations, we have opened up the necessary debates on an international
level. I am delighted that today the public views UNESCO not only as
the protector of freedom of expression but also as the defender of the
ethical values that should continue to guide humanity.
With regard to obstacles to its work, they have mainly to do with
the fact that we have observed, for some time, an unfortunate decline
in official development assistance, a disenchantment with multinational
cooperation, and, in fact, an alarming drop in the resources made
available to the United Nations. There is no point in glorifying the moral
authority of the United Nations, if Member States do not honour
their financial commitments to the Organization, or to the programmes
and institutions of the system.
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Par t 1:
A three-fold ambition
17
Cha
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Pe a c e : t h e u n r e a c h a b l e g o a l ? �
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, we have to face these bitter facts:
Although the death toll in the last World War was 50 million, we must also remember
that, since 1945, some 20 million people have died in around 150 wars, both before and
after the fall of the Berlin Wall. These painfully harsh figures were deliberately
recorded by Mr Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission,
as a sad warning in the preface to the recent report of the International
Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, whose work was accom-
plished under the aegis of UNESCO.
Is peace then unattainable and will it forever elude our grasp? And
yet for the past 54 years, UNESCO has been built upon the concept of peace, as
proclaimed in its Constitution: A peace ... founded ... upon the intellectual and moral
solidarity of mankind? Mr Federico Mayor affirms that UNESCO has many tasks
F o c u s o n p e a c e
a �
First UNESCO GeneralConference, Université de la Sorbonne, Paris,20 November, 1946
© U
NES
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/Ecl
air
Mon
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but only one mission: peace. What then has gone so wrong that we are now reduced
to counting the dead, the victims of insane conflicts?
At the end of the Second World War with all its atrocities, many
people wanted to believe that the united front against Nazism and racism, against
which the war was fought, would continue to flourish after the moment of vic-
tory and that such excesses could in future be kept under control, provided that
the international community, under the vigilant eye of the major powers, was
willing to take steps to do so. The United Nations system – including UNESCO
as one of its leading agencies – was called upon to draw up new guidelines which
were intended to achieve the common welfare of humanity.
Sudden change does not come easily! Peace cannot be defined simply
as the absence of war. Moving away from this somewhat archaic view of things,
UNESCO’s Constitution proclaimed this clearly, paraphrasing a quotation from
the North American poet, Archibald McLeish: Since wars begin in the minds of
men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed. Yet who
at that time, when everyone felt such deep relief that the guns had fallen silent,
was willing to support this idea which, despite its great good sense, contained
the seeds of disillusion or at the least, uncertainty?
The hot war was followed, with no clear transition period, by the
Cold War, with its highly charged ideological connotations and its propensity to
create new conflicts through the machinations of rivalry and escalation. A fragile
balance between political blocs was maintained by terror: Pershing missiles
against SS20’s, Star Wars – with each side taking convenient shelter behind the
old saying those who seek peace, prepare for war.
Intent as they were on extending their spheres of influence, East and
West continued to make war through their respective intermediaries in the world,
especially in Africa and the Middle East. This was neither real peace, since each
party involved was obliged to choose its camp, (whoever is not with me is against
me) nor real development, since aid from the rich to the poor countries tended
to be based, not on the needs of the poorer countries but on the degree of sup-
port they gave to the right cause.
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T h e f a l l o f t h e B e r l i n W a l l
T he winds of change began to blow from the East. Political changes and dis-
sensions began: new leaders, new forces rose up one after the other and
took centre stage. During a night of jubilation on 9 November 1989 in Berlin,
the first stones of the wall which divided the old German capital in two, were
demolished by a crowd whose pickaxe blows were finally to echo from one conti-
nent to another. New hopes were raised that a world at one with itself, a world
without ideological barriers, might at last come into being.
A year later the second Summit of the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) was held in Paris and the ending of the Cold
War was solemnly noted. Although peace had not yet been achieved, there was
already détente. The member countries of NATO and of the Warsaw Pact, joined
by the neutral and non-aligned European countries, proceeded to lay the foun-
dations of a new European architecture. In 1975 at Helsinki, the same CSCE had
promised to make détente both a continuing and an increasingly viable and compre-
hensive process – but the time was not yet ripe.
Throughout its whole history and particularly during the Cold War
period, UNESCO, paying no heed to political blocs, never ceased to organize
conferences in its fields of competence, thus sustaining the flame of East-West
dialogue, like a promise of peace. It was in recognition of its essential contribu-
tion to European cooperation that the 35 States which signed the Helsinki Final
Act in 1975 decided to associate UNESCO with their work. The Organization
thus took part in many of the meetings sponsored by CSCE – a scientific forum
in 1980 in Hamburg, meetings on cooperation in the Mediterranean in 1979 and
1984 at Valletta and Venice and a forum on culture, in 1985, in Budapest.
Noting a gradual decrease in East-West tensions, the Organization
launched in 1988-1989 a major programme entitled Reflection on world problems
which included six future-oriented regional studies. This work led to the drafting
of five synoptic reports covering the Organization’s fields of competence. In
1989, UNESCO also launched an international programme to strengthen uni-
versity cooperation (UNITWIN), through twinning arrangements between the
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so-called advanced countries and the developing countries, on both a North-
South and a South-South basis.
In November 1989, UNESCO adopted a new communication strategy,
focused on the unrestrained exercise of freedom of expression. This strategy dis-
tinguished itself clearly from the previous new world information and communica-
tion order which had been partly conceived in the context of the Cold War. In
February 1990, only a short time after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the
Organization convened a meeting in Paris, for the first time, representatives of
independent media, from both Central and Eastern Europe and from Western
Europe and North America.
C a l c u l a t i o n o r c o n v i c t i o n ?
T he benefits of détente began to make
themselves felt. A series of agreements
on different aspects of disarmament were
signed: elimination of intermediary nuclear
missiles in December 1987 in Washington;
chemical disarmament in June 1990, also in
Washington; reduction of conventional
forces in Europe, in November 1990 in
Paris; START treaty on the reduction of
strategic nuclear weapons in June 1991 in
Moscow.
Although the spectre of war was
gradually fading, new threats of a non-mili-
tary kind yet just as destablizing appeared
on the horizon. At the International
Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men,
held in July 1989 at Yamassoukro in Côte
d’Ivoire UNESCO identified these threats
clearly: unemployment, drugs, imbalances
between industrialized and developing coun-
tries, deterioration of the environment.
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D i s a r m i n g h i st o ry
Each year more than 800 billion dollars are spent on military expensesthroughout the world.This is a staggeringly high sum which could be
invested for the protection of the environment and social, economic andcultural development throughout the world. But it will take time toreverse the order of priorities. Meanwhile, the Director-General ofUNESCO has proposed the adoption by the international community of acode of conduct regulating the sale of arms.As he says: the close of thecentury should mark the transition from the logic of force to the logic of reason(...). At the least we must prevent the traffic in conventional arms which is unregulated at the national and international levels, and a significant part of which is directed at countries with serious shortcomings in terms of respectfor human rights. Moreover, such countries are often highly militarized andlocked in conflict or in situations of serious tension and instability.1 At aninternational seminar held in Venice in May 1994 by the Institute for East-West Cooperation, Mr Mayor had already launched an appeal to disarm history in order to forestall ethnic conflicts and move from a culture of war to a culture of peace.Until such a code of conduct is adopted and applied, the Director-General has requested the exporting countries to establish a regional orsubregional moratorium as a precautionary measure and to avoid anytransfer of arms without receiving a guarantee that they will not be usedto shore up arbitrary regimes, for acts of terrorism or in violations of
The logic of war seemed therefore to be doing no more than marking
time. After 10 years, the conflict in Afghanistan began moving to a close; civil
wars in Angola and Mozambique were dying down, processes of national recon-
ciliation were settling into place in Central America, in Nicaragua and El
Salvador for example. The liberation of Nelson Mandela in February 1990
heralded the abolition of apartheid in South Africa. The Madrid conference in
October 1991 opened the way for dialogue between Israel and the Arab States.
At the Maastricht Summit, in December of the same year, the European
Community decided to adopt a single currency within the framework of a
European Monetary Union (EMU).
Was this the result of mere calculation or of real conviction? Political
speeches and public debate changed in tone: the benefits of the market economy
were much vaunted, interest was shown in democracy as a possible model, efforts
were made to show respect for human
rights.
In its fields of competence
UNESCO was involved in all these changes,
which seemed to be pointing the world in
the right direction. This was particularly
marked in Central America, where after a
long and bloody civil war, the Government
of El Salvador organized a forum of reflec-
tion on education and a culture of peace in
April 1993, under the auspices of UNESCO
and requested the Organization to set up a
programme of activities combining develop-
ment, communication, social information
and cultural expression. Similarly, after the
liberation of Nelson Mandela, the
Organization became involved in the future
of the new South Africa, supporting the
efforts to rid the country once and for all of
the scourge of apartheid. In June 1991
UNESCO organized an international con-
ference in Paris to evaluate the needs of
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human rights. As early as 1995, a number of non-governmentalorganizations had put forward a proposal for a European code ofconduct, which was thereafter taken up by many other organizations. In1997, several Nobel Peace Prizewinners had already spoken out in favourof a code which would be applicable worldwide.A Franco-British project – as yet too weak in the eyes of certain non-governmental organizations – is currently being negotiated in Europe,but Vivenç Fisas, who holds the UNESCO Chair in Peace and HumanRights of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and is co-author of the report entitled Codes of conduct for the control arms transfers, stressesthe need to include in such a code measures to ensure transparency andparliamentary control which is a sine qua non for the effective applicationof codes of conduct in the field of armament.100 million butterfly mines in the world.In the same spirit, UNESCO is resolutely committed to the cause of banning the production and sale of anti-personnel landmines. Over ahundred million butterfly mines are now scattered throughout the world,particularly in the developing countries of Africa and Asia. Each year26,000 people are either killed or maimed for life by these mines.This isall the more a human tragedy because it is children who are the mostfrequent victims of this scourge invented and propagated by human beings.Anti-personnel landmines also prevent the development of tourism andagriculture in a large number of regions, thus worsening localunderdevelopment. This appalling weapon causes death and irreversible
Disarming histor y (cont inued)
apartheid victims in the field of education. UNESCO lent its support to the
African National Congress (ANC) to prepare the culture and development confer-
ence which was held in April 1993 in
Johannesburg.
There were still nevertheless
serious threats which darkened the horizon:
financial and commercial imbalances
became more marked, with Japanese sur-
pluses on the one hand and American
deficits on the other; the debts of the Third
World and Eastern Europe increased; partly
extinguished conflicts flared up again; new
wars were started – notably the Gulf War,
the Desert Storm, in January 1991, in which
Iraq with 550,000 soldiers confronted a
coalition of 30 countries mobilizing an army
of 600,000.
Sadly, the arms race is still a
fact of modern life. What is even worse is
that arms are now becoming available to an
increasing number of States and even indi-
viduals. Military spending in the world
today accounts for over 800 billion dollars per year, or in other words the income
of over half the world’s population. What is to be made of the extraordinary fly-
ing machines sent on mission into the Balkan skies throughout the recent con-
flict in Kosovo, at a unit cost of $2.3 billion dollars – approximately equivalent
to the annual gross national product of Albania.
P a n d o r a ’ s b o x
U NESCO’s membership today reflects the new state of the world. In the
1960s, decolonization brought the new African Member States flooding
into the Place Fontenoy and, 30 years later, the dissolution of the USSR led to
the membership of 12 former Soviet republics. In 1971, the People’s Republic of
China became the only legitimate representative of the Middle Empire and since
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handicaps to many innocent people, says Mr Mayor. It perpetuates war afterwar; it stops farmers from returning to their fields; its threat prevents a returnto normality and the start of economic recovery in countries or regions drainedby months or years of conflict.2
In the same way as the uncontrolled arms trade and the production andsale of anti-personnel landmines constitute obstacles to a peaceful andharmonious world development, the nuclear arms race is a threat whichhas incalculable consequences for humanity as a whole. UNESCO, throughits Director-General, has therefore regularly denounced those Stateswhich are engaged in a macabre race for military supremacy.Renewed nuclear testing by India and Pakistan was also vigorouslycondemned by Mr Mayor: Nuclear testing is both a moral and a materialwaste. It runs counter to the aspirations of people worldwide to live in peace.For all those who live in developing countries and who can justifiably expecttheir governments to concentrate their efforts on development, such tests areparticularly frustrating.
1. Declaration of 9 January 1998.
2. Appeal for a total ban on anti-personnel landmines, 12 September 1997.
Disarming histor y (cont inued)
1990 the two Germanies, now merged into one, hold a single seat. The new South
Africa found its place once more in December 1994.
During the Cold War, the incessant confrontations between the two
political blocs succeeded in masking a considerable number of more local ten-
sions. The collapse of this bipolar order and the subsequent emergence of a
unipolar order, with all the attendant risks of standardization and stifling of spe-
cific identities, unleashed new forces, hitherto held in check, which were reflect-
ed in volatile claims to the right to be different. This Pandora’s box, which is now
wide open, is certainly the most dangerous legacy of the era which has just ended, as
the Director-General of UNESCO stresses in his introduction to the Medium-
Term Strategy 1996-2001.
In his introduction to the recent report of the World Commission on
Culture and Development, the President of the Commission, Mr Javier Pérez de
Cuéllar, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, expressed concern over
this trend. Such claims in his view push people into the narrow walls of group iden-
tity, feeding a new tide of smaller confrontations between ethnic, religious and national
communities. The ‘logic of rejection’ and the ‘narcissism’ of small differences ... threaten
peace and security. The open conflicts in South-East Europe – yesterday in Bosnia,
today in Kosovo – provide a further example – were this necessary – of the dia-
bolical chain of events which leads inexorably to war.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world in which UNESCO is
endeavouring to make its voice heard is much less homogeneous and hence much
less governable than before. Nowadays wars are no longer necessarily waged
between States but take the form of internal strife which tears society apart from
the inside. To quote Mr Mayor, there is no longer one South, but many, and the North
is beginning, in some ways, to resemble the South.
The Organization has a duty to combat with equal vigour not only
the dangers of levelling down and standardization, which would impose a kind of
politically, economically and culturally correct model on the whole of the world, but
also the temptation to huddle in cultural ghettos, which would wipe out the social
solidarities and lead to a very narrow conception of living together.
Through its activities in the field, UNESCO has made every effort to
find in time the right path towards a more coherent and more united world. It
therefore associated itself from the start with the consolidation of the peace
process between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), for
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example when it organized in December 1993 in Grenada a symposium entitled
Peace: the day after. This conference, attended by Mr Shimon Peres and
Mr Yasser Arafat, was concluded by the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation
between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and UNESCO.
Another of UNESCO’s successful achievements in the last decade
was that of promoting the concept of democracy and helping to achieve success-
ful transitions to it. In March 1993 UNESCO organized an international con-
gress in Montreal on education for human rights and democracy. It also established
a Programme for Central and Eastern European Development (PROCEED) to
provide a framework for action, for all the international organizations. This
approach was intended to encourage the countries in that region to take their
destiny into their own hands now that they were no longer under Soviet control.
T h e l o g i c o f u r g e n c y
T he United Nations system was con-
ceived in order to face up to the prob-
lems of the post-war period, to quote
Mr Mayor, but it is ill-prepared for the task
of meeting the challenges of the present and
the foreseeable future which are – first and
foremost – those of global development. And
he adds: Let us have the honesty to admit
that the efforts of the international communi-
ty throughout the last 50 years in favour of
development fall far short of the expected
results. The reason for this failure lies in
the fact that the United Nations system
has let itself become enmeshed in a costly
logic of urgency which has obliged it to
take steps to solve immediate problems in
an attempt to prevent irremediable harm.
To kill war at its roots means
combating poverty, social injustice, polit-
ical oppression, discrimination and
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P ro m o t i n g p e a c e i n B o s n i a a n d H e r ze gov i n a
Severely damaged by the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of thepriority countries receiving UNESCO support.An agreement between
the Organization and President Alija Izetbegovic on UNESCO’s presencein the country and cooperation with the authorities was signed on 30 August 1995.This was followed a few months later by a furtheragreement, on assistance in the rehabilitation of schools, the culturalheritage and communication infrastructures in a republic born of thebreakdown of the former Yugoslavia:Another testimony to UNESCO’sdetermination to promote peace and help rehabiliation.Under the agreement, UNESCO is to assist in restoring cultural sites inMostar and Sarajevo, so that they may possibly be included in the WorldHeritage List.The Organization has pledged to take measures to revitalizecultural life in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by for example providing assistanceto the Sarajevo Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra.The agreement alsoreinforces UNESCO’s campaign to restock the National and UniversityLibrary of Sarajevo, which lost 2 million works and archives when it wasshelled in August 1992. In the educational field, the agreement calls for therestoration of damaged primary and secondary schools and for linking
exclusion in all their forms – in other words, UNESCO’s very raison d’être, the
only reason for its existence. In order to achieve this, Mr Mayor states that it is
time to move from a conception of the role of the United Nations in which the main-
taining of peace is the central task, to a more balanced conception which places due
emphasis on the prevention of conflicts and the construction of peace.This is at the very
heart of UNESCO’s mission.
That mission had been clearly defined at the outset; it does not
require to be revamped or rejuvenated today: after half a century the Constitution
is still as young as ever. And if at the dawn of the twenty-first century peace still
seems elusive, it is perhaps because too many people have through fatalism or
cowardice, wrongly regarded peace as something irrational, a quirk of the cli-
mate, over which they have no control.
Of course, a world without con-
flict exists only in our dreams. On the other
hand, a world in which most of the conflicts
could be defused in time is not beyond our
grasp. Yet we need to be convinced that this
can only be achieved in the long term, for it
means that each one of us every day has to
be willing to change our behaviour and atti-
tudes, in order to build up little by little an
unassailable culture of peace.
In order to keep war or rather
wars, in their different and terrifying
aspects, at bay in any lasting fashion, there
is no other effective way. Are not deporta-
tion, crimes against humanity and genocides
the subjects of everyday conversation?
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the universities to educational and scientific databases by means of thenew communication technologies.When he visited Sarajevo in March 1996, the Director-General,Mr Federico Mayor, launched a series of projects to rehabilitatedemocratic and multicultural institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.He submitted a detailed report on the 40 different UNESCO projects in the country to the Executive Board of UNESCO on 17 March 1998.The projects cover education (overhaul of the education system,rebuilding of schools, curriculum development, etc.), the rehabilitation ofhistoric monuments (Tabacica mosque and Cevan Cehaja minaret inMostar, the Stari Most (Old Bridge) in Mostar, etc.), communication(creation of a video programme bank for television, supply of equipmentto the Oslobodenje news agency, ONASA, assistance to the CICAKproduction studios for children’s television programmes, etc.), women(training programmes, assistance to the Gorazde centre for thedevelopment of women’s activities, etc.).UNESCO has also provided assistance to the Interdenominational Councilof Bosnia and Herzegovina (IRC), whose membership comprisesrepresentatives of the four religious communities, for the collection ofinformation on the desecration of cemeteries.
Promoting peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (cont inued)
The world today is perhaps no safer than the world of yesterday. War is
omnipresent. It is still the most sophisticated form of violence, which now has
many different guises. Fed by all kinds of frustrations, war is waged in everyday
life at all ages, in the suburbs of large cities or in the playground or at home in
the family, and finally the poison seeps through the whole fabric of society.
In other words, peace in this kind of world can no longer be achieved
simply by negotiations between clever manipulators meeting around a green-
topped table, but must above all be the outcome of a long reflection which has
given rise to a collective will. There is a need to think and to see things differently,
and not simply in terms of armed assaults,
nuclear attacks, terrorist threats or
attempts at destabilization.
Today vast sums are spent on pro-
tecting national territories against possible
attacks from other countries, says the
Director-General of UNESCO. And yet we
leave the whole body of society defenceless and
people discover with increasing astonishment
that the acts of violence and the trafficking
in people, weapons and drugs have created
a climate of terror and suffering in everyday
life.
The founders of UNESCO had
therefore seen things clearly when they set
down as the basic principle, in the pre-
amble to the Constitution, the idea that it
is in the minds of men that the defences
of peace must be constructed. A new con-
ception emerged from this same idea at the
International Congress on Peace in the
Minds of Men which met in July 1989 at
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b � Pe a c e i n e v e r y d a y l i f e �
T h e p e a c e p r i ze
The UNESCO/Félix Houphouët Boigny Peace Prize, named after theformer President of the Côte d’Ivoire was founded in 1991.The Prize
is awarded each year for the purpose of encouraging eminent individuals,bodies or institutions that have made a significant contribution topromoting, seeking, safeguarding or maintaining peace through education,culture and science, in the spirit of the Constitution of UNESCO and the United Nations Charter. It is awarded each year and amounts to 800,000 French francs.A jury of 11 people, under the chairmanship of the former AmericanSecretary of State, Nobel Peace Prizewinner, Henry Kissinger, andcomposed of jurists, former heads of State and Nobel Prizewinners, hasalready awarded the Prize to Nelson Mandela and Frederik de Klerk(1991), the Academy of International Law of the Hague (1992),Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Perez and Yasser Arafat (1993), King Juan Carlos of Spain and the former American President Jimmy Carter (1994),the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and itsHigh Commissioner Sadako Ogata (1995), the President of GuatemalaAlvaro Arzu and the guerrilla leader Rolando Moran (1996), the Presidentof the Republic of the Philippines, Fidel Ramos, and the leader of the Moro National Liberatio Front Nur Misuari (1997), Senator GeorgeMitchell, Special Adviser to President Clinton for Irish Affairs, and thePrime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina Wazed (1998).
Yamassoukro in Côte d’Ivoire: that of a culture of peace which has survived the
test of time (cf. Part II, Chapter 2).
The fiftieth anniversary of UNESCO in November 1995 was com-
memorated in Paris. At the same time the General Conference adopted
the Medium-Term Strategy for 1996-2001, which provided an opportunity
to confirm the supreme mission of the Organization, at the dawn of the twenty-
first century, and to seek a clearer idea of the ways in which that mission could be
accomplished.
During the last decade, it has become gradually clearer that a culture
of peace could not be identified simply with abstract pacifism or with passive tol-
erance, but that it should be a moral code in action. UNESCO therefore turned its
attention to the problem of violence on the screen, and the International
Clearing-House on Children and Violence on the Screen was established in 1997
at the University of Göteborg in Sweden, with support from UNESCO and the
Nordic countries. The results of a survey on this issue completed in February
1998 will be entered in an easily accessible database.
The field of investigation of the Clearing-House has now been
extended to include the problem of the sexual exploitation of children through
the audio-visual media and the Internet. In January 1999 a meeting of specialists
in the protection of childhood, Internet service suppliers and representatives of
the media, of the police and of governments was held in Paris. The
CC
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Presentation of the Félix Houphouët-BoignyPeace Prize to Nelson Mandela andFrederik De Klerk by Federico Mayor andHenr y Kissinger,Jur y President
© U
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participants examined ways of combating paedophilia on the Internet and invit-
ed UNESCO to set up support networks, in the form of electronic monitoring ser-
vices, for the victims.
A n e t h i c a l v o c a t i o n
T he idea of a moral code in action fits naturally into UNESCO’s specifically
ethical vocation which makes it, as it were, the moral conscience of the
United Nations system. The aim is to identify for the future generations, as
Mr Mayor explains, a number of rallying principles which give strength and cohesion
to the infinite diversity which is our greatest common asset (cf Part II, Chapter 2).
This task is proving a little less arduous now that ideological con-
frontations have clearly become weaker, and is more necessary than ever in these
times of deep moral crisis and the sudden upsurge of individual interests. In the
view of the World Commission on Culture and Development, presided over by
Mr Pérez de Cuéllar, cooperation between peoples with very different interests can
only flourish if all concerned share certain principles. The Commission suggested
that such a moral edifice should be built on the following principles: human rights
and responsibilities; democracy and the elements of civil society; the protection of minori-
ties; commitment to peaceful conflict-resolution and fair negotiation; equity within and
between generations.
UNESCO has therefore made every effort in the last few years to
give new impetus and significance to the key words which form the basic struc-
ture of its Constitution, so as to give them greater operational impact. The idea
of tolerance combined with that of non-violence has been rethought and embod-
ied in a declaration of principles. Tolerance, for long synonymous with a certain
passive respect, tinged with condescension, for other people’s differences, which
were seen as something totally alien, has come to be regarded as a positive open-
ing-up to others, in an understanding of their specific identities and of the fact
that we are all a part of a common humanity.
For over 40 years now, through the Associated Schools (which now
total 5,499 in 161 countries) UNESCO has encouraged teachers and pupils to
uphold those principles. It intends in future to regard them as poles of excellence
for spreading its ethical message and, before 2001, to increase their number sub-
stantially. The Organization also intends to make use of the very close-knit
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network formed by UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations (5,000 to date)
the 40 or 20 UNESCO Chairs in education for peace, human rights and democ-
racy, and the associated universities.
In addition to educational action, UNESCO has extended its ethical
mission to increasingly varied fields of human activity, and is constantly gaining
ground in this area. These are no longer taboo subjects. Such investigations cover
not only the world of business but also that of the media and the most advanced
sectors of scientific research in bioethics, relating to the human genome and in
biotechnologies, relating to sources of energy and freshwater resources.
After the establishment in 1993 of an International Bioethics
Committee (IBC), UNESCO’s main achievement in this area was undoubtedly
the adoption by the General Conference on 11 November 1997 of the Universal
Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, endorsed – as the first text
of its kind – by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December
1998, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. This Declaration is therefore not only that of UNESCO but also
of the United Nations.
The Declaration is based on three principles: The human genome as
the heritage of humanity; the dignity of all individuals, regardless of their genetic
characteristics; and the refusal to accept genetic determinism, the human genome,
which by its nature evolves, is subject to mutations. It is only logical, therefore, that
the text should state that practices which are contrary to human dignity, such as the
reproductive cloning of human beings, shall not be permitted.
For Mr Mayor, the way is now open to engage, on a more global
basis, in ethical reflection on science and technology, so as to gain more effective
control over new developments in those areas. The process of reflection would be
set within the framework of IBC and the World Committee on the Ethics of
Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST).
P r o v i d i n g t h e y e a s t
U NESCO continues therefore to exert a moral pressure, in accordance with
the obligations embodied in its Constitution, which gives it intellectual
responsibility, in the ceaseless pursuit of peace, which in turn reaffirms its specific
nature within the United Nations system. UNESCO is indeed an organization for
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intellectual cooperation whose authority is based on the principle of universality,
since it does not defend the colours of any country, region or civilization.
The controversy provoked by North-South tensions, which arose in
the mid-1980s concerning the establishment, under the auspices of UNESCO, of
a new world information and communication order, has now died a natural
death. UNESCO, which was accused by some of partiality, reaffirmed its consti-
tutional ideas more clearly than ever in 1989 by renewing its commitment to the
free flow of ideas by word and image.
The United States, which withdrew from the Organization on
1 January 1985, is considering its re-entry. The President of the United States,
Mr Bill Clinton, clearly hinted at this in his message on the occasion of the cere-
monies celebrating the fiftieth anniversary. I can assure you that the return of the
United States to UNESCO remains one of my priorities. The United Kingdom, which
followed in the footsteps of the United States in 1986 rejoined the Organization
on 1 July 1997.
No dispatching of Blue Helmets to keep the war-mongers at bay, no
distribution of food rations and other emergency aid to help war victims survive
their ordeal: UNESCO does not have the financial resources to carry out such
tasks and, for good reason, since it is required to construct the defences of peace
on other bases. To quote Mr Mayor, our role is to provide not the bread, but the yeast.
UNESCO is justly proud of the fact – even if its activities do not
make headline news – that it is first and foremost an intellectual forum, a labora-
tory of ideas, a point of convergence for knowledge in different disciplines, from
different regions of the world. In order to assume this role, it continues its
involvement in the organization of international conferences, which are prepared
by committees of experts, and symposia on topics relating to the various aspects
of peace, development and democracy.
Since the beginning of this decade, no less than 10 world conferences
have been convened, from the World Conference on Education for All in March
1990 in Jomtien, to the World Conference on Science in June 1999 in Budapest,
not to mention the International Conference on Adult Education in 1997 in
Hamburg, the World Conference on Higher Education in 1998 in Paris, and the
second International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education in
April 1999 in Seoul.
The Organization also sustains its intellectual watch function by setting up
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high-level bodies of reflection.Thus in October 1991 it called upon Mr Jacques Delors
to lead the International Commission on Education for All for the Twenty-first
Century and upon Mr Javier Pérez de Cuéllar in December 1992 to lead the World
Commission on Culture and Development. In this same spirit, UNESCO has recently
opened up a new area for international and interdisciplinary dialogue – the Twenty-
first Century Talks – with a view to anticipating the needs and challenges of the next
millennium and outlining the main strategies for action.
A t a l k i n g s h o p ?
I s UNESCO not becoming, as some
might think, a talking shop? in which the
leading intellectuals and the wise men of the
global village like to talk for days on end
about the way things are? The Organization
is only too aware that it may run the risk of
being no more than a voice crying in the
wilderness or at least giving that impression.
It also knows that the highly specific mission
with which it has been entrusted is some-
thing that can be accomplished only in the
long term, that it is impossible to change
attitudes and behaviour from one day to the
next, that it is essential to understand others
or, on a more prosaic level, to learn how to
make best use of energy resources and how
to ensure our common welfare.
When violence escalated in
Kosovo, the Director-General of UNESCO
made the timely statement in April 1999 that
keeping and consolidating peace is only possible
through long-term, permanent work on the past
and the contentions of opposing peoples. The
Organization has accumulated so many
reports and plans of action that it has now
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T h e g u a rd i a n s o f t h e t e m p l e
The idea of creating an international movement for the protection ofsites arose after the First World War. Forty years later, it took a
more practical form with the saving of the temples of Abu Simbel andPhilae during the building of the Aswan Dam on the Nile. Otheroperations followed: the City of the Doges, the temple of Borobudur andmany others.The idea of combining the conservation of cultural siteswith that of natural sites took clearer form in 1972 with the Conventionfor the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.The World Heritage Centre was set up in 1992 to ensure the day-to-dayapplication of the Convention, responsible for organization, management,coordination and promotion.Financed through international assistance, the safeguarding of Angkorbegan in 1992.Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire is a uniquearchitectural complex, the centre of a civilization which was capable ofreconciling the highest spiritual values with the demands of everydayexistence. It is one of the largest archaeological sites in the world: over48 km2 of temples, moats and canals which are the remains of acivilization which flourished between the ninth and thethirteenth centuries. Its preservation reflects the need for the country toreconstruct its history in order to achieve peace in the future.In cooperation with Cambodia, UNESCO coordinates the work on the many restoration sites in Angkor: the Terraces of the Leper King andthe Elephants, the Baphuon, the libraries of Bayon and Angkor Vat, thePrasat Suor Prat, Bantey Kdei, Preah Ko, etc.The work is a long-termproject which reflects the topographic and cultural importance of thesite, in which UNESCO plays a pivotal role at the scientific, financial andadministrative levels.A local team is constantly in place to protect the site. One of theongoing concerns of the Cambodian authorities and of UNESCO is thatof training national staff capable of gradually taking over the managementof the cultural heritage as a whole, and the scientific research necessary to maintain and protect the sites.
identified clearly the true enemies of peace – unemployment, poverty and exclu-
sion – and no one should be in any doubt as to how to combat them.
There is now a whole arsenal of varied and repetitive initiatives which
consist, for example, in devoting international days, years and decades to one of
UNESCO’s major areas of concern, distributing prizes to militants in the good
cause, appointing public figures as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors, organizing
exhibitions, leading an active policy of outside communication by modernizing
publications such as the UNESCO Courier and using the most up-to-date audio-
visual media. Through such methods UNESCO channels its efforts, within the
limits of its resources, towards raising awareness among all its partners, both
public and private, to the urgent need to take individual action rather than
expecting UNESCO to take the lead.
At the very least UNESCO must mobilize energy around the major
fields of endeavour which it has opened up (cf. Part II, Chapter 2). Today more
than ever, UNESCO understands the importance of this catalytic role. Does not
its name mean I unite in Latin?
The effectiveness and hence the credibility of the Organization will
indeed be judged on the basis of the authority it has vis-à-vis Member States, to
ensure that the resolutions of the General Conference and the plans of action of
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Temple at Angkor Vat ©
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the major international conferences do not go unheeded forever and are written
into national constitutions and budgets.
The success of the Organization’s standard-setting activities depends
on the strength of the links forged with its 187 Member States. Initiatives taken
by UNESCO began to bear fruit during the last decade. Today in cooperation
with the Organization and a number of non-governmental organizations, more
than 30 countries have established national plans of action in the field of human
rights.
With regard to the revision of the Hague Convention of 1954 for the
Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, UNESCO con-
vened a diplomatic conference in March 1999 in the capital of the Netherlands,
with a view to improving the protection provided by that Convention. Similarly,
UNESCO convened in July 1998 in Paris a second meeting of governmental
experts to consider the draft convention on the protection of the underwater cul-
tural heritage.
The stimulus given by UNESCO and the subsequent political will
shown by certain Member States – and not the least of them – have enabled signif-
icant progress to be made in the Organization’s fields of competence. Thus, the
participants in the World Conference on Education for All in 1990 and the Summit
for the Nine High-Population Countries in 1993 undertook to make substantial
increases in the proportion of their gross domestic product allocated to education.
E m e r g e n c y r e l i e f a n d r e h a b i l i t a t i o n
E ven if UNESCO may justifiably take credit for a great many individual but
discreet initiatives, which little by little help to make the world a better
place, even if it still defines itself in terms of an ideal to be attained, it is nonethe-
less very careful at present, in a turbulent world, to maintain a reasonable bal-
ance between the detachment necessary for reflection and realities in the field,
which sometimes require emergency action.
Strictly speaking, the Organization is under no obligation to produce
results as are many other Specialized Agencies of the United Nations system.
Nevertheless, there are moments in these times when the Organization is more or
less forced to take urgent action, torn between its desire, on the one hand, to stick
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to its ethical or even ideological vocation and the need to respond to appeals from
the most vulnerable of its Member States.
At a symposium on international law in 1995, UNESCO, seeking a
position which might reconcile these contradictory demands, spoke out in defence
of the idea that humanitarian aid could not be limited solely to the provision of
food, medicine and blankets. The Organization emphasized the need to establish
close links between the idea of emergency relief and that of rehabilitation and
long-term development, stressing the fact that from the start, emergency action
should include local capacity-building.
Matching actions to words, UNESCO therefore set up on 1 August 1986
an operational unit in charge of coordinating emergency action in the various sectors
of the Organization – education, culture and communication – in crisis situations.
From the start, the Unit was responsible for the Programme of Education for
Emergencies and Reconstruction, in East Africa and the Great Lakes region. In
Somalia, where there was no central government the Unit was appointed as the
agency responsible for the education system. Its activities included the distribution
of school textbooks, the production of learning kits, teacher training and the estab-
lishment of a programme of education for the protection of the environment in the
Somali refugee camps in Kenya.
The Unit soon expanded and was made responsible for immediate,
practical humanitarian aid in the event of natural disasters. It was also requested
to follow the Oil for Food programme in Iraq, so as to ensure that it corresponded
properly to the urgent needs of the population. In cooperation with other United
Nations Specialized Agencies, the Organization rehabilitated or built about
135 schools in the most underprivileged provinces of the country.
Another of the Unit’s areas of concern was the protection of the
cultural heritage in the framework of emergency action to contain damage after
natural disasters or conflicts. Thus UNESCO intervened on the site of the temples
of Angkor in Cambodia, was involved in the plan for safeguarding the historic
centre of Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina and was invited to participate in an inter-
national campaign for the safeguarding of Tyre in Lebanon.
Through well-targeted activities, the Organization remains faithful to
its fundamental vocation – that of creating a real culture of peace among people.
This vocation is of such fundamental importance that it has proclaimed the year
2000 International Year of the Culture of Peace.
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While peace may be one of the oldest words in our vocabulary, development, on
the other hand, is much more recent. It was in the 1960s that the emergence of
the countries of the South – via what was, for many, the culmination of a process
of decolonization – began to concentrate minds on issues that had previously
received little serious attention.
Within a matter of three years – from 1960 to 1962 – no fewer than
24 African States became full members of UNESCO. It meant a significant
increase in the number of poor countries as compared with the rich and marked
the start of a genuine dialogue between North and South.
Today’s figures speak for themselves: over 1.3 billion of the planet’s
inhabitants live in conditions of absolute poverty and their numbers are rising;
900 million adults are illiterate; 17 million individuals each year are killed by
infectious diseases. A full 80 per cent of the world’s wealth remains in the hands
of a mere 20 per cent of its population.
Poverty stubbornly persists, by feeding off the climate of hatred and
violence in which the world is being shaped. Are developing countries, after all,
not spending some US $125 billion annually on all manner of conventional and
sophisticated weaponry – a sum obviously diverted from more judicious and
pressing concerns?
The assistance promised by the rich countries for the development
of the poorest countries has for the same reasons fallen far short of expectations.
In May 1999 Federico Mayor regretted that the international community has
observed neither the letter nor the spirit of the commitments made at the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development. The progress report five years after Rio
was on the whole bleak. And the same is likely to be true of the Copenhagen +5
Conference in the year 2000 – the follow-up to the World Summit for Social
Deve lopment in a l l i t s gu ises
a �
Development held in Copenhagen (Den-
mark) in March 1995, where the declared
ambition was to eliminate poverty in the
world.
There is no gainsaying that
development is indissociable from peace:
one cannot thrive without the other. Does
not the preamble to its Constitution – draft-
ed more than half a century ago – bind
UNESCO to advancing the objectives of
international peace and of the common welfare
of mankind?
Hence, the Organization’s
Medium-Term Strategy for the years 1996
to 2001 has centred on the development of
peace and conceptual tandem – with peace
understood to mean more than a mere
absence of war, and development not being
confined strictly to the creed of economic
growth.
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Jacques-Yves Cousteau,Federico Mayor
and a group of children
I n t h e wa ke o f C o u st e a u
There is no denying the impact of human activities on the environment.It has been the subject of analyses, surveys, even political battles.
Commander Jacques-Yves Cousteau was among the first to raiseawareness about the importance of the marine environment. He becamethe torchbearer and champion of sustainable development which took theenvironment into account and his foundation now carries on the work.Since its launch in 1994, the UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Programme(UCEP) has consistently sought to promote research and education inecological economics, human ecology and ecotechnology.The key is interdisciplinarity.The objective is to achieve positive results by ensuring that future decision-makers are comprehensively trained in ecology, economics, the social sciences and technology, irrespective of the boundaries dividing those disciplines. Equal importance is attachedto forging or reinforcing links between the public and private spheres.The UCEP Programme has mobilized regional networks that link up theresearch and education institutes of the North and the South; it hascreated benchmark UNESCO-UCEP Chairs for interdisciplinary training inBelgium, Egypt, India, Romania and Sweden; it organizes seminars that bringtogether the key actors from all the relevant fields; and it leads pilotprojects aimed at revitalizing decision-making approaches by giving priorityto long-term vision in environmental matters.One example is the Yunnan University project on sustainable natural-resource management in the middle reaches of the Mekong river –bamboo afforestation and cultivation in particular, along with its use in handicrafts products or in industry.Think long-term and provide for the generations to come – that is the message left by Commander Cousteau and now taken up by theinterdisciplinary teams of UCEP.©
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F u t u r e g e n e r a t i o n s
O ver the past 10 years, UNESCO has been engaged in a thoroughgoing
regeneration of ideas designed to update and revitalize the watchwords that
shape its framework for action. Development is one of them.
Planners used to hold to the view that growth in material production
would almost automatically lead to improved economic well-being. Yet all-out
economic growth, stresses Jacques Delors in his introduction to the report of the
International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, can no
longer be viewed as the ideal way of reconciling material progress with equity, respect
for the human condition and respect for the natural assets that we have a duty to hand
on in good condition to future generations.
These days, development is more widely seen as part of a single
process of shared progress – with the emphasis gradually shifting from produc-
tion to distribution. So UNESCO, in the words of Mr Mayor, is seeking a return,
after decades of strategies marked by narrow economism, to the very heart of develop-
ment: the human being.
In all its fields of competence, UNESCO is working to a newly
shaped model of growth that requires well-informed management of the world’s
heritage, so as to prevent humankind from devouring its assets and, hence, improve
the odds of being able to respond successfully to one of the major challenges of
the future: increasing demographic growth, particularly in the poor countries.
Hence the emergence of the concept of sustainable development: ensur-
ing that today’s needs are met without compromising the ability of tomorrow’s
generations to meet theirs. UNESCO has always been at the heart of such think-
ing which covers nearly all its fields of competence – education, natural and
social sciences, culture and communication – and requires an interdisciplinary
approach. As early as June 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil),
the Organization was appointed to lead the United Nations specialized agencies
in efforts to implement a section of Agenda 21, whose goal is to bring about sus-
tainable development in the twenty-first century.
In November 1997, the General Conference – inspired by Com-
mander Cousteau’s 1979 declaration on the rights of future generations, signed by
more than 5.5 million people to date – adopted the Declaration on the
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Responsibilities of the Present Generations Towards Future Generations. It states
that present-day problems, including poverty, technological and material underdevelop-
ment, unemployment and exclusion, discrimination and threats to the environment, must
be solved in the interests of both present and future generations.
W a t e r a n d s u n
In recent decades, the relations between human beings and their environment
– a key component of sustainable development – have markedly deteriorated
(cf. Part II, Chapter 2). If proof be needed, there is no need to look further than
the nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl plant in the Ukraine on 25 April 1986.
Ecosystems throughout the world face the threat of degradation
through, for example, soil erosion and desertification – several million hectares
affected each year – the destruction of tropical rainforests and woodland clear-
ance – over 10 million hectares lost annually – acid rain, freshwater pollution
caused, by certain agricultural practices such as the excessive use of fertilizers
and pesticides.
As early as 1948, long before the word environment became fashion-
able, UNESCO founded the World Conservation
Union – whose membership is now more than
650 strong. The Union has since accumulated a
wealth of experience in international cooperation
in the study of ecosystems and the use of natural
resources.
The Man and Biosphere Programme
(MAB), launched in 1971, studies the fragile
balance between humanity and nature at its
328 biosphere reserves in 82 countries around
the world. It is within the framework of MAB,
together with the Convention on Biological
Diversity, that h UNESCO helps the Member
States to base their nature conservation policies
on sound scientific evidence, and to learn how to
use their assets in the form of their biodiversity
in the interests of sustainable development.
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Solar oven,Solar EnergyLaborator y,
University ofDakar
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Given that about 60 per cent of the world’s population inhabit places
where the land meets the sea, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
(IOC) – established in 1960 – is in the process of building a World Ocean
Observation System to study how the oceans are influencing climate changes
that, in turn, impact on fishing activities, coastal management and shipping.
Meanwhile, UNESCO has, over the past few years, stepped up its
efforts in the field of freshwater, a precious resource which belongs to all. If pre-
sent-day practices in freshwater exploitation and use are not quickly rectified,
socio-economic development may be seriously jeopardized as a result. For this
reason, the Organization recently took part in a mission to assess the education
and training needs of water-resource-management services of the Republic of
South Africa – so that they might satisfy
the water requirement of a population of
around 18 million in some 15,000 villages.
Sustainable development fur-
thermore demands a wider use of renew-
able energy sources that could improve liv-
ing conditions for people in remote rural
areas. Following the launch of The World
Solar Programme 1996-2005, trials are
under way at several solar-village pilot sites
in Africa – in particular in Cameroon,
Niger and Tanzania.
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S o l a r v i l l age s
The use of renewable energies, in particular solar energy, can help toimprove living standards in remote rural areas and to advance the
process of development which respects the environment.One of the aims of the World Solar Programme (1996-2005), launched atthe Harare World Summit in September 1996, is to implement sustainableprojects: craft centres, rural dispensaries and solar villages producing theirown power.A number of these projects have been financed by UNESCO,such as the solar village built in 1996-1997 at N’Gaoundéré in Cameroon,to which the sum of $143,000 was allocated, and solar villages in Namibia,Niger, Mozambique and Tanzania.The projects are based on awareness-raising and training of the public,particularly women and children, and community leaders. Making sure thatthe local population run the projects is the only way of guaranteeing theircontinuation.In addition, UNESCO organizes an annual summer school on solarelectricity for rural and isolated areas. Researchers, technicians,businessmen and women and members of NGOs active in the field ofsolar energy, mainly in Africa, endeavour to find practical, economical andsocio-cultural solutions that will promote the use of solar energy.
E x t r e m e p o v e r t y
Beyond the urgent need to protect nature, another priority issue has come to
the fore: new development strategies must be devised that take account of
each country’s specific lifestyles and cultural traditions. Development divorced from
its human or cultural context, argues the report of the World Commission on
Culture and Development, is development without a soul. The Commission’s view
is that development embraces not only access to goods and services, but also the oppor-
tunity to choose a full, satisfying, valuable and valued way of living together, the flour-
ishing of human existence in all its forms and as a whole (cf. Part II, Chapter 2).
By declaring the years 1988 to 1997 to be the World Decade for
Cultural Development and calling upon UNESCO to act as its flagship special-
ized agency for its duration, the United Nations established this concern as a
global issue which, in March 1988, commanded further attention at the
Stockholm (Sweden) Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for
Development. Culture – in view of its creative input – has thus been acknowl-
edged as belonging to the sustainable development process, as well as being the
ideal measure of a society’s progress.
Cultural development, in the commonly accepted meaning of the
term, covers a limited area of social activity: promotion of the arts and cultural
life, protection of cultural heritage. Over the past few years, however, with a
growing awareness of the role all forms of cultural expression play in forging cul-
tural identities, the concept has become broader. Both rich and poor countries
are now seeking reference points which reflect their specific cultural identities
and serve as an antidote to the potential risks of standardization threatening the
world today.
The mainspring of social development, which is a component of sus-
tainable development, is the struggle to end extreme poverty. At the World
Summit for Social Development, the international community raised the stakes
by pledging not just to reduce poverty, but to actually pursue the goal of eradicat-
ing poverty in the world, through decisive national actions and international coopera-
tion. And this in the name of an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of
humankind.
40
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UNESCO is aware that it has no power to wipe out the root causes
of poverty – global speculation, organized crime, and so on. It is nevertheless
within the Organization’s power through its own strategies, to help create the
right conditions for alleviating poverty, which may be considered as a violation
of the right to development. What UNESCO can do, explains Mr Mayor, is pro-
mote all the approaches, most of them informal and community-based, which – by cap-
italizing on the skills and capacities of the poor themselves – are aimed at helping them
devise their own strategies to rise out of poverty.
It is a position that UNESCO has vigorously defended in the belief
that if development is to be sustainable and human, it has to be endogenous, with out-
side financial and technical assistance focussing on local capacity-building. The
Organization has accordingly launched projects designed to stimulate activity
among the most deprived populations in isolated rural and underprivileged urban
areas alike, for example through micro-credit schemes to support small family
businesses.
T h e c h a l l e n g e s o fg l o b a l i z a t i o n
Is the search for a balanced, integrated form of development attuned to the
whole human being not in danger of being hampered, or at any rate compli-
cated, by the effects of globalization seen as a movement towards greater politi-
cal, economic and social interdependence? For the best part of a decade, during
which virtually the entire planet has opened up to freedom of movement and
exchange, UNESCO has been seeking to provide the makings of an answer to
that question.
This trend has been studied at length by the International
Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century and the World
Commission on Culture and Development – chaired by Jacques Delors and
Xavier Pérez de Cuéllar respectively. Worldwide interdependence and globalization,
argues the former, are the major forces in contemporary life. They are already at work
and will leave a deep imprint on the twenty-first century. They require that overall con-
sideration, extending well beyond the fields of education and culture, be given, as of
now, to the roles and structures of international organizations.
There are admittedly a number of positive sides to the greater
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interdependence generated by economic globalization and the dissemination of
scientific and technical progress. Only time will tell whether the fledgling region-
al or subregional integration initiatives appearing virtually worldwide – and the
emergence of the World Trade Organization (WTO) – will be capable of produc-
ing new forms of partnership and cooperation.
This does not prevent Mr Delors from observing that people today
have a dizzying feeling of being torn between globalization whose manifestations they
can see and sometimes have to endure, and their search for roots, reference points and a
sense of belonging. And Mr Pérez de Cuéllar takes the point further: the concern is
that development has meant the loss of identity, sense of community and personal mean-
ing. Most people wish to participate in ‘modernity’, but in terms of their own traditions.
A recent report by the International Panel on Democracy and
Development – set up in March 1998 and composed of 20 leading figures from
around the globe – estimates that if globalization is left to the devices of market
forces alone and fails to assist the most poverty-stricken States, it could deepen the rift
between nations and have an extremely negative impact on development – speeding up
the rate at which the poor become poorer.
UNESCO has managed to persuade some of the most densely popu-
lated States to increase their spending on education substantially – India, for
example, in 1993 committed itself to increasing education’s share of its GDP
from 3.6 to 6 per cent by the year 2000. But many other countries crippled by
debt – globally now in the region of US $214 billion, now find themselves forced
to cut budgets in human-development areas such as education and health in
order to comply with the structural adjustment policies, imposed by international
donors.
According to the International Commission on Education for the
Twenty-first Century: the major danger is that of a gulf opening up between a minority
of people who are capable of finding their way successfully about this new world that is
coming into being and the majority who feel that they are at the mercy of events and
have no say in the future of society.
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S h a r i n g d e v e l o p m e n t �
Developing countries are ailing and poverty is gaining ground across the globe.
A World Bank report on the indicators of development – published in April 1999 –
states that 1.7 billion people live in a state of extreme poverty, on less than a dollar a
day. Public-sector development aid in 1998 stood at around US $33 billion –
0.25 per cent of the developed countries’ GDP and a 40 per cent drop since the
turn of the decade. Meanwhile, flows of private capital rose to US $300 billion
in 1997 before slipping to US $230 billion the following year.
How can the hellish spiral that makes the poor ever poorer and the
rich ever richer be broken? How can the widening divide between the North and
the South be bridged? There is just one answer to that nagging question, and it is
encapsulated in a single word enshrined in the UNESCO Constitution: solidarity.
Solidarity-based development thus lies at the heart of the Organ-
ization’s action. With the dawn of a new millennium drawing near, Mr Mayor
makes a strong case for a ‘refounding’ of the intellectual and moral solidarity of
humanity. Because solidarity, when it has prevailed has never, until now, really been
inspired by moral concerns. And it would be most regrettable if efforts to find solutions
for the future were to be guided by fear or by market forces alone.
UNESCO, in its Medium-Term Strategy 1996-2001, has thus sought
to make better use of the means at its disposal by targeting priority countries
and populations whose extreme vulnerability justifies the Organization’s unflag-
ging attention to their interests – the main thrust here being that they become
partners rather than mere recipients and, as such, able to devise their own strate-
gies to rise out of poverty.
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b �
P r i o r i t y c o u n t r i e s
A f r i c a
Further evidence is no longer needed as to Africa’s vulnerability. It accounts for
33 of the world’s 48 least developed countries and, according to the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
around a third of its 16.8 million refugees
and displaced persons. Experts at the World
Bank estimate that 20 per cent of sub-
Saharan populations suffer from the effects
of war (cf. Part II, Chapter 2).
This is one of the few regions of
the world where life expectancy is on the
decline, mainly due to the devastation
wrought by AIDS. Indeed, in its annual
report – published May 1999 – the World
Health Organization (WHO) stresses that
AIDS has become the number-one cause of
death in Africa (and fourth in the world)
and that more than a quarter of the adult
population of Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland
and Zimbabwe have been infected with the
HIV virus.
In the 1980s, crippled by the
legacies of colonialism, the multi-ethnic
composition of their populations, urban
sprawl and unproductive traditional agricul-
ture systems, and heavily in debt, Africa was plunged into economic depression.
Education – a key sector – suffered setback upon setback; Africa was sidelined
by scientific and technological progress elsewhere; and it consumed an alarming
amount of its natural-resource assets – a fifth of Africa’s forests, for instance, has
vanished within the space of 30 years.
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A f r i c a a n d i t s h i st o ry
After more than 20 years in the making and thanks to the efforts ofsome 350 authors, this monumental work – eight volumes of between
800 and 1,000 pages each – offers a profound understanding of thehistory of Africa and of African civilizations and societies. It also brings outAfrica’s true contribution to the history of humankind.Internationally renowned historians – two thirds of them African – revealthe continent in a new light, exploring hitherto neglected fields, such asoral tradition, archaeology and anthropology.The collection is both amilestone in academic publishing and a voyage of discovery across 3million years of cultural heritage. It restores to their rightful place thevibrant and prosperous African empires until now overshadowed bycolonial history.In the interests of universality, the complete General History of Africahas been published in English,Arabic and French, and selected volumes areavailable in Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Swahili, Hausa and Fulani.Anabridged, low-price edition offering the main thrust of the thesespresented in each of the eight volumes is being prepared.Work on the project – originally conceived in the 1960s and begun inearnest in 1971 – has continued steadily over the years.The ScientificCommittee reunited with its partners at a formal closing ceremony inTripoli in April 1999.This ambitious project has enjoyed the financial backing of Libya, theVatican, the Agence de la Francophonie, France and Côte d’Ivoire.
In view of the deep sense of pessimism engulfing Africa towards the
end of the 1980s, UNESCO – whose membership today includes 52 African
Member States – was moved to a powerful pledge that it would come to the assis-
tance of this stricken continent. Mr Mayor has had that commitment at the top
of his agenda since the start of his term as Director-General. It materialized in
the shape of the Priority Africa Programme adopted in 1989 within the frame-
work of the third Medium-Term Plan, 1990-1995. Priority Africa took over from
the Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic and Social Development of Africa –
adopted in 1980 – and supplemented the United Nations Programme of Action
for African Recovery and Development – voted in 1986.
In February, 1995 – on the eve of the World Summit for Social
Development – UNESCO staged an international meeting entitled Audience
Africa in Paris. The aim of the event was to provide African political and eco-
nomic decision-makers, as well as a variety of actors from African civil society,
with an opportunity to pinpoint the Organization’s top-priority fields of action.
UNESCO subsequently became closely associated with the implementation of
the United Nations system-wide Special Initiative on Africa adopted in March
1996, and set up a Priority Africa Department to handle project coordination as
effectively as possible.
UNESCO has sought to promote interdisciplinary projects, lay the
foundations for regional cooperation and mobilize local initiatives. A major
objective has been to encourage the reconstruction of education systems with
women, young girls and the inhabitants of rural and underprivileged urban areas
at the heart of the equation.
It has also sought to reconcile African societies with their environ-
ment and help them to set out on a road to sustainable development, by offering
scientific and technical teaching and launching renewable-energy and biotech-
nology pilot projects. UNESCO backs a wider use of solar energy, for example,
and seeks to ensure that marine and coastal resources – upon which millions
depend – are better managed.
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L e a s t d e v e l o p e d c o u n t r i e s ( L D C s )
In 1971, the United Nations listed 25 countries as LDCs. Today, just over a quar-
ter of a century later, there are no fewer than 48 – nearly twice as many. In 1991,
per capita GDP in the industrialized world was 59 times higher than that of the
LDCs, as against 44 times higher in 1980. Illiteracy in those countries is on the
rise and is expected to affect some 170 million people by the year 2000 (cf. Part II,
Chapter 2).
Mr Mayor wonders: How can a people build a future with pride and con-
fidence when they know that others regard them as the dunces of the planet. In actual
fact, despite a near total absence from international economic circuits, those
peoples are not really less developed in overall development terms. Another top-
priority UNESCO goal is therefore – as stated in the United Nations’ Programme
of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s – to reveal the true value of
their human resources.
In September 1995 UNESCO noted that enhancing the value of human
resources through the development of education and training may be one of the few
ways, if not the only one to lay the foundations for the real and sustainable development
of the LDCs. It has furthermore stated that, in view of the fact that many LDC
education and training systems have seized up or are stuck in an impasse, they can-
not reach large numbers of the population or achieve balanced development.
For these reasons, the Organization goes to great lengths to help
national governments make a root and branch reform of their education systems.
In Laos, in the villages of Luang Namtha, for instance, it is associated with a
non-formal education project covering dietetics, hygiene, small-scale production,
basic agriculture and chiefly targeting underprivileged individuals, first and fore-
most women from ethnic minorities. Similarly, it is working through its
UNESCO Chairs and the Internet to foster a gradual growth in inter-university
cooperation, as well as the transfer and sharing of knowledge. Today, is not some
90 per cent of global research concentrated in the industrialized world?
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H i g h - p o p u l a t i o n c o u n t r i e s
UNESCO does not necessarily consider high population countries as top priority
groups, but it clearly cannot afford to lose sight of their fate or interest in their
development policies. The good – or bad – example they set, by dint of their
demographic weight – which confers a definite presence, if not real authority upon
them – may well have repercussions for the rest of the planet.
The nine countries in this category – Bangladesh, Brazil, China,
Egypt, Indonesia, India, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan – account for just over
half of the world’s total population, 72 per cent of its illiteracy and more than
50 per cent of its children who are not at school. That is why UNESCO considers
it indispensable that the States which attended the World Conference on
Education for All in Jomtien (Thailand) in March 1990, transform its conclu-
sions into concrete action as well as their determination – reaffirmed in New
Delhi (India) in December 1993 – to make universal basic education a reality,
and to broaden the learning opportunities for children, youth and adults.
So far, the efforts made by those countries with respect to basic
education are – by UNESCO’s reckoning – encouraging. With two exceptions,
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Indian crowd
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considerable progress has been made right across the board and two countries –
Brazil and Mexico – have already reached the target for the year 2000, of invest-
ing 6 per cent of their GDP in education. This success is the fruit of political and
social mobilization on a grand scale, in which the media played an important part.
S m a l l d e v e l o p i n g S t a t e s
UNESCO’s universal calling will not allow it to neglect the 30 countries collec-
tively referred to as the small developing countries – some of them landlocked but
many of them islands in the Caribbean, South Pacific and off the coasts of Africa.
Despite the fact that they too figure fairly low on the list of priority groups, they
nonetheless remain extremely vulnerable on account of their small size, geograph-
ic and cultural isolation, scarce resources
and fragile ecosystems – regularly ravaged by
natural disasters such as earthquakes, vol-
canic eruptions, cyclones, etc.
A Unit for Relations with Small
Member States has been operating within
UNESCO with a view to facilitating [their] full
participation in the process of multilateral coop-
eration since July 1990. As part of the Basic
Education For All programme, for example,
a joint subregional teacher-training project
focusing on several South Pacific islands was
launched with New Zealand. Within the
framework of the World Decade for Cultural
Development, South Pacific islands have fur-
thermore received subsidies for opening up
weaving and creative arts workshops as well
as for publishing works in their national lan-
guages. An interdisciplinary project entitled
Environment and development in coastal regions
and in small island States has also been
launched to help these smaller nations lay the
foundations for sustainable development.
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S t ru gg l i n g n e i g h b o u r h o o d s
Abilateral cultural cooperation project twins city neighbourhoods inAfrica and Europe and creates networks to link all the cities taking
part in the initiative.This project follows the World Decade for Cultural Development (1988-1997) and includes eight pilot projects designed to nurtureneighbourhood culture, improve residents’ quality of life and foster mutualunderstanding among people of diverse racial and cultural backgrounds.Residents become attached to their neighbourhoods as they become richand vibrant places, no longer seen as mere dormitory suburbs for the bigcities or poorly equipped and run-down areas euphemistically referred toas the outskirts.Burkina Faso-Switzerland, Cameroon-France, Mozambique-Austria andNamibia-Finland: together the twinned cities outline their plans, eachneighbourhood selects its activities coordinated by a professional artistand a local group backed by the Member States concerned.In the case of Ouagadougou, for example, where the NeighbourhoodCultural Association has revived the traditional Dodo dance troupe andruns five reading and writing classes for local women: it has plans to stagean exhibition of their craftwork and culinary arts, shoot a film aboutelderly members of the community and release a newspaper written bylocal schoolchildren. Meanwhile, at the partnership’s other pole – inGeneva – the Saint-Jean and Jonction districts were brought alive by localartists during the musical festival and the Ouagadougou Fraternitytheatrical troupe was welcomed for a performance of The Old Lady’s Visit,scripted by a Swiss playwright. Filming has begun on a series of videoportraits of local inhabitants and a forum to offer people of all ages a sayin the social debate has been created.
P r i o r i t y p o p u l a t i o n s
Yo u n g p e o p l e
Young people abound. No generation of young people has ever been so large or so
young. Roughly one fifth of the world’s population is in the 15-24 age group; in the devel-
oping world, they will soon make up some 50 per cent of the population (World Com-
mission on Culture and Development report, July 1996: cf. Part II, Chapter 2).
These figures alone should be enough to justify giving young people
today the attention they deserve in a world
that, for better or worse, is being built
before their very eyes – and all too often
without them – and where tomorrow they
will be expected to live their lives as adults.
Young people are the guarantors of our
Organization’s future, insists Mr Mayor in
his introductory remarks to the Programme
and Budget for 1998-1999. Without them we
would very soon be a spent force.
No generation in the history of
humanity has ever been faced with such swift
and far-reaching transformations, adds the
World Commission report. Young people –
more than any other social group – face the
dawn of a new millennium as victims of the
rupture caused by bewildering and merciless
social, economic and political change. This
is especially true for young people who hap-
pen to belong to the most deprived strata of
the population and live in the developing
world. They are extremely vulnerable.
The situation of young people
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Wa r o n A I D S
In 1993, as the epidemic relentlessly gained ground – particularly insouthern Africa – UNESCO established the World Foundation for AIDS
Research and Prevention.The Foundation’s task is to set up pilot researchcentres and to lead North-South cooperation in the fields of training andknowledge-sharing. It also seeks to make prevention more effective byadapting the methods used to the prevailing socio-cultural context.The Foundation – chaired by Professor Luc Montagnier of France, who iscredited with having discovered the killer virus – adopts a globalapproach: the epidemic must be vanquished worldwide. Developingcountries must not remain the poor relations in the therapy field.Theresearchers are creative and are breaking new ground.The centres offerclinical care while at the same time conducting research and forgingpartnerships. Since 1993, the Foundation has raised some $25 million.Prevention – above all in poor countries – remains a must. In 1997, withinthe framework of the UNAIDS inter-agency programmes, UNESCObrought together representatives of ministries of education and NGOsfrom 12 French-speaking African countries to identify the teachingmethods and approach strategies needed to bring the issue into theclassroom.The road ahead will be long with regard to teacher training andreforming school curricula – where sexuality, as a rule, tends to be a no-go area. Despite this, awareness-raising and prevention policies in somecountries are beginning to have an effect.Similar meetings have also been held in Asia, Latin America and SouthernAfrica.
in the world has worsened over the past few years. Many bear the brunt of un-
and underemployment and live in such extremely precarious conditions that they
can easily end up being driven into marginality, social exclusion and – in some
circumstances – self-destructive behaviour such as delinquency, drug abuse, etc.
Young people who are exposed to violence on a daily basis, be it on
television, the streets, school playgrounds or sports grounds, nevertheless lack
the necessary reference points to prevent themselves from succumbing to its
influence. From a very early age, they are often drawn into cruel games instigated
by their elders and enlisted to fight other people’s wars and conflicts. UNICEF
estimates that there are more than 120,000 young people under the age of 18
engaged in armed struggles throughout Africa.
If the world needs tolerant individuals, aware of their civic responsibili-
ties and respectful of democratic principles as Mr Mayor puts it, this is primarily
achieved by making young people a part of the education system, in the broadest
sense of the term – i.e. formal and non-formal. Work needs to be done among the
young, from a very early age, three or four onwards, if only to teach them that there are
other languages, so that they grasp the idea of diversity, writes Italian author
Umberto Eco.
Prepare the young for life in a pluralistic world: such is the recom-
mendation of the World Commission on Culture and Development, which goes
on to say that they need to be initiated into the complex workings of personalities and
cultures, to the multiplicity of forms and means of expression, to the infinite diversity of
individualities, temperaments, aspirations and vocations.
Street children
In view of the above, UNESCO’s Medium-Term Strategy 1996-2001 has provid-
ed a ground plan for more effective youth training – the top priority being to
mobilize efforts designed to provide easier access to the education system for a
specific category of young boys and girls with very special needs: street children,
children from ethnic minorities, children living in shanty towns or remote
regions.
UNESCO accordingly set up a Youth Coordination Unit in May 1998
– just prior to the first World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth and
the third World Youth Forum held in Portugal. These events culminated, the fol-
lowing August, in the Lisbon Declaration and Braga Youth Action Plan. As with
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the earlier World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000, the
Organization has adopted both documents as its own.
In its efforts to fulfil its mission of fostering a culture of peace in
the minds of young people, UNESCO has drawn on its expanding network of
5,499 Associated Schools spread over 161 countries. These schools of all levels are
fully integrated into their respective national education systems. However, by virtue
of the themes they choose to reflect on and the pilot projects they implement, they
can, to some extent, be looked upon as centres for intercultural learning.
Through its field offices, UNESCO has initiated a varied range of
projects aimed at integrating young people into today’s world and mobilizing
them as actors in development. In Jakarta, for instance, young Indonesians have
had a chance to take training courses in waste-paper recycling and making com-
post, and have actually completed a survey of their community’s output of solid
waste.
Within the framework of its Education Programme for Children in
Distress – launched in 1992 – UNESCO has also supported the action of those
who fight to give the poorest of the poor the prospect of a future, in particular
two training centres in the Middle East attended by Palestinian girls and boys
suffering trauma as a result of the Intifada; and in Cuba, where a network of
schools caters to children with severe language-learning difficulties.
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Filipino street children
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UNESCO is also steadfastly committed to combating drug addic-
tion. Who, asks Mr Mayor will be its first victims? The young, the adults of tomorrow,
our precious heritage. The very future of our societies is at stake.
So it was that in 1993 the Hope and Solidarity Through Ball Games
programme was set up at UNESCO’s initiative. The principal aim is to mobilize
the world of sport in the war on drugs, by distributing sports equipment to young
people in difficulties. With the programme’s backing, for example, a campaign
has been under way to rally young people to the cause of a drug-free twenty-first
century. To mark its launch in Paris, in February 1998, a charter, based on con-
tributions from thousands of youngsters collected by NGOs and schools in more
than 80 countries, was drawn up.
Generally speaking, much of UNESCO’s action of the past decade
has targeted young social outcasts whose extremely hazardous living conditions
warrant serious attention. In April 1996, the Organization launched a special
project aimed at offering better learning opportunities to marginalized young-
sters in 18 developing countries or territories. In addition to street children, the
project also targets young people who have experienced conflict or life without
work in the city, giving them the chance to train to become qualified weavers,
gardeners, building renovators, shopkeepers, etc.
Being in tune with the times, UNESCO has naturally taken an inter-
est in the fate of the underprivileged young people living in the suburbs of
sprawling urban areas in both South and North who, in desperation, are begin-
ning to make their voices heard loud and clear. Partnerships have been formed
between four African and four European city neighbourhoods as part of a project
entitled Culture in the Neighbourhood: An Afro-European Interaction, launched in
1998.
W o m e n
The voice of half of the world’s population – women – is still barely being heard
observes Mr Mayor. Only 6 per cent of women are in decision-making bodies and less
than 10 per cent of parliamentary representatives are women. And he concludes, on a
rather alarming note, that at the dawn of the twenty-first century half of humanity
remains virtually invisible (cf. Part II, Chapter 2).
UNESCO has a duty to help that virtually invisible half of humanity
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emerge from the shadows
and play a full part in the
building of a world that
will be fair, supportive
and at peace with itself ,
cleansed of all forms of
discrimination relating to
race, gender, language or
creed: a challenge of awe-
some proportions which
the Organization is bound
by its Constitution to take up and keep at the very top of its agenda.
The Medium-Term Strategy 1996-2001 refers to a recent report
stressing that nearly 60 million young girls in the world today do not have access
to primary-school education and that women account for two thirds of the
world’s 885 million illiterate adults. UNAIDS, meanwhile, notes that they also
account for over half of Africans newly diagnosed as carrying the AIDS virus.
Agents of change
UNESCO is therefore more committed than ever to encouraging gender equality
in present-day practices and in attitudes. For instance, the Organization has
repeatedly spoken out against the intolerable discrimination suffered by Afghan
women, who are denied access to healthcare, education, training, employment
outside the home, and are held in a state of inferiority by the fanaticism of the
local authorities.
Similarly, UNESCO has increased its monitoring of sensitive regions
in certain parts of Africa, around the Mediterranean and in the Balkans, with a
view to ensuring that women really are being integrated into every area of social
life. The Organization’s report on rape as a tool of war – originally published in
French and English in May 1995 – has been translated into Serbo-Croat.
UNESCO drafted the Declaration on Women’s Contribution to a Culture
of Peace during the fourth World Conference on Women held in September 1995
in Beijing. A year later, it awarded the first ever UNESCO Mayors for Peace prize
to a woman – Colombian city councillor Gloria Cuartas Montoya – for her role
in encouraging dialogue in Apartado, a town exposed to the violence generated
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Fashion show by Bangladeshidesigner Bibi Russell
© UNESCO/J. Marcuse
by the drug trade. It was also under the aegis of UNESCO that the Pan-African
Women’s Conference on a Culture of Peace met in Zanzibar (Tanzania) in May
1999 – its final Declaration being a heartfelt appeal for more equal representa-
tion of women in the prevention, management and settlement of conflicts.
Education is where the first barriers need breaching in order to set
today’s world on the road to sustainable and mutually supportive development.
A wise African proverb says that if you teach a boy, you educate an individual. If
you teach a girl, you educate a family, a nation.
UNESCO notes however, that girls never
have the same learning opportunities as boys;
there are merely region-specific variations in
degrees of inequality.
Despite the growing feminiza-
tion of poverty issues, it remains difficult to
gauge accurately the role that women play
within traditional societies, the authority
they wield in their families, villages, or even
higher up the ladder. In other words, to a
great extent women with a basic education
blend into a rapidly evolving social, econo-
mic and cultural environment, and become
persuasive agents of the changes that need
to be made. The report by the World
Commission on Culture and Development
advocates making much better use of women’s
productive capacities as a means of raising liv-
ing standards and improving the quality of life
for all.
UNESCO recognizes just how
much stands to be gained from enlisting the
help of women in efforts to lay the founda-
tions for sustainable development and, by so doing, enhancing the endogenous
knowledge with which all women all the world over are endowed. In the arid and
semi-arid lands of sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, UNESCO urges women to
play an active part in water-resource monitoring and management. In rural areas
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M i c ro - c re d i t i n B a n g l a d e s h
Micro-financing has helped to provide the least developed countrieswith a means of breaking out of poverty. Established in Bangladesh in
1983, the Grameen Bank – the bank of the poor -allow very poor peopleaccess to micro-credit schemes that ultimately serve to boost localeconomies.The loans – with their highly favourable repayment conditions– give individuals or, more often than not, groups an opportunity to launchincome-generating activities – activities frequently managed by women.UNESCO has joined forces with the Grameen Bank with a view tosupplementing that credit system with a crucial training component:teaching loan beneficiaries how to manage their micro-businesses, improvetheir quality of life and take account of the social and cultural dimensionsof development; training geared to encouraging the use of renewableenergies in rural regions, a decisive factor for economic development; andtraining in Member States wishing to set up similar financing institutions oftheir own.The Organization has also supported the Bank’s efforts to end theisolation of remote Bangladeshi villages by equipping them withradiotelephones.As part of another programme which combines the struggle againstpoverty with the conservation of traditional handicraft techniques,UNESCO and the Grameen Bank have supplied Bangladeshi womenweavers with support for the production of woven articles and clothing.Further cooperative steps in the interests of development wereexhibitions of their work and a fashion show.
of southern Africa, Malawi and a number of other LDCs, the special project
women speaking to women has managed – with some success – to persuade women
to set up and run community radio stations that broadcast programmes address-
ing the everyday interests of their listeners.
UNESCO has equally devoted much energy to a training project tar-
geting craftswomen in southern Africa, and offering them an option of extra
courses where they can learn how to adapt, package and market their output. In
Bangladesh, it has been sponsoring the Saptagram women’s association whose
exemplary action has persuaded poor women in rural areas that education could
be their key to freedom; the association has even notched up a number of suc-
cesses in Muslim countries whose traditions see a woman’s place as being
nowhere other than in the home, certainly not at school or in the labour market.
V i c t i m s o f e x c l u s i o n o r m a r g i n a l i z a t i o n
True to its ethical guidelines for action, UNESCO has a duty to listen widely to
humanity’s poorest, most needy groups, those most deprived of access to learn-
ing, and most exposed to discrimination. Defending the social entity rather than
territory is now the overriding priority. Who knows how many more people
in today’s modern world will, for one reason or another – war, acts of violence,
illness, ignorance, age – soon find themselves abandoned on the roadside with
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Street children in Brazil
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neither the strength nor means to pull themselves to their feet and continue on
their way.
Over the past decade, UNESCO has placed the struggle against
social exclusion and marginalization at the very heart of its strategy. The battle
has assumed forms as diverse as the population groups it is helping – the sick,
the handicapped, the unemployed, the homeless, refugees, migrants, etc. – who
all share a common need for dignity.
What is more, the Organization has become seriously involved in
defending the cultural rights of minority communities and indigenous peoples
who number some 300 million individuals across more than 70 countries world-
wide. For instance, the Maya World project – launched in 1993 and covering five
countries – sets out to introduce and systematize Mayan-language education in
Guatemala and Central America by providing local associations with capacity-
building support.
Indeed, educational measures are a key means by which the
Organization seeks to gradually restore a semblance of normality to the shattered
lives of all victims of exclusion. It has stepped up the number of one-off actions
carried out jointly with donor agencies, specialized United Nations agencies and
NGOs. One such example is UNESCO’s work in helping the landmine victims of
Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina); another is the four-month radio broadcast
for the thousands unable to attend school and the unemployed in the cities of
Mongolia – and undertaken as part of a broader literacy campaign.
UNESCO recognizes that access to loans can help the very poor
break out of the poverty cycle by becoming self-employed. In September 1995, the
Organization therefore signed a cooperation agreement with the Bangladeshi
Grameen Bank – one of the most important banks for the poor – which provides
in particular for an education programme, designed to help the bank’s customers
establish and develop a family business and the setting up of a company to equip
rural societies with radiotelephones.
Over and beyond policies with such a specific focus on microbusi-
ness development, UNESCO’s struggle against social exclusion has – on rare
occasions – assumed a whole new dimension, as in the case of the contribution
to the eradication of apartheid in South Africa. Since 1966, when UNESCO’s
first report on apartheid was published, the Organization has vigorously cam-
paigned to persuade public opinion that any government creed that advocates
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separate development – with whites on one side and so-called coloureds on the
other – is an affront to human rights, a threat to peace, cannot be reformed and
should therefore be abolished.
Victory came with the release of Nelson Mandela in February 1990,
and was confirmed when the country held its first ever multiracial elections in
April 1994. At last, the seasoned fighter – who, at the time of his trial, declared
himself ready to die for his ideals and left his prison cell 27 years later with his
sense of determination undiminished – had a chance to see his dream materializ-
ing. The foundations had been laid for a democratic, non-racial and unified South
Africa which, in December 1994, would once again return to take its seat at the
Place Fontenoy in Paris. As President Mandela said on the occasion of
UNESCO’s fiftieth anniversary, the painful history of South Africa emphasizes the
absolute necessity of rallying round a form of development centred on the human being.
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50th anniversar y of the Constitution of UNESCO
© UNESCO/M.Claude
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D e m o c r a t i c p r i n c i p l e s �
Should we have believed that we were witnessing a miracle when, in the months
and years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was such an upsurge of demo-
cratic fervour all over the world? This was all the more striking because democracy
had been stifled for far too long. Did we at the time really grasp the significance
of this profession of faith and above all gauge its impact?
This wave of enthusiasm has now subsided. It is true that democracy has,
in some places, gained ground and grown in strength, but in most instances it has not
stood the test of time and has lost much of its lustre. Events unfolded at such a pace
that neither those people who rallied to the cause through self-interest nor those who
defended it out of conviction were really equipped to realize the implications of the
commitment they were making. Democracy is not a slogan, it is an imperative.
As Mr Federico Mayor put it: The demise of an authoritarian regime is
not always synonymous with the birth of democracy. All too often, disenchantment and
disillusion are quick to undermine citizenship because the people involved may not have
come to terms with its deep-rooted significance.
Among the lessons which the founders of UNESCO had learnt from
the Second World War, was the fact that the denial of the democratic principles of the
dignity, equality and mutual respect of the human being was itself one among other
major causes liable to spark off conflicts. Thus, of all the Specialized Agencies of
the United Nations system, UNESCO is the only one whose Constitution refers
specifically to democratic principles.
The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 opened up promising
vistas for the struggle for democratic values. UNESCO accordingly lost no time
in seizing the opportunity it was afforded of reviving the debate with added impe-
tus. In 1990 alone, it organized two East-West meetings, one of journalists and
the other of scientists, and a seminar on Education and Democracy.
S a i l i n g w i t h t h e w i n d o f d e m o c r a c y
a �
Now the focus of worldwide attention, the struggle for true democracy
and democratic governance is at the very heart of the activities which UNESCO is
conducting in its search for a culture of peace and its defence of integrated devel-
opment. These two approaches form an undivided whole. Mr Mayor believes that
democracy is without any doubt the only appropriate scenario for development with a
human face.
In the opinion of the Director-General of UNESCO, what has to be
done is to strengthen at one and the same time peace, development and democracy,
which form an interactive triangle.There can be no viable peace or sustainable develop-
ment unless citizens - all citizens, men and women alike - are their joint sponsors
through the votes they cast and their actions.
C i t i z e n s h i p
B y virtue of its ethical mission, UNESCO’s democratic guidance is based on
the defence of the highest democratic principles and does not seek to
impose any particular democratic model on any society. It is incumbent upon
every society to find its own path to democracy in the light of its own specific
cultural and historic features. The Organization’s task lies in giving substance to
this concept, which often varies in content from one country to another, depend-
ing on political or economic considerations.
As noted in the Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by
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Associated SchoolsProject calendar
the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, Austria, in June 1993,
which drew their inspiration from the World Plan of Action on Education for
Human Rights and Democracy adopted at Montreal, Canada, in March 1993,
full respect for and promotion of all human rights are fundamental components
of democracy (cf. Part II, Chapter 2).
The United Nations entrusted UNESCO with a leading role in the for-
mulation, implementation and evaluation of projects under its Plan of Action for
Human Rights Education, 1995-2005. In this connection, the Organization has
developed a comprehensive and sound frame of reference for the coming years.
Freedom of expression and its corollary, freedom of the press, repre-
sent one of the cornerstones of democracy which in more general terms, also
rests on a state of mind and an attitude of active tolerance towards, and respect
for, others. The Organization is thus endeavouring to promote a genuine culture
of democracy in much the same way it is doing in connection with peace.
In so doing, it is not only targeting the developing countries, where
the introduction of political freedoms is bound up with the need to assert eco-
nomic and social rights. It is also taking within its purview the so-called devel-
oped countries, whose democratic record could be bettered in respect of issues
such as discrimination against women.
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Yehudi Menuhin with young musiciansduring the celebration of the 50th anniversar y of the UniversalDeclaration of HumanRights, December 1998UNESCO
© F
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In the final analysis, what should emerge from all these endeavours
and explorations is a modern concept of citizenship. Citizenship is neither more
nor less than people’s ability to live together in increasingly multicultural
societies. In other words, the Organization’s task is to smooth the transition from
democracy as a formality to democracy as something which people experience
and are conscious of in their everyday lives.
In this connection, UNESCO is working closely with the Advisory
Committee on Education for Peace, Human Rights, Democracy, International
Understanding and Tolerance in monitoring the implementation of the standard-
setting instruments and action plans in the Member States. For this purpose, it
is now finalizing the organization of a series of regional conferences, aimed at
evaluating national strategies in this regard and indeed at drawing up more strin-
gent ones.
The International Panel on Democracy and Development chaired by
Mr Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and
current Secretary-General of La Francophonie, is aimed at optimizing the
Organization’s action in favour of a democratic culture. The Panel considers that
globalization is the most significant challenge with which democracy and devel-
opment have to contend and that the shortfall of justice and the weaknesses of
education are the two main impediments to democratic governance.
A glimmer of hope? New rules of the international game now appear
to be taking shape, albeit with some hesitation, as witnessed by the recent estab-
lishment of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. These
are rules which, in some instances, manage to place the protection of values com-
mon to humanity – such as human rights, freedom of expression and tolerance –
above strictly national interests.
The importance attached to the promotion of human rights and thus
the existence of systems for monitoring their application are contributing to
breaking down the absolutism of authority. According to the International Panel,
the weakening of the State does not necessarily represent a threat to democracy, since it
often has the effect of attaching more importance to the individual. For all that, the
sovereign State will continue to be the prime actor of democracy.
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L e a r n i n g d e m o c r a c y �
It is not UNESCO’s task to devise democratic models in the place of its Member
States and deliver them ready to wear. The Organization does however con-
tribute to the efforts of all those who are learning about democracy and are
endeavouring to find genuine significance in concepts such as human rights,
freedom of expression and tolerance that have all too often become stereotyped.
UNESCO’s method is naturally rooted in education which, as Mr Mayor has
said, is the only vector of change in attitudes and ways of life, an open door to devel-
opment and democracy.
The Organization has set this long-term action against the back-
ground of the Strategy adopted by the World Conference on Education for All
held at Jomtien, Thailand, in March 1990. Learning about democracy does not
start suddenly with people going into a polling booth and placing their voting
paper into a ballot box; it actually starts slowly at children’s desks at school. This
is why UNESCO attaches such importance to sowing the seeds of a democratic
culture in pre-school and school communities with the support of parents and
teachers. This has been the practice since the 1950s in Costa Rica, for example,
through the use of a whole range of teaching methods and aids.
Such basic education includes the distribution to schoolchildren of
kits, so that they can become familiar, through texts and images, with the rights
and duties that will be theirs as citizens of tomorrow’s world. It also entails the
production of school newspapers, games simulating democracy and the twinning
of schools in order to accustom young people to the outside world, so that it
gradually ceases to appear to them as something strange or even threatening.
Through a sort of Discourse on Method, it is UNESCO’s task to urge
national authorities to improve curricula and textbooks, along with teacher train-
ing and teaching methods. In this connection, the Medium-Term Strategy 1996-
2001 lays particular stress on history teaching, with the proviso that prejudices
and stereotypes be excluded. It likewise emphasizes foreign language teaching as
a primary means of opening windows on to the world and of fostering intercul-
tural understanding.
In order to spread its message, the Organization uses the very dense
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b �
network of associated schools and universi-
ties and the UNESCO Chairs. Under the
Plan of Action for the United Nations
Decade for Human Rights Education 1995-
2005, it has developed a wide range of
teaching materials. For example, it has pub-
lished a revised edition, in English and
French, of Human Rights: Questions and
Answers and has given its support to the
translation into more than 12 national lan-
guages of Democracy: Eighty Questions and
Answers. The Organization has also stepped
up its collaboration with non-governmental
organizations, such as Civitas, working on
civics education.
In 1994, UNESCO also
launched the Philosophy and Democracy
Programme, in which the first practical step
consisted of the circulation of a question-
naire on the status of philosophy teaching,
to which 65 Member States replied, fol-
lowed by meetings of experts for the pur-
pose of drawing up proposals for action, and
lastly by the setting-up of networks for
exchanging ideas and experiences on teach-
ing methods, textbooks and curricula.
This intellectual activity even-
tually led to the formation of Philosophy and
Democracy networks in Asia and the Pacific
(APPEND), Latin America, Europe
(EPEND) and, in March 1999, Africa
(APHIDEM). A similar project for the Arab
countries is being planned for 2001. In
addition, in the book Taking action for
human rights in the twenty-first century
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S a n t i ago ( C h i l e ) a n d i t s p h i lo s o p hy c h a i r
Federico Mayor’s aim when he established the UNESCO philosophychairs was to add significantly to the number of instances of pluralistic
thinking in centres of excellence.As he is wont to say: Philosophy opens thewindows of the future.A UNESCO philosophy chair is primarily a focal point for the excellenceof living philosophy grounded in a tradition in which modernity is notmerely a repetition of the same thing but is an invention of somethingnew. It is also a prime locus where high-level teachers, researchers andstudents can share knowledge. Lastly, it is the setting for the expression of the anti-consensus – just like democracy – which accepts the pluralismof references and schools and seeks dialogue going beyond all frontiers.From its natural setting in universities, it is the Chair’s task to pit therigour of philosophical thinking against the issues of the present-day worldand to make it readily accessible to the largest possible number of people,for it is a key factor in alerting them to the values of democracy and theculture of peace.The first UNESCO philosophy chair was inaugurated by Federico Mayorin Santiago, Chile, in March 1996. Its theme went by the title Public spaceand experiences of plurality.The Chair’s incumbent is Humberto Giannini, aprofessor of ancient and medieval philosophy. His thinking, which has beendescribed by Paul Ricoeur as strange and surprising, sets out to findcommon ground beyond the experience of everyday living perceived asfragmentation, routine and repetition. He epitomizes the ethical figure ofChilean awareness and is stubbornly engaged in a combat to set Stateuniversities and philosophy studies in his country on a new footing.The Santiago Chair has set itself the task of going back over the conceptsof the exercise of knowledge, the use of reason, dialogue, truth, freedom,ethics, democracy, nation and identity.A scientific committee, composed ofChilean and foreign philosophers, with the active participation of students,has been established in conjunction with the Chair. It holds fourpermanent seminars, which take place in the Chilean provinces and on theother side of the Andes, in Argentina and Uruguay. It organizesinternational symposia on subjects such as tolerance and secrecy inpolitics and hosts events connected with UNESCO’s philosophyprogrammes, such as Democracy and philosophy in the world, Democraticcitizenship and philosophy education and the culture of peace in Latin Americaand the Caribbean.The UNESCO Chair is also a prime venue for providingtraining in the teaching, defence and promotion of philosophy. It has abook collection published by the Ediciones LOM.There are now eight UNESCO philosophy chairs worldwide – in Santiago,Caracas, Paris, Seoul,Tunis,Ankara, Montreal, Moscow and St Petersburg.
published in November 1998 on the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, leading figures in the scientific, educa-
tional and cultural fields each made a practical proposal on the subject.
P r o p a g a n d a a n di n f o r m a t i o n
D efending freedom of expression is naturally at the heart of UNESCO’s con-
cerns. It has accordingly provided financial and moral support to the
International Freedom of Expression Exchange Network (IFEX), which was cre-
ated at the initiative of a number of non-
governmental organizations and whose
activities range over more than 160 devel-
oping countries and countries in transition.
This electronic information network, which
has been operational since September 1992
and can be accessed via the Internet, also
acts as an alert and intervention network in
the event of violations of freedom of expres-
sion and specifically of press freedom.
In this connection, over the last
decade the Organization has illustrated its
determination to become actively involved
in the promotion of independent and plural-
istic media. The informal East-West round
table meeting of professionals held in 1990
and the five successive regional seminars
held between 1991 and 1997 in Windhoek,
Namibia; Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan; Santiago,
Chile; Sana’a, Yemen; and Sofia, Bulgaria,
have helped decision-makers and journalists
themselves to become more aware of the
importance of freedom of expression and of
the free flow of information.
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L e a r n i n g a b o u t p e a c e i n E l S a l va d o r
UNESCO’s Culture of Peace programme has found fertile ground in ElSalvador, where it is engaged in encouraging the move from a culture
of war to a culture of peace, cementing that peace and strengthening it tocope with domestic crises and ethnic differences.The national programme set in motion just after the 1992 peace agreementsis based on dialogue and cooperation between the government and thenon-governmental organizations (NGOs), many of which were associatedwith the different guerrilla factions.Yesterday’s enemies are now expectedto work together at each stage in the programme.The projects which make up the programme are consistent with anumber of criteria: they have to be based on participation andcooperation, focus on teaching and learning, be decentralized andtranscultural and have an international dimension.The first project to start operating is a daily radio programme forwomen.This programme is broadcast all over the country, even inmarketplaces, and its coverage is excellent. It discusses subjects such aswomen’s rights, violence against women, domestic tasks and similar topics.These are interspersed with music and other forms of entertainment.Following a long drawn-out and often difficult series of debates and in-depth discussions between representatives of government and civil society,it proved possible to decide on the organization, content and themes ofthe broadcasts, their aims and funding, and the training of teams, on all ofwhich a consensus had to be reached at each decision-making stage.The sequel was a non-formal education project providing back-up for the radio broadcasts.The overriding idea to emerge from all this was that the establishment ofa culture of peace is not only a fine concept and a praiseworthy ideal, butis also useful from the pragmatic standpoint and is beneficial to everybody.
The overwhelming impact, as officials in its Operational Unit stress,
of warmongering propaganda and incitement to hatred in setting off and exacerbating
conflicts has led UNESCO to take resolute action particularly in emergency
wartime and post-war situations. A number of activities have been carried out in
liaison with the United Nations and in cooperation with the relevant professional
organizations, such as those in the capital of Burundi, where a Press House has
been opened, and in different regions of the former Yugoslavia, where an SOS
Medias programme has been launched with the aim of providing financial sup-
port for independent media and alerting the public to the importance of unbi-
ased information.
E n s u r i n g t h e t r a n s i t i o n
E ven more directly, UNESCO has made it its duty to help strengthen ongo-
ing democratic processes. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Organization
has opened a new chapter in East-West dialogue by endeavouring to foster the
emergence of a genuine democratic culture, especially in the countries of Central
and Eastern Europe.
Even though, after a 10-year transitional period, the outcome is not
yet commensurate with its hopes, the Organization continues its efforts through
a Programme for Central and Eastern European Development (PROCEED). It
is also involved in the reshaping of the former Soviet Union by, for example,
assisting Azerbaijan, now that it has regained its independence, to modernize the
Azerbaijani language. This has been elevated to the status of official language in
the place of Russian, in an endeavour to make it a vehicle for greater openness to
the outside world.
UNESCO has been closely following the movement of the on-going
democratic processes in the developing countries, where the risks that they might
be cut short were all the greater because of inadequate educational levels. In
Malawi, directly after the multi-party elections held in 1994, cooperative links
were established with that country’s parliament and university, with a view to
training 89 parliamentarians in four main areas, including governance, democracy
and human rights.
UNESCO has also made its duty to give credence to, and hence
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endorse, certain peace processes which, by
the nature of things, are eventually destined
to become democratic processes, given that
the two concepts are so closely linked. For
example, in El Salvador, following a long
and bitter civil war, a national programme
was established, with learning about demo-
cratic citizenship and human development
as its priority aims.
Much the same approach was
taken in assisting the Palestinian people fol-
lowing the signature of the Oslo agreements
with Israel. The 1995-1999 action pro-
gramme makes provision, among other pro-
jects, for the preparation of a five-year plan
for education, school rehabilitation and
preservation of the architectural and
archaeological heritage of Bethlehem.
In order to succeed in its task,
UNESCO needs to be able to draw on
strong partnerships. It has to foster close
relations with all those who are endeavour-
ing to strengthen democratic processes, such as local authorities, the academic
community, financial institutions, intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations and many other associations.
It is through a genuine decentralization policy enhancing the role of
the National Commissions and field offices – as in the case of Mexico, where the
Unit for Democratic Culture and government has been established – that all the
wealth and diversity of the current democratic experiments can be seen in their
true light. In the final analysis, UNESCO is now in a good position where, – in
the name of its ethical vocation which should not be confused with abstract ideas
– it can more readily fulfil its mission of democratic guidance.
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Ke e p i n g p a c e w i t h t h e d e m o c rat i c
t ra n s i t i o n i n E a st e r n E u ro p e
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Communistregimes in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, UNESCO
made a fresh start in its relations with that region. PROCEED (Programmefor Central and Eastern European Development) has taken a wide varietyof steps to foster the democratic transition in these countries byestablishing links between the scientific, cultural and social aspects of thechanges taking place.PROCEED is focusing particularly on the development of infrastructuresand human resources and is giving its support to networking.The stepstaken include provision of support for the launching in 1997 of Eurodialog,a cultural network on the Internet, created by the Institute of Eastern andCentral Europe in Lubin (Poland); assistance for the establishment of avirtual institution for translation training and research in Central Europe;and the organization of a seminar on adult education, democracy andhuman rights, which was held in Sopron (Hungary) in September 1996.UNESCO has also provided assistance to the Institute of InternationalRelations in Zagreb for the publication in 1997 of a document entitledCulture in Eastern and Central Europe: changes in values and institutions.In its programme, PROCEED UNESCO has also endeavoured to mobilizenew partners, especially financial partners, through campaigns designed toobtain grants and encourage sponsorships by foundations. For example,since mid-1993, UNESCO has succeeded in planning two major projects inRussia involving the renovation of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and ofthe Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.
Par t 2 :
An ideal in action
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E d u c a t i o n t h r o u g h o u t l i f e �
It is difficult to imagine how young people or adults can successfully contend
with an ever-more complex and interdependent world without the support of a
radically-reformed education system, capable of meeting their needs or their taste
for learning. This is the major challenge for UNESCO at the dawn of the twenty-
first century. (cf. Part II, Chapter 2).
Reflection on the issue over the last 10 years has largely been inspired
by the conclusions of the World Conference on Education for All, held in
Jomtien, Thailand, in March 1990. That event was followed by further discus-
sion: at the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education in Hamburg in
July 1997; the World Conference on Higher Education in Paris in October 1998
and the Second International Congress on the Development and Improvement
of Technical and Vocational Education in Seoul in April 1999 and has been fur-
ther supplemented by the work of the International Commission on Education
for the Twenty-first Century, presided over by Mr Jacques Delors.
The fight against ignorance in the world has undeniably notched up
a number of victories. The United Nations Specialized Agencies have committed
themselves to massive investment in the education sector and an even more con-
clusive and encouraging development is the fact that a policy shift in the right
direction has begun in the Member States themselves, particularly the more pop-
ulous among them. Thus child school attendance worldwide has risen from
approximately 250 million in the early 1950s to over 1 billion today, but at the
same time, the number of adults unable to read or write has increased threefold,
rising sharply from 1 billion in 1960 to the present figure of over 2.7 billion.
The fact therefore remains that the battle is far from won. Only con-
sider the number of children today who are, as it were, playing truant. There are
still some 130 million of primary-school age – 40 million of them in sub-Saharan
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Africa – not yet enrolled in school and over a hundred million who drop out
before they reach school-leaving age – not to mention the 960 million adults who
are illiterate. While the developing countries are the ones to feel the full force of
this particular scourge of society, so-called advanced societies, where some 10 to
20 per cent of the population can neither read, write nor count, are also affected.
The Jomtien Conference established the outlines of a basic educa-
tion for all. This was to comprise both essential learning tools (such as literacy, oral
expression, numeracy and problem solving) and basic content (such as knowledge, skills,
values and attitudes), in short, an essen-
tial handbook of what people everywhere
require to live and work in dignity and to
participate fully in development.
The question remains, how-
ever, as to what the framework should be
for its delivery. The Report of the Inter-
national Commission on Education for
the Twenty-first Century endorses the
view that: The basis for a learning society is
a formal education system where each indi-
vidual is introduced to the many different
forms of knowledge. It goes on to state
that: There is no substitute for the teacher-
pupil relationship, which is underpinned by
authority and developed through dialogue.
It is fair to ask whether pre-
sent-day education systems – frequently
based on selection, organized into mutu-
ally exclusive options and heavily marked
by an elitist past, and in many countries
modelled to a greater or lesser extent on
foreign systems – are in fact capable of
equipping young people properly for the twenty-first century. Mr Delors does not
rule out the possibility, provided that a more flexible system that allows greater cur-
ricular diversity and builds bridges between different types of education, or offers sandwich
courses, or job-release schemes can be set up as a safety-net against failure at school.
K n ow - h ow i n ki t f o r m
No need to be able to read and write in order to learn! With theUNESCO training kits for illiterate rural populations a number of
basic techniques are explained by means of drawings and videos in simpleand accessible forms.The organic farming kit, for instance, after testing in Panama, is going toenable farmers all over Central America to assimilate the theory andpractice of natural fertilizing of their market gardens and so constituteadditional sources of revenue.The programme also encouragespopulations to organize and form cooperatives.A video cassette, an audio cassette and a booklet of illustrations make upthe student’s working materials.There is a complete handbook for theteacher, who may be a member of the community able to read and write.The student’s material describes, step by step, the whole process to beimplemented and all the skills to be acquired. Periodical radio programmesconsolidate this learning.Kits on such appropriate technologies, traditional or modern techniques,that are easy to master and do not harm the environment have beenproduced on the building of bamboo houses, the manufacture of pottery,and of bricks – a technique which was speedily turned to account afterthe recent devastation of the region by hurricane Mitch.This programme is part of a broader project, Education to fight exclusion,under which alternative forms of education are being set up with a viewto combating marginalization – night schools, street corner schools andyouth camps.
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However, many developing countries lack the financial resources to
provide good-quality basic education for all and in addition, the needs of certain
special groups of learners whose number is on the increase – war victims, street
children, the handicapped, refugees, to name but some – have to be met. For
these reasons, the idea of setting up low-budget formal and informal education
systems, consistent with the conclusions of the Jomtien Conference, has now
come to be seen as an option.
In the same spirit, within the framework of an ad hoc Forum of
Reflection set up by its Executive Board in 1993, UNESCO introduced the con-
cept of Learning without Frontiers and called for the use of all available instru-
ments and channels of information – libraries, television, radio and other media
– plus social action, to bring education to those without it
L e a r n i n g t o l i v e t o g e t h e r
U nder UNESCO's impetus the concept of education – like those of peace,
development and democracy – has come to take on an hitherto unprece-
dented dimension. This whole area of thinking now goes way beyond the tradi-
tional scenario of teacher and pupils and chalk and talk within the confines of the
classroom. As Mr Mayor points out: Education can no longer be conceived of as a
chance offered only once and restricted to a specific period of a person's life. It should be
seen as a continuing process whereby individuals are offered learning opportunities not
just once but many times throughout their lives.
The concept of learning throughout life developed by the Inter-
national Commission on Education emerges as one of the keys to the twenty-first
century. Based on the four pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to
be and learning to live together it goes beyond the traditional distinction between
initial schooling and continuing education.
Mr Delors refers in this connection to a possibility, open to all young
people, of being allocated a study-time entitlement at the start of their school
career entitling them to a certain number of years of education. Their entitle-
ment would be credited to an account with an institution which would manage a
capital of time for each individual, together with the appropriate funds.
Individuals could use their capital as they saw fit, setting aside part of it so as to
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benefit, for example, from continuing education in adulthood and even supple-
menting it by paying in more funds.
The aim, at the end of the day, is to create a learning society to meet
everyone’s need – young people and adults alike – to be at all times at the lead-
ing edge of modernity, and to have access to the most up-to-date technological
and scientific knowledge and to keep abreast of change. It is equally important,
however, in an increasingly multicultural world, to develop the ability to live
together through the acquisition of humane, civic values.
In this context, an experimental programme being run in Zambia,
introduces children in their first six years of schooling to issues of population
growth, discrimination against women, the ways in which AIDS is transmitted
and problems of environmental deterioration. At the other end of the spectrum,
the Plan of Action approved at the recent World Conference on Higher Education
identifies the main task as being to train responsible citizens and proposes that
this should be done through the provision of an open system for higher educa-
tion and for learning throughout life.
Adult literacy campaign
in Cameroon
© U
NES
CO
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S c i e n c e i n t h e p l u r a l �
Science in all its multiple dimensions stands at the forefront of the conquest
of learning. It is certainly important to roll back the frontiers of knowledge,
but this should not be done indiscriminately. One of UNESCO’s aims here
is to encourage the emergence of a
new generation of engineers who will
increasingly make use of environmentally
friendly technologies, compatible with
the principles of sustainable development
(cf. Part II, Chapter 2).
The Medium-Term Strategy
1996-2001 lays stress on the fact that
knowledge should above all be shared. In
this context, UNESCO publishes a bien-
nial World Science Report, which
describes major trends in the exact and
natural sciences worldwide. It has now
appeared three times: in 1994, 1996 and
1998. The Report constitutes an invalu-
able tool for decision-makers.
In the Strategy currently
being implemented, the basic sciences are
invited, in short, to focus their work on
improving human resources in an attempt
to close the science gap between the
industrialized and the developing world.
Evidence of that divide can be seen in the
fact that 30,000 highly qualified scientists
from countries in the South currently put
their learning to use in the North.
The social sciences, whose
importance was underlined at the World
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Re c og n i t i o n o f
s c i e n t i f i c a c h i eve m e n t
UNESCO and its Member States have, over the years, founded anumber of Prizes through gifts from several generous donors to
encourage innovative research, help disseminate and popularize scientificlearning and draw attention internationally to outstanding research.The UNESCO Science Prize, founded in 1968, rewards an outstandingcontribution, through the application of science and technology, to thedevelopment of a developing Member State or region.The Sultan Qaboos Prize for Environmental Preservation isawarded every two years in recognition of a contribution to themanagement or preservation of the environment consistent with thepolicies, aims and objectives of UNESCO.The Carlos J. Finlay Prize, founded in 1977 at the initiative of theCuban Government is awarded in recognition of research anddevelopment work in the field of microbiology and its applications(including immunology, molecular biology and genetics).The Javed Husain Prize, founded in 1987, thanks to an initial grant fromProfessor Javed Husain of India, is awarded to young scientists undertakingpure or applied research in the natural or social sciences, technology,medicine or agriculture.The Pasteur Medal, sponsored jointly by UNESCO and the InstitutPasteur was first awarded in 1995, to mark the centenary of the death ofLouis Pasteur, in recognition of discoveries in the fields of health,fermentation, food or agriculture with applications of benefit to humanhealth.The Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science, funded by UNESCOthrough the Kalinga Foundation Trust, established by the donor,Mr Bijoyanand Patnak of the State of Orissa in India, has been awardedsince 1951.Lastly, the International UNESCO/Helena Rubinstein Awards inrecognition of the achievements of women scientists were presented for the first time in January 1998.
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Science Conference in Budapest, Hungary, in June 1999, are to turn their atten-
tion to analysing and mastering the various forms of change manifest in our pre-
sent-day world: demographic development connected with mass migratory move-
ments between regions; women's integration into society as agents of social
change in the development process; the changes occurring within the family unit;
or the phenomenon of urbanization, that towards the end of this century will
affect almost half the world's population and is particularly marked in develop-
ing countries. Hence one of the projects included in UNESCO's Medium-Term
Strategy 1996-2001 concerns the Management of social transformations.
It is now accepted that, if research is to be more effective in tackling
the complexity of the present-day world, it can no longer be carried out in isola-
tion. All research must increasingly take place within the framework of interdis-
ciplinary projects, developed along thematic rather than sectoral lines, using an
approach that makes use of all the Organization's fields of competence and its
various spheres of knowledge.
UNESCO’s aim is to build more bridges between the various branches
of scientific knowledge: namely the social, human, exact and natural sciences. In
the Programme and Budget for 1996-1997 The sciences in the service of develop-
ment were for the first time covered by a single major programme, based on three
pluridisciplinary programmes geared to three objectives: contributing to the
advancement and sharing of scientific knowledge; applying that knowledge
to solving problems relating to the environment and social development;
and encouraging a shared reflection on the ethical implications of scientific
knowledge.
The aim of the Management of Social Transformations (MOST)
Programme, set up in 1994, is to create links between researchers and decision-
makers, in other words bring together research teams from different countries to
discuss matters of common interest and encourage them to formulate social
development policies. In general terms, the thrust of the international scientific
programmes has shifted towards the search for solutions, which are socially and
humanely adapted to the practical problems facing the world today: desertifica-
tion, floods, drought, the fallout from natural disasters, water resources manage-
ment, waste disposal or reducing the level of pollution in urban areas.
In a Joint Statement published in November 1997 the Chairpersons
of UNESCO's five science programmes: the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
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Commission, the Man and the Biosphere Programme, the International
Hydrological Programme, the International Geological Correlation Programme
and MOST stated that: Threats to environmental security have become as great a
risk to peace as military threats have been in past years. These key figures felt at the
time that a unique opportunity to address the issue of the social responsibility of the
sciences would be offered by the World Science Conference.
C u l t u r e : m e m o r y a n d c r e a t i v i t y �
Culture which is an all-purpose word with a multitude of meanings, has never-
theless acquired particular overtones as the present millennium draws to its
close. The seemingly inescapable phenomenon of globalization and the geopoliti-
cal upheaval resulting from wars and migratory movements has produced a sud-
den awakening of identities and a need for people to draw strength from their
roots in order to cope with day-to-day existence (cf. Part II, Chapter 2).
The success or failure of sustainable development strategies is closely
related to the way such cultural imperatives – stronger now than ever before –
are taken into account. This idea was endorsed by the reflection and the projects,
carried out during the World Decade for Cultural Development 1988-1997, for
which UNESCO was the lead agency within the United Nations system.
In view of the tasks assigned to it under its Constitution, in particu-
lar that of advancing the mutual understanding of peoples and helping them acquire
a truer and more perfect knowledge of each other's lives, UNESCO is paying close
attention to the worldwide shake-up that is slowly but surely shaping a new cul-
tural atlas. In an attempt to throw light on this particular area of the future, the
Organization set up a World Commission on Culture and Development, chaired
by Mr Pérez de Cuéllar.
In its report, submitted in November 1995, the Commission empha-
sized the strengths inherent in diversity. If the communities of the world are to
improve their human development options they must first be empowered to define their
futures in terms of who they have been, what they are today and what they ultimately
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want to be. Every community has its cultural
and spiritual affiliations reaching back sym-
bolically to the dawn of time, and must be in
a position to honour them.
UNESCO’s commitment to
large-scale projects illustrating the rich-
ness of the world's cultural heritage in
terms of memory and creativity remains
unwavering. However, the Organization
also feels that the time has come to move
from praising diversity to building pluralism.
The Commission for its part takes the
view that as each one of us goes further and
deeper into the unexplored territory of our
singularity, there is good reason to hope that
we will discover there the unmistakable foot-
print of a common humanity.
D e a dL a n g u a g e s
I n order to respond to the call of cul-
tural identity, UNESCO’s safeguard-
ing action (25 campaigns launched in the
past 12 years) is carried out within a
much broader framework than previously.
Alongside the traditional forms of protec-
tion of the cultural and natural heritage
defined in the 1972 Convention (the
World Heritage List currently includes
582 sites in 114 States) there is now a list
– admittedly under a different legal
framework – covering masterpieces of the
oral and intangible heritage of humanity,
L a n g u age s f o r p e a c e
There are between 5,000 and 6,000 languages currently in use in theworld today. Many, however, are in danger and at least a thousand or
so of them could die out in the coming years. Languages are not just ameans of communication, they are worlds of meaning that carry thetraditions and spirit of peoples, serving as links between humanity andhelping its members live side by side with one another.Aware of the immense worth of that cultural and linguistic inheritance,and its vulnerability, UNESCO has been developing the LINGUAPAXProgramme since 1986.The broad aim of the project is to bring a specificlinguistic solution to the problems posed by the quest for peace, thedefence of human rights and the promotion of education for democracythat is respectful of linguistic diversity. Indeed, conflict is very often boundup with situations in which linguistic and cultural identities are eitherbeing asserted or contested.Recalling the indissoluble link between peace and the spoken word,1 theDirector-General of UNESCO has continually stressed the need topromote the teaching of languages as a vehicle for peace and cooperationbetween peoples adding that this approach had very ancient philosophicalroots.The two definitions Aristotle gives of a human being as “a political animal”and “a being gifted with speech” evoke the same understanding of reality; life in... society is only possible if matters of common interest are discussed andresolved through dialogue and compromise, not by force.It is in this spirit, therefore, that the LINGUAPAX Programme seeks toidentify new foreign-language and mother-tongue teaching programmesbased on tolerance, understanding and solidarity, both intellectual andmoral, among human beings. It also strives to eradicate any stereotypesand prejudices that demean a given language. Crucial aspects of itsstrategy in this connection are teacher training and textbook design.
1. Address to the International Seminar on Language Policies/LINGUAPAX in Bilbao (Spain), ll March 1996.
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designated as such in a Proclamation adopted in October 1998 (cf. Part II,
Chapter 2).
Foremost among the many and varied forms of expression – oral tra-
dition, costume, music, dance and performance – that make up the wealth of this
intangible heritage are languages, which are the vehicle par excellence of cultural
diversity. However, here there is a need to act urgently: 2,000 of the 6,000 lan-
guages spoken around the world are threatened with extinction.
As far as the more traditional cultural and natural heritage is con-
cerned, UNESCO has moved away from the old stones concept towards a multi-
disciplinary approach which, as far as possible, links cultural with economic and
social development. This integrated strategy
for protecting the tangible heritage seeks to
tie in the preservation of historical buildings
with urban renewal – as has been done in
the case of a number of ancient cities: Fez
in Morocco, Sana'a in Yemen and Timbuktu
in Mali – so as to improve living conditions
for their inhabitants.
The Organization aims thereby
to operate at both ends of the cultural spec-
trum: to combine essential memory work
with the fostering of creativity in its many
and diverse forms. It has therefore turned its
attention over the last decade to the tradi-
tional pottery manufacture practised by the
Hmong people of Viet Nam, to setting up an
international network for the study of
nomadic civilizations, to research into what
have come to be termed Roads of Dialogue:
the Silk Road, the Slave Route, the Roads of
Faith and so on and to the fate of the
Gypsies, rejected in Europe for the past ten
centuries.
Cultural pluralism does not just
apply to the past; it is a highly valued asset
P é re z d e C u é l l a r C o m m i s s i o n :Culture , the last f ront ier of development?
In 1992, UNESCO and the United Nations assembled an independentgroup of eminent persons – economists, social scientists, artists and
thinkers – under the leadership of Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, the formerSecretary-General of the United Nations.This Commission was asked toexplore the interactions between culture and development and to submitproposals aimed at helping the international community to achieve a better understanding of those issues.Considering that the future of the planet will to an ever greater extent be one of interdependence among nations, the Commission believes thatcooperation among peoples can flourish only if they all share certainprinciples, which can be summed up in the form of five ethical pillars:the rights and responsibilities of human beings, democracy and civilsociety, protection for minorities, conflict resolution by peaceful meansand equitable negotiation, and inter-generational equity.In accordance with its remit, the Commission formulated a number ofrecommendations which, in the words of Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, should be seen as a series of beginnings, not as a series of ends: production of anannual report on culture and development in the world; internationalmobilization of cultural heritage volunteers; proposals for an internationalplan for equality between the sexes; measures to promote access, diversityand competition in the international media; protection of cultural rights as basic human rights; promotion of universal ethics in world governance;a United Nations system that is centred on peoples; and organization of a World Summit on Culture and Development.
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for the present and for the future. In this
context, one of UNESCO’s aims is to
bring forth new forms of creativity: for
instance, by adapting African traditional
dance to the modern stage, launching a
Ten-year Plan of Action 1990-1999 for the
Development of Crafts in the World, or, in
an even more unexpected departure, in
March 1996 organizing a fashion parade
in the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, thus
putting the talents of 50 young fashion
designers from 48 countries on show.
Another facet of a cultural
pluralism that endeavours to keep up
with the realities of the modern world is
revealed, in the UNESCO project on
Culture in the neighbourhood: an Afro-
European Interaction, which focuses on
suburbs, neighbourhoods and other
aspects of cities, which have been
described by the Organization as reposito-
ries of every hope, sources of every danger,
but also a form of habitat where a civic cul-
ture and a culture of peace can be practised
in every day life.
T h e Ro a d s o f D i a log u e
Cultural identities are forged over time as encounters, influences, andmigratory movements have their impact.At a time when such
identities are, for better or for worse, to the fore, UNESCO hasembarked upon a study of the processes involved or the roads that onceserved to connect peoples: the Slave Route, the Silk Roads, the Iron Roadsand the Routes of al-Andalus where religious and cultural dialoguesconverge.This dialogue among cultures is one of the basic building blocksof a culture of peace.For over seven centuries Spain stood at the crossroads of a vast networkof routes connecting the Arab world with Western Christendom and sub-Saharan Africa.The cultural outcome of these encounters is a form of art and artistic creation familiar to many, of which countless examplesexist in works of architecture and poetry. However, aestheticconsiderations should not overshadow the values that made thatexperience possible. UNESCO's Routes of al-Andalus Project explores the processes which served to consolidate that fruitful period of dialogueand its achievements and impact on our modern world.The study of the ways such encounters were forged and severed overtime in the Spanish region can provide the key to opening up newopportunities for dialogue among cultures and civilizations.The aims of this wide-ranging programme therefore include strengtheningintercultural dialogue, the discovery of shared values, creating anawareness of mutual contributions and borrowings, changing attitudes andbuilding bridges between different worlds and religions and between thepast and the present.By these means UNESCO is seeking to revive in present generations thefruitful interchange that was the heartbeat of the world of al-Andalus.
C o m m u n i c a t i o n b y w o r d a n d i m a g e �
The word communication, which is an over-used and almost hackneyed term
today, does not figure as such in UNESCO's Constitution. Despite this, over half
a century ago, the founders of the Organization foresaw the importance that com-
munication was to assume. They therefore assigned to the Organization the task
of promoting the free flow of ideas by word and image and, more specifically, to
advance the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples through all means of mass
communication. (cf. Part II, Chapter 2).
This task is a highly sensitive one: Where information is concerned,
power is more often the issue than shared learning and training for democracy;
and it requires respect for human rights and freedom of expression. In order to
respond to the feelings among countries of the South provoked by the inaccurate
pictures of their national life painted by countries in the North, the Second
Medium-Term Plan 1984-1989 put forward the concept of a New World
Information and Communication Order (NWICO).
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There ensued a bitter debate, which was fomented by misunder-
standings that were in some cases deliberately maintained, left UNESCO with a
somewhat tarnished image. The Organization has since resolutely put that period
behind it and in a less heated political climate the Third Medium-Term Plan
1990-1995 espoused a new strategy that will not lend itself to further confusion.
This new strategy, which aims to encourage the free flow of information, and to
promote a wider and more balanced dissemination of that information, without
obstacle to freedom of expression, was
reaffirmed in the framework of the
Medium-Term Strategy 1996-2001.
Over the past decade, the
Organization has concentrated its efforts
on the development of a free and plural-
istic press, particularly in countries
which, hard-hit by war, are now in search
of peace and democracy. One such exam-
ple was Bosnia, where the Organization
assisted the local media by rebuilding its
infrastructure, supplying newsprint and
providing training for journalists. Another
instance is Palestine, where UNESCO is
cooperating in setting up a television net-
work, and helping reorganize the WAFA
press agency; yet another is its support to
the African continent through the reorga-
nization of the pan-African news agency
PANA.
Such action comes within the
framework of the International Pro-
gramme for the Development of Commu-
nication (IPDC) set up in 1982. This pro-
vides support, in the form of technical,
commercial and editorial assistance, to a
variety of projects, including those sub-
mitted by private or non-governmental
C o m m u n i t y ra d i o s
For communities in disadvantaged urban areas and backward ruralregions the possibility of transmitting over the air waves opens the
door to development and improvement in their status and offers anopportunity for fostering a culture of peace and democracy.UNESCO has facilitated the setting up of many community radio stationsaround the world and has thus given different groups in society a chanceto promote dialogue and exchange experiences at local, national andinternational levels. Some pilot projects, particularly in small island States,combine modern and traditional technology.Once again, the priority as far as the Organization is concerned istraining and ensuring that women are involved.The training provided isessentially geared to communications systems but also covers breakdownrepairs and maintenance engineering.A seminar devoted specially to community radio in Africa which met in Kampala from 7 to 9 June 1999 brought together actors featuring in community radio programmes in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbeanand South-East Asia and members of NGOs and United Nations agencies,with a view to sharing experiences and strengthening community radioinitiatives on the African continent.In early 1999, a community radio station started up in Ghana with assistance from UNESCO. It broadcasts exclusively in the locallanguages and reaches an audience of roughly 500,000, peasants andfishermen, 65 per cent of them illiterate.The station is on air for 17 hours a day and programmes cover everyday practical subjects such as health, the environment and literacy, but also international news.The listeners make an active contribution to these programmes and children are also catered for through schools broadcasts, comedyshows and music programmes.
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organizations. The aim is that at least half the projects should concern media in
private ownership. Since its foundation, IPDC has funded some 600 projects in
over 100 countries.
Sub-Saharan Africa – inter alia South Africa, Burundi and Rwanda –
has been the major beneficiary of this Programme. Moreover it was in Namibia,
in May 1991, that 35 African countries adopted the Windhoek Declaration calling
for press freedom.
I n f o r m a t i o n h i g h w a y s
P ress freedom would be a hollow achievement indeed without the means of
producing and broadcasting programmes and disseminating information.
The coming together of telecommunications, information technology and broad-
casting opens up untold prospects for progress and the development of intellec-
tual co-operation. However, there is a grave risk that these impressive techno-
logical advances will benefit only a minority of countries, to the detriment of
cultural diversity.
In its Report, the World Commission on Culture and Development
expressed concern over such imbalances. Is information infrastructure fated to develop
in ways that widen the North-South divide? it asked. How can the largest possible
number of people be offered a ride on the information superhighway? adding that:
Without human and financial support, many countries may find themselves voiceless.
UNESCO is therefore endeavouring to meet that challenge and to
ensure that the new information and communications technologies are made
more widely available and used more efficiently. In 1997 it published a World
Communication Report and, in a few short years, has succeeded in becoming the
forum for an international debate on the threats, and the untold possibilities,
that lurk together in cyberspace.
That debate has raised questions as to the practical consequences in
the longer or shorter term for education, science and culture as a result of a tech-
nological revolution of this kind: diversification of education services, particularly
through distance learning; discussion groups on the Internet, digitalization of
the cultural heritage on-line, the organization of virtual libraries and laboratories
and better-quality administration as a result of governance on-line.
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In order to identify these challenges and to propose relevant strate-
gies, UNESCO, which has a duty under its Constitution to maintain, increase and
diffuse knowledge, set up a World Panel on Communication and Information in
February 1999. However the real challenge is not just to guarantee universal
access to the emerging information society.
The real goal is to ensure, as the Director-General of the
Organization makes clear, that this ‘information society’ becomes a genuine learning
society in which all members are able to learn what they want, when they want – and
not one wholly given over to market forces, competition and violence. UNESCO’s
action is anchored in the Organization’s ethical mission and took practical shape
at two international congresses in Monaco, the first, in March 1997, dealing with
the ethical, legal and societal aspects of digital information and the second, in
October 1998, with the challenges of cyberspace.
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Our dream is the dream of Gandhi, the dream
of Mandela, the dream […] of Mr Sakharov …
the dream of peacefully settling conflicts,
of respecting and protecting our differences
without recourse to violence. Thus spoke
the Director-General of UNESCO, on
10 December 1998 at the celebration in Paris
of the 50th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. It is the
clear-eyed dream of those whose daily belief
is that it is worth waging the battle to defend
the things of the spirit, the dignity of each child,
of each woman and of each man.
In UNESCO, this battle has a name –
the culture of peace. It is a vast movement
which has set as its goal to bring about the
transition from a culture of war, violence,
dominance and discrimination to a culture of
non-violence, dialogue, solidarity and
tolerance. Whereas UNESCO has been
entrusted with many tasks, it has but one
mission – to build peace. As expressly
stipulated in Article I of its Constitution,
The great projects in hand
UNESCO proposes to contribute to peace
and security by promoting collaboration among
the nations through education, science and
culture in order to further universal respect for
justice, for the rule of law and for the human
rights and fundamental freedoms which are
affirmed for the peoples of the world, without
distinction of race, sex, language or religion,
by the Charter of the United Nations.
UNESCO became closely involved in
questions affecting world peace from its
inception, but the idea of a culture of peace
dawned in July 1989 at the International
Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men, held
in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire. The Congress
brought together 160 specialists, leading
figures and observers from 65 countries,
drawn by its theme, Peace in the Minds of Men.
The participants adopted a final declaration
laying the foundations of the culture of peace:
Peace is reverence for life. Peace is the most
precious possession of humanity. Peace is more
than the end of armed conflict. Peace is a mode
A c u l t u r e o f p e a c e : f r o m d r e a m t o r e a l i t y
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of behaviour. Peace is a deep-rooted commitment
to the principles of liberty, justice, equality and
solidarity among all human beings. Peace is also
a harmonious partnership of humankind with the
environment. Today, on the eve of the twenty-first
century, peace is within our reach.1
In fact, the Yamoussoukro Declaration
gives UNESCO’s Constitution a new relevance
and makes it more operational in the face of
the upheavals disrupting the world as this
century draws to a close. The Yamoussoukro
Declaration puts forward a number of
recommendations. These include continuing
the study of the cultural and social origins of
violence, which was inaugurated by the Seville
Statement on Violence (May 1986); the
promotion of education and research in the
fields of peace, human rights, disarmament,
development and the environment; the
promotion of environmental education and
training; the preparation of a collection of
texts from all cultures on the themes of
peace, tolerance and human fellowship; and
the promotion of the international
instruments drawn up by the United Nations
agencies, and UNESCO in particular, which
constitute basic instruments of peace.
A n A g e n d a f o r P e a c e
In October 1992, the Executive Board of
UNESCO, at its 140th session, noting the
changes taking place on the world scene,
discussed an operational programme for the
promotion of a culture of peace. That initiative
came within the scope of the Agenda for
Peace, which had just been published by the
then Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Mr Boutros Boutros-Ghali. It was designed to
launch reconciliatory and cooperative
activities in the countries in which
peacekeeping operations were under way or
might subsequently be decided on. All these
activities were aimed at channelling energy
and goodwill into a common effort for the
benefit of all.
With this in mind, Mr Mayor, in
February 1994, set up a Culture of Peace
Programme Unit. Its responsibilities included,
among other things, coordinating efforts,
working out methods, and setting up national
and subregional programmes. It had also to
work synergistically with the United Nations.
A series of initiatives were taken to give
meaning to the idea of a culture of peace: the
World Plan of Action on Education for Human
Rights and Democracy (Montreal, 1993); the
Declaration and Programme of Action of the
World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna,
1993); the Declaration and Integrated
Framework of Action on Education for Peace,
Human Rights and Democracy (Geneva, 1995);
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and the Plan of Action of the United Nations
Decade for Human Rights Education
(1995-2004).
Central to UNESCO’s concern is an
insistent question, or rather a challenge: how
can the outbreak of conflicts be prevented?
On this point, Mr Mayor describes the
principle and the method applicable and also
the scope of what has to be done: We must
identify the roots of global problems and strive,
with imagination and determination, to check
conflicts in their early stages. Better still prevent
them. Prevention is the victory that gives the
measure of our distinctively human faculties. We
must know in order to foresee. Foresee in order
to prevent. We must act in a timely, decisive and
courageous manner, knowing that prevention
engages the attention only when it fails. Peace,
health and normality do not make the news. We
shall have to try to give greater prominence to
these intangible, these unheralded triumphs.2
UNESCO’s opening of a House of
Culture of Peace in Burundi in December
1994 was acclaimed by the General
Conference at its 28th session, for this
initiative answered the pressing need to re-
establish confidence, security and peace in
that country. The House of Culture of Peace
now carries out activities concerned with
education for peace, democracy and human
rights, promotes democracy and human rights,
and assists local associations in their action. It
cooperates with all the sectors of UNESCO
and works in close liaison with a wide range
of United Nations bodies and multilateral and
bilateral donors.
In Mozambique, the authorities are
working with UNESCO in setting up a culture
of peace programme to create an atmosphere
favourable to dialogue between different social
forces, so as to prevent the development of
intolerance and violence. At the request of the
President of Mozambique, UNESCO assisted
in the organization of a national conference
on a culture of peace held in 1997. In Mali,
too, in response to a request from the
President, UNESCO organized, jointly with the
Government, UNDP and the United Nations’
Department of Political Affairs, a forum on the
culture of peace, held in March 1997.
In Angola, following a request
formulated by the Government and the
United Nations Angola Verification Mission
(UNEVEN III), UNESCO assisted in the
organization of an awareness campaign
designed to inculcate respect for human rights
in the population and to further the
development of a culture of peace. UNESCO
also organized two symposia on the
fundamental problems of Sudan. One was held
in Barcelona in September 1995 and the other
in Noordwijk (Netherlands) in May 1996. They
afforded the Sudanese participants
opportunities to discuss certain decisive
issues affecting development and peace in
1. International Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men. Final Report,UNESCO, 1989, p. 49.
2. The Human Right to Peace. Declaration by the Director-General,January 1997.
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their country and to express their views
freely. In the Barcelona Declaration, adopted
at the first of these symposia, the participants
stated that they were determined to continue
the dialogue with a view to stepping up the
peace process.
In Somalia, it was the representatives of
various population groups who solicited
UNESCO’s assistance in instituting a culture
of peace. Meetings took place, in particular,
in Sana’a (Yemen) in April 1995, in Paris
in October 1995, and in Addis Ababa in
June 1996. In pursuance of their recommen-
dations, UNESCO strengthened its Addis
Ababa Office by the posting of a specialist in
culture of peace, and projects concerning
communication and education were submitted
to donor organizations. This initiative is
supported by the experience gained by
UNESCO in the implementation of its
Programme for Education for Emergencies and
Reconstruction (PEER), which has enabled it
in recent years to provide education for
refugees and displaced populations in Somalia.
In El Salvador, the national programme
for a culture of peace – the first to be set up,
in 1993 – is being implemented jointly by
the UNESCO San Salvador Office and the
UNESCO Culture of Peace Programme.
Various sectors are carrying out activities in
this connection, including a project addressing
young people implemented by the Social and
Human Sciences Sector and a project involving
journalists for which the Communication
Sector is responsible. Radio programmes
Pa l e st i n e – a s o c i e t y t o b e re b u i l t
As soon as the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements was signed by the Israeli Government
and the PLO in Washington, on 13 September 1993, UNESCO ralliedto assist in the rebuilding of the Palestinian civil society. Peace: thatmeant laying, day by day, the foundations of mutual trust by means ofeducation, which shaped people’s attitudes, the exchange ofknowledge, in the fields of science and technology in particular, whichwas the only way of facilitating development, and respect for oneanother’s culture – as Mr Mayor said at the time. UNESCO, presentin times of suffering and war, would remain at the side of those whohad chosen their course to help them to hold to it in theOrganization’s spheres of competence.A Memorandum of Cooperation between the PLO and UNESCOwas signed in Granada, Spain, on 9 December 1993. It provides theframework within which UNESCO and its chief bilateral andinternational financial partners can play a continuing role in thebuilding up of Palestine’s educational, scientific and culturalinstitutions.That initiative was closely followed by the setting up atUNESCO Headquarters of a Coordination Unit for Action in Supportof the Palestinian People.It was in the hope of contributing to a reconciliation in the MiddleEast that UNESCO took the initiative of holding an internationalencounter, Peace, the day after, in Granada on 8 and 10 December 1993.The idea of the encounter sprang from the conviction that, whilepolitical and economic cooperation are of great importance in theconsolidation of peace, the bases of true reconciliation are above allof an ethical and intellectual nature. In Granada, intellectuals fromIsrael and Palestine, as well as from a number of countries in theMiddle East, Europe and Asia and from the United States, were ableto discuss and work out together the shape of a common future forthe region and to think up and propose forms of cooperationbetween Israel and Palestine in regard to education, science andtechnology, the media, literature, the arts, and sport.From such exchanges and common projects the seeds of peace couldbe sown and take root – joint drafting of school textbooks, setting upof theatre troupes and orchestras, shooting of Israelo-Palestinianfilms, forming of mixed teams of scientific researchers, setting up ofan Israelo-Palestinian youth bureau, etc.With this unusual encounter,UNESCO sought to make the reconciliation sparked off by theWashington agreement an everyday practical reality for Palestiniansand Israelis in every sphere of life.
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(financed by the German foundation for
international development) catering
for the needs and interests of rural women
are now broadcast every day on more
than 40 stations under this Programme.
In this part of Central America, the
Guatemala peace accords signed in 1996
placed a special responsibility on UNESCO,
which was required to support and ensure
the continuity of the ongoing educational
programme for the displaced indigenous
populations – a programme largely financed
by the Government of the Netherlands and
implemented by the UNESCO subregional
office in Costa Rica – and the development
project for the Maya people carried out
for the Culture Sector by the Organization’s
Guatemala City Office.
In Asia, too, UNESCO is very active.
Ever since the President of the Philippines
visited UNESCO, in September 1994,
the Organization has been helping this
country to extend its national programme
for a culture of peace. The results were
presented at the second International Forum
for a Culture of Peace, which was held in
Manila in November 1995. The Report of
this Forum was published and sent to all
the Permanent Delegations to UNESCO.
Following the historic Mindanao Peace
Agreement signed in September 1996
by the Philippine Government and the Moro
National Liberation Front, of the Muslim
Autonomous Region of Mindanao, the
President of the Philippines set up a working
On 4 May 1995, at the second meeting of the jointUNESCO/Palestinian Authority Coordination Committee in Ramallah,27 projects with a budget of US $37 million were adopted under the Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP).Acommon feature of these projects was that they contributed to the consolidation of institutions and the assertion of Palestinianidentity, as well as to the development of human resources. May 1997saw the launching of 12 new PAPP projects.These were concentratedon the Palestinians’ top priorities in regard to education, science,culture and communication – rehabilitation of schools, preparation ofcurricula, primary teacher training, support for research andtechnology in higher education.To give permanence to the Organization’s presence and to follow upthe various programmes and projects, a UNESCO Ramallah Officewas inaugurated when Mr Mayor visited the Palestinian AutonomousTerritories on 24 and 25 May 1997. In the face of the stalemate in theIsraelo-Palestinian peace process, the Director-General, speaking inpublic, repeatedly sounded a note of warning concerning the risksengendered by this situation. As time went by, the impetus given by theOslo accord had slackened, he said. Growing desperation was leading toincreased distrust, tension and intolerable situations, which providedammunition for extremism on all sides and paved the way for furtherviolence and bloodshed.The promises had to be kept, the commitmentshonoured. Otherwise, the people of the region, especially the young people,observing the currently fluctuating behaviour of certain protagonists, wouldbe deeply disappointed – or, worse still, would become indifferent.1
The signing of six projects by the Israeli Government and thePalestinian Authority on 7 January 1999 marked the resumption ofthe Granada II process.These six agreements, signed by Yitzak Lior,representing the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Anis Al-Qaq,Vice-Minister for Development and International Cooperation in thePalestinian Autonomous Territories, and Daniel Janicot,AssistantDirector-General for the Directorate of UNESCO, make possiblejoint medical research (concerning beta thalassaemia, herpes, andrabies prevention), and cooperation in regard to musical educationand tourism, and dialogue between religions.The Music for PeaceProject, for instance, is intended to teach Palestinian and Israeli youthto appreciate and perform together the traditional music of theirregion.
1. Statement made by Federico Mayor on 5 February 1998 to persuade theparties to the peace process to overcome their distrust and resume thedialogue.
Palest ine – a society to be rebui l t (cont inued)
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group to establish a culture of peace centre in
his country.
In the former Yugoslavia, UNESCO,
as a part of the United Nations system,
is playing a pioneer role in assisting the
independent media during the period of
reconstruction. Priority activities in
this connection include: technical and material
assistance to the amount of almost
US $4 million, training, arrangements
to facilitate contacts and exchanges of
information between the media in the region
and the rest of the world, and support
for free, independent and pluralistic media.
These efforts have already produced concrete
results: the setting up of an independent
television channel in Sarajevo while the war
was still going on, the supply of newsprint
to independent newspapers, and the setting up
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of a bank of more than 200 hours of
television programmes.
Following an initiative of the President
of Georgia, UNESCO assisted in the creation
of the Tbilisi International Centre for
Dialogue between Cultures, for Peace and
Tolerance, whose mission is to foster peace
and tolerance in the countries of Central and
Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In this
connection, a UNESCO Chair in Intercultural
Dialogue is being established in the Georgian
Institute of Education.
In Kosovo, the Organization is actively
contributing to the operations undertaken by
the United Nations Interim Administration
Mission (UNMIK) created under Security Reso-
lution 1244. Two UNESCO experts in education
and cultural heritage have participated in the
UNMIK needs assessment mission (July 1999).
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rest on the four pillars of education: learning to
know; learning to do; learning to be and learning
to live together.
To step up the development of an
integrated system of education and training
for peace, human rights and democracy,
UNESCO has launched many initiatives:
the establishment of Chairs in more than
25 countries in Africa, the Arab States, Europe
and Latin America; historical research and the
sharing of knowledge; revision of history and
geography textbooks; evaluation and extension
of national plans for human rights education;
training programmes for educators, and
for teachers, journalists, civil servants and
members of the police and armed forces.
A number of works have also been
published in connection with education for
peace, human rights, tolerance and democracy
in order to provide academics, specialists in
the social sciences, educators and decision-
makers with food for thought and a basis for
discussion. Mention might be made of the
following, in particular: UNESCO and a Culture
of Peace: Promoting a Global Movement;
Democracy and Tolerance; From a Culture
of Violence to a Culture of Peace; Peace and War:
Social and Cultural Aspects. Teaching aids
and teachers’ handbooks have also been
produced – as, for instance, Human Rights:
Questions and Answers; Introducing Democracy:
80 Questions and Answers; Living Together
with our Differences; Education for Human
Rights and Citizenship in Central and Eastern
Europe.
Upon request of the United Nations,
UNESCO is seconding 11 specialists in
education, including a Director, to assist the
UNMIK’s Education and Culture Department
in the area of educational policy and planning
with the aim to contribute to the
strengthening of capacity-building processes.
UNESCO is also working on ensuring
the protection of the cultural heritage in the
region and the preservation of archives. A first
evaluation of damages and prevailing
protection measures have been undertaken.
The situation of the printing press has also
been under review during September 1999.
Yo u t h a n d t o l e r a n c e
It is clear that education is central to the
movement for the promotion of a culture of
peace. UNESCO’s Associated Schools Project
(ASP), which was started in 1953, is
undoubtedly a driving force in this connection.
This worldwide network of schools, which
encourages education for international
understanding and tolerance for children and
young people, has set up a series of pilot
projects to support schools in depressed areas
where violence is rife. According to the report
by the International Commission on Education
for the Twenty-first Century, chaired by
Jacques Delors, Learning: The Treasure Within
(1996), basic education for all throughout life,
in both formal and informal settings, should
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A n u n p re c e d e n t e d d i a log u e
w i t h t h e a r m e d f o rc e s
Further to the application of its Medium-Term Strategy 1996-2001,UNESCO has put a new project in hand, the promotion of a new
approach to security – security for populations in a democraticcontext. Nowadays, security matters are no longer the preserve of afew specialists and experts responsible for identifying risks andthreats on the basis of geographical hazards; they are a constantconcern of society as a whole.Back in 1994, the Organization gave expression to the manyattempts at rethinking security after the end of the Cold War. Forthis purpose, a seminar on peacekeeping and peace-building was heldat the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (Venetian Institute ofScience, Literature and the Arts) in May 1994. For the first time, theidea was put forward of holding a dialogue with the armed forceswith a view to building up a culture of peace.This dialogue started inApril 1995 with the Inter-American Symposium on Security for Peace:Peace-building and Peacekeeping, organized jointly by UNESCO, theOrganization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-AmericanDefense College (IADC),Washington.At the same time, Mr Mayor set up within UNESCO an informalpanel on this theme to work out this new approach to security.In 1995 and 1996, several leading figures took part in its discussions –in particular, Philippe Delmas, René-Jean Dupuy, Jesus Garcia Ruiz,Hector Gros Espiell, Pierre Hassner, General Carlo Jean,Robin F. Laird and Marcel Merle.Their papers were published in 1997in a work entitled Quelle sécurité? (French only).In June 1996, UNESCO opened another unprecedented dialogue, thistime with institutes for defence and strategic studies andrepresentatives of the armed forces from all over the world, at anInternational Symposium on the theme From partial insecurity to globalsecurity, which it organized jointly with the French Institut des hautesétudes de défense nationale (IHEDN), with the assistance of theItalian Centro di Altistud di Difesa (CASD), the Institute for SecurityStudies of the Western European Union (WEU), and the SpanishCentre of National Defence Studies (CESEDEN).The dialogue was continued on the American continent – inparticular, at the first Central American Military Forum for a Culture of Peace, which was held in San Salvador (El Salvador), also inJune 1996.That Forum led to the setting up of a Conference ofCentral American Armed Forces, with which UNESCO cooperatedwithin the framework of the second Central American Military Forum for a Culture of Peace (Guatemala,April 1998).
A series of large-scale projects are
being implemented in Africa in particular
in anticipation of the celebration of the
International Year for the Culture of Peace
in the year 2000. At national level,
the Forum on the culture of peace in
Cameroon, organized in Yaoundé from
24 to 26 November 1998 by the UNESCO
subregional office in Yaoundé and the National
Commission of the United Republic of
Cameroon for UNESCO, follows a number
of such initiatives already launched in Burundi,
Mali and Sudan. The objectives of the Yaoundé
Forum were to make Cameroonians aware
of UNESCO’s culture of peace activities and
to provide an opportunity for discussing
expectations, viewpoints, criticisms and
opinions about socio-economic, cultural,
religious, political, ethnic and other problems
likely to slow down the establishment of a
culture of peace in Cameroon. At subregional
level, a Culture of Peace Network in the Horn
of Africa and the Great Lakes region was
launched in Nairobi, Kenya, on 12 April 1999
by the UNESCO Programme for Education for
Emergencies and Reconstruction (PEER), in
close cooperation with the Kenyan National
Commission for UNESCO. One of the main
tasks of this network will be to encourage
community support and participation so as to
increase awareness of the various conflict-
resolution processes under way in Africa.
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mobilization campaign was launched in Paris
on 4 March 1999.
On that occasion, a group of Nobel
Peace Prizewinners including, among others,
Mairead Corrigan Maguire (Northern Ireland),
Rigoberta Menchú Tum (Guatemala) and
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (Argentina) presented
the Manifesto 2000 for a Culture of Peace and
Non-Violence4 to the public. Drawn up with
UNESCO’s assistance, the text is not an
appeal or petition to governments or higher
authorities. What we want, explained Mairead
Corrigan Maguire, is to reach the hearts and
minds of people.
The Manifesto seeks to enlist the
personal commitment of individuals all over
the world to the values of peace, tolerance,
sharing and solidarity, and to ensure that they
prevail in everyday life. Persons signing this
text commit themselves to respect life, to
practise active non-violence, to share their
time and material resources with others, to
defend freedom and cultural diversity, to
promote responsible consumer behaviour, and
to contribute to the development of their
communities.
Educator, artist and human rights
campaigner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, for his part,
questioned the approach to education. What
are we educating people for?, he asked. By
simply educating good engineers we are turning
out well-trained slaves. He also denounced
progress which only serves a few while millions
remain disenfranchised and marginalized.
UNESCO, entrusted by the United
3. Address delivered by Federico Mayor on 5 June 1996.
4. The Manifesto 2000 was drawn up by a group of Nobel PeacePrizewinners on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 1998in Paris. Among the first to sign it were: Norman Brolaug,Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Mikhail Gorbachov, Mairead CorriganMaguire, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Shimon Peres, José Ramos Horta,Joseph Rotblat, David Trimble, Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel andCarlos F. Ximenes Belo. The text of the Manifesto can be consulted and signed on the Internet.www.unesco.org/manifesto 2000.
M a n i f e s t o 2 0 0 0
T he global disproportion in the distribution of
wealth, which is worsening, has become
intolerable, said Mr Mayor, addressing the
Foreign Affairs Commission of the French
National Assembly.3 He went on to say that
ignorance was at the root of fear, extremism and
intolerance. Recalling that the initial purpose of
UNESCO was to contribute to peace through
education, science and culture, he noted that
50 years after that vast programme had been
worked out and put in hand, it was still not
completed. In fact, the building of peace was a
never-ending process; peace was built day by day
everywhere, in schools, homes, associations,
districts, parliaments, and in the minds of one
and all. The threshold of a new millennium
seemed an auspicious time for a new
awareness worldwide based on hope. In 1997
the United Nations General Assembly
proclaimed the year 2000 the International Year
for a Culture of Peace and, in 1998, it decided
to declare the years 2001-2010 the
International Decade for a Culture of Peace and
Non-Violence for the Children of the World. The
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Nations with the task of coordinating
preparations for the International Year for
a Culture of Peace, has undertaken the task
of circulating the Manifesto 2000 worldwide.
The objective set is to collect 100 million
signatures by the time the United Nations
General Assembly meets in September
of the year 2000. On the day when the
Manifesto was presented to the public,
moreover, the Director-General of UNESCO
symbolically designated 100 young people
with different backgrounds as culture of peace
messengers and entrusted them with passing
on this message of peace. In this way, people
were reminded that young people remain
the foundation-stone of that juster and
more peaceful world for which they will be
responsible in the future.
Of course, to promote the idea of a
lasting peace, UNESCO proposes to continue
the activities of the International Year beyond
the year 2000. Already, close links are being
formed with a number of partners at the
international, regional, national and local
levels; in 2001, the International Year of
Volunteers will be the occasion for setting up
yet more partnerships to continue the project
under way.
UNESCO also stepped up its efforts to
mobilize media professionals for a culture of
peace. As a contribution to the peace process
in the Middle East and following the Israeli-
Palestinian media meeting (Rhodes, Greece,
July 1998) an Israeli-Palestinian Media Forum
(IPMF) was set up, in December 1998, under
the auspices of UNESCO with a view to
encouraging professional solidarity among all
members of the IPMF in spreading a culture of
peace.
Further to the May 1997 meeting of
editors and publishers held in Puebla, Mexico,
a Network of Latin American Daily
Newspapers for a Culture of Peace
(REDIPAZ) was established. Similar meetings
were supported in Tbilisi, Georgia (September
1998) and in Moscow, Russian Federation
(November 1998 and March 1999). The
meeting of Latin American broadcasters for a
culture of peace (Panama, March 1999) in
which more than 300 communication
professionals participated, concluded with the
adoption of the Declaration of Panama, and
the establishment of a Network of Latin
American Radio Stations for a Culture of
Peace (RADIPAZ).
Over the years, the culture of peace
programme has clearly become the hub of all
UNESCO’s programmes. Historic dates stand
out in the struggle for peace, sharing and non-
violence: 1899 – The Hague Peace Conference;
1919 – the birth of the League of Nations;
1945 – founding of the United Nations and its
Specialized Agencies, including UNESCO. The
high point was the adoption by consensus by
the United Nations General Assembly, at its
fifty-third session on 13 September 1999, of
the Declaration and Programme of Action on
a Culture of Peace.
In the words of Federico Mayor, this
adoption is a major event of the end of this
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century, which will have been one of the most
violent in the history of humanity. With this
decision, the international community is marking
out another path for the third millennium: the
one of peace, development and democracy on the
national and international level.
The Declaration defines the culture of
peace as a set of values, attitudes, traditions,
modes of behaviour and ways of life based on
respect for life, the rejection of violence and
the promotion and practice of non-violence
through education, dialogue and cooperation;
commitment to the peaceful settlement of
conflicts; respect for and promotion of the
right to development, equal rights and
opportunities for women and men, the rights
of everyone to freedom of expression, opinion
and information; and adherence to the
principles of freedom, justice, democracy,
tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, pluralism,
cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding
at all levels of society and among nations.
The provisions of the text may inspire
governments, international organizations and
civil society in their action at the national,
regional and international levels to promote
the transition from a culture of force,
imposition and violence to a culture of
dialogue and understanding.
The Programme of Action provides a
setting for the International Year for the Culture
of Peace (2000) and the International Decade
for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for
the Children of the World (2001-2010). The
Member States are encouraged to undertake
specific actions everywhere to promote a
culture of peace at the national, regional and
international levels. Partnerships between the
different actors will be strengthened and
broadened with the aim of launching a
worldwide movement. Finally, those initiatives
which have succeeded in promoting a culture
of peace and preventing violence will be
identified. Their dissemination will help to
prolong the promotion of a culture of peace.
Now, on the threshold of this third
millennium, we have an opportunity to learn
from the lessons of the past and to build up a
civilization based on peace and non-violence.
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What sets UNESCO apart is that, since its
foundation, it has always assigned an
important place to philosophy education,
viewing it as a means of encouraging people
to think for themselves, and as a way of
developing the power of judgement. This is
why an education of this kind does not come
after others, as an extra or a luxury. All
activities need to be carried out together:
promoting development, enhancing democracy,
enabling independent judgements to be
formed. These are not separate spheres; on
the contrary, they all act upon one another. It
is in view of this that specific responsibilities,
linked to clearly delimited practical activities,
can be assigned to philosophy within
UNESCO.
Philosophical decisions concerning civil
liberties, human rights and ethics are at the
very roots of the Organization. Justice,
equality, responsibility and the community of
human beings over and above the infinite
diversity of cultures and languages are likewise
philosophical concepts. Political and moral
philosophy in itself does not explain the
essential links between UNESCO and
philosophy. The origin of the sciences, their
specific modes of development, and their
ethics, have a place in the concerns of
philosophers as they do in those of UNESCO.
Nor can we cease to think about history, any
more than we can about the most
fundamental metaphysical concern of all,
namely, the question of being itself, which
appears to be devoid of any practical purpose
but to which people have been irresistibly
drawn from culture to culture, and from
century to century.
The first philosophy programme, which
began in 1946, embodied the twofold
objective of UNESCO’s activity: to use
international instruments to advance
philosophical studies, and to use philosophy to
further the international education of peoples,
enabling it to play a determining role in
educating the mind of society. It is entirely in
E t h i c s , t h e c o m p a n i o n o f k n ow l e d g e a n d w i s d o m
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keeping with this spirit that the Director-
General decided to attach the Philosophy
Division to the General Directorate, giving it
the status of a priority programme. He has
given UNESCO’s patronage to academic
events organized by prestigious institutions,
but also to initiatives of a high philosophical
level, devised by younger generations of
philosophy teachers and that are open to
students and a non-university public. It can
now therefore be said that philosophical
communities have begun approaching
UNESCO for recognition of their dialogues on
contemporary problems, and that the
Philosophy Division is making a real
contribution to the work of bringing long
traditions of thought to bear upon the
present.
Philosophers who come to grips with
the great questions of humanity on the eve of
the twenty-first century: this is what was
originally envisaged by Mr Mayor, who set up
the programme Philosophy and Democracy in
the World. This programme furnished material
for a historical enquiry into the teaching of
philosophy, provided the basis for organizing
networks in Asia, Latin America, Africa and
Europe which have since met regularly and
produced numerous publications, and was
instrumental in the adoption of the Paris
Declaration for Philosophy, the charter of all
those who wish to defend and develop
philosophy teaching throughout the world.
E t h i c s f o r t h ef u t u r e
In 1997, to address what some have called a
crisis of values in a chaotic world in search
of guidance, UNESCO launched a project to
create a body of principles that would provide
the foundation for a universal code of ethics.
True to its role as a forum for reflection and
dialogue, the Organization wishes to use this
initiative to explore the theoretical and
philosophical assumptions of the search to
identify common values that will promote
harmonious interaction among cultures and
societies. It was at the third meeting of the
Agenda for the Millennium on Ethics of the
Future, held in Rio de Janeiro in July 1997, that
Mr Mayor clearly described the shape and the
foundations of this new concept:
Foresight means first and foremost
preservation. The ethics of the future is an ethics
of the fragile and the perishable.We must hand
down to future generations an inheritance that has
not been irretrievably damaged and polluted.We
must bequeath to them the right to live in dignity
in a world preserved. This concerns first of all our
living environment, and also enduring universal
values such as health, education, culture, equality,
freedom, peace, tolerance and solidarity. And
Mr Mayor added: [it] is an ethics that ... imposes
on political leaders and on citizens the duty to act
in time, and thus to use foresight. Ethics is the
companion of knowledge and wisdom. The new
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concept thus being developed is intended to be
multidimensional and multidisciplinary: it
touches all aspects of people’s daily lives and of
the smooth functioning of the planet. In
practice, it concerns specific areas that are in a
process of rapid change and that are of vital
importance to the world.
G e n e t i c s
H ow f a r i s f a r e n o u g h
How can a balance be struck between respect for human rightsand fundamental freedoms and the need to safeguard freedom of
scientific research? This is the issue underlying the UniversalDeclaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, drawn up atUNESCO between 1993 and 1997 under the auspices of theInternational Bioethics Committee and adopted by the 53rd GeneralAssembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1998.This,the first international document on bioethics, had already beenapproved unanimously by the General Conference of UNESCO on 11 November 1997.In the space of a few years, techniques have been discovered foracting on something that was previously thought untouchable: thegenetic inheritance of individuals. From in vitro fertilization, whichchanged the rules of procreation and filiation, to the cloning of Dollythe sheep, which reproduced a living being from a living cell, the latesttechnological advances have pushed back some of the boundaries ofhuman knowledge.At the same time, they have however led touneasiness about progress that is open to perversion.The UniversalDeclaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, whichcomprises a preamble and 25 articles divided into seven sections, setsout principles and limits that apply to both life and ethics.In these main provisions, the text lays down limits on what may bedone with the heritage of the human person, and the internationalcommunity accepts a moral obligation not to transgress these.Threeprinciples underlie them: the idea of the human genome as theheritage of humanity, the dignity of individuals regardless of their geneticcharacteristics and the rejection of genetic determinism.TheDeclaration details the rights of the human person: prior consent toany research, treatment or diagnosis (Article 5), protection againstdiscrimination based on the genetic characteristics of the individual
It is within this broad and dynamic
framework that UNESCO organized the first
International INFOethics Congress on the
ethical, legal and social aspects of the emerging
information society, which was held in Monte
Carlo from 10 to 13 March 1997. This initial
gathering, which brought together decision-
makers, academics and specialists from more
than 25 countries, dealt with three main
subjects: access to digital information, the
storage of digital information and files, and the
preparation of our societies for the
multimedia environment, the objective being to
find ways of providing, ultimately, information
for all and communication for all, so as to ensure
that this age of planet-wide information does
not see a new category of illiterates emerging
and the gulf between the countries of North
and South widening still further.
A p e r m a n e n t w a t c ho n c y b e r s p a c e
In July 1997, partly as a result of this first
congress, a virtual forum dealing with the
issues raised by the progress and increasingly
widespread use of the Internet was set up in
cooperation with the University of Konstanz
(Germany). The congress also led to the
launch of the project for an Observatory on
the Information Society, the objective of which
is to keep a permanent watch on
developments in the information society,
particularly in its ethical and social aspects.
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prejudices. Indeed, the cultures of the entire
world can make contributions which will
enrich the concept of universal ethics.
In this context, in cooperation with the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, UNESCO
organized a meeting to explore the subject of
universal ethics from the point of view of
UNESCO’s Second International
Congress on the Ethical, Legal and Societal
Challenges of Cyberspace, INFOethics ’98,
took place in Monte Carlo a year later, from
1 to 3 October 1998. This time, the meeting
concentrated on three main subjects: the
public domain and multilingualism in
cyberspace; privacy, confidentiality and
security in cyberspace; and meeting the
challenges of globalization. The participants
recommended that UNESCO encourage its
Member States to take measures to combat
exclusion and to promote justice, mutual
respect and sharing in the emerging
information society and that in cooperation
with other institutions, the Organization
continue to promote international reflection,
on the ethical and social effects of new
information technologies.
In the course of these discussions,
UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for
Communication, Information and Informatics
expressed pleasure at the ability of the
Internet to offer almost unlimited opportunities
for the practical implementation of Article 19 of
the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
which upholds the freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media
and regardless of frontiers. A professor of Civil
Law at the Al-Quds University of Hebron in
Palestine spoke of the opportunities the
Internet provided for offering images of
different cultures, for example Arab culture,
that were more positive than current
(Article 6) and the confidentiality of genetic data associated with anidentifiable person (Article 7).Nevertheless, the Declaration does not seek either to curb scientificprogress or to create an opposition between ethics and science.Thisis why the primacy thus given to the human genome and humanrights should not be used to the detriment of scientific creativity.Article 12 of the Declaration reaffirms the freedom of research.Henceforth, however, this will have to be conducted within a preciseframework.Article 13 forbids practices that are incompatible withhuman dignity, such as cloning for the purpose of reproducing humanbeings.The responsibility of researchers is emphasized, but so is thatof public and private decision-makers dealing with science policy, andlikewise the duty of States to provide the framework for the free exerciseof research.Noëlle Lenoir, Chairperson of the UNESCO International BioethicsCommittee, who was involved for four years in the drafting of theDeclaration, believes that if the (1948) Universal Declaration of HumanRights had to be drafted today, it would probably include provisions dealingwith bioethics, in other words the fundamental rights of the individual inrespect of advances in biology and genetics. For her, though, the hardestpart is still to come if credibility is to be given to a measure that will beworth anything only if States take the necessary steps to give substance toits principles, as they have undertaken. Indeed, it is basically up toMember States to put the Declaration into effect.In the meantime, the political scope of this text, which has beendescribed as historic, is a major event for UNESCO, stresses theAssistant Director-General for the Directorate. By this universallyapplicable measure, the Organization has re-established itself in thevanguard of science. At the same time, it has strengthened its mission asthe moral conscience of the United Nations system and resumed its greatstandard-setting tradition, its tradition of drawing up declarations andagreements.
Genetics How far i s far enough (cont inued)
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Chinese ethical traditions. The 40 Asian
experts taking part in this meeting, which was
held in Beijing from 1 to 3 June 1998,
considered that such a universal code of
ethics could provide a response to questions
of concern to people throughout the world,
however diverse their cultures and traditions
might be. This would supplement established
human rights, which set standards of conduct,
by extending consideration to inner attitudes,
responsibilities and values. The Confucian
principles of goodwill (Ren) and loyalty and
forgiveness (Zhong shu), together with the
doctrine of harmony (Tong he), were cited by
the participants as ideas that could contribute
towards the emergence of a universal code of
ethics.
K n o w l e d g e a sf o r e s i g h t
A t the 29th session of the UNESCO
General Conference, all the delegates
who addressed the issue of foresight and
prediction expressed their support for the
work of UNESCO in this field and urged that
the activities of the Organization be streng-
thened. In response to those recommenda-
tions, on 17 March 1998, the Director-General
turned the Analysis and Forecasting Office
(AFO) into the Analysis and Forecasting Unit
(AFU), which he placed under his direct
authority. That unit is responsible for
programme activities in the field of foresight
and forecasting, which it carries out as far as
possible on a cross-disciplinary basis through
a process of consultation with world-class
experts and research centres.
In parallel with this measure to
strengthen the capabilities of the Organiza-
tion, an interdisciplinary conference, Twenty-
first Century Dialogues, was created. The
objective was to attempt to foresee the
challenges and needs that could be expected
to exist in 2020 and beyond and to outline
action strategies to be implemented in order
to provide pre-emptive solutions. It was with
this in view, and on the initiative of the AFU,
that UNESCO organized some 20 meetings
and two round tables on the subject Will there
be a twenty-first century?. These were attended
by some of the most eminent international
scientists, researchers and philosophers.
The World Commission on the Ethics
of Scientific Knowledge and Technology
(COMEST), set up by the Executive Board of
UNESCO, was one outcome of this reflective
and proactive approach. Established in
May 1998, COMEST was designed as an intel-
lectual forum with an open-ended structure
with 18 members and chaired by Vigdís
Finnbogadóttir, a former President of Iceland.
Besides these 18 individuals, COMEST
also has ex officio members. These include
Chairpersons of governing bodies of
UNESCO’s major scientific programmes – the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
(IOC), the Programme on Man and the
Biosphere (MAB), Management of Social
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Transformations (MOST), the International
Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP) and
the International Hydrological Programme
(IHP) – and the Chairpersons of UNESCO’s
International Bioethics Committee (IBC) and
of the IBC’s Intergovernmental Committee, the
President of the International Social Science
Council (ISSC), the President of the
International Council for Science (ICSU) and
the President of the Pugwash Conference on
Science and International Affairs.
The mandate of the Commission is to
foresee situations of risk, advise decision-
makers and encourage dialogue between
scientists, decision-makers and the public
at large. Its first meeting was held from 28 to
30 April 1999 in Oslo (Norway). Three round
tables, open to the public, provided an insight
into the fields covered by the thinking of
COMEST: Ethics and Energy (chaired by
Dagmar Schipanski, Germany), Ethics and
Fresh Water Resources (chaired by Lord
Selborne, United Kingdom) and Ethics of
the Information Society (chaired by
Suzanne Moubarak, Egypt).
In the view of the Director of the
Division of the Ethics of Science and
Technology, the Commission will set guiding
ethical principles in each of its areas. These will
help decision-makers and ordinary citizens who
wish to participate in a public debate on the
fundamental questions concerning energy, water,
the information society and outer space. The
concepts involved are often presented as
potential sources of conflict, but we have here
extraordinary opportunities for cooperation
between nations, provided people acknowledge
the need to work together to find solutions.1
1. ‘Does Science and Technology Care’, Sources, No. 110, March 1999.
T h e m e m b e rs o f C O M E S T
In addition to its Chairperson,Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the followinginternational figures are members of the World Commission on the
Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology: Faith Dube, economistand journalist (Zimbabwe); Diamela Eltit, writer and professor ofliterature (Chile); Jens Erik Fenstad, professor of logic and formerVice-Rector of the University of Oslo (Norway); M.R.C. Greenwood,Chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a memberof the National Science Board (United States);Agnes Heller,philosopher and teacher (Hungary);Attiya Inayatullah, demographerand former Chairperson of UNESCO’s Executive Board (Pakistan);François Jacob, Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine (France);Benediktas Juodka, biochemist and President of the Academy ofSciences (Lithuania); James Peter Kimmins, Professor of ForestEcology at the University of British Columbia (Canada); Lu Yongxiang,President of the Chinese Society of History of Science andTechnology (China);Wataru Mori, former President of the Universityof Tokyo and President of the Japanese Association of MedicalSciences (Japan); Suzanne Moubarak, wife of the President of Egyptand herself Chairperson of the Egyptian Society for Childhood andDevelopment; Barry Ninham, Head of the Department of AppliedMathematics Research at the National Australian University inCanberra (Australia);Thomas R. Odhiambo, entomologist and formerPresident of the African Academy of Sciences (Kenya); José SarukhanKermez, former Rector of the National Autonomous University ofMexico and President of DIVERSITAS (Mexico); Dagmar Schipanski,President of the Federal Scientific Council (Germany); Lord Selborne,Chancellor of the University of Southampton and President of theRoyal Geographical Society (United Kingdom).
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In the world there are now 1.3 billion human
beings below the poverty line, unable so much as
to feed themselves properly. It is among them
that we shall find virtually all the 30 thousand
children who die directly or indirectly of
malnutrition each day, the one billion illiterates,
the three hundred million young people who do
not attend school. At the same time, the income
of the richest 20 per cent of the world’s
population is a hundred and fifty times greater
than that of the poorest 20 per cent, and this
gap has doubled over the last 30 years.
The unbalanced and asymmetrical world
described here by the Director-General of
UNESCO, is not only an affront to the dignity
of hundreds of millions of men, women and
children, but a serious threat to world peace.
This is why Mr Mayor insists that sharing is the
key word. If things are to be different in the next
century, we must learn to share better.1 In the
meantime, UNESCO has a crucial role to play
in addressing current inequalities, particularly
by encouraging the development of human
resources, helping to develop or upgrade local
know-how and urging the international
community to invest in human creativity, in
other words in the production, acquisition,
transfer and sharing of knowledge. For
UNESCO, social development, and in
particular development that changes the living
conditions of groups affected by poverty, is a
human right, as was indeed recognized by the
Vienna World Conference on Human Rights
(1993).
UNESCO’s poverty eradication strategy
is built around a number of mutually
complementary axes: supporting the creation
and implementation of programmes in the
fields of education, science, technology, culture
and communication; training social science
specialists and teachers, creating research
infrastructure (including databases) and
strengthening it where it already exists;
encouraging dialogue between decision-
makers, field experts, academics and
communities; and supporting research
D e v e l o p m e n t : l e a r n i n g t o s h a r e b e t t e r
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cooperation and focused on the applicability
of the social sciences to the actual problems
of society, is structured into networks
covering different subject areas which deal,
from a variety of points of view, with the
issues of globalization, urban and rural
1. Statement to the European Parliament in Strasbourg,23 October 1996.
M O S T at t h e h a l f way m a rk
In April 1999 UNESCO's Executive Board considered the Mid-termevaluation report of the Management of Social Transformations
(MOST) Programme.Approved by the Organization's General Conference at its 27th session in 1993 and launched at the start of the 1994-1995 biennium, MOST's main objective is to promote and support international networks conducting interdisciplinary and comparative social scientific research with a manifest policyimpact and relevance.The MOST Programme is the only one ofUNESCO's five intergovernmental scientific programmes to have two evaluations built in over an eight-year period.In its report, the external evaluation team from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands reviewed the merits and flaws of the Programme.Among the former it highlighted MOST'scontribution to the formation of research networks across the world,addressing problems of multiculturalism in cities, globalization,migration, governance and social exclusion.The report notes that the networks and the MOST projects aresatisfactorily representative in terms of geographical and thematiccoverage.More than half of the projects for which sufficient information wasobtained by the evaluation team were rated either as good or fair interms of relevance, academic output (quantity), additional funding andoverall performance. However the Utrecht University team alsoidentified several flaws or weaknesses: lack of coherence betweenprojects, heterogeneity in the choice of themes and uncertainty andinstability with respect to the allocation of the regular budget anddecentralized funds.
into the causes of poverty in specific social
and cultural situations.
This strategy has been designed to
further the objectives of the First United
Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty
for the period 1997-2006 and the proclamation
of 2005 as the International Year of Microcredit.
With this in view, the Director-General has set
up an intersectoral committee on development
and the eradication of poverty, which has been
given responsibility for monitoring UNESCO
strategies in this area and drawing up proposals
for revising and reorienting the programmes
and activities of the Organization in ways
condusive to the greater usefulness and
effectiveness of these programmes.
W h e n M O S Tp r e p a r e s t h e s o c i a l
g r o u n d . . .
Among these programmes and activities,
the MOST (Management of Social
Transformations) Programme, which was set
up in 1993 by the UNESCO General
Conference, works to rally research teams
from different countries around issues of
common interest, and encourages them to
participate in the formulation of social
development policies. This interdisciplinary
programme, which is grounded in international
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development and multi-ethnic and
multicultural societies. The activities of the
Programme are coordinated by a small
secretariat working out of UNESCO
Headquarters, while national MOST Liaison
Committees in 40 countries provide the links
between the Programme and researchers and
decision-makers in each national community.
This interaction between scientific work
and policy formulation means that the MOST
programme is much in demand as a source of
knowledge and techniques, particularly on the
Internet.2 The dynamism of the role of
information broker that the Programme has
taken upon itself is reflected in the site it has
set up on language rights in multicultural
societies. In addition to its own work, the
MOST Programme also contributes to major
scientific events, such as the United Nations
Technical Symposium on International
Migrations held in The Hague in July 1998; the
Regional Meeting of Experts on Migration in
Africa (Gaborone, Botswana, 2 to 5 June
1998); and the international seminar on long-
term unemployment and impoverishment,
organized in Sofia by the MOST network to
discuss the risks that transformation poses to
countries in transition.
The MOST Programme has launched a
major project to study the drugs trade.
Production, trafficking and abuse of drugs have
now become a major source of revenue that
is used to make good national budget deficits
or to enrich individuals. This underground
economy has also produced a great many
economically marginalized populations, such as
farmer-producers and some small dealers,
criminal organizations, and some sectors that
are integrated into society, the business world
or State institutions. The social
transformations that have resulted from the
development of the drug economy have led to
the sectors involved in illegal activities
increasing in scale and to their becoming
intermingled with official sectors of society.
In-depth study of these transformations
is thus an essential forecasting need for
decision-makers and those seeking to design
appropriate instruments for short-, medium-
and long-term public management. The MOST
Project on Economic and Social
Transformations Connected with the
International Drug Problem has set itself four
main objectives: to produce new knowledge by
gathering and processing information, most of
it hitherto unavailable, on the situation in
different countries; to carry out a comparative
analysis of the countries and regions being
studied, the better to identify the different
aspects of the problem (historical, cultural,
social, economic, legal and political); to set up
a network of research institutions throughout
the world; and to assist in transferring the
knowledge produced by researchers to the
various decision-makers involved.
The project is concentrating on
research carried out in five geographical areas
centred around five big countries, Brazil,
China, India, Mexico and Nigeria. However, it
also involves teams carrying out research into
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Yeumbeul obtained the support of UNESCO
and international NGOs which, in 1995, set in
train the Project to Support the Dynamics of
Urban Areas and Improve the Living
Environment (PADAEC). UNESCO has taken
more than half of the financing upon itself,
with the inhabitants contributing 5.6 per cent.
In sum, as the project has proceeded it has
helped to strengthen local organizations,
which have taken responsibility for improving
their own living environment.
Above all, however, the results of the
operation have been to produce concrete
improvements in the daily life of the
population since, in the words of Mr Mayor,
research cannot remain in an Ivory Tower; it must
be rooted in the community.3 The drinking water
system has been extended to a linear total
of 520 metres, five fire hydrants installed,
32 latrines constructed, 44 cesspools built and
five animal-drawn carts purchased to collect
household waste. The lessons learnt from this
exemplary project could be applied to other
regions in Senegal or even to other countries
in Africa. The town of Djenné in Mali, for
example, has agreed to implement a similar
project in cooperation with UNESCO.
The MOST Programme has also
concerned itself with the social and political
aspects of international migration in East Asia,
South-East Asia, Australia and the islands of
the Western Pacific. The Asia-Pacific Migration
Research Network (APMRN) brings together
research institutions from 10 countries, and
these are being joined by the islands of the
2. http://www.unesco.org/most
3. Address at the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Council of the MOST Programme in Paris, 22 February 1999.
countries and regions that are more
particularly concerned by these problems,
such as Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Myanmar,
Pakistan, Thailand, North America and Europe.
The project is to last for four years, with a
preliminary year to put the organization of
the network into its final form (1996-1997).
The conference to present and discuss the
final results, with the participation of public
officials and representatives from civil society,
is to be held in the year 2000.
The MOST Programme has also been
involved in a project known as Cities:
Management of Social Transformation and the
Environment. This interdisciplinary, action-
oriented initiative has the objective of
improving the quality of life of city dwellers
and promoting citizenship. Three pilot sites
were selected:Yeumbeul (Senegal), Port-au-
Prince (Haiti) and São Roque (Brazil). Two
further projects are also under way in
Essaouira (Morocco) and Tunis (Tunisia).
Yeumbeul, which is a suburb of the
Senegalese capital, Dakar, has developed in an
anarchic fashion since the 1970s: today, lacking
in urban facilities, its population of around
120,000 lives in conditions of overcrowding
that have contributed to a process of constant
environmental degradation. Through their
residents’ associations, the inhabitants of
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institutions with a view to offering their
clients appropriate support programmes in
the fields of education, science, culture and
communication.
These two objectives underlie the Plan
of Action presented by UNESCO to the
Microcredit Summit Council which was held in
New York from 25 to 27 June 1998. This Plan
is designed to help attain the objectives of the
Summit, the most important being to assist
100 million of the world’s poorest families
between now and 2005, particularly the
women in these families, by providing them
with loans that will enable them to operate
independently and by offering them other
commercial and financial services. The new
approach adopted by UNESCO with a view to
promoting microcredits and microbusinesses,
as clearly illustrated by the project Fashion for
Development which highlights the work of
artisans and facilitates access to new markets
for what they produce, has aroused increasing
interest. Implemented initially in Bangkok
(Thailand) in cooperation with the Grameen
Bank, this project has now been extended to
other countries.
Pacific and Hong Kong. Among other things,
the project studies mass movements of
workers resulting from the economic
development and globalization processes. In
the mid-1990s, in fact, some six million Asians
were working outside their countries of
origin, three million of them in Asia itself and
as many again in the rest of the world.
M i c r o c r e d i t s f o rm i c r o b u s i n e s s e s
Among the different instruments used to
combat poverty and economic
dependence, the potential of well targeted and
well managed microfinancing services is no
longer in doubt. To have a real and lasting
impact on the daily lives of the poorest,
however, these initiatives need to be
supplemented and supported by a wide range
of social, technical and skill training services.
For UNESCO, therefore, it is not just a matter
of granting microcredits to the most
disadvantaged populations, particularly poor
women; there is also a need to provide wider
access to appropriate basic education and
health-care services, among others.
In this area, the strategy of UNESCO is
twofold: to disseminate information on best
international practice in the field of long-term
microfinancing so as to extend access to such
financing to the greatest possible number of
deprived people, and to build partnerships
with the best-performing microfinance
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long-standing deprivations, for they are hidden
away and are the hardest to reach.
Finally, at the other end of the scale,
and working in their own way, multinational
corporations must also accept their
responsibilities in the fight against poverty.
As Thabo Mbeki, the then Deputy President of
South Africa, pointed out when he met the
Director-General of UNESCO on 12 June
1998, board members of large multinationals
take decisions which impact the lives of millions
of people. Values must guide the markets, not the
other way round. Mr Mayor hailed Mr Mbeki’s
proposal that a code of conduct be drawn up
for the use of multinationals. The Director-
General has also urged that an international
banking code be put in place to combat the
money-laundering that results from the
production and trafficking of drugs.
As he declares, the irreversible march of
globalization cannot be reconciled with a
universal free-for-all. We have no option but to
organize globalization equitably… This
globalization, he adds, must set out from a new
code of ethics to govern relationships with others,
whose differences must be accepted through the
exercise of tolerance and respect for their
freedom and dignity.
O r g a n i z i n gg l o b a l i z a t i o n
In the struggle it is waging to eradicate
poverty from the face of the planet,
UNESCO also ascribes a role of the utmost
importance to non-governmental
organizations. In a paper entitled Culture: a way
to fight extreme poverty prepared by 21 NGOs
that have official relations with UNESCO, the
lessons drawn from 10 specific local initiatives
have provided the basis for a number of
proposals to serve the most deprived
populations more effectively, using the
approach of strengthened NGO/UNESCO
cooperation. Firstly, to take people’s culture
and way of life as a starting point and to join
with them in a search for the means that will
enable them to obtain knowledge and find a
voice, these being the keys to participation;
then, to make a firm long-term commitment
to the very poor in order to listen to them
and understand their lives and aspirations, so
as to be in a position to involve them in the
creation and implementation of the
programmes that concern them; and, finally, to
make a special effort to get through to those
who are experiencing the most serious and
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Threats to environmental security have become
as great a risk to peace as military ones in past
years. Such is the diagnosis of the five
Chairpersons of UNESCO’s scientific
programmes.1 Within this worrying context,
water has become a major issue for the whole
of humankind. According to United Nations
population projections, there will be a lack
of water in some 34 countries between now
and 2025. Already today, there is a fairly
severe water shortage in 29 countries.
Forecasts indicate that the number of people
living in countries where water resources
are in short supply will rise from 132 million
in 1990 to somewhere between 653 million
(lowest estimate of population growth)
and 904 million (highest estimate) in 2025.
While the Middle East and Africa seem
particularly vulnerable to an increasing
scarcity of water resources, north-western
China, western and southern India, a large
part of Pakistan and Mexico as well as the
west coast of the United States and
of Latin America could also be affected,
to varying degrees.
Although water problems today call
for increasing international awareness and
appropriate solutions, they have not suddenly
been discovered by UNESCO: its interest in
them goes back a long way. The Organization
has been involved in working out solutions to
the world’s water problems since 1965, when
it launched the world’s first water-cycle study
programme, entitled the International
Hydrological Decade (IHD). This ambitious
research programme was complemented
by a vigorous effort to promote education
and training in hydrology. By the end of the
10-year period, the majority of UNESCO
Member States had set up IHD National
Committees to manage national actions and
participate in regional and international
cooperative actions within the framework
of IHD. Thanks to this mobilization, hydrology
is fully accepted everywhere as an academic
discipline.
T h e e n v i r o n m e n t : a c o m m i t m e n t
f o r f u t u r e g e n e r a t i o n s
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trained through the IHP all over the world.
Sponsorship of the first university courses
began with the International Hydrological
Decade (1965-1974). Today, there are
32 courses organized worldwide under the
auspices of UNESCO, training over
500 students each year.
The success of IHD was built upon by
UNESCO with the launch of a new long-term
intergovernmental programme, the
International Hydrological Programme (IHP),
the only one within the United Nations
system to deal with freshwater issues through
science and education. Although the IHP
is essentially a research and education
programme, UNESCO has always been aware
of the need to orientate activities towards
concrete solutions to the world’s water-
resource problems. This is why the IHP’s
objectives have been gradually extended so
that the Programme is concerned not only
with studying the mechanics of hydrology
in relation to the environment and human
activities, but also with the scientific aspects
of the use and conservation of resources
for different purposes, in order to respond
to economic and social development needs.
In other words, without diverting the IHP
from its original scientific function, it has
been carefully repositioned to take a multidis-
ciplinary approach to evaluation, planning and
rational management of water resources.
Currently there are three principal
components within the International Hydro-
logical Programme: hydrological research, the
management of water resources, and teaching
and training. The last component has grown in
popularity and there are now hydrologists
1. Joint statement by the Chairpersons of the IOC, MAB, IHP, IGCP and MOST Programmes at the UNESCO General Conference,8 November 1997.
B i o s p h e re re s e rve s
The concept of the biosphere was brought into focus in 1974 by aworking group from the UNESCO Man and Biosphere
Programme (MAB). Biosphere reserves are areas with ecosystems ora combination of land and coastal/marine ecosystems, internationallyrecognized within the framework of the MAB Programme. Eachcountry can put forward sites of its choice which meet certainpredetermined criteria as biosphere reserves.These cover a vastrange of natural zones, which have been greatly affected by humanactivity, from high mountains to plains, from coastal and island regionsto vast continental forests, from tropical deserts to tundra and polarregions.These reserves have three functions: to contribute to theconservation of landscapes, ecosystems, open spaces and geneticdiversity; to encourage sustainable economic development withregard to both ecological and socio-cultural concerns; and to serve asa logistical support for research, continued observation, training andeducation in conservation and sustainable development at local,regional and global levels. By January 1999, 90 countries had set up356 biosphere reserves covering a total area of over 218 millionhectares. MAB’s global network facilitates the exchange ofinformation, such as research findings, management methods andexperience, between biosphere reserves, helping to solve preciseproblems through information bulletins, visits, conferences and theInternet.
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for a new way of looking at water, which he
called a water ethic. Today, the future of the
world’s water supplies depends on the civilized
use of this finite and vulnerable resource. (…)
Technology is never more than part of the
answer. The water crisis is an aspect of the more
general crisis of a development model posited on
limited, technology-led growth. (…) To address the
problem at source, we need to promote a new
attitude to water – I would go so far as to speak
of a new water ethic . (...) The water issue, among
other major challenges of the century to come, is
forcing us to rethink our notions of security and
interdependence. It is helping us to discern more
clearly the links between development and peace,
to recognize the need for a greater sharing of
knowledge and resources.
UNESCO has risen to the water
challenge by joining forces with the WMO. A
long-term cooperation agreement in the field
of hydrology had already been concluded
between the two institutions in 1973, but the
urgency of the situation required them to
strengthen their joint actions. WMO and
UNESCO thus organized several conferences
in Geneva (1987, 1999) and Paris (1993).
During the fifth WMO/UNESCO International
Hydrology Conference, which took place
in Geneva from 8 to 12 February 1999, the
119 participants from 57 countries and
20 representatives of international organiza-
tions emphasized the global character of the
problem and called for an integrated approach
to freshwater management. Only this
approach, which takes into account the global
H y d r i c s t r e s s
In its second session, held in 1994, the
United Nations Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD) noted with concern that
several countries are today threatened with a
water crisis and certain of them are already in
a state of hydric stress to use specialist
terminology. It therefore invited the United
Nations to set up, in cooperation with the
Stockholm Environment Institute, a
Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater
Resources of the World. With its 10 years of
experience in the evaluation of available water
resources, the IHP played a leading role in this
undertaking, together with the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO). This
comprehensive assessment was submitted to
the CDD at its fifth session, in April 1997.
In June 1997, the special session of the
General Assembly of the United Nations
concluded that, because of the continual
growth in demand (agricultural, industrial and
domestic needs), water – a finite resource –
would constitute a major limiting factor on
socio-economic development if measures
were not taken rapidly. Of the nine most
urgent needs concerning freshwater listed
during the special session, seven fall within the
mandate of the IHP of UNESCO.
During the first world water Forum,
organized in Marrakesh (Morocco) in March
1997, the Director-General of UNESCO called
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water cycle in terms of quantity as well as
quality, can enable conflicting demands
between different uses to be reconciled and
offer a framework for the complex interaction
between scientific follow-up, analysis and
interpretation and policies and action
programmes.
The participants also reaffirmed the
need to increase the resources allocated to
the training of water specialists and water
managers. It is they who make technical data
understandable for those who take decisions,
some of which will be painful. In recent years,
most of the IHP’s efforts have been
concentrated in three directions: the fight
against the degradation of underground water
– upon which a third of the world’s
population is dependent – the exploitation of
arid or semi-arid zones, and emergencies or
conflict situations. And while it continues its
work on conservation techniques by
producing manuals, technical reports and
systems of regional and international
cooperation, for training and awareness-raising
purposes, the IHP is also becoming
increasingly interested in other ideas which
can contribute to resolving present and future
water crises.
A key project such as Water and
Civilization attests to UNESCO’s renewed and
enlarged vision. Today, there is often a strong
cultural element in a considerable number of
conflicts over water, arising from differing
perceptions of its value. Workshops, case
studies, even computer programmes have been
or will be devoted to water negotiation and
management in the Middle East, South-East
Asia and the Danube basin.
C o a s t s u n d e r t h r e a t
Coastal zones, where freshwater from
rivers meets the ocean, are particularly
vulnerable ecosystems. In recent years, these
fragile regions have been subjected to all kinds
of aggression: pollution, coastal erosion,
disappearance of wetlands, rapid
industrialization, disappearance of marine
fauna and flora, etc.Yet they provide the most
favourable conditions for the production and
maintenance of life. Nitrogen-rich foods –
sometimes brought into the sea by rivers –
combined with sunlight and relatively warm
water stimulate the production of micro-
organisms on a large scale. More than 80 per
cent of fish are born in coastal regions.
The UNESCO Project on Environment
and Development in Coastal regions and in
small islands (CSI) aims to encourage
transsectoral activities and develop
operational solutions for the protection and
stewardship of those regions. A number of
pilot projects have enabled enlightened
development practices for coastal regions to be
devised.
For example, in Alexandria (Egypt), a
marine archaeology and coastal erosion pilot
project has been extended to become a study
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of coastal pollution through the IHP. Similarly,
a pilot project at Essaouira (Morocco) has
been extended to other coastal towns in the
region. Other pilot projects of this type have
been set up all over the world: Croatia, Haiti,
Jamaica, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Samoa,
Thailand and Tunisia. Elsewhere, the
Organization has furthered the interplay
between scientific thinking, teaching and local
applications by linking UNESCO Chairs to
pilot projects.
The Chair at the University Cheikh
Anta Diop in Dakar (Senegal), for example,
has enabled 15 graduate students to be
trained in interdisciplinary studies through
cross-sectoral research on pilot project sites.
A linkage has also been established between
the above Chair and those at the University
of Las Palmas (Canary Islands) on Tourism and
Sustainable Island Development, Environment and
Resource Management in Coastal Regions and
New Information and Communication
Technologies.
In Africa, the 36,343 km coastline is
under serious pressure. In certain parts of
West Africa, coastal erosion is already
occurring at the rate of 30 metres a year. In
July 1998, the Government of Mozambique, in
partnership with UNESCO, was host to the
Pan-African Conference on Sustainable
Integrated Coastal Management (PACSICOM).
Its aim was to arrive at a firm political
commitment to create institutional mechanisms
and coherent regulators, with the aim of
maintaining sustainable development. For
the continent, the issue is crucial: the
economies of 38 of the 53 African countries
are heavily dependent on marine and coastal
resources, whether they be off-shore oilfields
in Nigeria or Angola, diamond deposits in
Namibia, coastal fisheries in West Africa or
tourism all along the East African coast.
As a result, now that there is integrated
management of coastal zones, UNESCO finds
itself in the front line. Its contribution to the
PACSICOM conference, particularly its
participation in the elaboration of a global
strategy for integrated management of coastal
zones, indicates its role as the catalyst – in
partnership with other United Nations
agencies concerned with the environment
such as UNEP and FAO – of a new approach
to environmental problems, which are often
highly complex. This global approach has also
been put to use to save the Aral Sea, which
was threatened with drying up totally. The use
of rivers flowing into the sea for the irrigation
of cotton crops had a profound effect upon
the region, not only from an environmental
point of view (desiccation, degradation of
water quality, rise in salinity levels, etc.) but
also from an economic and social point of
view, leading to the impoverishment of
waterside residents. With the help of German
scientists, UNESCO has started an evaluation
and modelling project of the land ecosystems
of the region, which will serve as a departure
point for its rehabilitation and sustainable
development.
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Island in the Pacific Ocean
© U
NES
CO
/Dom
iniq
ue R
oger
In concrete terms, the IOC’s action
aims to promote oceanographic research, in
order to increase understanding of the role
of the oceans in climate evolution, carbon
dioxide levels and the volume of resources
available, thus facilitating the implementation
of sustainable and equitable ocean
stewardship strategies. In this respect, the
proclamation by the United Nations –
on the proposal of the General Conference of
UNESCO – of 1998 as the International Year
of the Ocean (IYO) afforded the international
community an invaluable opportunity to raise
the awareness of its decision-makers and the
general public concerning the importance of
oceans for human development. In this huge
T h e w e a l t h o f t h e o c e a n s
Seas and oceans play a vital role in
maintaining the environmental equilibrium
of the planet. UNESCO became interested in
oceanographic questions very early on, as
attested to by the creation in 1960 of the
Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (IOC). This works in four main
fields: research into oceanic and coastal
phenomena and their links with marine
resources; observation of the oceans;
education, training and technical assistance;
and exchange and distribution of data.
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mobilization campaign, the IOC played a
leading part.
The many initiatives include, among
others: the creation on the Internet of an IYO
home page;2 support for the organization of
more than a hundred specialized conferences;
23 courses and training workshops and
20 campaigns of research and training on ships
flying the IYO flag, the creation of educational
kits designed to introduce education about
the oceans into schools and the organization
of research campaigns for school children. The
IOC has also lent its support to various public
awareness activities undertaken by Member
States and NGOs, contributed to the Pavilion
of the Future at EXPO 98 in Lisbon (Portugal)
and taken part in the coordination of the
participation of United Nations institutions in
the International Year of the Ocean.
The oceans have always been regarded
as a source of endless riches. They are
immense, covering 71 per cent of the earth’s
surface, and today, like freshwater resources,
they are subjected to pressures which are of
great concern to IOC experts. These
pressures include over-fishing, pollution and
global warming due to the greenhouse effect.
Within this context, the creation by the
Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) of
the GOOS initial observing system, which
unites the world’s principal observing
subsystems and also the oceanic component
of the Global Climate Observing System
(GCOS), appears to be a significant
contribution to the study of ocean behaviour.
The system centralizes and processes the data
collected by ships, buoys, coastal stations and
satellites. It also serves to forecast storms and
climatic phenomena such as El Niño, thereby
helping Member States to take measures to
reduce their impact.
In the face of the uncertainties of
climate changes and their often drastic
consequences for local populations
(desertification, rise in sea-levels, floods,
cyclones, etc.), UNESCO decided, in
December 1998, to launch an international
climate research programme on a grand scale.
The CLIVAR (Climate Variability and
Predictability) programme, lasting 15 years,
aims to widen the field and improve the
accuracy of climate forecasting. It is an
interdisciplinary component of the World
Climate Research Programme (WCRP),
supported jointly by WMO, IOC, UNESCO
and the International Council for Science
(ICSU).
R e n e w a b l e e n e r g y
Thanks to a network of satellites and
ground sensors, CLIVAR researchers will
be able to conduct long-term systematic
studies of the atmosphere, the earth, the
oceans and Arctic regions. Data thus collected
and processed will feed computer models
which can accurately assess, simulate and
predict climate changes over periods ranging
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organized the first World Solar Summit in
Harare (Zimbabwe) in September 1996. Here,
the participants officially launched the World
Solar Programme (1996-2005), which will
implement a first series of 300 priority
projects in more than 60 countries. It will also
undertake to train engineers, technicians and
users of solar technology and to set up a
renewable energy-source information and
communication system.
In Africa, within the framework of the
African Solar Programme (1996-2005),
UNESCO is setting up a whole series of
initiatives exploiting solar energy at low cost.
At N’Gaoundere (Cameroon), it has created a
pilot solar village, with a budget of
US $143,000. The Organization is also
studying the transformation of the town of
Ganvie in Benin into a lakeside solar village,
where street lighting, transport, equipment
and small processing workshops would
function with solar energy, a concrete
example of small scale sustainable development.
2. http://ioc.unesco.org/iyo
from several seasons to centuries. In other
words, CLIVAR will help scientists to identify
the causes of the global warming recorded
during the 1990s and to gain a better
understanding of the relations between the El
Niño cycle and the climate disturbances which
have given rise in recent years to catastrophic
floods in Bangladesh and China and violent
hurricanes which have devastated several
countries in Central America.
According to experts, human activities,
whether industrial or domestic in origin, play
a decisive role in global warming. According to
scientists, there have been repercussions on
the climate over the last 30 years from the
increasing use of energy, notably fossil fuels.
Consequently, the development of renewable
energies – both wind and solar energy – has
become a particularly promising line of action.
These clean energy sources are often
well suited to poor rural zones, where some
40 per cent of the world’s population lives. To
encourage this type of energy use, UNESCO
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Félix Houphouet Boigny Peace Prize with the
President of Senegal, Abdou Diouf, in June
1998; the Project Demos Africa Africa and
Globalization: the challenges of democracy and
governance, July 1998, Maputo.1
As Mr Mayor claims, Africa has, on many
occasions, challenged the rest of the world to re-
examine its identity. All too often, its specific
characteristics and problems have been
misunderstood. And all too often the efforts made
by the international community to assist African
countries in their development struggle, however
commendable they may be, have not taken into
account sufficiently the fact that Africa is not
another America, another Europe or another Asia.
In my opinion, given the specific chemistry of the
African mind, for which the present is only an
ephemeral link between the past and the future,
and history is never forgotten, it was inevitable
that the models and scenarios designed for other
social structures should prove ineffective. To quote
an African proverb: for a tree to grow, it must
look after its roots.2
Ever since the start of his first term of office,
the Director-General of UNESCO has made
aid to Africa one of his principal priority
actions: the subject of his first press
conference after taking up his post was Africa.
The will to rectify the image of the black
continent in the face of Afro-pessimism has
determined the major thrusts of his action
during his two terms. The number of his
official or working visits to Africa attest to his
commitment (between 1988 and March 1999,
he visited 36 sub-Saharan countries). During
that period, several African Heads of State
sponsored important UNESCO actions,
including: the World Solar Summit with the
President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, in
September 1996; the International Conference
on Culture of Peace and Democratic
Governance with the President of
Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano, in September
1997; the World Days on the Culture of Peace
with the President of Mali, Alpha Omar
Konare, and the awarding of the UNESCO
R e - e x a m i n i n g A f r i c a ’ s i d e n t i t y
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fitted itself into the framework of UNESCO’s
contribution to the actions of the United
Nations New Agenda for the Development of
Africa (UN-NADAF), which took over from
the UNPAAERD in 1991.
Action for development in Africa over the
last few years has shown us that strategies
imposed from the outside are rarely effective,
states the Director-General. One of the
characteristic features of the ‘Priority Africa’
programme will therefore be closer cooperation
with the African governments in defining their
needs and drawing up projects and another will
be full use of the potential for technical
cooperation among the African countries
themselves.3 Generally speaking, the Priority
Africa Programme has undertaken actions of
an interdisciplinary and intersectoral nature
and has led to complementarity between this
programme and of all the actions carried out
by programme sectors on behalf of Africa. It
has also served to lay the foundations of
regional cooperation plans, founded upon a
multisectoral approach. The most significant
among them have focused on education
(distance education, education for girls),
information technology in education, higher
education, environmental management and the
development of a pluralistic and independent
press.
A number of conferences and events
have been the concrete expression of this
strategy for Africa: seminars on distance
education at Arusha in Tanzania (24-28 Sep-
tember 1990); the Pan-African Conference
1 See Part I, chapter 3.
2. Address by Federico Mayor at the opening of the seventh Regional Conference of African National Commissions for UNESCO,Kinshasa, Zaire, 25 March 1991.
3. Address by Mr Federico Mayor on the occasion of the second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries,10 September 1990.
N o s t r a t e g i e s i m p o s e d
f r o m o u t s i d e
Examples of this obvious will are
UNESCO’s projects and programmes,
which place Africa foremost amongst its
considerations. During its 25th session, the
General Conference of the Organization
adopted a specific programme for the African
continent entitled Priority Africa Programme
1990-1995. This fitted into the framework of
the Lagos Plan of Action for the economic and
social development of Africa (1980-2000),
adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State
and Government of the Organization of
African Unity (OAU) in July 1980. The
programme was also seen as a contribution to
the Programme of Action for African
Economic Recovery and Development 1986-
1990 (UNPAAERD). Launched by the General
Assembly of the United Nations in 1986,
UNPAAERD was a response to the worsening
socio-economic situation on the African
continent, resulting from structural
adjustments whose social effects were not
brought under control at the time.
Afterwards, the Priority Africa Programme
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on Education for Girls, organized in
cooperation with the joint UNESCO/UNICEF
Committee on Education and the Government
of Burkina Faso at Ouagadougou (28 March-
1 April 1993); a seminar on information
technology and development in Africa at Lomé
in Togo (3-7 December 1990); a regional
seminar on the strengthening of cooperation
for the rational management of the African
tropical rain forest at Kinshasha in Zaire
in 1991, which gave rise to the N’Selé
Declaration and the creation of a regional
forestry school. That school, the result of
cooperation between UNDP and UNESCO,
was opened in April 1999.
Another aspect of UNESCO’s action
within the framework of the Priority Africa
Programme is assistance to Member States in
the identification and formulation of projects
within the Organization’s fields of
competence. A Guide to the identification and
preparation of projects has been published, for
example. It consists of five manuals and much
use has been made of this guide by National
Commissions in recent years. Regarding
emergency action, financial assistance was
given by UNESCO to African students in
countries of the former USSR, who were
faced with hardship because of the withdrawal
of grants there. That financial assistance
enabled them to complete their studies and
return to their countries of origin.
A c a t a l y t i c r o l e
In convening the Audience Africa meeting in
Paris from 6 to 10 February 1995,
Mr Mayor wished to create a forum for broad
discussion about the continent, allowing
Africans themselves to speak: political leaders
and decision-makers, figures from civil society
and members of different socio-occupational
groups, intellectuals, scientists, etc., in
preparation for the World Summit for Social
Development (Copenhagen, March 1995). The
meeting also enabled the priority areas for
UNESCO action for African development to
be defined. Five themes were identified:
integration and regional cooperation; basic
education for all African children; science and
technology; activities to promote peace-
building and the role of African women in the
continent’s development.
One of the recommendations of
Audience Africa concerned the setting up of a
follow-up mechanism, with a Secretariat
operated by the Priority Africa Department.
The International Committee for the Follow-
up to Audience Africa functions as an
observatory of the situation in Africa within
UNESCO’s fields of competence and is
responsible for putting suggestions to the
Director-General on measures to be taken.
The committee met twice in Paris, in
September 1996 and May 1998. This is the
basis upon which UNESCO has taken
measures for the continent’s development,
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taking into account priorities established by
the Administrative Committee on
Coordination (ACC) and the Conference of
African Finance Ministers on 30-31 January
1996 and the Ouagadougou Plan. The
Department has also ensured wide
distribution of the Audience Africa report
among Member States and all partners
working in African development and has
compiled an information folder to raise
awareness among African populations of
actions implemented following the
recommendations of Audience Africa.
UNESCO has been a catalyst in the
United Nations System-Wide Special Initiative
on Africa, launched on 16 March 1996.
Collaborating closely with other United
Nations organizations, UNESCO was
designated lead agency for the following three
programmes: communication for peace-
building, information technology for
development (joint lead agency), basic
education for all African children (joint lead
agency). The General Conference and the
Executive Board took account of the
implementation of these various
recommendations in preparing the 1996-1997
programme and budget. Expenditure on all the
actions in Africa within the programme
amounted to $15.2 million, or 30.2 per cent
of extra-budgetary expenditure and 23.6 per
cent of the UNESCO Participation
Programme.
T h e e d u c at i o n o f wo m e n
Unemployment, early pregnancy, child prostitution, drugs and AIDS,dropping out of school and exploitation at work, such are the
obstacles that African countries have to face in educating theirchildren, particularly girls, who are an especially vulnerable group.Yetit is well known that the education of girls plays a key role in acountry’s development.Working groups, international conferences, meetings with educationministers, seminars and workshops: the countries of Africa havemobilized and decided to review school curricula and teachertraining, develop non-formal education, right wrongs and promoteincome-generating activities and civic values.There are a number of partners accompanying them in thisrevitalization: beside UNESCO, which launched the programme,several NGOs and United Nations system agencies are cooperating.The programme is centred on the needs of girls, although those ofboys are not excluded. It is establishing a framework within whichdifferent countries can elaborate their own specific programmes andmaterials. It provides training and advice for teachers and socialworkers. It aims to work thoroughly but subtly to change socialbehaviour and conceptions of relations between the sexes, to tacklesexual problems through education and to enable young people totake their place in their socio-economic environment.It is a huge challenge:African States know that, in a great many fields,women are the ones who hold the key to development.
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the Director-General on the political and
humanitarian situation, in order to identify the
actions to be taken by UNESCO. A number of
specific plans of action have been developed
for countries such as Burundi, Rwanda, Congo,
and the Portuguese-speaking countries.
Keeping faith with UNESCO’s ethical
mission, the Director-General regularly
restates his concern in the face of the all too
many African countries in a state of upheaval.
The inaction of the international community
regarding all these conflicts, which are slowly but
surely crippling the continent, cannot continue.
Violence and anarchy are causing death, injury,
humiliation and destruction daily. Enough! It has
to be known, we must speak out and – above all
– act.4 The diagnosis is obvious to him: the
emigration of Africans to the North is the result
of extreme poverty and also of the failure of
cooperation, of unkept promises. The target set
for official development assistance – 0.7 per cent
of GDP – has never been met, he laments. Here,
too, there is an unacceptable gap between this all
too measured aid and the military expenditure of
developed countries (…) the root of evil must be
treated and we must share better. Africa needs
peace, solidarity, justice and democracy. And as
regards sharing, with infinite wisdom the
Bambara proverb reminds us, The world is a jar
of water. When you have drunk, you pass it to
others so that they may also drink.
4. Press release by Federico Mayor, 5 February 1999.
T h e r o l e o f l o o k - o u t
In cooperation with the relevant units
within UNESCO, the Priority Africa
Department has coordinated initiatives for
women. Among the most significant are: the
work and meetings of the follow-up unit for
the Beijing recommendations in sub-Saharan
Africa; the setting up of the socio-cultural
centre for the women of Ganvie in Benin
(carried out in June 1996); the contribution by
UNESCO to the Conference on African
Women and Economic Development, organized
by the African Economic Commission in Addis
Ababa (28 April-1 May 1998); the preparation
of the Pan-African Women’s Conference on
the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence in
Zanzibar (17-20 May 1999). Within the
context of Afro-Arab cooperation, the
Department also participated in the
preparation of the cultural aspects of the
third Afro-Arab Fair, held in Sharjah in the
United Arab Emirates (6-12 December 1997),
as well as the cultural side of the second
Afro-Arab Business week.
In conflict or post-conflict situations, as
in Angola, Burundi, Congo, Guinea-Bissau,
Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Rwanda or Sierra Leone, the Priority Africa
Department plays the role of look-out. In
coordination with the Directorate, UNESCO
offices and programme sectors, it reports to
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LDC: three letters denoting the planet’s
poorest or, literally, least developed countries.
Many of the criteria by which they qualify for
LDC status are indicative of their plight –
e.g. US $200 or lower per capita GDP, adult
literacy rates and a manufacturing-sector
contribution to GDP of less than 20 per cent.
By 1971, the United Nations had 25 such
countries listed as LDCs. A quarter of a
century later, the list had practically doubled:
today there are forty-eight.
With a mission to foster peace and
development through science, culture and
education, UNESCO could not allow those
48 countries, whose poverty-stricken
populations face a daily struggle to survive,
to slip from the agenda. In 1991, the Director-
General created a special unit to stimulate,
coordinate and follow through UNESCO’s
action to aid the LDCs. Now under the
authority of the General Directorate, that
unit has been instructed to undertake
transverse action which brings together all
L e a s t D e v e l o p e d C o u n t r i e s :a d u t y o f s o l i d a r i t y
the LDC-related areas in the major sectoral
programmes.
By raising LDCs to priority-group
status, UNESCO effectively took steps to
identify specific activities in aid of those
countries in its successive programmes and
budgets. Such activities have been allocated an
increasing share of funds. Between 1990 and
1995, the sums earmarked for LDCs in the
regular budget and in the Participation
Programme rose by 26 per cent and
57 per cent respectively – during which time,
LDC funding absorbed a total US $224 million
of UNESCO money.
U n d e r s t a n d , t r a i na n d p a r t i c i p a t e
UNESCO addresses the least developed
countries in its Medium-Term Strategy for
1996-2001 with an offer of three key lines of
cooperation: understanding development,
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developing human resources, and helping
citizens to play a responsible part in
development. These are the cornerstones of
UNESCO’s intervention on behalf of poor
countries.
With regard to institutional capacity-
building, the Organization has encouraged LDC
involvement in the UNITWIN inter-university
network. It has also created UNESCO Chairs
in Distance Learning (Tanzania) and Human
Rights Education (Benin, Ethiopia), and built
schools and teacher-training centres (Ethiopia,
Somalia,Yemen, Sudan, Mauritania, Bhutan,
Maldives and Nepal).
In the sciences, UNESCO has set up a
Special Fund for the promotion of science and
technology in Africa – with an initial
US $1 million at its disposal – and has put
UNESCO Chairs in place to boost scientific
training capacities (Sudan, Uganda,Yemen,
Mozambique, Malawi, Mauritania and Sierra
Leone).
In the field of human capacity-building,
the Organization, backed by the UNDP, has
conducted a human resources development
programme in Guinea, and carried out a
consultation and support mission to assist the
Government of Mali with the programming of
basic education and the launch of a
development education centre. To add to that,
it has underpinned the mounting of a network
interlinking the teacher-training centres of
Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Togo and Niger, and has
created a UNESCO Chair in Educational
Sciences for French-speaking Africa.
On the communication and information
front, UNESCO has helped establish national
press agencies in a number of countries –
Benin, Chad and Togo in particular. In Haiti, it
has been involved in the launch of a solar-
energy-powered community radio station
project.
In 1994-1995, within the scope of its
programme of action for LDCs, UNESCO
conducted a questionnaire-based survey of
LDC National Commissions and produced a
summary of the answers with a view to
gaining greater insight into their needs and
expectations. It also joined forces with
UNICEF to co-sponsor a pilot survey on the
state of primary-school education in LDCs
and – at the request of UNCTAD – created
an intersectoral working group to assess their
progress in education and training. This has
gone hand-in-hand with endeavours to
generate synergy by building a network with
development partners and institutions, such as
the Harvard Business School and a number of
American, Belgian, Danish and French NGOs.
Te c h n i c a l a s s i s t a n c e
A lso in the field of circulation of
information, UNESCO has published
collected data on the major trends in the
LDCs – under the titles Les pays les moins
avancés: portraits; a quarterly newsletter, Les
PMA: Nouveaux horizons; and a booklet, The
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Least Developed Countries and the Challenge
of Social Development: UNESCO’s
contribution to promoting international action
to support LDCs, presented at the World
Summit for Social Development held in
Copenhagen in 1995.
In 1996-1997, UNESCO contributed to
the organization of, and follow-up to, the
World Solar Summit which met in Harare,
capital of Zimbabwe, in September 1996. It has
since gone on to supply technical and financial
assistance for the launch and development of
the African Solar Programme 1999-2002, 32 of
whose participating Member States are LDCs.
At the same time, additional technical support
has been provided to 15 LDCs (Bangladesh,
Benin, Cambodia, Chad, Ethiopia, Gambia,
Guinea, Haiti, Laos, Mali, Mauritania, Myanmar,
Rwanda, Togo and Uganda) to help them draw
up special projects in the fields of solar
energy, sustainable human development and
poverty eradication. The Organization has also
backed a variety of activities forming part of
national Culture of Peace programmes,
especially in Mali, Mozambique, Burundi,
Sudan, Rwanda, Somalia and Haiti.
During this period, UNESCO has
stepped up endeavours to raise awareness of
the plight of the LDCs among the
Organization’s governing bodies and
Secretariat, as well as among long-standing
partners (the United Nations, UNCTAD,
OAU) and newer ones (the Forum
Francophone des Affaires, the African-
American Organization, Canal France
International, and the regions of Ile-de-France
and Bruxelles-Capitale). Its LDC strategy,
has injected fresh impetus into the
programme activities in those countries and
fostered relations between micro-credit
institutions and development actors so as
to enable the LDCs to benefit from
educational services.
UNESCO has also developed and
updated a computer database of the requests
submitted by African LDCs and Member
States within the framework of regular,
extrabudgetary and participation programmes.
Two new publications designed to promote
the Organization’s work in the poor countries
were released in 1996 and 1997: Les pays les
moins avancés. Pays du développement humain.
Stratégie de l’UNESCO en faveur des PMA,
(French) and Les pays les moins avancés.
Ressources et affectations budgétaires. Bilan de
l’action de l’UNESCO. (French)
To o l s f o r e f f e c t i v ep a r t i c i p a t i o n
The period 1998-1999 has been marked by
a report on decentralized international
cooperation and new LDC-development types
of cooperation with UNESCO, Member States,
regional authorities and international
organizations. In this context, the
Organization has prepared two draft
cooperation agreements and presented them
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leaflets in the Education for Human Rights and
Democracy series translated into the four
national languages, namely Fon, Adja,Yoruba
and Baatonum.
All these actions and initiatives bear the
stamp of a particular facet of social
development and combine to fulfil the
objectives enshrined in the Paris Declaration
and United Nations Programme of Action for
the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s.
Given that a country cannot experience
development without the responsible
involvement of each and every citizen, putting
tools in place for effective participation
constitutes one of the mainsprings of social
development. In other words, the LDCs’
future depends on international support in the
form of coordinated efforts to further both
the decentralization of responsibilities (local
and regional democracy) and the necessary
education in exercising such responsibilities.
That is the price of peace.
to the Bruxelles-Capitale region and the
Forum Francophone des Affaires.
Under its programme for a Culture of
Peace, and particularly in the LDCs, UNESCO
strives to encourage nations to seek out the
roots of peace – without which there can be
no prosperity – within their own traditions, in
the courage of their people and in the
education of the very young. The poorest
countries are targeted in particular because
that is where very many of the conflicts of the
past few years have erupted. UNESCO
supports a large number of peace-building
initiatives and projects in the LDCs.
A House for the Culture of Peace has
opened in Burundi, and a national consultation
on the culture of peace was held in Rwanda in
January 1996. In 1997, UNESCO staged the
first International Congress of Demobilized
Soldiers in Mozambique. A year earlier, it
concluded a contract with the Institut des
Droits de l’Homme et de la Promotion de la
Démocratie in Benin (Cotonou) to have
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Faced with such gross injustice which so often
erupts into violence, do not remain passive. Never
be indifferent. But equally, never be violent:
violence has shown itself – particularly in this
century – to be an immense failure, paid for in
countless human lives. Force must be replaced by
dialogue, imposition by patient efforts to reach
agreement. Hate and confrontation must make
way for understanding and peace.Young people,
the only heritage we hold intact is our future –
your future.1
UNESCO’s Director-General sees young
people – i.e. more than a third of the world’s
population – as fertile terrain for cultivating
the principles and values of peace, humanism
and fellowship. Today, however, many are being
driven to despair by the difficulties that they
have to confront day in, day out: unemploy-
ment, delinquency, drugs, prostitution, and all
manner of hostility. Young people have
aspirations that are at once both legitimate
and concrete: fair access to quality education,
access to the world of work, a democratic say
in problem-solving at local and global level,
and a chance to express themselves as
citizens and through culture, the arts and
sport.Yet their position has been eroded over
the past few years, mainly owing to harsh cuts
in public spending on education, healthcare
and social well-being (sport and leisure
activities).
Awareness of the importance of this
vital force in the world induced the General
Conference, at its 28th session in November
1995, to designate Youth as UNESCO’s fourth
priority-group, and thus to target it, along
with the others (women, least developed
countries (LDCs) and Africa) for action in line
with its Medium-Term Strategy for 1996-2001.
As far as youth is concerned, this strategy
hinges on two key goals: gaining a better grasp
K i n d l i n g t h e h o p e s o f yo u t h
1. Message delivered by Federico Mayor at the close of the 29th sessionof the General Conference of UNESCO, on 12 November 1997.
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of the problems linked to the lives, behaviour
and aspirations of young people, and giving
them a more meaningful role in UNESCO’s
activities and programmes.
Noteworthy changes have taken place in
approaches to youth programming – making it
broader in scope and diversity as a result.
More importance than ever needs to be
attached to producing programmes in which
young people are regarded not just as the
objects of intervention, but as equal
participants and – hence – potential partners
in the development of their community.
Accordingly, in May 1998 the Director-General
decided to secure the implementation of the
priority youth principle by creating a small,
dynamic central Youth Coordination Unit
(UCJ). It has been given the task of drawing
up an overall strategy for tackling youth issues
– the term youth being understood to refer to
the age range of 15 to 24 years – with a view
to responding to young people’s specific needs
and concerns, and developing their potential.
Anxious to give young people a voice,
the Director-General has created an internal
and an external advisory body: the Priority
Youth Committee and the Youth Council. The
UCJ, meanwhile, continues to remain in
permanent contact with young people, and
with their NGOs and associations. In this
context, UNESCO participated in the third
World Youth Forum in Braga (Portugal), and
the Organization has since been invited to a
variety of meetings organized by young people
themselves, or with their participation.
Furthermore, UNESCO now belongs to the
Inter-American Working Group on Youth
Development, which seeks mechanisms to
strengthen youth projects in the Americas.
It is also a partner in the Global Meeting
of Generations.
The Director-General is keen to
encourage the personal participation of young
men and women in UNESCO bodies
(Secretariat, Permanent Delegations of
Member States and National Commissions),
as well as in workshops, meetings, conferences
and all other events organized by the
Organization or its partners.
Among UNESCO’s leading youth
initiatives is its World Heritage Education
Project, which sets out to pass on to young
people the knowledge, attitudes and skills
inherited from the past, so that they may
understand and meet the challenges of our
changing society. Coordinated by the
Associated Schools Project Network
(ASPnet), it creates new patterns of
collaboration between pupils, teachers and
other members of the community (architects,
museum curators, site managers,
archaeologists, university lecturers, parents
and the media), and gives young people an
opportunity to visit conservation sites as part
of their formal studies or extra-curricular
activities.
To heighten young people’s awareness
of human rights, UNESCO has produced a
manual on the subject composed of simple
and readily accessible materials for use in
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primary and secondary education. It is
designed to serve as a brief guide on how to
transform abstract norms into a set of values
and behaviour relevant to the everyday lives
of young people and to be placed at the
disposal of educators in primary and
secondary schools and pupils in lower
secondary school. UNESCO has also launched
an introductory course on new media in State
schools in Argentina, especially those in
underprivileged neighbourhoods. The objective
is to introduce new media pedagogy into State
schools and create opportunities for
expression through various media:
photography, newspapers, radio programmes,
video and television. The project also invites
teachers and librarians in Buenos Aires to
workshops where they can learn how to
produce and use graphic, radio or audiovisual
material as teaching aids with which to
introduce their students to the media.
UNESCO also encourages training
provided by mobile video training units. This
initiative gives an opportunity to young
Haitians living in the country’s shanty towns
and severely deprived rural areas to learn
basic practical skills. Several such units travel
the length and breadth of the country. Using
their own inbuilt electricity generators or
tapping into a car battery, they screen videos
showing simple techniques – metalwork,
woodwork, the processing of fruit, use of
small-scale machinery or cement casting – on
a sheet or white wall. Instructors can rewind
the film at any point during the projection or
hand out booklets containing explanatory
drawings or text designed to reinforce
literacy. Once young people have grasped
some of the techniques, they can improve
their immediate living conditions and seek
employment in the informal economy.
S p o r t :a p r e p a r a t i o n
f o r l i f e
Sport can play a central role in moulding
the character of young people, for it
stimulates and develops their understanding of
what it means to share, of team spirit, learning
from failure, of effort and perseverance. Sport
is also a right. Article 1 of the International
Charter of Physical Education and Sport,
adopted by the General Conference of
UNESCO in November 1978, stipulates that
every human being has a fundamental right of
access to physical education and sport, which are
essential for the full development of [his or her]
personality. Sport is a true preparation for life
and can be a way of keeping aimless
youngsters healthily busy, out of trouble and
away from violence. This is why UNESCO
launched its Hope and Solidarity through Ball
Games programme in 1993 to distribute
sporting equipment to struggling youngsters.
Through sport and group activities, explains the
programme coordinator, we are seeking to get
children and young people off the streets and
redirect them into peaceful community life.
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Pa e d o p h i l i a o n t h e I n t e r n e t
The Internet and information highways are remarkable tools forbringing people together and bringing education to many.
Although the benefits of the Internet may far outweigh potentialdrawbacks, the dangers lurking in cyberspace must be neithermisunderstood nor underrated. On that score, there is an urgentneed to do something about the criminal activities of paedophiles andthe peddlers of child pornography who use and abuse minors via theInternet.On 18 and 19 January 1999, a 300-strong gathering of child welfareand protection experts, Internet specialists and service providers,media professionals, police and government officials met at UNESCOHeadquarters in Paris to explore ways of combating paedophilia andchild pornography on the Internet.The meeting culminated in theadoption of a declaration and plan of action.There was, as far asthose taking part were concerned, no question of restricting basicliberties such as freedom of expression or right of access toinformation.Among the actions contemplated, the plan recommends that aclearing-house be set up which would also be responsible forfostering cooperation among those involved in the struggle forchildren’s rights. UNESCO has been called upon to lead the campaign.Participants above all requested that the Organization: produce acomprehensive glossary of Internet terminology, so that users andexperts may share a common perception of this priceless informationand networking tool; support and encourage the introduction of
Relying on the generosity of donors, the
initiative receives equipment from
manufacturers Adidas, Nike, Perrache, Inter
Sport and the like, or from sporting
federations.Volunteers at UNESCO
Headquarters handle the reception and
despatch. Transport is provided free of charge
by private companies, governments, even by
the International Military Sports Council.
Since 1993, the Hope and Solidarity through
Ball Games programme has collected some
10 million dollars’ worth of sports equipment
and delivered it to young people in Lebanon,
Guinea, Togo, Rwanda, Georgia, Palestine and
Angola, to name but a few. Thus the ‘culture
of peace’ concept, which the United Nations has
been promoting for several years, has found in
this programme – which began informally but has
today gained international recognition – an
application which in a very few years has enabled
children, many of them badly neglected, to find a
little happiness and maybe even to discover some
reasons to believe in a better world. Nearly six
years of operations, tons of equipment distributed
– worth over four million dollars – several dozen
missions, thousands of boxes, hundreds of
contacts for an incalculable number of children’s
smiles…2.
There can hardly be a more effective
way of broadcasting the universal message of
sport, namely, that youth should be educated
in a climate of better understanding and
friendship, than by having a world-class
sportsman or woman join that noble cause.
UNESCO chose the most famous of them all:
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national hotlines, and sponsor the setting up of one or moreinternational electronic monitoring services prepared to give childrenimmediate access to help; bring together mothers’ or parents’associations and form a worldwide network of the citizens, publicfigures, institutions and companies playing strategic roles in the battleto combat paedophilia on the Internet.With regard to legal frameworks and regulations, UNESCO actionshould adhere to the following ground plan: establish context-specificregulations to be used by those fighting child pornography, above allby backing legislation cracking down on possession of pornographicmaterial featuring children; foster self-regulation in the industryconcerned as a response to the issue, and the establishment ofprinciples aimed at encouraging the wider involvement of industry inthe struggle; foster co-regulation, i.e. the support of governments,NGOs, businesses and civil society in implementing regulations.Finally, the terms of the Plan of Action require UNESCO – incooperation with other actors – to set up a special task force orcommittee of experts pooling the experiences of all sectorsconcerned with sexual exploitation and pornography, with a view toprotecting children on the Internet. Its role should be to spearheadactions aimed at prevention, information-gathering and dissemination,analysis, self-regulation, legal frameworks and internationalcooperation.
Paedophi l ia on the Internet (cont inued)
on 19 April 1994, it named as its Goodwill
Ambassador the scorer of 1,278 goals and
winner of three World Cup competitions with
his national side, Brazil: Edson Arantes do
Nascimento, otherwise known as Pelé. He
became the first sportsperson ever selected
for such a role. Accepting the assignment, Pelé
pledged his support to UNESCO’s action in
aid of the millions of street children.
More often than not, that is where
destitute youngsters encounter drugs – a real
poison eating away at the very foundations of
society. Drugs, in the Director-General’s view,
are a death-trap, not just for the individual, but
for whole families, communities, nations. And who
are the first to fall victim? The young, tomorrow’s
adults, our precious heritage. The threat, then, is
to the very future of our societies.
Mr Mayor was speaking at the launch on
9 February 1998 of the Youth Charter for a
Twenty-first Century Free of Drugs: a
document compiled from thousands of
contributions submitted by young people to
NGOs and schools in more than 80 countries
worldwide, and coordinated by the
Environnement Sans Frontière NGO with the
support of UNESCO and the United Nations
International Drug Control Programme
(UNIDCP). Noting that first experiences with
drugs are often motivated by curiosity,
idleness, lack of self-confidence, indifference
2. From Hope and Solidarity through Ball Games – an Inside Accountby Audrey Sorge, UNESCO Publishing, 1999.
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Without downplaying the crucial part
played by charities, UNESCO has focused on
all-embracing, long-term solutions that strike
at the roots of the problem and mobilize the
whole of society to put a stop to children’s
suffering. The UNESCO Programme for the
Education of Children in Need has raised
more than US $12 million since its launch. The
small donations from schoolchildren, teachers
and the general public and larger sums from
private companies, airlines, high-profile artists
and others are, in Mr Mayor’s eyes, tangible
proof that our societies can muster the resources
needed to help those in need.
I’ve been with Bosnian children who’d just
escaped the murderous hell of war-torn Sarajevo.
I’ve spent the night in a Calcutta shelter keeping
10-year-old girls out of the clutches of
prostitution. I’ve seen schools in Cuba in ruins,
flattened overnight by a tropical storm. I’ve
waded through the heaps of refuse in Cairo
slums where children have to scavenge for a
living. Since being named Special Ambassador
for Children in Distress in 1994, Ute-
Henriette Ohoven has circled the globe
endeavouring to learn more about the tragic
plight of those children and about UNESCO
projects, so that they may be made even more
effective. When I am holding the hands of the
children, face to face with the cruelty and
injustice inflicted upon them by the adults of this
world, she affirms, that is when I am
accomplishing the saddest – yet at the same time
the most uplifting – part of my work for
UNESCO.
and violence in our immediate surroundings,
but also by the difficulties and trials of
everyday life, states the Charter, we affirm the
necessity to have our basic needs met; to be
treated with dignity and respect.
It proclaims young people’s right to
refuse to take drugs and to be respected by
others for our opinions; and to a positive
attitude towards a choice which is good
for our health, before going on to demand
that the nations of the world cooperate in the
fight against drug trafficking [and requesting]
that States and international organizations
provide economic assistance to poor countries
and populations to enable them to develop
sources of income other than those derived from
the production and sale of drugs.
G i v e t h e m b a c kt h e i r c h i l d h o o d
In 1992, UNESCO launched a special
programme to help the world’s needy
children. Street children, exploited children,
casualties of war or natural disasters, refugees
or shut away in camps, afflicted with AIDS or
disabled – tens of millions of children around
the world have been sacrificed and
condemned by the world of adults. Abandoned,
used and abused, they cannot even call out for
help. Ours is the only voice they have, says
Mr Mayor, our ability to act, their only hope.
Let us help those who are striving to give them
back their childhood.
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participation in music and movement
activities, drama and mime and – last but not
least – sports and games.
In India, the Child in Need Institute
(CINI ASHA) has taken several thousand
children off the streets of Calcutta and given
them food, clothing and training. In South
Africa, the Ons Plek Shelter project helps
young Cape Town girls caught a vicious cycle
of violence, crime and alcoholism by enabling
them to learn a trade so that they can then
go back to leading a normal life, and even
restore relations with their families. In Cuba, a
network of schools, coordinated by the Miguel
Bsilio Diaz school, caters for the special needs
of children with severe language difficulties.
UNESCO, thanks to funds raised by the LTU
airline company, has been able to equip these
schools with computer rooms where
specialized educators and computers help
children to overcome their difficulties.
In Egypt, the Association for
Environmental Protection has carried out a
training project for the marginalized
youngsters of Mokattam, one of the so called
sink towns on the outskirts of Cairo. Once
they have learnt recycling techniques and how
to operate plastics-reclamation machinery and
observe industrial safety standards, their
training continues into the realms of personal
hygiene, first aid and functional literacy.
This handful of examples shows that
concerted and effective action is possible in
the face of problems of enormous
proportions. Mr Mayor drives the point home,
Some 80 field projects in almost as
many countries throughout Africa, the Middle
East, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean,
not to mention Europe, have received
assistance from the UNESCO Programme for
the Education of Children in Need.
Determined to see all those initiatives
through to a satisfactory conclusion, UNESCO
appeals for active cooperation from the other
United Nations agencies, NGOs, governments,
municipal and local authorities and society as
a whole. It also goes to great lengths to
ensure that every dollar donated serves to
benefit the children themselves in the most
tangible and direct way possible.
I n e x t r e m e d i s t r e s s
A ll projects have a single goal: to kindle
the hopes of children in distress. The
Palestinian Authority’s Social Services Minister
has opened two learning centres in the town
of Nablus for local girls and boys aged 13 to
16 left virtually unschooled and untrained by
the intifada. The Ghassan Ghanafani
Foundation runs two reading centres for
children living in Lebanese refugee camps,
many of them disabled. The Juconi Foundation
centre in Puebla (Mexico) offers several
hundred street children every year the chance
of a basic education and practical training,
along with a range of other key elements to
further their personal development, besides
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saying that no matter what place we occupy in
society, we must all of us in our daily lives set an
example and show sharing, humanism and daring
to be more than mere hollow words (…) Much
remains to be done if we want to make sure that
children never again need be the victims of
exploitation, poverty and abandonment. UNESCO
and I, personally, are fighting that battle. We owe
it to our children. 3
3. From Federico Mayor’s introductory remarks to the final report on theProgramme for the Education of Children in Need 1992-1997, UNESCOPublishing.
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Taking as its starting-point the principle
that humanity cannot develop harmoniously if
it cuts itself off from half its members,
UNESCO gives promotion of the status of
women a prominent place in its strategy. Its
goal is to improve their levels of training,
study the social and cultural factors which
lead to discrimination and above all violence
against women, and encourage their broadest
possible access to higher education,
particularly in science and technology, in
order to promote their greater participation
in decision-making, particularly in the media,
industry and government posts.
Paradoxically, even within an
international organization such as UNESCO,
women do not yet occupy their rightful
place and are still underrepresented the
further up the hierarchy one looks.
In order to remedy this situation, which is
at odds with the discourse and the objectives
of the Organization, the Director-General
Wo m e n : t h e o t h e r h u m a n i t y
Only 6 per cent of decision-making posts
in the world are occupied by women, while
10 per cent of parliamentarians are female
and two-thirds of the 885 million illiterate
adults are women. In other words, if all human
beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights, as Article 1 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights proclaims, women continue
to be the victims of both covert and flagrant
discrimination.
On the occasion of International
Women’s Day on 8 March 1997, the Director-
General of UNESCO again pleaded the cause
of this invisible half of humanity: On the
threshold of the third millennium, women’s full
participation in social and economic development
and in the democratic process – at the local
community level as well as in national and
international bodies – is a moral imperative, a
matter of justice due to women as human beings.
It is also an urgent need for the world as a
whole.
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the Medium-Term Strategy 1996-2001 is
organized around a number of main axes:
integrating women better in the running of
UNESCO, using their abilities and potential,
and strengthening their participation in the
democratization and peace processes. The
Organization also endeavours to stimulate
women’s networks and to strengthen
cooperation with the United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and
their International Research and Training
Institute for the Advancement of Women
(INSTRAW).
Parity is an objective, said Mr Mayor in an
interview in the magazine Jeune Afrique1.
We are living in a society centred on men. This is
what has dominated the world. Women, with their
own vision, have to take their place (…) To say
that we will do to women what we have done to
men seems to me absurd. This is not what
interests me. What I want is to promote the
complementarity of women and give them their
full rights (…) What is important is to raise
awareness of the role of women. Nothing will
stop this movement. In the framework of its
transdisciplinary programme Towards a Culture
of Peace, UNESCO is giving women a decisive,
central role, as is shown by the establishment
of a new section in the Organization called
Women and a Culture of Peace.
As the Platform for Action of the
United Nations World Conference on Women,
Beijing (1995)2 stresses, [Women’s] full
participation in decision-making, conflict
prevention and resolution and all other peace
has sought to encourage the access of
women to all levels of responsibility. For
example, the goal to ensure that, by the end
of 2001, half the new professional staff
members would be women, has already almost
been achieved: in 1996, 45.6 per cent of those
appointed in this category were women.
Overall, the proportion of female professional
staff members in the Secretariat has risen
from 30.03 per cent in 1990 to 37.12 per cent
in 1997.
Furthermore, since July 1996, Member
States have been asked to provide lists of
associations of women graduates in their
countries so that UNESCO can address
vacancy notices directly to them. For this
purpose, the staff responsible for assessing
applications to professional posts have
received new directives that seek to
encourage the recruitment of women, while
the Advisory Committee on Equal
Opportunities (ACEO) established by the
Director-General, continues to monitor action
in this field.
V e c t o r s o f p e a c e
A s early as 1989, the General Conference
of UNESCO invited the Director-General
to strengthen intra-organizational activities to
support, extend and document UNESCO’s
attention to women as agents, beneficiaries and
active participants in all its programmes and
projects. In order to promote sexual equality,
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initiatives is essential to the realization of lasting
peace. Among the objectives designed more
particularly to eliminate discrimination against
women, the Platform for Action includes, in
particular, access to education, equal
development, measures to prevent and
eliminate violence and all the forms of
exploitation to which women are subjected,
promotion of their economic rights, the
elimination of discrimination in employment,
access to, and full participation in, all levels of
Woman on a Jaipurmarket, India
1. Jeune Afrique, 16 November 1995.
2. Fourth World Conference on Women, 4 to 15 September 1995,Beijing (China).
© UNESCO/P. Pittet
government, equality and non-discrimination
before the law, and the implementation of all
instruments concerning human rights. The
Platform for Action also pays special attention
to the elimination of discrimination against
girls.
F r o m B e i j i n g t oZ a n z i b a r
The Statement on Women’s Contribution to
a Culture of Peace, called the Beijing
Statement, emphasizes the crucial link between
peace, development and sexual equality. In
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and deplored the fact that in the present-day
world women take only 4 per cent of all
decisions.
This Pan-African conference also
adopted a Women’s Agenda for a Culture of
Peace in Africa which commends a series
of measures to promote the role of women
in conflict prevention, management and
resolution. It also includes a long list of
innovatory and practical actions involving
women’s community-based organizations as
a nurturing ground for building a culture of
peace.
Among the various programmes for
women, UNESCO has established one
specially devoted to Mediterranean women.
The Programme on Mediterranean Women
seeks to promote the status of women in this
region, including the Red Sea area, and
encourage cross-Mediterranean exchange. In
this framework, the programme supports
women’s networks and action centres, such as
the Mediterranean Women’s Forum, the
Collectif Maghreb Egalité, the Summer
University of Black Sea women and the
UNESCO Centre for Women and Peace in the
Balkan Countries. The UNESCO trans-
Mediterranean network, REUNIR, formed in
1994, which brings together cultural
institutions in 24 countries to the north,
south and east of the Mediterranean, also
strengthens cultural exchange and favours
women’s access to decision-making in cultural
industries. The network which provides a
platform for exchanging information and
practical terms, the Statement recognizes the
unique nature and potential of women for
moving society towards a culture of peace,
and a commitment to support and promote
the ideas it encompasses. The Declaration was
signed by women Presidents (Chandrika
Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka,Vigdis
Finnbogadottir of Iceland, Mary Robinson of
Ireland), Prime Ministers (Benazir Bhutto of
Pakistan, Begum Khaleda of Bangladesh, Tansu
Ciller of Turkey), Nobel prize-winners
(Gertrude Bella Elion, Mairead Maguire
Corrigan, Nadine Gordimer, Rita Levi
Montalicini, Rigoberta Menchú Tum) and
executive heads of the United Nations
system.3
Quite recently, in May 1999, in
cooperation with the Tanzanian Government,
the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and
several non-governmental organizations,
UNESCO organized a conference in Zanzibar,
Tanzania, on the theme: Women organize for
peace and non-violence in Africa. This meeting,
whose success is attested by the presence
of close on 300 women participants from
60 countries, 50 of them in Africa, culminated
in the adoption of the Zanzibar Declaration.
The text calls for the launching of a
Pan-African women’s peace movement to stop
violent conflicts and war and includes a
commitment by the signatories to promote
non-violent means of conflict resolution and
African values for a culture of peace. At the
opening of the conference, Mr Mayor stressed
that women are the best messengers of peace
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explained that insofar as soldiers, murderers
and rapists were almost exclusively men, the
study of masculinity and of the respective
roles of men and women in society was
crucial to the debate on a culture of peace.
However, he stressed that not all men were
violent and that the masculine condition should
not be seen as biologically determined, but as a
social construct with many different facets. Action
to change this formalization of male roles and
reduce the masculinity-violence connection was
difficult but possible. The models existed and
UNESCO, like other organizations, had an
important role to play in identifying and
promoting them.
UNESCO therefore advocates a new
balance between the roles of men and women.
According to the Director-General, male
domination is not the right path. He believes we
must do our best to counter the cliché that men
should be in control. Here, as elsewhere, there is
only one solution among all the paths open to us,
namely, giving everyone, men and women alike,
control over their own lives and the construction
of their future – giving them the ability to be
themselves. If we follow this path, we shall go
forward in equality. Education is the only way to
do this.
This position was reaffirmed on
International Women’s Day on 8 March 1997:
Education is the most effective means for
achieving women’s empowerment and,
consequently, gender equality. It crucially
influences a woman’s earning capacity, her own
and her family’s health, the number and spacing
3. Carol Bellamy (Executive Director of UNICEF), Catherine Bertini (Executive Director of the World Food Programme),Elisabeth Dowdeswell (Executive Director of the United NationsEnvironment Programme), Martha Duenda Loza (Director of INSTRAW),Noeleen Heyzer (Director of UNIFEM), Brenda G. MacSweeny (ExecutiveCoordinator, United Nations Volunteers), Nafis Sadik (Executive Director ofUNFPA) and Gertrude Mongella (Secretary-General of the Fourth WorldConference on Women).
research work, recently held a conference on
Mediterranean Women and Democracy in
Istanbul, Turkey. Four hundred intellectuals,
parliamentarians, representatives of local
women’s associations and organizations took
part in the event and discussed many issues:
the polarization of Mediterranean societies in
fundamentalist and nationalist movements and
the effects on women’s rights, cultural
universality and relativity, and secularism,
modernity and religious values.
V i o l e n c e a n dm a s c u l i n i t y
The statistics are clear: there is a
connection between violence and
masculinity. This, in any case, is the opinion
expressed by Robert W. Connell, a professor
in the Department of Education of the
University of Sydney, on 30 September 1987
at UNESCO during the presentation of the
conclusions of the meeting of a group of
experts on the theme of the socialization of
men: masculine identity in the context of a
culture of peace. The author of the best-selling
book Masculinities, Robert W. Connell
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of her children, and her children’s education. The
World Education Report (1995) shows that
women account for two thirds of illiterate
adults in the world, and girls account for
about the same proportion of young people
who do not attend school. The Report states
that, in every country, girls who have completed
basic education are far better placed to lead
their lives in a changing economic , social and
cultural environment than if they have no
education. When they marry and have children,
the full benefit of their education appears clearly
in their ability to communicate with others and,
above all, to bring up their own children quite
differently than they would have done if illiterate.
In short, access to education and
continuing training have a direct impact on the
personal development, economic
independence and citizenship of women. The
Convention and Recommendation against
Discrimination in Education were adopted by
the General Conference of UNESCO at its
twelfth session in 1969. Since then, the
Organization has conducted five consultations
of States Parties to the Convention. At its
27th session, the General Conference decided
to conduct periodic consultations in order to
stress the importance of basic education for
the groups to which UNESCO gives priority,
including women and girls. The access of these
groups to autonomy through literacy, basic
education and continuing education
programmes remains UNESCO’s favoured
operational approach.
The Gobi Women Project launched in
1991 in the form of a triple partnership
between the Government of Mongolia,
DANIDA (Danish Agency for International
Development) and UNESCO, is a good
illustration of this policy concerning women.
Adopting non-formal education as the
approach and distance learning as the means,
the project produces teaching materials which
respond to the needs of a target group of
15,000 nomad women in six provinces of the
Gobi. The attraction of income-generating
activities has proved indispensable to motivate
women to become a driving force for basic
education programmes (reading, writing and
arithmetic). The programmes deal with
subjects such as livestock breeding techniques,
family welfare (family planning, health,
nutrition, hygiene) and income-generating
activities using raw materials available locally.
In other words, a concrete way of using
education to give voice and dignity to the
other humanity.
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on democracy launched by UNESCO and the
Pax Institute was the Conference on
Democratic Culture and Development, which
was held from 27 to 30 November 1990 in
Montevideo, Uruguay. The Conference stressed
the importance of a political culture for the
consolidation of democratic processes.
The following year, from 4 to
6 November, an international forum on
Culture and democracy was held in Prague,
Czechoslovakia, as part of the World Decade
for Cultural Development. The forum stressed
the fact that living democracy requires the
active participation of all in social and cultural
life, and is based on beliefs, attitudes and
projects.
Preparations for the International
Congress on Education for Human Rights and
Democracy held from 8 to 11 March 1993 in
Montreal, Canada, were undertaken in May
1992 by an informal consultation of specialists
held at UNESCO Headquarters. In addition,
experts who met from 2 to 6 November 1992
in Prague drew up recommendations for
human rights education in Eastern and Central
D e m o c r a c y a n d c i t i z e n s h i p
Since the end of the Cold War, symbolized
by the fall of the Berlin Wall, UNESCO has
endeavoured to initiate and encourage
reflection on democracy, which, together
with peace and development, forms what
Mr Federico Mayor describes as an interactive
triangle. The difficulties which prevent it
hampering from taking root in many parts of
the world suggest that democracy is not a
finished product and can not therefore be
reduced to a set of institutional rules,
applicable at all times and in all places.
For these reasons the Organization is
concerned to keep company with this
somewhat disordered democratic movement,
or put more clearly, to promote the transition
from democracy as a formality to democracy
in everyday life. Numerous meetings have
provided opportunities for information and
experience to be exchanged, particularly at
the regional and subregional levels, in various
cultural and historical contexts, but all with
the objective of strengthening citizenship in
societies in transition.
The first action of international scope
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Nicaragua, was held for the purpose of
comparing the processes and challenges facing
new or restored democracies, with particular
regard to the creation of a State governed by
the rule of law. The year ended with a regional
meeting of experts from 18 to 22 October in
Windhoek, Namibia, on the theme Democracy-
building and the participation of women in Africa.
In 1995, an international seminar on the
theme Education for human rights and
citizenship in Central and Eastern Europe:
teaching means, teaching aids and methodology
of education was held from 5 to 7 April in
Prague. It was followed, from 26 to 28 April in
Moscow, by an international conference on
experience in the process of consolidating
democracy in Central and Eastern Europe.
During the same year, two international
symposia were held: the first on democratic
transition, from 6 to 8 July in Port-au-Prince,
Haiti, and the second on the social and
cultural dimensions of democracy in Africa,
from 4 to 6 October 1995 in Dakar, Senegal.
The Regional Summit for Political
Development and Democratic Principles, held
from 3 to 6 July 1997 in Brasilia, concluded
that there can be no shared future unless we can
devise a modern form of humanism based on
commitments that are entered into freely. The
Conference held from 2 to 4 July 1998 in
Maputo, Mozambique, addressed the subject of
Africa in the face of globalization: the challenges
of democracy and governance.
Europe. Lastly, an international forum on
Education for democracy, held from 8 to
10 November 1992 in Tunis, underscored the
role of education in promoting democracy.
M i n o r i t y g r o u p s
The Montreal International Congress
adopted a World Plan of Action on
Education for Human Rights and Democracy
based on seven major strategies for action.
UNESCO was entrusted with the tasks of
drawing up and disseminating a timetable for
planning, implementation and evaluation of the
Plan of Action and establishing a Follow-up
Committee.
Following that Congress, a number of
meetings were held during 1993: the World
Conference on Human Rights from 14 to
25 June in Vienna, Austria; the Workshop on
Democracy and Protection of Minority Groups
from 8 to 10 September in Moscow, in
cooperation with the Institute of Ethnology of
the Academy of Sciences; the International
Workshop on Human Rights and Democracy
Education in Post-Communist Societies from
24 to 25 September 1993 in Warsaw, Poland,
in cooperation with the Helsinki Foundation
for Human Rights.
The Second International Conference on
The Process of Consolidating Democracy, which
took place from 4 to 7 July 1994 in Managua,
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All human beings are born free and equal in
dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason
and conscience and should act towards one
another in a spirit of brotherhood1. Five decades
later, the message of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the
United Nations in Paris in 1948 has lost none
of its relevance or topicality. Lawyers know that
there are many dead causes in the cemetery of
law, observed Robert Badinter, former French
Minister of Justice and President of the
Mission for the celebration of the fiftieth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. A consultation of the book of
international conventions and declarations,
reveals that there are more tombstones than
living texts. This is not true of the Universal
Declaration. Its intensity and emotional appeal
have in fact increased over the decades. Reading
the press on the day following its publication, one
realizes how little interest the Declaration
aroused at the time. Why is it that, 50 years
later, it seems so valuable? Because over the last
half-century the Universal Declaration has been a
landmark for all. It is the text dissidents have
always held up to their oppressors. In the course
of so many struggles for freedom, it has the
emotional appeal of every text in whose name
men and women have died for freedom. It is a
text which – even more than when it was
conceived – marks the moral horizon of our
times.2
As the century draws to a close,
poverty, exclusion, racism and conflicts of
every kind are intensifying, while new
challenges are arising, created by rapid
globalization and unbridled technological and
scientific progress. In short, in a multipolar,
unstable world, the idea of human rights
retains all its universality and indivisibility and
the Universal Declaration remains the
H u m a n r i g h t s :a n e v e r - e n d i n g s t r u g g l e
1. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimedby the United Nations on 10 December 1948.
2. Speech on the occasion of the celebration of the fiftieth anniversaryof the Universal Declaration, Paris, 7 December 1998.
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benchmark text at international level. On
16 December 1966, the Universal Declaration
was supplemented by two other texts that
clarified its provisions, namely, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Another step was taken when, in December
1989, the General Assembly of the United
Nations adopted the second Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on
Civil Rights, which seeks to abolish the death
penalty throughout the world. Both Covenants
came into force in 1976. Since then, more
than 130 States have become parties to them.
International human rights law at
present includes more than 80 universal and
regional conventions, which are binding upon
States Parties. Far more numerous still are the
declarations and recommendations on human
rights which have been adopted by
international organizations, but are not
formally binding upon States. For example, the
Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice,
unanimously adopted by the General
Conference of UNESCO in 1978, and the
implementation resolution of the Declaration,
which invites Member States to inform the
General Conference through the Director-
General of the measures they have taken to
give effect to the principles of the
Declaration, is a very important instrument.
But work in support of human rights is
never finished, since what counts ultimately is
what men and women experience in their
daily lives. In short, it is rather like the myth
of Sisyphus, son of Aeolus and King of
Corinth, condemned forever to push a
boulder up a mountain and always to see it
roll back before reaching the summit.
Indisputable achievements in codification and the
progressive development of international human
rights law have not met with equal success in
their observance. The sad reality is that human
rights are violated every day in many parts of the
world.3
This is why, faced with this situation and
the current acceleration of globalization,
Federico Mayor believes we must now take a
global, forward-looking, open and imaginative view
if we wish tomorrow’s world to be built on
respect for human dignity and not at its expense.
In this context, UNESCO sees its role as the
intellectual forum of the United Nations system –
a role of reflection, awareness-raising and
warning of any dangers, played in all its
interdisciplinary fields of competence and based
on its ethical mandate to promote human rights
and fundamental freedoms.4
UNESCO has established a procedure
for dealing with complaints, submitted by
victims, individuals, groups of individuals or
non-governmental organizations with bona
fide knowledge of human rights violations in
the fields of competence of the Organization,
namely, education, science, culture and
communication. The Executive Board’s
Committee on Conventions and
Recommendations examines the complaints,
known as communications, in private session.
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Representatives of the governments
concerned may take part in the meetings of
the Committee and provide further
information or answer the questions put to
them. The Committee first rules on the
admissibility of the communication, then, if it
considers it admissible and that it should be
followed up, endeavours to bring about an
amicable settlement. The Committee submits a
confidential report to the Executive Board of
UNESCO, which takes any measures it
considers appropriate. The procedure
concerns not only individual, specific human
rights violations, but also issues related to
massive, systematic, flagrant violations. By the
end of 1995, the Committee had received
440 communications and had found a
satisfactory solution to 266 of them,
essentially through dialogue with the States
concerned.
3. Human rights: questions and answers by Leah Levin, illustrated by Plantu,UNESCO Publishing, 1997.
4. Opening address by Federico Mayor at the Paris Meeting on Human Rights on the Eve of the Twenty-First Century (7-8 December 1998).
E d u c a t i o n : t h ep r i o r i t y
Born of the idea that economic and
political agreements alone cannot
guarantee lasting peace and that this can only
be established on the basis of the intellectual
and moral solidarity of humanity and full
respect for justice and human rights, UNESCO
has conducted its action according to the very
principles laid down in the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. More
particularly, the Organization’s Division of
Human Rights, Democracy and Peace has
ceaselessly developed more appropriate
means of action by updating and rationalizing
its programme of work on the basis of
directives given by the General Conference of
UNESCO at successive sessions.
Its approach is part of the obvious, but
frequently neglected, observation, recalled by
the Director of the Division of Human Rights,
Democracy and Peace, and the Chief of the
Human Rights Unit of that Division of
UNESCO, that human rights and fundamental
freedoms can be respected only if people know
about them. In this area, education clearly plays
an essential part in promoting and propagating
human rights around the world. The
development of quality human rights
education, especially at university level, has
been the Division’s priority in recent years.
The Director-General of UNESCO believes
that it is through education that the broadest
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The Director of the Division of Human
Rights, Democracy and Peace believes that
In order to progress a whole system of education
needs to be created. In primary and secondary
schools, human rights teaching requires an
integrated approach: it cannot be introduced as
a separate subject. But formal education is only
part of the picture; if we talk about education
for the rights of women, we are talking about
addressing a whole population. There is also
a need for a specialized type of education for
the armed forces, police, judges, the media.
All these objectives and
recommendations were examined at the
World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna,
June 1993), which proposed more energetic
international mobilization. In response
to this urgent appeal, in 1995 the General
Conference of UNESCO adopted the
Integrated Framework of Action on Education
for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy,
while at its forty-ninth session the General
Assembly of the United Nations approved the
Plan of Action for the United Nations Decade
for Human Rights Education (1995-2004).
Furthermore, in order to take into account
the specific cultural, religious, social and
economic characteristics of the various
regions of the world, the Division organized
the first three regional conferences on human
rights education: Europe (Turku, Finland,
18-21 September 1997), Africa (Dakar,
Senegal, 14-18 December 1998) and Asia and
the Pacific (Poona, India, 3-6 February 1999).
possible introduction can be provided to the
values, skills and knowledge which form the basis
of respect for human rights and democratic
principles, the rejection of violence, and a spirit
of tolerance, understanding and mutual
appreciation among individuals, groups and
nations.
To give new impetus to human rights
teaching, and to the information and
documentation available about human rights,
UNESCO organized the International Congress
on Education for Human Rights and Demo-
cracy in Montreal from 8 to 11 March 1993.
The aim of the meeting was to identify and
analyse not only the achievements but also
the challenges and obstacles to education for
human rights and democracy, in the light of
worldwide changes. The participants in the
Congress adopted the World Plan of Action,
which outlined what had to be done to make
human rights education effective and to
ensure that it included all aspects of the
question: identifying target groups, drawing up
appropriate curricula, research into education
for human rights and democracy, revising
school textbooks, so as to eliminate
stereotypes, setting up networks of educators,
increasing the resources allocated to human
rights education, etc. The Plan also advocates
structuring the educational process in a
democratic framework and developing
national, regional and international networks
to prepare curricula and teaching materials. It
also recognizes the importance of non-formal
education.
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worldwide system of human rights education
including traditional education (primary and
secondary schools, universities, etc.), non-
formal education and adult education, since
learning about human rights begins in early
childhood and continues throughout life.
Another facet of UNESCO’s activity: the
Division of Human Rights, Democracy and
Peace has greatly stepped up initiatives for
combating all forms of discrimination
(religious, linguistic, racial, social, economic,
cultural and sexual) so as to alert the
international community to any such shameful
practices and behaviour. It has carried out
philosophical and ethical studies in order to
lay the theoretical and operational
groundwork for preventive activities.
Discrimination based on sex and the sexual
exploitation of human beings, especially
women and children, and likewise the
protection of the cultural and linguistic rights
of minorities, have been the subject of a
number of studies and a great deal of
research. For example, following the
establishment of a UNESCO Chair in Cultural
Rights at the University of Palermo in Buenos
Aires (Argentina) in 1994 a study was
conducted on the implementation of the
rights of minorities in Latin America.
5. The First International Congress on Human Rights Education was heldin Vienna (Austria) in 1978.
6. Quoted in the magazine Sources, December 1998, No. 107, p. 10.
A n e t w o r k o f C h a i r s
In order to strengthen cooperation and
links with regional and local bodies,
UNESCO has since 1991 been developing a
network of Chairs in education for human
rights, democracy and peace. It now includes
38 higher education establishments in
32 countries. This initiative has favoured the
reorientation of educational activities in
universities where future specialists in human
rights and democracy are trained. The
network of human rights institutes established
in 1988 has also been extended. In order to
coordinate activities, their directors meet
annually, as do those responsible for the
Chairs.
Moreover, UNESCO is working ever
more actively with the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. In
1995, the two Organizations signed a
Memorandum of Cooperation. Several times
they have launched joint appeals to the Heads
of State of Member States of the United
Nations and UNESCO in order to encourage
them to develop national plans for human
rights education. In fact, the long-term
objective of UNESCO is to put in place a vast
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T h e f i f t i e t h a n n ive rs a ry o f t h e D e c l a rat i o n o f H u m a n R i g h t s
People all over the world look for guidance on how to stop violence,eradicate poverty and hunger, and ensure development in conditions
that reflect the dignity of every human being. Human rights offer suchguidance. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly ofthe United Nations on 10 December 1948, Federico Mayor and MaryRobinson, United Nations High Commissioner, launched a joint appealfor the Declaration and human rights instruments to become a livingideal instrumental in the minds of people, inspiring not only dreams butalso actions.At the Paris Meeting entitled Human Rights on the Eve of theTwenty-First Century, held jointly by UNESCO and France on 7 and8 December 1998, political leaders and prominent individuals from allover the world reaffirmed their commitment to the promotion ofhuman rights, and reviewed the obstacles to their application in dailylife.The various speakers raised issues as diverse as the question ofrefugees, poverty and social rights, racism, and crimes againsthumanity. In the age of globalization, the participants placed thedebates in the context of future prospects: would the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights withstand the new challenges of thetwenty-first century?
Similarly, the University of Fribourg, in
collaboration with UNESCO, is preparing a
Declaration of Cultural Rights, in order to
bring them together in a corpus and codify
them more precisely. Concepts of particular
importance for the implementation of cultural
rights, such as cultural identity, cultural
community and cultural self-determination are
also being refined and clarified. But the right
to one’s own culture should not in any way
prevent one from benefiting from the
resources and contributions of all other
cultures, which together constitute the
heritage of humanity.
In the framework of the struggle against
prejudice, intolerance, racism and
discrimination, UNESCO organizes a
consultation every four years in order to
examine the situation in the fields covered by
the 1978 Declaration on Race and Racial
Prejudice. The report adopted by the General
Conference at its 28th session, in 1995, noted
in this respect a strengthening of criminal
sentences for racial discrimination in the
legislation of a number of States.
T h i n k i n g d i f f e r e n t l y
The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights in Paris was an opportunity for world
leaders to restate the historic importance and
topicality of the document. In his opening
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address, Mr Mayor launched the idea of a new
point of departure to fill gaps, remedy failures
and overcome disappointments in the field of
human rights: … we need to think differently
and invest differently. How can we continue to
invoke human rights while our economies, our
societies and even our democracies are ruled
solely by the laws of the market? We know what
this implies, what it costs. We need to make a
new start, founded on the principles and values
enshrined in UNESCO’s Constitution, which
stipulates that, for a just and lasting peace,
‘intellectual and moral solidarity’ is a necessary
condition. Here, the new communication
technologies and especially the development of
the information highways have the potential to
give concrete form to global solidarity, by
including the excluded.
Echoing this, the Secretary-General of
the United Nations, Kofi Annan, hailed all
those who were fighting on a daily basis for
respect for human rights and human dignity,
before declaring that he had decided to place
human rights at the centre of every aspect of
our work as part of my reform plan. The United
Nations protects and promotes human rights, first
because they are essential to our humanity;
second, because they are the cornerstone of
peace and prosperity. He added that Human
rights are now included in a growing number of
peace-keeping and peacemaking operations,
because we know that in post-conflict societies,
reconstruction begins with human rights.
Wherever we seek peace, reconciliation or
political dialogue, we begin with human rights.
Why? Because human rights are the first
casualties of conflict.
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Learning has no age limits says popular wisdom.
Since its inception, UNESCO has pursued two
objectives simultaneously: making the right to
education a reality for everyone in the world
and helping Member States to build and
reform their education systems in order to
respond to the challenges of the twenty-first
century.
The first day of January 1990 marked
the beginning of International Literacy Year,
proclaimed by the General Assembly of the
United Nations, the activities of which were
to take place under the aegis of UNESCO. The
objective was to mobilize the will and the
resources to improve literacy throughout the
world. In this framework, the Organization
drew up an Action Plan covering the decade
up to 2000. Priorities include the education of
girls and women as well as the needs of the
Least Developed Countries (LDCs), where the
problem of illiteracy is most acute.
Between 1980 and 1995, the number of
illiterate adults rose from two to three
billion. In the 1950s, when UNESCO began
systematically to collect statistics on
illiteracy, only three adults in five could read.
On the eve of the third millennium, that
proportion is likely to increase to four adults
in five. At the same time, the number of
illiterate men and women aged 15 or over
increased slightly from 871 million in 1980 to
885 million in 1995. This is because, while
more children are going to school, life
expectancy has increased, and the rate of
population growth in many developing
countries is so high that schools are cruelly
lacking in places and resources.
According to a joint UNESCO-UNICEF
study, 90 per cent of schools in Burkina Faso,
Benin and Nepal do not have electricity. Half
of the schools in Cape Verde and Madagascar
do not have desks for teachers. In rural areas,
the conditions in which teachers work mean
that only minimal types of teaching activity
are possible. In short, the development of
education in the world has often resulted in
E d u c a t i o n : a s a c r e d m i s s i o n
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overcrowded classes, under-equipped schools
and under-trained teachers. This situation
worsened in the 1980s with basic education
regressing considerably in many of the least
developed countries. Even in some
industrialized countries, the public spending
cuts made throughout the decade resulted in
a deterioration in education.
Peace education in theNanterre Maxime GorkiSchool, UNESCOAssociated School Project
© U
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R e d u c i n g i l l i t e r a c y
Sponsored by the World Bank, UNICEF, the
UNDP and UNESCO, the World
Conference on Education for All, held in
Jomtien, Thailand, (5-9 March 1990) was a
turning-point. The 1,500 or so participants in
the Jomtien Conference, who included
representatives of 155 countries, reached a
consensus to make education for all (EFA) –
children and adults – a priority of States and
of the international community. On that
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occasion, the 155 signatory countries
committed themselves to taking the measures
necessary to provide all children with primary
education and to bring about a massive
reduction in illiteracy.
More specifically, the Jomtien
Declaration sets several objectives, including:
viewing basic education in much broader
terms in order to combine all the resources,
formal and non-formal, needed to respond to
basic educational needs; placing greater
emphasis on the quality of learning, i.e. the
acquisition by every individual of useful,
useable knowledge, rather than quantity alone;
broadening access to basic education for all,
with priority to marginalized and vulnerable
groups – women and girls, young people
excluded from the school system, street
children and homeless adults, migrant
populations and social and racial minorities;
and improving coordination of efforts at
national level.
Immediately after the Jomtien
Conference, the International Consultative
Forum on Education for All was set up to
monitor progress towards the objectives of
education for all. The Forum periodically
brings together officials and specialists from
the developing countries, international and
bilateral development bodies and non-
governmental organizations and foundations.
Another decisive international initiative was
the Education For All Summit of Nine High
Population Countries, which was held in New
Delhi in January 1993 and attended by
U N E S C O a n d i t s s c h o o l s
In 1987 UNESCO had 2,150 Associated Schools, each one amilestone on the road to a network of international understanding
and promotion of ideas of peace and humanism. In 1999, there are5,500 of them in more than 160 countries.The network hasexpanded, the work has taken on deeper meaning and the AssociatedSchools Project (ASP) may be seen as a force for progress.The project, launched in 1953, includes schools of every level, lookingsteadfastly to the future and working on themes with a globalperspective. Each school undertakes a long-term project on theenvironment, intercultural education, human rights and democracy, orglobal problems and the United Nations system. It receivesdocumentation and information, and may be twinned with anotherschool at national or international level.Teachers thus have an opportunity to take part in pilot projects ineducation for peace and human rights; the pupils become receptive tothe wider world and learn about democracy; parents take part in thelife of the school and in the extracurricular activities that theseprogrammes involve.Particularly interesting projects recently have focussed on thetransatlantic slave trade, the Baltic Sea, improving education andparticipation by young people in the preservation of the worldheritage.UNESCO’s Associated Schools Project thus contributes fully to theOrganization’s mission to construct the defences of peace in the mindsof men.
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Non-formal literacy programmes and
education programmes for illiterate
adolescents and adults also suffer from a lack
of resources. There are still 900 million
illiterate adults in the world, almost two-
thirds of whom are women. The participants
at the Amman Conference also noted a
tendency to become obsessed with basic
education to the point of ignoring the
indispensable links between it and secondary
and university education, and with teacher
training and the development of technical and
vocational training.
In this connection, the fifth
International Conference on Adult Education
(CONFINTEA V) held in Hamburg (Germany)
from 14 to 18 July 1997 marked a turning-
point in adult education and the role
UNESCO is to play in this fast-expanding field.
For the first time in the discourse on adult
education, productivity and democracy were
regarded as necessary means to human
development. Some 2,000 people took part in
CONFINTEA, which brought together
representatives of almost 160 Member States
and about 500 non-governmental
organizations and United Nations agencies to
discuss the theme Adult Learning – a Key for
the Twenty-first Century.
The Hamburg Declaration states that
adult education is increasingly a means of
updating and broadening knowledge, but also
of promoting active citizenship and effective
democracy, because adult education also
responds to many underlying needs: basic
Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India,
Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan. The
participants made a solemn commitment to
devote 6 per cent of GDP to education until
the year 2000. These countries account for
more than 70 per cent of illiterate people in
the world aged between 15 and 60 and
represent more than 50 per cent of world
population.
In order to examine the progress
achieved towards education for all at mid-
decade, some 250 participants from
73 countries met in Amman, Jordan, from
16 to 19 June 1996 at the Mid-Decade
Review Meeting on Progress Towards
Education for All. They noted several
encouraging trends. For example, enrolments
in primary education had increased, with
some 50 million more children attending
school than in 1990. Furthermore, the
number of children not attending school,
which had been rising steadily for decades,
had also begun to fall.
Nonetheless, although real progress has
been made since the Jomtien Conference,
several of the education-for-all objectives have
not been achieved, notably the reduction of
inequality between the sexes in education.
Furthermore, the broader conception of basic
education adopted at Jomtien has too often
been reduced simply to researching the
number of children attending school. The
education of young children is still a poor
relation of the education system in many
countries and is seriously underdeveloped.
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T h e D e lo rs C o m m i s s i o n :Education: the Treasure Within
Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission, wasappointed to chair UNESCO’s International Commission on
Education in the Twenty-first Century.With 14 world-renownedexperts, he drew up a report to determine how education could best meet the challenges of the new century. Entitled Education:the Treasure Within and officially submitted in October 1995, thedocument is structured around several major themes: development,science, citizenship, culture, social cohesion and employment. One ofthe Commission’s main proposals is that education should continuethroughout life.Traditionally, it was believed that life was divided into a time forlearning, a time for work, and a time for retirement, as Mr Delorssaid. But all this would change in the future, and the change would beone of the most difficult to negotiate. People had to continue to learn throughout their lives, in both formal and non-formalsystems thus improving their ability to judge and to act.The Commission suggests four “pillars” of education in its report:learning to live together, by developing an understanding of otherpeople and their history; learning to know, so as to acquire a tastefor learning throughout life; learning to do, so as to be able to dealwith many situations; and learning to be, in order to understandoneself. In order to translate them into reality, it made a number ofmain recommendations in a context of partnership rather than aid: apolicy that strongly encourages the education of girls and women; atleast 25 per cent of development aid devoted to financing education;development of debt-for-educational expenditure; dissemination ofthe technology of the information society to all countries in order toavoid a further gulf being formed between rich and poor countries;and tapping of the remarkable potential represented by the NGOsand hence by grass-roots initiatives.For Mr Delors, education is not a miracle cure or a magic formulaopening the door to a world in which all ideals will be attained, but … oneof the principal means available to foster a deeper and more harmoniousform of human development and thereby to reduce poverty, exclusion,ignorance, oppression and war. If we have a less fragmented vision,education will play its full part in human destiny.
learning, promoting the autonomy of women
and sexual equality, the environment, health,
family planning, use of the new information
technologies, transformation of work,
strengthening the identity of minorities,
reintegration of prisoners, the autonomy of
adults with disabilities, etc.
More generally, as the Secretary-
General of the United Nations,
Javiez Pérez de Cuéllar, recalled during
the inaugural meeting of the World
Commission on Culture and Development
(17-21 March 1993), education is a key
link in the chain between culture and
development. He said that culture could only
enrich development if it first enriched
education and if, in return, education
effectively promoted the development of all
individuals within their own cultures, instead
of simply operating social or vocational
selection, which in many societies often
resulted in an exodus of skills.
A s t r a t e g y o fp a r t n e r s h i p s
The second half of the twentieth century
will be seen as the period in its history
when education experienced its most
spectacular expansion: worldwide, numbers
have increased sixfold, from 13 million
students in 1960 to 82 million in 1995. But it
was also the period when the gap between
developed and developing countries –
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Chairs and some 20 UNITWIN networks
were established.
Clearly, through the diversity of its
training and research missions, and growing
involvement in all sectors of activity in
society, higher education is vital not only to
every individual’s self-fulfilment, but also to
the autonomous, sustainable development of
every national or regional community. The
most recent, and probably most spectacular,
event has been the organization of a world
conference on higher education, a first of its
kind.
Following five preparatory regional
conferences, the World Conference on Higher
Education was held at UNESCO Headquarters
in Paris from 5 to 9 October 1998. Almost all
Member and non-Member States were
represented at the highest level, and
representatives of nearly 120 ministries of
education, higher education and research took
part. A total of more than 4,000 people
participated in the event, which resulted in a
unanimously approved Declaration and Action
Plan.
Recalling the essential missions of
higher education systems (education, training,
research and, in particular, contributing to
sustainable development and the improvement
of society as a whole), the World Declaration
considers that Relevance in higher education
should be assessed in terms of the gap between
what society expects of institutions and what they
do. In this respect, institutions and systems, once
they have strengthened links with the world of
particularly the least developed countries –
widened still further with respect to access to
higher education and research and the
resources allocated to them.
In order to develop the higher
education systems of developing countries,
UNESCO has since 1993 adopted a simple,
innovative strategy of twinning universities in
wealthy countries with those in the
developing countries. The principal aim is to
generate in all academic, scientific and cultural
circles a genuine international solidarity by a
more equitable transfer of knowledge and by
combating the exodus of skills. The goal of the
network, baptized UNITWIN, is to improve
the quality of higher education by appointing
internationally recognized researchers and
teachers to UNESCO Chairs – or to posts of
visiting professor at universities in the
developing countries.
These scientists and academics help to
launch regional and subregional centres of
excellence in their adopted universities in the
developing countries by ensuring the
continuity of exchange in teaching and
learning with their home universities.
UNITWIN also provides for exchange and
training of university administrators in order
to improve planning and infrastructure. The
UNESCO Chairs seek to give graduate
students in developing countries the
opportunity of acquiring high-level training in
centres of excellence and carrying out in-
depth research in key subjects related to
sustainable development. In 1993, 70 UNESCO
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the national capacities necessary for the
development of technical and vocational
education and the training of teachers and
instructors.
In 1992, UNESCO launched a new
International Project on Technical and
Vocational Education. Known as UNEVOC, it
aims to make working relationships between
the Organization and other Specialized
Agencies of the United Nations system,
regional organizations, NGOs, sources of
public and private funding, and private
businesses more efficient. An Implementation
Unit was set up in Berlin, and the initial phase
(1992-1995) consisted of promoting
exchanges of information and experience
among Member States. The overall objective,
however, remains that of organizing networks
of decision-makers, teacher-training
establishments and schools, in order to help
reduce the North-South divide by
strengthening human resources for
development.
The second International Congress on
Technical and Vocational Education1, held by
UNESCO in Seoul from 26 to 30 April 1999,
enabled everyone in the world concerned
with technical and vocational education
(TVE) to pool experiences and discuss
the reform of policies and practices in such
a way as to adapt TVE to employment and
future social requirements. During
the congress, which was attended by
1,000 participants six round tables were
held: promotion of links between TVE and
work, should base their long-term orientations on
societal aims and needs, including the respect of
cultures and the protection of the environment.
The Declaration also stresses the
importance of the participation of women in
higher education, viewed in a lifelong
perspective. It considers that Quality in higher
education is a multidimensional concept which
should embrace all its functions and activities:
teaching and academic programmes, research
and scholarship, staffing, students, infrastructure
and academic environment. … Higher education
institutions in all regions should be committed to
transparent internal and external evaluation.
However, this must be context-specific to take
into account diversity and to avoid uniformity.
Tr a i n i n g t h r o u g h o u t l i f e
Another key aspect of education is
technical and vocational education, which
is now going through a period of profound
change and reorientation. The appearance of a
multitude of national structures, systems and
models is the expression of an effort to adapt
to rapid technological progress and the new
needs of the labour market. In this changing
context, UNESCO, which cooperates closely
with the International Labour Organization
(ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) and the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO), is
principally endeavouring to help strengthen
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industry; the challenges of TVE in countries
in transition; the practice and potential
of international cooperation to overcome
crises and conflicts; the transition
from school to the world of work; adult
education: prospects; flexible forms
of TVE.
The Seoul Congress concluded a series
of world meetings held by UNESCO since the
beginning of the decade on various aspects of
education: the World Conference on
Education For All in Jomtien (Thailand, 1990),
on basic education; the Education For All
Summit of Nine High Population Countries
(1993, New Delhi, India); and the World
Conference on Special Needs Education
(1994, Salamanca, Spain); the International
Conference on Adult Education (1997,
Hamburg, Germany); and the World
Conference on Higher Education (1998, Paris).
Women’s education,Senegal
© U
NES
CO
/Inez
For
bes
1. The first International Congress on Vocational Education was held inBerlin in 1987.
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been implementing the Education of Children
in Difficult Circumstances Programme (street
children, and children who are victims of
exploitation or violence). The Division of
Basic Education has a special account into
which donations, legacies and other
extrabudgetary contributions are paid with a
view to financing the activities of this
programme, supplementing the funds allocated
under the regular budget.
In practice, this programme, carried out
in cooperation with UNICEF and various
NGOs, seeks to give street children and
working children non-formal education that
will enable them to acquire skills of immediate
use for survival, health and work. The
emphasis is placed on technical support for
projects, raising public awareness and
collecting funds.
Another field of intervention by
UNESCO: the ever-increasing number of
refugees in the world. The Organization has
set up a new Scheme of Humanitarian
Assistance for Refugee Education (SHARE). It
aims to raise funds for educating refugees,
help to draw up assessment criteria and
provide technical back-up for national
governments that request it. After experience
in Cambodia and Somalia, SHARE project
activities have been started in Slovenia and
Croatia. In addition to giving emergency aid,
through this programme UNESCO seeks to
help implement a coherent education policy
for refugees in cooperation with the
authorities concerned.
The Seoul Congress ended with a series
of recommendations for revitalizing technical
and vocational education. The objective was to
adopt a new holistic approach … so that
education for the twenty-first century will include
all domains of learning incorporating general and
vocational education and launching the learner of
the twenty-first century into a lifelong continuum
of knowledge, values and attitudes, and compe-
tencies and skills, with the ultimate goal of
creating a learning society. Recommending a
smooth transition from general education to
technical and vocational education, the
Congress also stressed that The emphasis must
be on articulation, accreditation and recognition of
prior learning and Within this spectrum TVE has a
responsibility to ensure a sound initial education
and training aimed at learning to learn, the most
precious skill for all citizens both young and adult.
The Congress noted that the new
technologies should also be mobilized. Calling for
new partnerships to enable everyone,
especially those in the developing countries,
to benefit from the new technologies, the
Congress recommended that new ways be
found of sharing intellectual property, for the
benefit of learners in all countries and in all
walks of life.
It is also part of UNESCO’s mission to
reduce the educational disparities suffered by
certain groups who have only limited access
to traditional forms of education: street
children, children who are victims of war,
refugees and displaced persons, and people
with disabilities. Since 1990, UNESCO has
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their work, especially if one considers the
difficult conditions in which many of them
work, according to UNESCO’s World
Education Report (1998).
Their training and remuneration
represent 50 per cent to 80 per cent of public
spending on education in almost all countries.
For a full return on this considerable
investment, the training, recruitment and
promotion prospects of teachers must be
coordinated in such a way as to foster
dynamism and creativity in schools. In poor
countries, it is teachers who have suffered
most from the savage cuts in public spending
in the 1980s and 1990s. Some countries
dismissed qualified teachers and replaced
them with people who had never set foot in a
teacher-training college. In Ethiopia, it is
estimated that 60 per cent of teachers are
now unqualified.
This is why UNESCO is finalizing
a distance education programme on a
grand scale with a view to helping eight
African countries train teachers and head
teachers who have had inadequate training.
A database on the educational, cultural,
geographical and linguistic situation
in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia,
Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Togo and Senegal
has been set up to help designers of national
projects choose the least expensive systems.
The project, which began in 1999, should
make it possible to train half the
unqualified teaching staff in five selected
countries. Launching this programme
In Somalia, the prime beneficiaries of
the project have been children, young people
and women in urban centres and refugee
camps. In the first phase, three pilot education
centres are providing an emergency primary
education programme and a functional literacy
programme. Each centre, acting as the focal
point for some 10 surrounding schools, must
place at their disposal a course based on the
old textbooks in Somali, with new materials
on civics education, family life, education for
peace and sport. At the end of the
programme, the experience acquired in the
centres will be extended to other parts of the
country.
T h e e s s e n t i a l r o l e o f
t e a c h e r s
In a world in social, economic and
technological upheaval, the 50 million
teachers are still precious landmarks in
society. Their role in the socialization of
children through the transmission of skills and
knowledge, as well as the values of humanism
and peace, is essential for building more
tolerant, friendlier societies. The essential role
of teachers has, moreover, been celebrated
every year since 1994 on 5 October, World
Teachers’ Day, which was established by
UNESCO. Paradoxically, what society now
expects of teachers is disproportionate to
what it is prepared to give them in return for
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over a period of two years will cost
$1.5 million, which will have to be provided
by donors.
Without well-trained, motivated
teachers, no education system, however well-
organized, can operate properly. Their role in
society goes beyond simply passing on
academic knowledge from books. Mr Mayor
believes that the teacher-pupil relationship is
an emotional one and that the teacher is an
example, a teacher of life as much as of
knowledge and, in this respect, teachers are not
simply practising a profession but carrying out
a mission for peace.
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Part and parcel of the human heritage, science
has pride of place in today’s world. Scientific
discoveries continually add to human
knowledge, inventions and machines alter not
only our economies, social life and means of
existence but also the ways in which we
depict the world and ourselves. Within the
United Nations system, UNESCO’s mandate is
to promote science and make scientific
knowledge better known throughout the
world. Its science programmes have three
main dimensions: the Organization supports
training, research and cooperation in various
scientific and technical disciplines; encourages
the application of scientific discoveries in
helping to solve environmental or social
problems; and works on promoting a
multidisciplinary approach to dealing with the
ethical implications of changes affecting the
environment and human societies.
In short, UNESCO’s action is intended
to ease the transfer of knowledge across the
globe, so that every country may establish its
own education system and, subsequently, carry
out scientific and technological research
tailored to its society’s needs.
Since 1994, UNESCO has published a
World Science Report, drafted by an
international team of independent experts.
The 1998 report pinpoints a number of key
trends affecting the developed and developing
countries alike, albeit in different ways and to
varying extents. Firstly, the problem posed by
the high cost of science handicaps the
countries of the South. The rising cost of
scientific activity contributes to widening the
gap between the industrialized and the
developing countries.Yet science training and
university research are becoming costlier all
the time throughout the world, and even
those establishments located in the most
developed countries are struggling to update
their equipment and keep abreast of progress.
Education systems everywhere are under
pressure to train ever more qualified staff.
Against this background, UNESCO is
S c i e n c e i n t h e s e r v i c e o f d e v e l o p m e n t
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International Centre for Pure and Applied
Mathematics (ICPAM), in Nice, France, and
with the South-East Asian Mathematical
Society (SEAMS).
UNESCO’s work on physics includes
lending support to the Abdus Salam
International Centre for Theoretical Physics
(ICTP), established in Trieste, Italy, under the
joint aegis of UNESCO and the International
Atomic Energy Association (IAEA). For their
part, the applied chemistry laboratories focus
on profitable, risk-free micro-scientific
experiments. UNESCO stages demonstration
workshops around the world, on a regional
basis, in close cooperation with the
International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry (IUPAC) and the University of
Johannesburg. The programme called Chemistry
for life and the environment was devised to
meet the needs of research, education and
indus try which have direct consequences for
society: medicinal and clinical chemistry, food
chemistry, water chemistry and so forth. The
International Council for Chemistry (ICC)
was set up by UNESCO and the IUPAC is the
international body responsible for this
programme.
At a global level, UNESCO’s Natural
Sciences Sector has created networks so that
the Organization can perform its task more
effectively. By setting up or supporting
regional and subregional networks, the
Organization reduces the isolation of
scientists in developing countries, and helps to
disseminate information and improve the skills
working with other United Nations agencies
and other scientific and technological
organizations, both governmental and non-
governmental. Its relations with experts
worldwide keep its fingers on the pulse of
scientific and technological developments. One
of its main partners is the International
Council for Science (ICSU). ICSU draws on
the knowledge of its members – i.e. national
science academies, research councils and
international science unions – to help
UNESCO to plan and implement its science
programmes.
L i n k i n g u p n e t w o r k s
UNESCO is the only agency in the United
Nations system with a mandate to deal
with the basic sciences: mathematics, physics,
chemistry and biology. Over time and to meet
the needs of the developing countries, the
Organization’s science programmes have
gradually emphasized more and more the
applied sciences and engineering.
Promoting mathematics at every level,
improving the quality of its teaching at
university and making it easier for young
scientists in developing countries to gain
access to advanced mathematics research and
training are just three aims of UNESCO’s
programme. In this context, the Organization
has strengthened its links with the
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of hundreds of scientists in these countries. In
Africa, the ANSTI (African Network of
Scientific and Technological Institutions) was
created and supported by UNESCO with a
view to strengthening cooperation links
among various African engineering, science
and technology institutions, for postgraduate
training, and to increasing the region’s science
and research capabilities.
In Asia, the STEPAN (Science and
Technology Policy Asian Network), set up
about 10 years ago under the auspices of
UNESCO, is dedicated to marketing research
findings and devising systems of information
on science and technology management
directed at decision-makers. The STEMARN
(Science and Technology Management Arab
Region Network) helps people to find high-
level training in research and development
management in the Arab countries.
The MEDNET (Mediterranean Network
for Science and Technology of Advanced
Polymer-Based Materials), set up thanks to
cooperation between the Italian National
Research Council and UNESCO, links more
than 100 research centres, laboratories and
science faculties in nearly every
Mediterranean country. In Latin America,
several regional basic science networks have
been set up with UNESCO’s assistance. They
include the RELAB (Latin American Network
of Biological Sciences), the RELAFI (Latin
American Network of Physics), the RELAMA
(Latin American Network and Union of
Mathematics), the RELAQ (Latin American and
A wo rl dw i d e a l l i a n c e f o r s c i e n c e
The World Conference on Science, Science for the Twenty-FirstCentury – A New Commitment, held in Budapest (Hungary)
from 26 June to 1 July 1999, laid the foundations of a worldwidealliance of scientific communities, political decision-makers and civil society.The Conference had three goals: to increase human and financial resources for scientific research, to foster knowledge-sharing and to ensure that science and technology workedresponsibly.The event brought together some 1,800 people from 155 countries,including 90 senior and junior government ministers responsible for science and/or research.The underlying message conveyed by the participants was that a clear ethical vision of science wasneeded in order to overcome or prevent potentially disastrous socialproblems linked to scientific development.At the BudapestConference, a Declaration and a Science Agenda – Framework for Action, were adopted, both platforms for science in the comingmillennium.Participants insisted that a number of basic principles and prioritiesmust be borne in mind when political choices were being made:the ethical implications of science should be taken into consideration,knowledge must be shared even when industry applied pressure to prevent such sharing, a balance must be struck betweenfundamental and applied research, there should be more publicparticipation, science education should be given greater priority, etc.At a plenary meeting, ministers and heads of national delegationsalso emphasized the need to increase spending on scientific activitiesand suggested setting up an international fund for promotingresearch, cooperation and training in the developing countries in order to turn the idea of a new worldwide alliance for scienceinto reality.
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Caribbean Chemical Information Network),
the RELACT (Network of Earth Sciences) and
the RELAA (Latin American Network of
Astronomy).
UNESCO cooperates closely with the
International Union of Geological Sciences
(IUGS) within the International Geological
Correlation Programme (IGCP), whose
network covers more than 150 countries and
mobilizes some 4,000 specialists. Under the
programme, approximately 50 regional or
international projects are being implemented
in the fields of stratigraphy, sedimentology,
geochemical cartography of soils, mineral and
fossil fuel deposits, tectonic stability in coastal
areas and the assessment of earthquake risk.
Other projects on the assessment of
Landslide Hazard Assessments and Cultural
Heritage and Earthquake Risk in Cities are
intended, to draw up the guiding principles for
controlling landslides threatening historical
sites, and to tackle the problems involved in
predicting risks so as to prevent disasters and
in drawing up maps depicting risk assessment
in built-up areas. Two new IGCP projects are
focusing on an assessment of changes in
vegetation brought about by recent climate
change and on improving search strategies for
mineral deposits in the developing countries.
U n i v e r s i t y -i n d u s t r y
p a r t n e r s h i p
A t a time of partnerships, the current
trend is towards cooperation between
universities and industry and the private
sector. More and more industries are
entrusting part of their research to
universities which will store the fruit of the
scientific and technological progress that will
nourish the future development of these
industries. In their turn, universities are
discovering in these partnerships a
considerable source of funding for their
research activities. Through the UNISPAR
Programme, UNESCO encourages synergies
and cooperation between universities and
industries. It is also helping to set up industry-
sponsored UNESCO Chairs in several
technical universities in developing countries.
The holders of UNISPAR/UNESCO chairs are
recognized specialists from industrialized
countries, including university professors,
researchers and experts in industry. During
their secondments, they train students and
university teachers, stage seminars and hold
training courses.
One of these UNISPAR/UNESCO
Chairs has been set up in Beijing, China, at the
Engineering and Research Centre: the Chair in
Clean Coal Technology. China is the world’s
biggest consumer and producer of coal, and,
like other countries, faces the urgent need to
boost research into the safe use of that fuel,
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which accounts for 87 per cent of the world’s
energy resources.
Links between universities and industry
are also encouraged by UNESCO through a
system for granting small subventions to joint
projects that enable industry to reap the
benefits of the findings of research conducted
in university laboratories. As part of the
International Fund for the Technological
Development of Africa (IFTDA), set up by
UNESCO in February 1994, in Nairobi
(Kenya), 22 projects of this kind have now
been funded. They have helped to create pilot
factories, issue patents, publicize technology
and focus research on problem solving. Two of
these projects in Tanzania have been helping
to perfect a tannin-based, water-resistant
wood glue and to produce animal feed using
sisal waste. Another, in Uganda, deals with
making jams and confectionery out of sweet
potatoes. In Zimbabwe, the goal is to invent a
cheap device for detecting salmonella DNA.
The African continent is one of the
Organization’s main targets in the field of
science, as demonstrated by the large number
of initiatives launched over recent years. The
UNESCO-backed World Foundation for AIDS
Research and Prevention has set up in Abidjan
(Côte d’Ivoire) a research centre on this
disease which is a veritable scourge in Africa.
The centre takes in and treats patients, carries
out fundamental research into the spread of
HIV on the continent and trains African
practitioners and scientists. To increase
capabilities in terms of sustainable
technologies applicable to the African social
and economic context, UNESCO has launched
a special programme entitled Biotechnologies
for development of Africa. It offers researchers,
in particular young and female researchers,
advanced training in microbe and vegetable
biotechnology.
As long ago as 1990, the Organization
set up the Council for activities in the service
of biotechnology, aimed at fostering education
and training in molecular phytobiology and
vegetable and water biotechniques. From
1995-1998 the Centre for education and
training in biotechnology for Africa, in
Pretoria, South Africa, dispensed 17 classes to
163 scientists from 22 African countries.
Lasting for a week to a fortnight, as a rule,
these classes offered elementary training in
techniques such as tissue culture or the use
of molecular markers.
UNESCO has also been involved in the
United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), the International Cell
Research Organization (ICRO) and other non-
governmental organizations to set up a
worldwide network of research and
specialized training institutions, named
MIRCEN (Microbial Resources Centres). Its
aim is to promote the manufacture and use of
cheap biological fertilizers. Using these
products can increase farming yields
considerably while reducing the use of costly
chemical fertilizers that can harm the
environment. A laboratory at the University of
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to promulgate a culture of peace. Deeply
attached to the notion that information
should be shared and circulate freely,
scientists are linked by an international
network enabling them to engage in dialogue
and exchanges irrespective of national, ethnic,
religious or ideological differences. Even so,
a code of ethics for science has never been
more necessary, since science may also have
destructive consequences for humanity.
Accordingly, through ISAB, UNESCO
painstakingly tracks every scientific
development and is working to establish
ethical principles which will allow science to
continue to serve the causes of peace and
development.
Since April 1998, UNESCO has been
leading a worldwide campaign to mobilize
would-be scientists, and more particularly
girls. Given the challenges of scientific and
technological progress, the twenty-first
century will require everyone to take part in
sustainable development. This initiative covers
a large number of activities: dialogues with
scientists on the science professions and
scientific challenges, screenings of films and
videos, visits to scientific sites, Come on, Girls!,
a competition offering prizes to scientific
projects devised by girls, twinning projects
involving school classes in different countries,
etc. It works through the network of
UNESCO’s Associated Schools system,
bringing together some 5,500 schools in
153 countries throughout the world.
Its aim is to implement pilot schemes and
Nairobi (Kenya) acts as MIRCEN for East and
West Africa. It prepares, tests and preserves
216 strains of bacterial culture and
manufactures a simple preparation to enable
seeds to be treated with nitrogen-fixing
bacteria immediately before they are sown.
A n e w c o m m i t m e n t
To deal with the breakneck speed of
scientific advances in the final years of the
twentieth century, UNESCO’s International
Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) was set up to
advise the Director-General on strategic
scientific issues and to strengthen the
contribution made by science to human
progress. Its 58 members, from 26 countries
in every region of the world, are renowned
scientists or persons actively committed to
international cooperation. The Board draws
attention to scientific information for
purposes of decision-making or international
initiatives aimed at promoting, sharing and
applying scientific knowledge. At its first
meeting at UNESCO Headquarters, on 20 and
21 January 1997, the ISAB considered every
possible field of science from the point of
view of development and environment
imperatives, ethical principles, the role of
science in education and culture, and its
relationship with government, industry and
public opinion.
UNESCO believes that science can help
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experimental activities encouraging children
and young people to live in a culture of peace.
One part of UNESCO’s public
awareness campaign was the World
Conference on Science, entitled: Science for
the Twenty-First Century – A New Commitment
held in Budapest (Hungary) from 26 June to
1 July 1999. Jointly organized by UNESCO and
the International Council for Science (ICSU),
in conjunction with other partners, that event
was an opportunity for analysing the progress
made so far in the exact and natural sciences
and their aims, their effects on society and
society’s expectations of them. In the words
of Mr Mayor, this was a way of proposing
a new contract between science and society as
it is imperative that the benefits of science
go primarily to those who have hitherto been
unreached. Their conditions will only improve
if they have access to the mighty power of
science.1
1. The UNESCO Courier, May 1999, page 9.
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Over the last 12 years, UNESCO has come up
with new ways of better protecting the
cultural heritage in a fast changing world. The
Organization has focused its approach to the
task of safeguarding the cultural heritage on
two major questions: What is the cultural
heritage? and Why (for whom) and how should
the cultural heritage be saved? The outcome of
UNESCO’s examination of these issues has
been a far broader definition of the concept
of heritage and an extension of its scope.
In 1992, cultural landscapes were
included for the first time in the heritage to
be preserved, making it possible for the
interactions between humans and their natural
environment to be taken into account and for
the cultural and natural heritage to be
brought closer together. In the same way,
UNESCO’s Executive Board adopted in
October 1998 a proclamation designed to single
out the masterpieces of humanity’s remarkable
oral and immaterial heritage, including cultural
spaces and popular forms of expression. This
broadened the scope of the cultural heritage
by including the intangible expressions of
creation, thereby acknowledging that, like the
tangible heritage, too, are an integral part of
the past and present cultural identities of
peoples.
In the belief that the task of
safeguarding the heritage should be extended
to the preservation of cultural diversity as
a whole, UNESCO undertook, at the 1995
Harare Conference (Zimbabwe), a programme
to promote linguistic diversity. The
underwater heritage was the subject of a
draft legal instrument intended to guarantee
its protection.
UNESCO’s standard-setting activities
have concentrated on adapting existing legal
instruments and promulgating them in the
Member States. In this context, the process
of globalization and the gradual disappearance
of impervious borders made it necessary, in
June 1995, to adopt, in the framework of
UNIDROIT, a legal instrument to complement
T h e c u l t u r a l h e r i t a g ef r a g i l e a n d i n n e e d
o f p r e s e r v a t i o n
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emblematic of the new interdisciplinary
approach that makes the conservation and
enhancement of the heritage an integral part
of development strategies.
Consequently, the campaign to save
Angkor incorporates scientific and historical
studies, site restoration, environmental
protection, zoning of the archaeological
remains, a tourism development programme,
a programme to develop local skills for
conserving the site, a programme to revive
traditional cultures and measures to
combat trafficking in archaeological and
historical objects. New technologies,
including spatial archaeology and information
and communication technologies, are
being increasingly used to safeguard the
heritage.
Over the last 12 years, UNESCO has
launched 25 international safeguarding
campaigns, some of which such as those at
Carthage (Tunisia) and Mohenjodaro
(Pakistan) have been completed. The
Organization has also acted as coordinator by
mobilizing private and public partners in
safeguarding operations and bringing in new
partners such as the World Bank and private
companies, none of which, until recent years,
had ever taken part in such programmes. A
UNESCO-World Bank delegation visited Mali,
in 1996, to assess urban renewal work on the
cities of Timbuktu, Djenné and Bandiagara. An
international conference on Culture in
Sustainable Development held in September
1998 by the World Bank led to a formal
the 1970 Convention on the Means of
Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import,
Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural
Property in order to fight organized crime
more efficiently. In addition, work is under
way to revise the Hague Convention for the
Protection of Cultural Property in the Event
of Armed Conflict. In 1996, a round table of
international institutions decided to create an
international commission, called the Blue
Shield, to improve the safeguarding of cultural
property in the event of natural or human
disasters.
A n i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r ya p p r o a c h
The integrated strategy to safeguard the
cultural heritage progressively put in place
by UNESCO sets out to respond to the
specificities of cultural identities and, more
broadly, those of cultural development,
inextricably linked in the view of local
communities with their economic and social
development. For example, in the campaigns
to save the ancient cities of Fez (Morocco),
Sana’a (Yemen) and Timbuktu (Mali), urban
renewal, aimed at improving the inhabitants’
living conditions, was closely tied to the
conservation of the historical buildings. The
campaign to save the site of Angkor
(Cambodia) will remain, like the rescue of the
Nubian Temples in Egypt in the 1960s,
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agreement with UNESCO on cooperation to
safeguard the cultural heritage.
At the World Tourism Fair in Berlin
(Germany, 1999), travel companies, tour
operators and hotel chains made a
commitment to lend more support to heritage
preservation projects. A newly-created
network of universities where heritage-related
subjects are taught and a series of seminars
on training in conservation techniques have
helped to increase local skills. Activities have
been organized to raise public awareness, in
particular among the young, of the need to
protect the cultural heritage. These have
included young people’s heritage workshops in
Uzbekistan (1996) and Mali (1997).
Several activities have also dealt with
the need to harmonize cultural policies for
the heritage and policies to enhance that
heritage by means of tourism. The programme
for integrated local development and
conservation of the heritage in Asia and the
Pacific, the Plan of Action for cultural tourism for
Latin America and the Caribbean, adopted at the
Havana Conference (1996), and case studies
and pilot projects on the subject of culture,
tourism and development, the case of the Arab
States launched at the Chefchaouen seminar
(Morocco, 1995) have all helped to bring
closer together those involved in tourism and
culture with the aim of improving the
management and promotion of the cultural
heritage.
UNESCO has also been taking part in
the complex and awkward operations of
safeguarding heritages affected by armed
conflict or located in areas of tension. In
March 1996, the Organization was given the
task of implementing Appendix 8 to the
Dayton Agreements providing for the
establishment in Sarajevo of the commission
for the preservation of national monuments in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the Middle East, the
Old City of Jerusalem is also the focus of
an emergency safeguarding campaign and the
Project Bethlehem 2000, launched in 1997,
is intended to prepare the town for the
millennium celebrations.
In short, the task of safeguarding the
cultural heritage is closely linked to that of
safeguarding cultural diversity, as a factor of
peace and development in a world subject to
many contradictory forces: an introspective
obsession with local identity, on the one hand,
and globalization, on the other. That is why, in
these new circumstances, UNESCO has
recognized the immaterial cultural heritage
as a source of cultural identity and
contemporary creativity.
P r o m o t i n g l i v i n gc u l t u r e s
F irst of all, the Organization set out to
make its programmes more coherent and
efficient. Twelve years ago there were three
different programmes in this area, focused on
books and reading, copyright, and the arts and
cultural life. By combining them in a single
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Division of Creativity, Cultural Industries and
Copyright, the Organization took a decision to
streamline activities whose close links have
become evident. On this new basis, UNESCO’s
action to promote the arts and artistic
creation has developed along two priority
lines: recognizing traditional art and craft skills
as an inspiration for new creators and
fostering exchanges by setting up international
and regional networks.
The new notion of creativity conveys a
more dynamic vision of encouraging artists
and educating the public than the former title
did. Cultural industries include the film and
audio-visual industries as well as the book
industry. Copyright – be it training, technical
assistance and aid to Member States to solve
difficulties linked to its application, or studies
of the impact of the new technologies –
completes the overall picture by incorporating
the legal dimension inherent in the protection
of creativity. At the interface of creativity and
the cultural industries, but increasingly turning
towards the latter, crafts have taken off in
recent years. A number of initiatives taken
since 1989 have enabled UNESCO to provide
an international framework of reference in
this sphere.
In order to safeguard traditional and
popular cultures, in 1995 UNESCO launched a
wide-ranging survey in this area. Encouraging
Member States to safeguard and revive their
immaterial heritage has led to a variety of
activities, such as the publication of a guide
and training courses on collecting traditional
E n d a n ge re d c u l t u ra l s i t e s
At certain sites in Cambodia, losses have been more serious overthe last three decades than in the previous 12 centuries:Asian
art is fashionable and demand is strong in Europe and the UnitedStates. International trafficking in works of art is a scourge involvingpowerful organizations and sizeable sums of money.UNESCO and other international bodies are trying to tackle thisphenomenon on two fronts: by setting international standards forprotecting the heritage and drawing up detailed inventories usingevery possible means to describe as many works of art as possible.UNESCO drafted the first such text: the Convention on the Means ofProhibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer ofOwnership of Cultural Property (17 November 1970). It has beenratified by 89 countries.The UNIDROIT – International Institute forthe Unification of Private Law – Convention on Stolen or IllegallyExported Cultural Objects (24 June 1995) complements the firstConvention and stipulates that anyone in possession of a stolenobject must return it, even if it was acquired in good faith.In January 1999, UNESCO recommended that its Member Statesadopt an international code of ethics for dealers in cultural property.But prevention is also necessary.That means improving securitysystems as well as photographing, cataloguing and describing everyitem.The Getty Information Institute, with UNESCO’s backing, isworking on a rationalized model for describing works of art in detail.Interpol and ICOM (International Council of Museums) are trying tomake public as much information as possible, in order to drawattention to objects at risk – such as African and Latin American art,but also works from Europe and North America, which are equallyendangered.The road which leads from theft to restitution is littered withobstacles and uncertainties, but there are already some signs ofgoodwill. States are now determined to put a stop to headlessstatues, empty niches, pillaged graves, churches and temples robbed oftheir finest objects, and communities deprived of the works of artthat epitomize their culture.
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music and instruments (Niger, Zimbabwe,
1995), the issue of CD-ROMs such as an
anthology of classical Indian music, the staging
of a symposium in Hanoi in 1994 on the
safeguarding and revival of the immaterial
heritage of the minority groups of Viet Nam
or seminars on traditional techniques for
manufacturing ceramics (Samarkand blue) or
the traditional costumes of the Hmong people
(Viet Nam).
As early as 1988, UNESCO took steps
to promote traditional African dance and to
adapt it to the modern stage. Studies, research
and meetings to that end have been
promoted. The outcome can be seen today in
the extraordinary creativity of African dance
witnessed at a number of festivals, such as the
MASA in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire). Various
initiatives, have been taken to bring the main
aesthetic and artistic aspects of African – and
Asian – choreography to a wider audience.
The international appeal to safeguard
the film heritage launched by the Director-
General just before the centenary of the
cinema was followed by a number of meetings
throughout the world between 1994 and
1997. There were also a number of
publications, studies and financial aid to the
Member States. In conjunction with the
International Federation of Film Archives
(FIAF), this international effort led to tangible
results in terms of safeguarding the film
heritage.
In the field of literature, UNESCO
launched an international programme in the
late 1980s on the images of man and woman
in poetry and literature. A series of regional
meetings was held on this subject, and various
studies and publications were produced
between 1988 and 1996. As a result, less well
known literature made an entry into
international literary and poetry circles.
T h e rev iva l o f t h e L i b ra ry o f A l ex a n d r i a
The great library of Alexandria, founded by Ptolemy I Soter, king ofEgypt from 304 to 285 BC and first king of the Ptolemaic dynasty,
was the first universal library. It housed more than 500,000 papyrusscrolls, methodically indexed by subject and author. It was as famousas it was splendid.It disappeared from the face of the earth in 47 BC when Caesar setfire to part of Alexandria in an attempt to sink the Egyptian fleet,moored in the city’s harbour.A vast amount of the human heritagewent up in smoke.Twenty centuries later, the phoenix arose from itsashes.In 1988, the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, and the Director-General of UNESCO, Federico Mayor, laid the foundation stone ofthe new library on an historical site by the sea shore.Opened in 1995 to all-comers – researchers, students and thegeneral public – the library has gradually increased in size and itscollections have now reached four to five million volumes.Arestoration department will work on tens of thousands of medievalmanuscripts.The library management is computerized, and it is linked to otherlibraries in the region.Thematic databases on the civilizations of theMediterranean basin and the history of science are further additionsto this remarkable working tool.
171
International and regional exchanges were
strongly supported at the same time. Regional
meetings were held to bring together
representatives of different disciplines, from
the theatre to the visual arts. This work
encourage the process of bringing the cultural
policies of Latin American and Caribbean
countries closer together and gave rise to a
number of regional events: the Arts Biennale
in Dakar (Senegal) and the African Performing
Arts Fair in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire); and
CARIFESTA, the Caribbean Arts Festival and
regional arts biennales in a number of Latin
American countries.
From the institutional point of view,
existing networks have been consolidated
while new ones have been set up, confirming
the success of this form of cooperation. The
programme of UNESCO-ASCHBERG
scholarships for artists, created in 1994
following a reorientation of the work of the
International Fund for the Promotion of
Culture (IFPC), is undoubtedly a partnership
success story. In its first year, it mobilized
$357,000, only $158,000 coming from the
Fund (44 per cent).
Eight hundred and four applications
were received, in 1994, competing for the
26 scholarships offered in 11 countries.
In 1999, the programme offered 58 scholarships
in 31 countries, and nearly 4,000 applications
have been received. With 64 scholarships in
34 countries for 1999-2000, the programme
has already enabled nearly 300 young artists
to study at a renowned institution in a
country other than their own and gain
The revival of theancient librar y ofAlexandria. Model of the building adoptedthrough an internationalcompetition
© U
NES
CO
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States; the establishment of an International
Centre for Crafts Promotion (CIPA) in
September 1996 at Fez (Morocco), to be the
coordinator of a network for the collection
and dissemination of data on craft techniques
throughout the world; and the staging of an
international symposium on crafts and the
international market in conjunction with the
International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO in
October 1997.
Mention should also be made of other
original UNESCO initiatives: the first fashion
show of the winners of the Design 21
International Selection in 1995, a controversial
event at the time. Nevertheless the Design 21
project, entirely privately funded, enabled
more than 150 young fashion designers from
around the world to show their work. At the
1998 World Exhibition in Lisbon, 98 young
designers took part in the Design 21 fashion
show.
In the field of books and reading, the
last few years have seen a number of new
developments: not only have existing regional
networks been consolidated (CERLALC,
APNET and APPREB) but there was also an
attempt to create a network of networks
(INTERBOOK), intended to foster South-
South cooperation initiatives; however, it ran
out of funds and was halted. UNESCO’s
expertise was reinforced and this enabled
some 40 countries to establish national book
policies. To defend the universal right of
access to reading, two projects have been
launched in the form of a literary supplement
extremely valuable experience. This includes
not only the intercultural and artistic
exchange in which they have participated but
also improved professional opportunities.
F o l k a r t
The launch, monitoring and coordination of
the Ten-Year Plan of Action for the
Development of Crafts in the World 1990-1999
has confirmed UNESCO’s leading role in this
sector. Using a wide variety of means, such as
North-South workshops, regional UNESCO
Crafts Prizes and thematic exhibitions, the
Organization has helped to promote
traditional communities and creative
craftworkers, while raising awareness of the
invaluable contribution that crafts can make
to socio-economic and cultural development.
The most noteworthy UNESCO events
in the field of crafts and design are: the
preparation of the Ten-Year Plan of Action
(1990-1999) for the Development of Crafts in
the World, by a group of experts meeting in
Hammamet (Tunisia, May 1989); the award of
the first UNESCO Crafts Prize at the
Ouagadougou crafts fair (Burkina, October
1990); the first international workshop on
Mediterranean glass art at Gruisan (France,
February 1992); the first thematic exhibition
at UNESCO Headquarters entitled World
Basket-work – Tradition and Modernity, followed
in 1993 by the exhibition on Recycling Waste:
Ingenuity and Creativity, involving 54 Member
173
to a series of newspapers in two regions:
Periolibros in Latin America in 1994-1997 and
Kitab fi Jarida in the Arab world, since
October 1997.
A significant development in the period
has been the recognition of the concept of
cultural industries, in particular since the
publication of the Organization’s Medium-
Term Strategy 1996-2001. Swift results were
achieved in the film industry in 1998-1999,
thanks to the interest shown by a good many
Member States and the industry itself, with a
switch in focus from support for film
conservation to the establishment of local
development strategies.
UNESCO played an active part – or
rather parts – in the rebirth of the library of
Alexandria, by providing expert architectural
advice, helping to acquire books, raising funds
and selecting data-processing systems.
Support was lent to discussions of this
subject by professional non-governmental
organizations, such as the International
Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual
Communication (IFTC) and its members and
at the Ouagadougou Festival in Burkina Faso
(FESPACO), supported by UNESCO since its
inception.
Overall, UNESCO’s work in the field of
books and cultural industries has sought to
meet two of the Organization’s main aims:
development and peace. This broadly cross-
disciplinary approach has meant that the
contribution to creating a culture of peace has
entailed a number of different initiatives: the
creation of the (two-yearly) UNESCO Prize for
Children’s and Young People’s Literature in the
Service of Tolerance, awarded for the first time
in 1997; the staging, in the same year, of the
conference on the situation of music in
Palestine (the first international meeting on a
cultural subject in the Autonomous
Territories); in 1996, the creation of
programmes of aid to the reconstruction of
artistic institutions in countries in conflict or
post-conflict situations; and the launch, in
1998, of the Music and Peace programme.
The areas, relating to cultural goods
and services, have become a key sector in
these times of international negotiations on
trade and technological advances, as much
from the point of view of the expression of
identities and intercultural dialogue and as
from that promoting values and socio-
economic development. Until recently
somewhat overshadowed by heritage, on
which UNESCO’s image has very largely
been built, creativity and its industries could
well come to spearhead the Organization
in the future.
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Sadly, recent history shows that difference can
fuel division and exacerbate intolerance: 79 of
the 82 conflicts around the world between
1989 and 1992 were intra-State in nature, and
were linked to ethnic, religious or cultural
differences. Humanity is currently tormented
by two contradictory forces, frantically
swinging between globalization and
fragmentation. For, if the planet is becoming
increasingly homogeneous globally, it is at the
same time increasingly heterogeneous locally.
This is the equivalent of saying that the
very concept of cultural pluralism must be
handled with extreme care. If it is distorted, it
can be used to justify marginalization,
exclusion and oppression. Within the
framework of its strategies to contribute to
peace-building, UNESCO has set itself the
particular objective of examining the ways and
means of promoting cultural pluralism in
societies that contain communities of
markedly diverse identities. The central idea is
to give a peaceful and neighbourly content to
cultural pluralism. To highlight the challenge,
which inter-community relations pose on a
daily basis, particularly in large urban
concentrations, the Director-General of
UNESCO, decided to merge the Division of
Cultural Identities and Intercultural Relations
and the Unit for the International Decade of
the World’s Indigenous Peoples into one
Division of Cultural Pluralism.
This reorganization is in keeping with
the transdisciplinary project Towards a Culture
of Peace, defined by Mr Mayor as both a living
experience and an innovative approach which
attempts to give cohesion to the social fabric of
every society … It is this multiple approach
which can make peace, democracy and
development truly interactive … One of the keys
to the success of this programme will be the
attitudes adopted to human diversity. In this
framework, the Division of Cultural Pluralism
has overseen the implementation of projects
such as the UNESCO-Cities for Peace Prize
and the formation of networks of
L i v i n g t o g e t h e r : c u l t u r a l p l u r a l i s m
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multicultural cities and intercultural dialogue
among the young. To the same end, it has
encouraged the participation of minorities in
the development process, and reinforced the
capacities of indigenous populations.
The year 2000 has been declared
International Year for the Culture of Peace by the
General Assembly of the United Nations, and
in this context UNESCO and the
Commonwealth Secretariat organized a
symposium entitled Towards a Constructive
Pluralism in Paris, from 28 to 30 January 1999.
This unprecedented meeting of 40 political
decision-makers, academics and
representatives of civil society from
29 countries was intended to synthesize
theoretical and practical approaches to
a new, positive vision of plurality1. The
matter is urgent because, on the ground,
pluralism more often rhymes with fanaticism.
Examples of the subversive and destabilizing
effects of ‘divisive pluralism’ abound. But it is
also important that attention should be paid to
the alternative, positive concept, explained
Emeka Anyaoku, Commonwealth Secretary-
General, at the opening of the symposium.
Difference need not produce conflict, any more
than sameness necessarily results in solidarity.
The challenge is to find a way in which people
can live together harmoniously in the larger
society, while at the same time being able to
maintain, rather than dilute or lose, a strong
sense of belonging to their particular cultural,
ethnic , religious or other community.
In other words, cultural pluralism,
within and among countries, should be
regarded as a source of great enrichment,
despite the potential risks of
misunderstanding and conflict. Semantics are
crucial in this. The participants in the
symposium did not fail to recall that problems
of vocabulary and terminology are so many
obstacles to reaching consensus on the
concept of cultural pluralism. Thus, terms like
facilitating, implementing, managing,
accommodating, empowering, self-sufficiency
and preservation were used in debate, and,
although often relevant, each had its
limitations. Moreover, the term pluralism itself
may be understood differently in different
contexts. For if pluralism has a universal
character, each society also has its own
character and history.
Pluralism concerns the development and
the structure of the identities of every
individual and the way in which we define
ourselves in relation to others. On the
political level, acknowledgement of pluralism
involves power-sharing and access to
resources. Federico Mayor, in his address to
the participants, also insisted on relating the
problems of cultural pluralism to those of
sharing, in a world marked by the dramatic gulf
existing between wealth and poverty. In his
opinion, this imbalance in the global share of
wealth and international economic flows has1. The report of the symposium is available on the Internet:
http://www.unesco.org/culture/culturalpluralism
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elements of that civil society may aggravate
tensions and divisions. Non-governmental
organizations, associations, trade unions, local
authorities, media, businesses, and the
academic community have the advantage of
being flexible and able to promote dialogue
through their networks. Furthermore, while
recognizing that international interventions
can be negative, the symposium also took
note of the important, and at times decisive,
role that international organizations and
institutions can play in vigorously opposing
the negative exploitation of pluralism and in
promoting respect for human rights and
ethnic, religious and cultural pluralism. It is
clear that UNESCO is ideal in this fight for
cultural pluralism, by virtue of its position
within the United Nations system.
The participants in the symposium
urged UNESCO and the Commonwealth
Secretariat, in conjunction with other
organizations, to promote further discussions
on pluralism, by taking several concrete
initiatives: construction of a database on this
subject; recognition of those States and
institutions setting an example, through a
manual of best practice; support for the
creation of early warning mechanisms to
detect incipient conflict in plural societies
and; combat divisiveness and ghettoization.
The search for ways to live together is a key
question for the future of a world that is
increasingly interconnected and interdepen-
dent from the social, political, environmental,
technological and economic points of view.
the effect of encouraging the development of
ethnic tensions, the mobilization of cultural and
religious differences to justify exclusion.
P e a c e w i t h o u tu n i f o r m i t y
In this context, the State can play an
important and positive role in maintaining,
for example, the sense of belonging and
common citizenship in a democratic
framework. In most states, the ethnic and
cultural composition of the population change
over time and an awakening of ethnic
identities in these new demographic
landscapes is frequently observed. Hence the
symposium participants emphasized the non-
existence of a single model applicable in all
circumstances, and the need to promote a
flexible approach. To help societies which are
plural in ethnic, religious and cultural terms to
function smoothly, the symposium identified
several essential elements, notably processes
of participation that include all groups and
ensure qualitative, not merely quantitative,
representation; recognition and
implementation of the rights of indigenous
peoples; the development of educational
processes that promote positive attitudes
towards people from other communities;
public service media which reflect the
diversity of society, etc.
Civil society can also contribute to the
promotion of pluralism, even if certain
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M e d i t e r ra n e a n c ro s s ro a d s
In 1994 the Director-General decided to group together UNESCO’sactivities in the Mediterranean into one Programme, which would
be open to other activities and networks and to cooperation withother institutions, both public (FAO,WFP, Council of Europe, etc.) andprivate (European Cultural Foundation, Forum Civil Euromed, etc.).The Programme revolves around three key ideas: contributing to theprogress of the countries and peoples of the Mediterranean;developing cooperation between public and private actors (civilsocieties) on the four shores and islands of the Mediterranean; andpromoting the Mediterranean as an integrated economic, social andcultural area.A Forum-conference was founded to assess the Programme’sprogress, and meets every three years under the Director-General’schairmanship.This Forum was named Multaqa, an Arabic termmeaning an assembly, a meeting-place and a crossroads.The first meeting of this Multaqa was held at Agrigente (Italy) from17 to 20 September 1998, on the theme Cultures of Peace, withparticular reference to the campaign against violence, sustainabledevelopment and international dialogue on human rights.Apart from founding the Multaqa, UNESCO encouraged thecreation of the Mediterranean Council of Culture.This is a body of public and private entities which intend to work closely with thelarge international organizations concerned with the Mediterranean.It also provides logistic support for the UNESCO Programme.The Council already brings together more than 20 economic and financial institutions, regions, cities and foundations in 13 Mediterranean countries. In this framework, an informal groupingof artists, intellectuals and scientists against violence was formed,together with a working group for maritime peace in theMediterranean, whose objective is to assess the possibility of establishing a maritime peace zone.
N e i t h e r s y n c r e t i s mn o r p r o s e l y t i s m
Religions are also called to play a role in
the construction of a more peaceful
world and the promotion of a culture of
peace among people and among States.
Following the decision by the General
Conference of UNESCO at its 26th session,
collaboration on the theme of dialogue
between religions was established with the
UNESCO Centre of Catalonia in Barcelona
(Spain). A meeting was held under the
Centre’s auspices, in cooperation with
UNESCO and the Catalan Government,
from 13 to 18 April 1993, on the theme
The contribution by Religions to the Culture
of Peace. The meeting assembled nearly
50 distinguished persons representing
religious traditions and peace research centres
to discuss the relations between religions and
conflicts, and encourage reflection on the
contribution that religions can make to the
creation of a culture of peace.
At their second meeting, held from
12 to 18 December 1994, the participants
unanimously adopted the Barcelona
Declaration on the Role of Religion in the
promotion of a Culture of Peace. Recognizing
that religions have contributed to the peace of
the world, but have also led to division, hatred
and war, the signatories strongly reaffirmed
that unless we recognize pluralism and respect
diversity, no peace is possible and particularly
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that religion is not the sole remedy for all the ills
of humanity, but it has an indispensable role to
play in this most critical time.
The representatives also stressed their
responsibility to encourage conduct imbued with
wisdom, compassion, sharing, charity, solidarity,
and love; inspiring one and all to choose the path
of freedom and responsibility. Faced with the rise
of fanaticism, they disowned killing in the name
of religion and recalled that confessional political
regimes may do serious harm to religious values
as well as to society.
In the wake of the Barcelona
Declaration, UNESCO launched a series of
initiatives to support inter-faith dialogue, a
source of enrichment for humanity. Thus, the
project entitled Spiritual Convergence and
Intercultural Dialogue deals with union between
the Roads of Faith and the Al-Andalus Routes
projects, and highlights the complex process
of interactions between Judaism, Christianity
and Islam, and also between Europe, the Arab
world and sub-Saharan Africa, with a view to
promoting intercultural and inter-faith
dialogue in the countries and regions
concerned.
As part of the Roads of Faith project,
UNESCO organized a meeting of experts of
the three monotheistic religions in Rabat
(Morocco) from 19 to 23 June 1995, which
enabled the participants to gain mutual
awareness of their cultural and religious
pluralism and proceed to a broad exchange of
views. At the end of their discussions, they
presented several proposals to the Director-
General of UNESCO. These included, in
particular, the creation of Institutes of mutual
knowledge of the three Scriptures, the
revision of educational texts, including those
in denominational schools, to eliminate
stereotypes and sayings that were
disrespectful to other religions, the possibility
of setting up multi-denominational schools to
educate children in respect and peace from
their earliest years, and so forth.
Following the process begun at Rabat in
the framework of the Roads of Faith, practising
believers, faithful or ordinary followers of the
three religions of the Book (Judaism,
Christianity and Islam) and the spiritual
traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism,
met in Malta from 20-27 June 1997, at the
invitation of UNESCO, the National
Commission of Malta and the Foundation for
International Studies at the University of
Malta, in order to promote inter-faith
dialogue. On that occasion, the participants
adopted the Malta Declaration and defined
the lines of common action for their
cooperation: conferences, meetings,
multidisciplinary work, practical activities for
the laity and the young.
In its preamble, the Malta Declaration
pays particular attention to defining the
nature of inter-faith dialogue for the
promotion of peace: This dialogue, far from
ignoring the differences between our respective
spiritual heritages, enables us, on the contrary, to
discover those differences, to become better
acquainted with one another and to enrich one
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In that Declaration, the signatories
undertake to forget past conflicts between
religions, to build a better world together in
peace: We have resolved to turn our backs on
everything that may have set us one against
another in the past and march together, united
by a common desire to live together in peace,
justice, solidarity, mutual respect and fraternity.
another. Its effect is not to cause each individual
to blend into the others, but rather to reinforce
his or her convictions: it is not aimed at a
merging of spiritual identities nor at developing
some form of syncretism, nor again at providing a
platform for proselytism, but it stands for
openness, respect and recognition of the
possibilities of living together in a pluralistic
context.
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flow of information, which was mainly
produced in western and industrialized
countries. More succinctly, the Soviet Union
was attempting to curb or prevent the
penetration of capitalist media into its various
spheres of influence.
With the end of the Cold War,
UNESCO was freed from these Manichean
patterns of thinking, which became obsolete
by the force of events. In November 1989, or
a month before the collapse of the Berlin
Wall, the General Conference of UNESCO at
its 25th session confirmed the historic
upheavals under way in the former
Communist countries of Eastern Europe, and
launched a New Communication Strategy. For
the Organization, this represented a return to
the true source of its founding principles. De
facto, NWICO disappeared with the collapse
of the Communist bloc.
The new communication strategy has a
threefold objective: encouraging the free flow of
information, at international as well as national
There can be no real democracy nor respect
for human rights without the free flow of ideas
by word and image.1 In other words, freedom
of expression and its corollary, press freedom,
together constitute one of the cornerstones
of the structure of human rights and of
reconciliation among nations, as the founders
of UNESCO recognized. However, throughout
the Cold War, the Organization became
against its will an ideological battleground
between the socialist bloc led by the Soviet
Union and the capitalist bloc under the
banner of the United States. The principle of
the free flow of ideas proclaimed when
UNESCO was founded was thus politicized
and very soon distorted.
With the benefit of widespread support
among the newly decolonized countries, the
socialist camp succeeded in imposing the
adoption of a new world information and
communication order (NWICO) in the 1970s.
The idea was to redress the balance to the
advantage of the developing countries in the
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through historic moments, the Director-
General, Federico Mayor, began, The wave will
not end at Europe. It will soon break in the
autocracies, even those full of good intentions,
which have not yet understood that pluralism is
essential to the dignity of nations. The one-party
era is over. The most far-sighted leaders will
themselves encourage the advent of civil liberties
in their countries’ political arenas … the press
has an essential role, unique of its kind, in this
respect. It can give us a unique vision of the
different perceptions and emotions experienced
from all the observation points in the world.
It is for the press to describe events, but also
to listen, understand, and broadcast the most
important changes: changes in thinking.
Against the background of these rapid
changes on the international scene, UNESCO
organized a series of regional seminars on
Promoting Independent and Pluralistic Media.
The first of these meetings was held at
Windhoek (Namibia) in May 1991. The
participants in the Seminar on Promoting an
Independent and Pluralistic African Press
adopted a text which was to become
the Declaration of Windhoek. In 20 Articles,
it defined the necessary conditions for
establishing press freedom, media
independence and pluralism on the African
continent. Its first Article stipulates that the
establishment, maintenance and fostering of an
independent, pluralistic and free press is essential
to the development and maintenance of
democracy in a nation, and for economic
development.
1. Article 1 of the Constitution of UNESCO, 1945.
2. Resolution 104 unanimously adopted by the General Conference ofUNESCO on 15 November 1989.
3. Idem note 2.
level; promoting the wider and better balanced
dissemination of information, without any
obstacle to freedom of expression; and developing
all the appropriate means of strengthening
communication capacities in the developing
countries in order to increase their participation
in the communication process2. With this
strategy, UNESCO recovered its moral
authority by becoming, within the United
Nations system, the promoter and defender of
freedom of expression and its corollary, press
freedom, an essential component of any
democratic society.3
L i s t e n i n g a n du n d e r s t a n d i n g
A fter the fall of the Berlin Wall, the
Organization quickly launched an
initiative intended to implement the new
strategy adopted by the General Conference.
For the first time, in February 1990, an East-
West round table held in Paris brought
together journalists and editors representing
the newly independent media of Central and
Eastern Europe, and those of Western Europe
and North America.
Aware that the world was living
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International (RSF). Altogether, more than
500 journalists have been murdered over the
past 10 years. These crimes are compounded
by countless acts of violence committed
against journalists, more often than not
unpunished: arbitrary arrests, threats, assaults,
harassment and even torture are part of the
daily lot of many information professionals
around the world. UNESCO instituted the
UNESCO/Guillermo CANO World Press
Freedom Prize as a tribute to these men and
women, who, with pens, microphones, cine-
cameras and cameras in their hands, fight
every day for the right of citizens to receive
free and honest information4. Awarded for the
first time in 1997, it is intended to honour a
person, organization or institution that has
made a significant contribution to the defence
or promotion of press freedom anywhere in
the world, particularly if risks have been taken
in so doing.
In 1999, the prize was awarded by the
jury of media professionals to the Mexican
journalist Jesus Blancornelas5. He is the co-
founder and editor of Zeta, a weekly magazine
4. Guillermo Cano was a Colombian journalist and editor murdered inthe exercise of his profession.
5. The two previous prize winners were the Chinese journalist Gao Yu(1997), imprisoned from 1993 to 1999 for the publication of articlesin the Hong Kong newspapers, and the Nigerian journalist ChristinaAnyanwu, director and editor of Sunday Magazine, who was alsoimprisoned in her country.
6. Joint Message for World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 1999,by Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations,Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO, and Mary Robinson,United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Other regional seminars followed that
of Windhoek, and sought to extend the
principles upheld in the Namibian capital to
other regions of the world: the Alma Ata
Declaration (Kazakhstan) in October 1992 for
Asia; the Santiago Declaration (Chile) in May
1994 for Latin America and the Caribbean; the
Sana’a Declaration (Yemen) in January 1996
for the Arab world; and the Sofia Declaration
in September 1997 for Europe.
2 8 j o u r n a l i s t s k i l l e di n 1 9 9 8
A fter the Windhoek seminar, the General
Assembly of the United Nations decided
that 3 May would henceforth become World
Press Freedom Day, as proposed by UNESCO.
Today more than ever, press freedom
represents a sensitive indicator of the health
and democratic maturity of a society.
Nevertheless, it remains widely flouted in
many countries, either through the practice of
censorship, in varying degrees, or through
coercion which deprives journalists of their
freedom, and even their lives. Those whose
mission it is to make the truth known are too
often the targets or victims of political, ethnic or
religious intolerance, and of organized crime, said
Federico Mayor on the occasion of World
Press Freedom Day in 1995.
Twenty-eight journalists were killed in
the exercise of their profession in 1998,
according to Reporters Sans Frontières
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based in Tijuana known for its revelations of
corruption, particularly involving drug
trafficking. Jesus Blancornelas is also vice-
president of the Mexican Society of
Journalists, which he helped to found in 1998
to campaign for press freedom. In November
1997, as a result of his investigations, he was
the victim of an attempted murder.
[W]henever one journalist suffers violence,
intimidation or arbitrary detention because of his
or her commitment to conveying the truth, all
citizens are robbed of the right to think and act
according to their conscience … Freedom of
speech is a right to be fought for, not a blessing
UNESCO promotes free circulation of information
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to be wished for. But it is more than that: it is a
bridge of understanding and knowledge. It is
essential for that exchange of ideas between
nations and cultures which is a condition for true
understanding and lasting cooperation.6
Q u i e t , b u t f i r m ,d i p l o m a c y
Now in operation for more than a decade,
the New Communication Strategy of
UNESCO allows declarations and statements
of principle to be translated into specific
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actions on freedom of expression and press
freedom. It rests firmly on two main pillars
today: a programme of action entitled Freedom
of expression, cornerstone of democracy and a
programme named Freedom of expression,
prerequisite for peace and tolerance. The former
includes activities linked to the promotion of
freedom as a key component in maintaining or
strengthening democracy throughout the
world. Besides celebrating World Press
Freedom Day and presenting the
UNESCO/Guillermo CANO World Press
Freedom Prize, the Organization has taken
several initiatives, such as supporting the
electronic International Freedom of
Expression Exchange Network (IFEX).
IFEX has been monitoring violations of
press freedom throughout the world since
1992. The network now has 500 members in
90 countries. When they are informed of
detailed and confirmed reports of attacks on
media freedom, professional organizations can
involve UNESCO directly. The Organization
then acts as mediator between the journalist
or media concerned and the government
involved. These efforts have enabled delicate
situations to be resolved. In certain thorny
cases, experts have been sent on technical
assistance missions, to give legal and
professional advice to the local authorities; in
other cases, thanks to the intervention of
UNESCO, imprisoned journalists have been
released. This quiet but firm diplomacy is also
based on the public condemnation of crimes
against journalists.
U N E S C O – R a d i o p ro d u c e r
The multimedia information centre established in 1998 sendsUNESCO’s message all over the world. It is the radiophonic
voice of UNESCO, and broadcasts the ideals of peace and non-violence that are reflected in UNESCO’s many conferences, meetings,symposia and publications.The national radios of many countries in the world, partners in theUNESCO Radio Production Programme (URPP), broadcast UNESCOprogrammes every week in prime time in their national languages.More than a billion listeners thus have access to information theywould not otherwise have, for geographical or financial reasons.The partnership agreement allows the outlines of radio programmesto be defined for each partner country.These editorial outlines mustgive an account of what is happening in UNESCO (conferences, visits,etc.), and endeavour to link current events with UNESCO’s activitiesthrough its programmes.They draw attention to the cultural wealthof Member States and to world heritage sites.The programmes produced by the URPP give a wide-ranging culturalreview of different countries, present the Organization’s ideals andactions, and are a significant and welcome window on the world forpopulations whose national radio stations, often deprived ofresources, cannot offer programmes of worldwide scope.Thesepartner radio stations help to plan programmes, and providefeedback from the listeners.They receive a semi-finished programmewhich they can adapt, edit and assemble according to their audience.Co-production agreements are being finalized with a number ofcountries, allowing the partnership to progress even further.
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media, and providing material aid to ensure
the creation and survival of independent
media. The establishment of press houses in
Rwanda and Burundi, open to Hutu and Tutsi
journalists, represent new facilities for free
discussion and exchange of information.
UNESCO’s contribution to the
promotion of a culture of peace by and with
the media was again evident recently, with the
creation of the Israeli-Palestinian Media Forum
(IPMF) in Jerusalem in 1998. This structure
should encourage professional cooperation,
and promote better mutual knowledge and
understanding between Palestinian and Israeli
journalists. The objectives of the IPMF are, in
particular, to organize joint activities, to
encourage professional exchanges, and to
improve professional skills relating to how
situations, events and problems of common
interest or concern are reported. Moreover,
whenever press freedom or the freedom of
movement of journalists are threatened, the
Forum will be expected to take any action
required by the circumstances.
Freedom of expression, therefore,
occupies a central position in UNESCO’s
mission and activities. It is a prerequisite for
the construction of peace, the establishment
of sustainable development and the
consolidation of democracy. Our daily diet of
accurate information, whether carried by satellite
or cable, still depends on the daily exercise
of courage and integrity by journalists, on the
tenacity of editorial teams, on the commitment
of independent media to carry high the principles
The Organization also has a pioneering
role in several conflict zones. For example,
UNESCO is involved in the field in peace-
building in the territories of the former
Yugoslavia. It launched the SOS Media
programme in December 1992. Its objectives:
raising public awareness of the importance of
impartial information in wartime, and also
lending financial, practical and diplomatic
support to the independent media in Bosnia,
Croatia and Serbia, which are in danger of
disappearing as a result of their refusal to
contribute to the war propaganda
orchestrated by the official media linked to
the various parties involved in the conflict.
This type of action has earned UNESCO lead
agency status within the United Nations
system for assistance to independent media in
conflict zones.
R e c o n c i l i a t i o n
The SOS Media campaign was extended to
Rwanda and Burundi in 1995. Reports by
Reporters Sans Frontières and the National
Centre for Scientific Research (France)
provided evidence of the decisive influence of
media propaganda in incitement to genocide.
To facilitate the work of national
reconciliation, UNESCO based its strategy on
three objectives: promoting a new generation
of journalists, encouraging exchanges of
information between journalists and impartial
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of a profession under permanent pressure … As
we prepare to enter a new century and
millennium, a thriving local, national and
international free press is more important than
ever. It underpins the emerging information
society and is a driving force for sustainable
human development.7
D eve lo p i n g c o u n t r i e s a n d c o m m u n i c at i o n
Launched in 1980, the International Programme for theDevelopment of Communication (IPDC) has as its objective to
identify developing countries’ needs in the field of communication, inorder to assist them in developing their human and technicalresources, and also to promote the transfer of technology. Inpractice, it provides financial assistance to a wide range of projects soas to reduce the gap between industrialized and developing countries.The main contributors of funds to the IPDC in 1998 were Denmark,France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Swedenand Switzerland.At its last meeting, from 23 to 26 March 1999 in Paris, theIntergovernmental Council of the IPDC decided to allocate almost$600,000 to 13 media projects in developing countries and countriesin transition. In Africa, the IPDC has chosen to support thedevelopment of the African Communication Regulatory AuthoritiesNetwork (RIARC), the independent newspaper A Semana in CapeVerde, a journalists’ training programme in Ghana, and the extensionof the Senegalese News Agency’s coverage to the whole of thecountry.In Latin America, the Council approved support for the creation ofan audio-visual production and training centre in Brazil. In the ArabStates, two projects were favoured: the development and networkingof media professionals in the Middle East, and increased televisionproduction resources for children’s, youth and women’s programmesin Iraq. In Asia, the IPDC assists the journalists’ training school in HoChi Minh City (Viet Nam) and exchanges of television programmesamong production professionals in the Pacific.
7. Idem note 6.
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All those who, in the beginning, nursed the idea of creating a body for intellectual
cooperation to combat the real causes of wars, that is, ignorance, injustice and
violence, were educationalists, lawyers, writers, philosophers or researchers. As a
result, the International Commission of Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC) set up
in January 1922 by the League of Nations (LN) was made up of key figures elected
for their personal qualities and presided over by the French philosopher, Henri
Bergson. As for the International Bureau of Education (IBE) established as a
non-governmental organization in Geneva in December 1925, it was headed by
the Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget.
Subsequently, a number of countries, meeting in London, while the
war was still on, took the torch from the hands of those who did not despair of
seeing a culture of peace triumph one day. On 16 November 1942, a Conference
of Allied Ministers of Education (CAME), in which 18 governments were repre-
sented, set about making preparations for what was to become UNESCO. It was
on 16 November 1945 that the Preparatory Conference in which 44 governments
participated concluded with the signing of the Constitution.
The 20 founding States that ratified the Constitution in 1946 –
among them France, the United Kingdom and the United States – were joined,
in the wake of major historic events such as the Cold War, the decolonization
process and the dissolution of the USSR, by all the countries that form the inter-
national community. Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany became mem-
bers of UNESCO in 1951, Spain in 1953, the USSR in 1954, China in 1971.
The new South Africa regained its place in December 1994.
With 187 Member States, UNESCO has not been isolated from the
changes which have shaken the world, even though its mission is essentially an
intellectual one. In fact the repercussions have sometimes been hard to endure.
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Ten countries, for various reasons, have withdrawn from the Organization,
though eight of them have since returned. At present only Singapore and the
United States remain outside it.
The United Kingdom has come back to the fold: the Union Jack was
hoisted at Place de Fontenoy on 1 July 1997 after an absence of 12 years. On
this occasion, the United Kingdom Secretary of State for International
Development, Ms Clare Short, promised that her country would participate in
the ongoing process of change that the
Director-General started 10 years ago. We
are not looking to change for change’s sake,
she added, but to maximize UNESCO’s
effectiveness and impact. Mr Mayor
expressed particular pleasure in this
homecoming, because the United Kingdom
was one of the moving spirits in the creation
of our Organization, the place where its
Constitution was adopted and where it is to
this day deposited, the country of its first
Director-General, Julian Huxley, and of
some of its outstanding servants down the
years.
It is the United States, no
less, whose return is impatiently awaited
by UNESCO. In a message sent on the
occasion of the Organization’s fiftieth
anniversary, the President of the United
States hinted at a return, saying that it
remains on [his] list of priorities. He was
pleased that UNESCO had taken great
strides to address the concerns and issues that led to United States withdrawal from
UNESCO in 1984. Mr Bill Clinton went on to say that he was continuing to
explore ways to identify the necessary resources to make this wish a reality.
The President of the French Republic Mr Jacques Chirac, speaking
from the rostrum of the Organization at the commemoration of its fiftieth
anniversary, addressed the States which were absent and which had so much to
T h e a b o l i t i o n o f a p a rt h e i d
UNESCO was one of the first agencies in the United Nations systemto give practical support to the struggle against apartheid. Since the
abolition of the apartheid laws in 1992 the Organization has constantlyconfirmed its commitment to national reconstruction and played asignificant role in the fields of education, science, culture, andcommunication.A Special Programme for South Africa was set up in 1993 to coordinatethe action of the different sectors of UNESCO, which was designated bythe United Nations system as the official focal point for the follow-up andevaluation of programmes and for relations with the various partners inthe field.The activities concerned education for democracy and human rights, andliteracy teaching for young people in shanty towns. Considerable effortsled to the working out of action plans for the dismantling of apartheidwith the collaboration of the religious institutions. UNESCO providedassistance in the field of education for the national liberation movementsrecognized by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), in collaborationwith other United Nations Specialized Agencies.UNESCO also set up three chairs – a chair of engineering at Durban-Westville University, a chair of human rights at Fort Hare University andthe first UNESCO chair of culture of peace in the world. Consideration isbeing given to a museum of popular culture and the working out of alanguage policy.
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contribute. I should like here to appeal to them to rejoin us, he said, to say how much
we need their participation, how inexplicable their absence is today.
F i n d i n g n e w i n s p i r a t i o n
Over the past decade UNESCO’s will to reform has been expressed, in
particular, through an increasing involvement of the Member States as
genuine partners in the identification and follow-up of projects, rather than as
passive recipients. In a Report of the United States General Accounting Office
published in 1992 it was noted that, since 1987, the governing bodies have become
much more forceful in overseeing the Secretariat.
In order to strengthen concertation with Member States, the
58 Members of the Executive Board, which acts as the legislative body between
sessions of the General Conference, have since 1993 been representatives of States
and no longer leading figures sitting in a personal capacity. As for the General
Conference, the sovereign body, which meets every two years, reforms have led to
the improvement of the standard of the proceedings and the efficiency of the
One apar theid situation
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decision-making process. At its 28th session, in 1995, the consideration of pro-
grammes was preceded by a general policy debate.
UNESCO’s fiftieth anniversary, solemnly commemorated on
16 November 1995 at the Place de Fontenoy, in Paris, marked a high point in
the life of the Organization. The anniversary ceremonies were an occasion for it
to find new inspiration before tackling a new millennium, as well as an occasion
for all the Member States to renew, as it were, their professions of faith.
Seventeen heads of State took the floor. Others sent messages, as did
Yitzhak Rabin, then Prime Minister of Israel, just a few days before his assassina-
tion. In all, no less than 114 heads of States or of governments signed a
Declaration in which they reaffirmed their personal commitment to the ideals
defended by UNESCO. The General Conference of the fiftieth anniversary, for
its part, made its contribution to the event by adopting a Declaration of Principles
on Tolerance.
D o i n g l e s s t o d o b e t t e r �
From the moment he took up his functions, in November 1987, Mr Mayor made
no mystery of his determination to undertake, without haste but without delay,
the unanimously desired modernization of UNESCO. Only recently he referred
again to the need for bold reform of its functioning to make it a real twenty-first
century organization. To use outmoded methods and structures in the service of a new
vision would be to condemn it to failure, he explained. What is absolutely essential
today is innovative methods of action and working methods.
This reform, which has taken place over the last decade, was all the
more necessary because, in 1985, UNESCO had to face up to the withdrawal of
three Member States, including the United States, its financial mainstay. This
desertion, followed by that of Singapore and the United Kingdom, resulted in a
sudden drop of 30 per cent in the total of compulsory contributions, leading in
turn to an equivalent reduction in staff.
The Organization thus has limited means with which to carry out
all the missions entrusted to it. Its regular budget for 1998-1999 amounts to
US $544,300,000, a slight increase over the preceding financial period
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(US $518,400,000). This is more or less equivalent to the budget of a large uni-
versity. As for the regular budget for 2000-2001, it is being prepared on the basis
of two scenarios, one corresponding to zero nominal growth and the other to zero
real growth, the difference between the two amounting to about US $23,400,000.
The recent return of the United Kingdom does not change matters
radically. The budgetary constraints imposed on UNESCO – and it is not the
only United Nations Specialized Agency in this situation – are due in the main
to the budgetary difficulties of the Member States, particularly the more afflu-
ent, which are thus less and less inclined to accept an increase, even nominal, in
their compulsory contributions.
The Organization therefore endeavours to supplement these financial
resources with extrabudgetary funds – in plain language, voluntary contributions
which it receives from governments, international, regional or national organiza-
tions and individuals. These funds are con-
tributed for the most part by the Organiza-
tion’s main partners in the United Nations
system, such as the United Nations Deve-
lopment Programme (UNDP) or the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which
are associated more and more closely with
its initiatives.
Nowadays, however, funds-in-
trust or special accounts opened for specific
projects and made available by donor coun-
tries for the benefit of a third country are
the chief source of extrabudgetary financing.
The fact remains that in order to meet its
obligations UNESCO is obliged to mobilize
funds in the private sector as well – as, for
instance, getting a series of French chain
stores to help Cambodian children or a
French mail order firm to take an interest in
the fate of children in need.
The approved total for extra-
budgetary operational programmes for the
N ew s p o n s o rs
As part of the general reform it has undertaken, UNESCO has adopteda policy aimed at increasing its capacity to obtain funds from the
private sector.Thus more and more projects are financed by business andindustry.For instance, in many countries of the world, including Viet Nam, projectsconcerning the protection of the cultural heritage are financed by Rhône-Poulenc. In Mauritania this company is participating, along with the FNAC,in the rescue, restoration and conservation of manuscripts of the Koranand medical, philosophical or astronomical treaties dating from the twelfthcentury to the nineteenth, which were rediscovered in the onceprosperous cities of Ouadane and Chinguetti, the Sorbonne of the desert.These two powerful cities, at the crossroads of several caravan trails,exerted an intense economic and cultural influence.The relics of this pastgrandeur scattered in the few houses still inhabited in these citiesthreatened by the inroads of the desert are of great historical andscientific value, but, kept in trunks or cupboards without real care orprotection from external aggression or the rigours of the climate, they aredeteriorating dangerously.Identifying and cataloguing original manuscripts, restoring them andintroducing the villagers to conservation techniques, making a wholepopulation aware of the importance of the protection and enhancement ofits cultural heritage – such are the tasks that devolve on these newsponsors. Chinguetti and Ouadane, almost deserted today, could beresuscitated and discover new activities with the coming to light of thesemanuscripts.
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1998-1999 financial period was US $250,000,000. The budgetary appropriation
proposed for the financial period 2000-2001 in the draft resolution to be submit-
ted to the General Conference at its 30th session amounts to US $266,300,000,
whichever of the two scenarios mentioned above is approved.
A strict policy of austerity has nevertheless been the rule for several
years now. It has been marked, in particular, by a decrease in staff numbers –
17 per cent at Headquarters and 10 per cent in the field. Between January 1988
and January 1999, the number of staff, in all categories, dropped from 2,848 to
2,406, including 1,313 women. Expenditure on staff now accounts for barely
more than one-third of UNESCO’s total budget.
These staff cuts affected men much more than women – 22 per cent
as compared with 9 per cent. In keeping with UNESCO’s guiding principles, and
more especially the Plan of Action on equal opportunities for men and women in
the Secretariat, Mr Mayor’s objective was to apply a policy that would lead by
the end of 2001 to half of the new members of the professional staff being
women. This objective has been almost achieved already. On the other hand, the
austerity budgets that have prevailed throughout the decade have prevented
UNESCO from bringing in the indispensable new blood and have thus given it
the profile of an ageing Organization.
Monitoring and reducing costs also involve a merciless struggle
against all forms of wastage. Thus the duration of the biennial sessions of the
General Conference, which ranged from 31 to 37 days before 1989, was brought
down to 23 working days in 1995. As for the volume of documentation produced
by these sessions, it has dropped from 47,400 pages to 21,000 pages
Since the 1994-1995 financial period, programme evaluation, con-
sisting in the assessment of the value of the results obtained, has become current
practice, each of the sectors concerned having to devote 0.5 per cent of its direct
costs to this expertise. The aim is to generalize these checks at Headquarters and
in the field and to refine them by means of a new computerized monitoring and
information system with a view to establishing a veritable culture of evaluation in
the Organization. For, in Mr Mayor’s opinion, it is a moral imperative for
UNESCO to ensure that every dollar in its budget is managed and spent to the best
effect.
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O b l i g a t i o n t o p r o d u c e r e s u l t s
T hese budgetary constraints, which cannot be described as temporary, have
for several years now led UNESCO to define its tasks and organize its work
better. The concentration of programmes has thus been recognized as inevitable,
though this does not necessarily imply the dropping of certain activities. The
explicit objective is to do less in order to do better.
In view of the financial means at its disposal, UNESCO cannot afford
to appear as a Jack-of-all-trades, even if the mission assigned to the Organization
by its Constitution requires it to defend universal values such as peace, develop-
ment and democracy, which might on the strength of it justify interventions in all
directions. It has therefore been obliged by the rigour of the times to define more
precisely the targets of its priority actions and to select more particularly those
which hold promise of being followed up by various local or international partners.
Whereas the Second Medium-Term Plan 1984-1989 comprised
14 major programmes and no less than 54 subprogrammes, the Third Plan
(1990-1995) was extremely simplified, being limited to seven major programme
fields and 17 subprogrammes. As for the broad strategies for the current period,
1996-2001, they cover two themes – development and peace-building.
This effort to concentrate activities has gone hand in hand with an
adjustment to new rhythms resulting from the collapse of the Berlin Wall. As
explained by Mr Mayor, the end of the Cold War sounded the death-knell of planned
institutions, giving way to more flexible and efficient structures, keeping a clear view at
all times of their objectives and their mission. This concern for flexibility led
UNESCO, in 1995, to abandon the idea of a Plan in the document setting out
its main lines of action for the next six years in favour of a strategy.
Flexibility in programme implementation has also led UNESCO to
encourage synergy and, in all its spheres of competence, to take initiatives span-
ning different disciplines and different sectors of activity. To meet the special
and urgent needs of certain groups of countries, within the framework of its over-
all priorities, it has occasionally set up specific strategies. Such was the case for
example in 1994 when a Unit was established within the Secretariat for coopera-
tion with the seven Portuguese-speaking countries spread over three continents,
but united by their language.
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Generally speaking, the Medium-Term Strategy 1996-2001 marked a
fundamental renewal of the programming process, involving not only the
UNESCO Secretariat but the whole of the Organization, and beyond it the
Member States. Morever, the very concept of programming has been broadened.
It is no longer confined to the mere drawing up of a list of activities to be carried
out; the expected results and the financial and human resources required to
obtain them are also specified.
By trying gradually to replace the obligation to provide the means by an
obligation to produce results UNESCO is seeking to consolidate its credibility on
the threshold of a new millennium. Attached to the defence of an ideal of peace
that has time on its side, the Organization is attempting to counter the argu-
ments of those who might accuse it of being just a hot air merchant. So it is under-
standable that in order to minimize this risk UNESCO is more than ever ready
to listen to all those for whom it is morally responsible. As close to grass roots as
possible.
A s c l o s e t o g r a s s r o o t s a s p o s s i b l e �
For an organization with a global mission such as UNESCO, is the Place de
Fontenoy, Paris, the centre of the world, the head office where everything origi-
nates and everything culminates? The system of operation, which was chosen and
which has been in application since the beginning of the decade, was very differ-
ent from that. As Mr Mayor points out, In this global age in which communications
can bring the different parts of a scattered structure together cheaply and in real time,
what we must devise is the type of decentralization of the Organization which enables it
to function as a family of nerve centres spread out around the earth.
In his view, the UNESCO of tomorrow should therefore be in a posi-
tion to describe itself in Pascal’s phrase as a sphere whose centre is everywhere and
whose circumference is nowhere. The Organization thus applied ahead of time the
recommendation of the World Commission on Culture and Development, which,
in the Report it published in 1995, praised the virtues of methods and procedures
such as delegation of authority and decentralization that enable individuals to have a
say and to influence decisions.
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A first step in decentralization was the setting up in February 1989
of the Bureau for Programme Cooordination and Field Offices, which was
entrusted with supporting the process. Then at the beginning of the 1990s, the
Director-General of UNESCO stressed the importance of developing regional
strategies to encourage Member States to participate more closely in the
Organization’s activities.
The field offices now form a dense network of competences for defining
and carrying out programmes in the service of the countries of the regions they
cover. Their number has increased in response to needs: 54 at the end of 1995,
72 to date. In this connection, special attention has been paid to setting up offices
in recently independent States or States in a situation of conflict or post-conflict.
Thus between 1987 and 1999 the number of offices established in sub-Saharan
Africa increased from nine to 24.
The strategy adopted over the past decade was to strengthen the
action capacity of these offices by allocating adequate resources to them, both
material resources, with the development of electronic communication systems,
and above all human resources, in the form of larger numbers of experts. The
overall decrease in staff numbers between 1988 and 1999 was smaller in the case
of field staff (-10 per cent) than in the case of Headquarters staff (-17 per cent).
At present, 27.9 per cent of UNESCO’s staff , all categories taken
into account, are working away from Headquarters. This percentage is far from
being insignificant for an Organization whose terms of reference, unlike those of
other United Nations Specialized Agencies, do not relate exclusively to technical
cooperation.
Mr Mayor intends to take this policy of decentralization still further.
It is not seen as a mere geographical delocalization of activities, or a simple trans-
fer of equipment, posts or resources away from Headquarters. Thus he recently
expressed the wish that: the budget for 2000-2001 mark a decisive stage in the strategy
of redistributing tasks between Headquarters and the regions, making any adjustments
in terms of staff and resources that might be required.
This being said, the National Commissions that have been set up in
almost all of the 187 Member States – there are 178 to date – are the only insti-
tutional means UNESCO has to associate Member States with its activities.
Provided for in the Constitution to act as agencies of liaison, they are made up of
leading figures in intellectual and scientific circles.
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The Medium-Term Strategy
1996-2001 took into account the need to
optimize the ties existing between
Headquarters and these national institu-
tions, and even to think up new ones, so
vital is their role in the mobilizing of
partners in the field. In addition, this
strategy has an objective to improve the
work of these Commissions through
technical and financial assistance.
This close involvement in the
preparation of the programmes of both
the field offices and the National
Commissions has made it possible to
decentralize a larger proportion of
UNESCO’s activities – 37.1 per cent in
the 1998-1999 budget – and, above all,
to ensure that the programmes better
meet the needs of Member States.
Decentralization is not an end in itself,
Mr Mayor observed; it is a strategy cal-
culated to have tangible effects on the
Organization’s projects and thus satisfy
requirements for effectiveness.
For this reason over the past
decade UNESCO has continually developed regional and subregional strategies
from pole to pole. It has, for instance, devised and undertaken specific activities
directed towards Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, the Baltic,
Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.
C i v i l c o n s p i r a c y
T he extent of the challenges to be faced today insofar as peace, development
and democracy are concerned is such that no international organization
can claim to manage alone, so it is more urgent than ever to constitute a united
T h e e l e c t e d re p re s e n t at ive s o f
t h e p e o p l e i n t h e s e rv i c e o f p e a c e
The setting up in UNESCO in December 1994 of a Unit for Relationswith Parliamentarians illustrates their importance for the
Organization’s strategy. In its activities the Unit tries to strengthen linksnot only with national parliaments, through the National Commissions, butalso with regional parliaments and international parliamentary assemblies.At the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Education, Science, Culture andCommunication on the Eve of the 21st Century held by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UNESCO in Paris from 3 to 6 June 1996,parliamentarians from all over the world undertook to establish closerties with UNESCO, so as to bring the Organization the support of thenational parliaments in the furthering of its policies in respect ofeducation, science, culture and communication and thus contribute tohuman development.In the Final Document, the 175 parliamentarians from 71 countries laidgreat stress on the kind of education which is needed in the society oftomorrow which includes education for peace, human rights and democracy,tolerance and international understanding, enhancing the heritage andpromoting creativity, encouraging cultural pluralism and dialogue betweencultures, and guiding the information revolution so that it will contribute to abetter world.The members of parliament further suggested that parliaments give moreconstant attention to education policies, that cultural rights be better
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front for multilateral cooperation. This is
the road which UNESCO, within the
framework of a more general reform of
the United Nations system, has resolute-
ly taken over the past decade, rather than
going it alone.
This partnership – a term of
the utmost significance for UNESCO’s
future –, which enables it to discover, and
sometimes strengthen, complementari-
ties, has of course been turned to account
by the Organization, in its different
spheres of competence, with the other
United Nations Specialized Agencies.
However, such cooperation is intended to
be boundless, including both intergov-
ernmental and non-governmental organi-
zations, at whatever level they operate.
It was under the auspices
of UNESCO, but also under those of
the United Nations Development Pro-
gramme (UNDP), the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the
World Bank, that the World Conference
on Education for All was held in Jomtien in Thailand in March 1990. It was again
in cooperation with the World Bank that UNESCO carried out cultural heritage
rescue operations – in Mali, for instance, as part of the restoration work on the
cities of Timbuktu, Djenne and Bandiagara.
UNESCO has also applied itself to streamlining its relations with
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), selecting from among their rapidly
increasing numbers those with which it could safely embark on fruitful partner-
ships in accordance with its ethical mission. In November 1995 the General
Conference laid down Directives for such cooperation. As a result of this reclassi-
fication, at the end of 1998, and not without difficulty, official relations were
renewed with about 350 NGOs regarded as reliable on the basis of objective
supported and defended, in particular by parliaments, through the adoptionof texts ensuring legal protection, and that the Internet be regarded as adevelopment tool.Among the follow-up measures envisaged for theConference, the IPU and UNESCO agreed to use the Internet forexchanging information and accessing their respective databases.UNESCO’s cooperation with the IPU has since developed considerably invarious fields, including human rights, democracy and peace, the status ofwomen, the Mediterranean, communication and culture. In this connection,UNESCO participated in the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s half-yearlyconferences in Istanbul (Turkey), Seoul (Republic of Korea), Cairo (Egypt),Windhoek (Namibia), Moscow (Russian Federation) and in the specializedconference, Towards Partnership between Men and Women in Politics, held inNew Delhi (India) from 14 to 18 February 1997.On 26 June 1997, an Agreement of Cooperation between UNESCO andthe Inter-Parliamentary Union, formalizing the relations between the twoOrganizations, was signed by the Director-General of UNESCO, thePresident of the Inter-Parliamentary Council,Ahmed Fathy Sorour, and theSecretary-General of the IPU, Pierre Cornillon. Henceforth yearlyconsultations will be organized between the Secretariats of UNESCO andthe IPU so that they can exchange views on questions of mutual interest.The two Organizations will study new fields of cooperation and will carryout activities jointly.
The elected representat ives of the people in theser v ice of peace (cont inued)
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criteria, as compared with some 590 under the old system. This paved the way
for tr iangular partnerships in the field, bringing together the Secretariat of the
Organization, the National Commissions and approved NGOs.
UNESCO intends that all those who play an important part in inter-
national cooperation, whether institu-
tional or private bodies, should partici-
pate in such partnerships. This year, for
instance, on the occasion of the World
Tourism Fair in Berlin, travel agencies,
tour operators and hotel chains agreed to
become more closely involved in safe-
guarding our heritage.
This very active search for a
wide variety of partners in the field
reflects the Organization’s concern to
build up around it a sort of franchised net-
work of representatives, in the front ranks
of which figure the Member States and
the various public and private financial
backers. The onus is on all of them to
carry out, in their entirety or partially,
the projects to which UNESCO gives an
impetus.
UNESCO will be less and
less a technical assistance agency carry-
ing out activities in all its fields of com-
petence. The scale of what has to be done
in the education, science, culture and
communication sectors is indeed incom-
mensurate with the financial means of
the Organization. And it is wiser not to imagine that they will increase very much
in the years to come.
Henceforth UNESCO’s course of action is mapped out: it involves
acting increasingly through intermediaries, turning to account relations of trust
built up over time. We must therefore learn to have things done without ever just let-
G o o dw i l l A m b a s s a d o rs
The Goodwill Ambassadors, UNESCO’s flag-bearers, so to speak,undertake to make the Organization’s ideals better known.Their
mission is to promote UNESCO’s action and programmes in the cultural,scientific, educational and humanitarian fields through their professionalactivities.The Director-General, Federico Mayor, considers that UNESCO’sGoodwill Ambassadors, owing to their celebrity, can convey a message toall homes, the idea that every one of us can play a role in going from alogic of force and fear to the force of love. He considers that UNESCOneeds world-famous personalities, because failures are visible andsuccesses intangible and these luminaries shed lustre on the intangible.Thus Rigoberta Menchú Tún, Guatemalan human rights activist, andwinner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her efforts on behalf ofindigenous peoples, became a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in June1996. Just as the famous Russian cellist and conductor MstislavRostropovitch was designated Goodwill Ambassador for Peace on 10 March 1998.The Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé was similarlydesignated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and undertook to speak upfor the excluded. She has set up a foundation which assists some 600 disadvantaged children. She has also taken part in a number of galaperformances at UNESCO in aid of child victims of war and foodshortages in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guatemala and Somalia.
Other famous Ambassadors include:Kim Phuc (photographed by Nick Ut in 1972 when she was a child,naked, and screaming with pain, as she ran away from her Vietnamesevillage attacked with napalm bombs), Renzo Piano (Italian architect),Princess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, Catherine Deneuve, Pelé andMichael Schumacher.
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ting things happen.While remaining adamant on principles and quality alike, one must
turn to account, sustain, incite, but not replace, as Mr Mayor put it.
In the Introduction to the Draft Programme and Budget for 2000-
2001 the Director-General of UNESCO stresses the validity of this course. It
is therefore up to us, he writes, to convince States –
governments and parliaments – that it is by changing
national priorities, and not by waiting for some hypo-
thetical external assistance, which comes more often in
the form of bank loans than donations, that they may
achieve the desired results.
The effectiveness of the Organization,
according to Mr Mayor, will be gauged by its
capacity to build collective awareness leading to politi-
cal initiatives which will further the cause it has
been defending for more than half a century.
Awareness-raising of this kind goes beyond the
decision-makers and involves a vast mobilization
of civil societies which are beginning to make
themselves heard – media, women’s and teachers’
associations, popular movements, religious and
secular institutions, and even armed forces, etc.
What the Director-General of UNESCO does not
hesitate to refer to as a civil conspiracy…
At the head of this list of conspirators
figure parliamentarians. UNESCO, which set up
in its Secretariat a Unit for Relations with
Parliamentarians, signed an Agreement of
Cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in June 1997. In the fol-
lowing year it organized, in Paris, an Inter-Parliamentary Conference on
Education, Science, Culture and Communication.
In its constant quest for new partners, and bearing in mind the fact
that in the twenty-first century more than half of the world’s population will be
living in towns, UNESCO has tried to obtain the support of the mayors. In close
contact with citizens and with vast networks of social actors, municipal councils
are responsible for the application at grass roots of all the values defended by the
© U
NES
CO
/Inez
For
bes
Rigober ta MenchuTum, UNESCOGoodwillAmbassador
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Organization. It was for this reason that a UNESCO-Cities for Peace Prize was
launched in 1996.
Much more of a novelty was the dialogue started in 1995 between
UNESCO and the Armed Forces on the occasion of an Inter-American
Symposium, as part of the efforts made after the collapse of the Berlin Wall to
work out a new conception of security for which the military experts would no
longer have sole responsibility. In the following year this dialogue was extended
to the institutes of strategic studies at a symposium organized around the theme
From Partial Insecurity to Global Security.
To alert public opinion, UNESCO has taken many initiatives: it has
established under its name schools, university chairs, clubs, prizes and Goodwill
Ambassadors. The World Commission on Culture and Development, for its part,
observing the discrepancy between the ends and means of heritage conservation, recom-
mended mobilizing the goodwill of a body of Cultural Heritage Volunteers to con-
tribute, under professional guidance, to safeguarding operations.
These means may seem pathetically inadequate in view of what is at
stake. Alas, in today’s world, there may not really be any other methods of laying
the foundations of a culture of peace, of a shared and sustainable development,
of a living democracy. UNESCO’s mission is to stick to its course, firmly and
lucidly. As Mr Mayor says, the effectiveness of UNESCO cannot be assessed bureau-
cratically. Its founders, who were not idle dreamers, would have nothing to
reproach UNESCO with today.
S e e i n g f u r t h e r a h e a d �
The whole history of the century which is drawing to a close amply shows how
lack of foresight, even more than neglect or rashness, has been the source of
a great many of the misfortunes, whether wars or natural disasters, that have
afflicted humanity. As the Director-General observed: Swept along by events, sub-
jected to the tyranny of emergencies, we do not take the time to prepare well thought out
action or to consider the consequences.We have set off on the adventure of the future
with no brakes and with zero visibility. Many States, not having decided on a
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course, and lacking the instruments to keep to one, like frail boats tossed by the
ocean, have lost control over events.
As stressed in the Medium-Term Strategy 1996-2001, a future-oriented
outlook capable of inspiring action should be a natural attribute of an international
organization committed to intellectual cooperation. This important mission – fore-
casting in order to forewarn – was entrusted to UNESCO at its inception: it fits
into the intellectual watch function, assigned to the Organization by its
Constitution. Laboratory of ideas, intellectual forum – whatever the term used –,
the Organization is called on to mobilize its abilities in all its fields of compe-
tence in the service of the future. And this all the more resolutely inasmuch as,
in a world in the throes of political, economic, technological and social upheaval,
exercising foresight is no longer a mere intellectual game or empty talk.
UNESCO’s action on behalf of education, science, culture and com-
munication demands a long-term investment – at least a generation – the
Organization must therefore take the lead and think up strategies for the future
now, while accepting that the unforeseeable also has to be managed. This is a
matter of ethics – the cornerstone of all the Organization’s activities.
Mr Mayor observes that the ethic of the future is an ethic not confined to
the fulfilling of one’s obligations vis-à-vis the present. It demands that decision-maker
and citizen alike act in time, and therefore with foresight. This line of conduct was
adopted by UNESCO just after the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in June
1992 when it consistently and vigorously appealed for a sustainable development
centred on sound management of the world’s natural resources. The Organization
was moved by a similar concern when, in November 1997, it submitted to the
General Conference for approval, a Declaration on the Responsibilities of the Present
Generations towards Future Generations.
C o n f l i c t s a n d n a t u r a l d i s a s t e r s
T o strengthen research, the Director-General of UNESCO, in September
1994, set up an Analysis and Forecasting Unit (UAP) placed directly under
his authority and entrusted with carrying out comprehensive studies for the con-
sideration of key issues of concern to the Organization. To prepare it even better
for the twenty-first century, Mr Mayor decided in March 1998 to turn this Unit
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into an Analysis and Forecasting Office (AFO), which works hand in hand with
the world’s most eminent experts and research centres in carrying out prospec-
tive studies.
The AFO has thus been entrusted with the preparation of a report,
UNESCO-Horizon 2020, designed to alert public opinion and decision-makers to
the major foreseeable challenges in the Organization’s fields of competence and iden-
tify priorities for long-term action. The Office was also asked to organize Twenty-first
Century Talks and Twenty-first Century Dialogues, which will constitute one of
UNESCO’s main intellectual contributions to the celebrations of the year 2000.
Generally speaking, UNESCO has put itself in a position to meet the
needs of the international community in the Organization’s fields of competence.
So it is able to offer its expertise and technical assistance to contribute to the
prevention of conflicts and the reduction of the risks and consequences of natural
disasters. Mr Mayor deplored the fact that peacekeeping has up till now been mobi-
lizing almost 90 per cent of the financing of our action.Whereas it is in peace-building
that we need to invest.
So UNESCO is trying to take on the role of observatory of the future,
which does not prevent it from helping, when it can, in the management of con-
flict or post-conflict situations, as it did, for example, in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Cambodia and Somalia, either through the Emergency Operation Unit, set up in
February 1993, or through the Unit for the Education of Refugees and the
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of Educational Systems, set up in March
1994.
In regard to natural disaster prevention, UNESCO has gained con-
siderable experience from scientific studies carried out under its programmes for
the earth sciences, hydrology, ecology and oceanography. Along with other
United Nations agencies and intergovernmental organizations it assisted in deal-
ing with the consequences of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in Ukraine. It has
also acted swiftly in the field, in Bangladesh, Egypt, Nicaragua and the
Philippines in particular.
On the strength of all this experience, the Organization now intends
to adopt an integrated future-oriented approach to the question of natural disas-
ters and find an interdisciplinary answer. For this purpose, a Unit for Disaster
Reduction was set up in July 1997. These multiple activities are based on the
ethics of world solidarity.
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As Mr Mayor observes, We are powerless to defend our environment
today. One of the tasks of the Unit for Disaster Reduction is therefore to work
out a framework for the indispensable partnerships with other organizations, in
the United Nations system or outside it, and the private sector.
Generally speaking, the strengthening of UNESCO’s capacity to
exercise foresight and to carry out future-oriented studies, as observed by the
Director-General, is dependent on the development of partnerships with intellectu-
als, scientists, artists, eminent experts, research groups, and governmental and non-
governmental organizations, with a view to facilitating the exchange of information,
knowledge and expertise. To see a long way ahead and to see clearly, in a world
which is difficult to grasp, it is indeed better to call on the insights of one and all.
1. Should UNESCO regard meeting the challenge of globalization as a priority, and
how should it do this?
I think globalization, as it is wrongly called, has become the main challenge
for an Organization such as UNESCO. We must fight with all our strength
against the ever-increasing imbalance between those who have practically
everything, including the technologies, and those who have practically
nothing; between the globalizers, whose financial and economic power is
enormous, and the globalized, rejected by progress. The communication
technologies conceal tremendous potential, of which we as yet have only a
glimmering. It is our duty to ensure that, in the necessary spirit of equity
and sharing, all the planet’s inhabitants can have access to them, both in
material terms of equipment and machines, and in terms of the training
needed in order to use them.
The real globalization, which has yet to be achieved, is that of the
human spirit.
2. Should the success of the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and
Human Rights prompt UNESCO to develop its standard-setting action
to assist Member States in acquiring the legal instruments which form the basis
of the rule of law?
It follows naturally from UNESCO’s mandate, as defined in the
Constitution, that it must assist Member States, by all means at its disposal,
to support the rule of law and develop in peace, democracy and respect
for human rights and fundamental freedoms. In the ethical domain, in
particular, it must encourage analysis and joint discussion on the issues
raised by the rapid progress of science and technology. If this debate leads to
the acceptance of principles and rules accepted by all, so much the better!
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Interview with Mr Federico Mayor,Director-General of UNESCO
It goes without saying, nevertheless, that it is only insofar as States
incorporate the principles contained in any particular international
instrument into their own legislation, that these principles live and become
part of the daily lives of the populations. In this, too, the reality of our action
depends on the political will of Member States.
3. Doesn’t the vast scope of UNESCO’s task condemn the Organization to interfere
in everything? Isn’t it time for UNESCO to do much less, in order to do much
better?
UNESCO’s fields of competence are, it is true, many, varied and extensive.
The expansion of knowledge and scientific progress extend them further
every day. If one compares the breadth of this field of activity – all the
realms of the mind – and the financial resources of the Organization, one
may indeed remain sceptical. Could an intergovernmental organization
whose budget is equivalent to that of a medium-sized American university
achieve anything significant in the fields of education, science, culture and
communication?
It should not be forgotten, however, that our mission is not to do, but
to cause to be done. Our role continues to be primarily that of a catalyst. It
is a matter of prompting, suggesting, launching initiatives, bringing partners
into contact, and creating favourable conditions to achieve any particular
project. The sums we spend are necessarily, in the vast majority of cases,
start-up capital. It is for us to invest the money judiciously, and to choose
our operations and partners wisely.
4. Does the absence of the United States greatly impede UNESCO’s work?
Is it possible to imagine, in the short term, the return of the United States
to the fold and, if so, under what conditions?
In an Organization such as UNESCO, each Member State is important and,
when one leaves, each Member State is missed. In addition, the departure
of the United States slashed the Organization’s budget by one third.
How could such a cut not be painfully felt?
That said, the people of the United States, the communities that are,
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in that nation, UNESCO’s partners and interlocutors, have never failed us.
The United States continues to take part in many extensive scientific
programmes. It has provided us with considerable support for meetings
for which there were no budgetary allocations. Our relations with the civil
society of America, with teachers’ associations, with universities, with the
scientific community, have never been better. I have continued to appoint
United States nationals to posts within the Secretariat. Finally, President
Clinton informed me in 1995 that he was totally in favour of his country
returning to the UNESCO fold. As is common knowledge, that return
depended on receiving the necessary votes from Congress…
5. You have floated the idea of a civil conspiracy to get things moving, but, beyond
a turn of phrase, how is it possible to unite all the agents of change behind one
common project?
Uniting several partners from civil society behind a common project is not
only possible, but is a reality which is reflected in concrete results. I shall
give only one example: the campaign against violence and war. In many
parts of the world, the desire for peace and reconciliation has brought the
population together within the framework of specific projects – constructing
and fitting out a House of Peace, organizing workshops and various activities
for young people, supervised by adults, etc. These projects, however modest
to start with, often have a snowball effect, acquiring a strong momentum.
The movement in favour of a culture of peace – the theme for the year 2000
chosen by the United Nations on UNESCO’s proposal – continues to grow,
taking different forms in different countries and societies.
We use no force but words; a not inconsiderable force, since they are
relayed and amplified at different levels of the population. Our voice is
amplified by UNESCO Clubs and Associations, and Associated Schools,
our closest partners. It is also relayed by the media, parliamentarians,
elected representatives, and all those whose civic responsibility exerts
an influence on public life.
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6. Do you think that UNESCO’s activity is properly understood, and, if not, what
should the Organization do to improve its credibility?
I repeat – for this explains a number of difficulties and misunderstand-
ings – UNESCO’s activity is poorly presented and understood, roughly
speaking for three reasons: it takes place in very diverse fields, where the
results are not always visible; it is above all preventive; and it is long-term.
One can well understand why it is so difficult to make work which is not
seen and which is spread over decades attractive to the media, in an era
when appearances and the immediate future reign supreme. To improve
UNESCO’s credibility, it is therefore particularly necessary to use our inge-
nuity to highlight the importance of the intangible – a considerable under-
taking.
7. Taking into account the lessons drawn from the past decade, how do you see
UNESCO in the twenty-first century?
In the twenty-first century? UNESCO will be more necessary than ever.
What will it be? Without a doubt, it will not be entirely the same, not
entirely different. Rather, it will be the same organization as in 1945,
faithful to its unique mission as defined in the Constitution, yet an entirely
different organization, a reflection of its time, at grips with the issues
of its time, to which it must respond and which it must anticipate. Similar
yet different, like life itself, which goes on.
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Annexes
Field office
U N E S C O ’ s p r e s e n c e w o r l d w i d e
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U N E S C O :a f e w b r i e f f a c t s
UNESCO is composed of three main bodies:
w The General Conference, which is attended by all Member States every two
years, is UNESCO’s main governing body. On the basis of one State one vote, it
adopts the programme and budget of the Organization.
w The Executive Board, on which 58 Member States are represented, usually
meets twice a year. It acts as a board of administration, supervises the smooth
implementation of the decisions of the General Conference, whose work it prepares.
w The Secretariat, placed under the authority of the Director-General, who
is elected for a 6-year term of office by the General Conference, is responsible
for transforming the commitments made by the Member States into practical activ-
ities.
u In January 1999, the Secretariat was composed of 2,406 international staff,
both administrative and non-administrative, of which 671 were working in the
field, in the 78 UNESCO offices in the five continents.
u 178 Member States have set up a National Commission which is composed of
representatives of the national educational, scientific and cultural communities.
u The Organization has also set up a partnership with other United Nations
Specialized Agencies.
350 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) maintain official relations with
UNESCO.
u 5,500 Associated Schools encourage young people to acquire a spirit of
tolerance and international understanding.
Over 6,000 UNESCO Centres, Clubs and Associations contribute to UNESCO’s
action in the field, with cooperation from the general public.
UNESCO is engaged in a process of reform and renewal, so as to adjust to new
situations in a complex, changing world. This reform process began in 1988 and
will continue until 2001.
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C o n s t i t u t i o n
1 6 N ove m b e r 1 9 4 5
P re a m b l e
The future UNESCO was founded in London during the Conference that met there from
1 November 1945 with a view to establishing an Organization for education, science and
culture. On 16 November, 37 States adopted the Constitution. As 20 States had ratified
the Constitution, UNESCO was officially established on 4 November 1946 and
the first General Conference met in the main amphitheatre of the Sorbonne in Paris on
20 November. The Preamble of the Constitution is as follows:
The Governments of the States Parties to this Constitution on behalf of their
peoples declare:
That since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the
defences of peace must be constructed;
That ignorance of each other’s ways and lives has been a common cause,
throughout the history of mankind, of that suspicion and mistrust between the peoples of
the world through which their differences have all too often broken into war;
That the great and terrible war which has now ended was a war made possible
by the denial of the democratic principles of the dignity, equality and mutual respect
of men, and by the propagation, in their place, through ignorance and prejudice, of the
doctrine of the inequality of men and races;
That the wide diffusion of culture, and the education of humanity for justice
and liberty and peace are indispensable to the dignity of man and constitute a sacred duty
which all the nations must fulfil in a spirit of mutual assistance and concern;
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 sin-
cere 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.
For these reasons, the States Parties to this Constitution, believing
in full and equal opportunities for education for all, in the unrestricted pursuit of
objective truth, and in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, are agreed and
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determined to develop and to increase the means of communication between their
peoples and to employ these means for the purposes of mutual understanding and
a truer and more perfect knowledge of each other’s lives;
In consequence whereof they do hereby create the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization for the purpose of advancing, through the educational
and scientific and cultural relations of the peoples of the world, the objectives of
international peace and of the common welfare of mankind for which the United Nations
Organization was established and which its Charter proclaims.
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M a j o r c o n f e r e n c e s o f t h e d e c a d e
� World Conference on Education for All, Jomtien, 5-9 March 1990
� World Summit for Children, New York, 29-30 September 1990
� United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro,
1-12 June 1992
� World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 14-25 June 1993
� World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction, Yokohama, 23-27 May 1994
� International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo,
5-13 September 1994
� World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 16-22 March 1995
� World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995
� United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Istanbul, 3-14 June 1996
� World Solar Summit, Harare, 16-17 September 1996
� World Food Summit, Rome, 13-17 November 1996
� International Conference on Adult Education, Hamburg, 14-18 July 1997
� Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development,
Stockholm, 31 March-2 April 1998
� World Conference on Higher Education, Paris, 5-9 October 1998
� International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education, Seoul,
26-30 April 1999
� World Conference on Science, Budapest, 26 June-1 July 1999
Information about these Conferences and the Declarations
they adopted may be consulted on UNESCO’s Web site:
http://www.unesco.org
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Y a m o u s s o u k r o D e c l a r a t i o no n P e a c e
i n t h e M i n d s o f M e n
Yamoussoukro (Côte d ’ Ivo i re) , 1 Ju ly 1989
The International Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men was held in June-July
1989 at the Headquarters of the Houphouët-Boigny Foundation in Yamoussoukro,
Côte d’Ivoire. A Declaration was adopted at the end of the Congress, whose Preamble
reads as follows:
Peace is reverence for life.
Peace is the most precious possession of humanity.
Peace is more than the end of armed conflict.
Peace is a mode of behaviour.
Peace is a deep-rooted commitment to the principles of liberty,
justice, equality and solidarity among all human beings.
Peace is also a harmonious partnership of humankind with the
environment.
Today, on the eve of the twenty-first century, peace is within
our reach.
The International Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men, held on the
initiative of UNESCO in Yamoussoukro in the heart of Africa, the cradle of
humanity and yet a land of suffering and unequal development, brought together
from the five continents men and women who dedicate themselves to the cause of
peace.
The growing interdependence between nations and the increasing aware-
ness of common security are signs of hope.
Disarmament measures helping to lessen tensions have been announced
and already taken by some countries. Progress is being made in the peaceful settle-
ment of international disputes. There is wider recognition of the international
machinery for the protection of human rights.
But the Congress also noted the persistence of various armed conflicts
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throughout the world. There are also other conflictual situations: apartheid in
South Africa; non-respect for national integrity; racism, intolerance and discrimi-
nation, particularly against women; and above all economic pressures in all their
forms.
In addition, the Congress noted the emergence of new, non-military
threats to peace. These new threats include: unemployment; drugs; lack of develop-
ment; Third-World debt, resulting in particular from the imbalance between the
industrialized countries and the developing countries together with the difficulties
encountered by the countries of the Third World in turning their resources
to account; and, finally, man-induced environmental degradation, such as the
deterioration of natural resources, climatic changes, desertification, the destruction
of the ozone layer and pollution, endangering all forms of life on Earth. The
Congress has endeavoured to generate awareness of these problems.
Humans cannot work for a future they cannot imagine. Therefore, the
task of this Congress has been to devise visions in which all can have faith.
Humanity can only secure its future through a form of cooperation that:
respects the rule of law, takes account of pluralism, ensures greater justice in inter-
national economic exchanges and is based on the participation of all civil society in
the construction of peace. The Congress affirms the right of individuals and soci-
eties to a quality environment as a factor essential to peace.
Additionally, new technologies are now available to serve humankind.
But their efficient use is dependent on peace – both in their being used for peace-
ful purposes and in the need for a peaceful world to maximize their beneficial
results.
Finally, the Congress recognizes that violence is not biologically deter-
mined and that humans are not predestined to be violent in their behaviour.
The pursuit of peace is an exhilarating adventure. The Congress there-
fore proposes a new programme that makes practical and effective provision for
new visions and approaches in co-operation, education, science, culture and com-
munication, taking into account the cultural traditions of the different parts of the
world. These measures are to be implemented in co-operation with international
organizations and institutions, including the United Nations University, the
University for Peace in Costa Pica and the Fondation international Houphouët-
Boigny pour la recherche de la paix in Yamoussoukro.
UNESCO by virtue of its Constitution is engaged in the cause of peace.
Peace is likewise the calling of Yamoussoukro. The Congress is a confirmation of
the hopes of humankind.
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D e c l a r a t i o n o f P r i n c i p l e s o n T o l e r a n c e
Par i s , 16 November 1995
During the 28th session of the General Conference, from 25 October to 16 November
1995, the Member States adopted a Declaration of Principles on Tolerance.
The text, composed of six articles, was approved on the day that UNESCO celebrated
its fiftieth anniversary.
A r t i c l e 1 - D e f i n i t i o n o f t o l e ra n c e
Resolving to take all positive measures necessary to promote tolerance in our
societies, because tolerance is necessary for peace and for the economic and social
advancement of all peoples, and towards that purpose we declare that:
1.1 Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the endless richness
of our world’s cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human.
It is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication and liberty of con-
science. Tolerance is harmony in difference. It is not only a moral duty, it
is also a political obligation. Tolerance, the virtue that makes peace possi-
ble, contributes to the replacement of the culture of war by a culture of
peace.
1.2 Tolerance is not concession, condescension or indulgence. Tolerance is,
above all, recognizing the universal human rights and fundamental freedoms
of others. In no circumstance can it be used to justify infringements upon
these fundamental values. Tolerance is to be exercised by individuals, groups
and States.
1.3 Tolerance is the responsibility that upholds human rights, pluralism,
democracy and the rule of law. It undergirds the standards affirmed by
the assemblage of international human rights instruments.
1.4 The practice of tolerance does not mean abandonment or weakening
of one’s convictions. It means that one is free to adhere to one’s own
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convictions and accepts that others adhere to theirs. It means accepting the
fact that human beings, naturally diverse in their appearance, situation,
speech, behaviours and values, have the right to live in peace and to be as
they are.
A r t i c l e 2 - S t a t e l e v e l
2.1 Tolerance at the State level requires just and impartial legislation, law
enforcement and judicial process. It also requires that economic and social
opportunities be made available to each person. Exclusion can lead to frus-
tration, hostility and fanaticism.
2.2 In order to achieve a more tolerant society, States should ratify existing
international human rights conventions, and draft new legislation where
necessary to ensure equality of treatment and of opportunity for all groups
and individuals in society.
2.3 It is essential for international harmony that individuals, communities and
nations accept and respect the multicultural character of the human family.
Without tolerance there can be no peace, and without peace there can be no
development or democracy.
2.4 Intolerance, the rejection of difference, may take the form of marginalization
of vulnerable groups and their exclusion from social and political participa-
tion, as well as violence and discrimination against them. As confirmed in
the Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice, All individuals and groups
have the right to be different (Article 1.2).
A r t i c l e 3 - S o c i a l d i m e n s i o n s
3.1 In the modern world, tolerance is more essential than ever before. It is an
age marked by rapidly increasing mobility, communication, integration and
interdependence, large-scale migrations and displacement of populations,
urbanization and changing social patterns. Since every part of the world is
characterized by diversity, escalating intolerance and strife potentially
menaces every region. It is not confined to any country, but is a global
threat.
3.2 Tolerance is necessary between individuals and at the family and community
levels. Tolerance promotion and the shaping of attitudes of openness and
solidarity should take place in schools and universities, through non-formal
education, at home and in the workplace. The communication media should
play a constructive role in facilitating free and open dialogue and discussion,
disseminating the values of tolerance, and highlighting the dangers of
indifference towards the rise in intolerant groups and ideologies.
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3.3 As affirmed by the UNESCO Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice,
measures must be taken to ensure equality in dignity and rights for
individuals and groups wherever necessary. In this respect, particular
attention should be paid to racial or ethnic groups which are socially
or economically disadvantaged so as to afford them the protection of the
laws and social measures in force, in particular with regard to housing,
employment and health, to respect the authenticity of their culture and
values, and to facilitate their social and occupational advancement and
integration, especially through education.
3.4 Appropriate scientific studies and networking should be undertaken to
co-ordinate the international community’s response to this global challenge,
including analysis by the social sciences of root causes and effective counter
measures, as well as research and monitoring in support of policy-making
and standard-setting action by Member States.
A r t i c l e 4 - E d u c a t i o n
4.1 Education is the most effective means of preventing intolerance. The first
step in tolerance education is to teach people what their shared rights and
freedoms are, so that they may be respected.
4.2 Education for tolerance should be considered an urgent imperative; that is
why it is necessary to promote systematic and rational tolerance teaching
methods that will address the cultural, social, economic, political and reli-
gious sources of intolerance - major roots of violence and exclusion.
Education policies and programmes should contribute to development of
understanding, solidarity and tolerance among individuals as well as among
ethnic, social, cultural, religious and linguistic groups and nations.
4.3 Education for tolerance should aim at countering influences that lead to fear
and exclusion of others, and should help young people to develop capacities
for independent judgement and ethical reasoning.
4.4 We pledge to support and implement programmes of social science research
and education for tolerance, human rights and non-violence. This means
devoting special attention to improving teacher training, curricula, the con-
tent of textbooks and lessons, and other educational materials including new
educational technologies, with a view to educating caring and responsible
citizens open to other cultures, able to appreciate the value of freedom,
respectful of human dignity and differences, and able to prevent conflicts or
resolve them by non-violent means.
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A r t i c l e 5 - C o m m i t m e n t t o a c t i o n
5.1 We engage ourselves to promote tolerance and non-violence through pro-
grammes and institutions in the fields of education, science, culture and
communication. These means include the establishment of prizes, Chairs,
cultural events, research networks and publications, public information cam-
paigns, and programmes for tolerance and non-violence.
A r t i c l e 6 - I n t e r n a t i o n a l D a y f o r To l e ra n c e
6.1 In order to call upon the public, emphasize the dangers of intolerance and
react with renewed commitment and action in support of tolerance promo-
tion and education, we solemnly proclaim 16 November the annual
International Day for Tolerance.
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U n i v e r s a l D e c l a r a t i o n o n t h e H u m a n G e n o m e a n d
H u m a n R i g h t s
Par is , 11 November 1997
On 11 November 1997, at the end of its 29th session, the General Conference
of UNESCO adopted in Paris the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome
and Human Rights. The principles set out in this text, which was the first universal
instrument in the field of biology, are as follows:
A . H u m a n d i g n i t y a n d t h e h u m a n g e n o m e
Article 1
The human genome underlies the fundamental unity of all members of the human
family, as well as the recognition of their inherent dignity and diversity. In a sym-
bolic sense, it is the heritage of humanity.
Article 2
(a) Everyone has a right to respect for their dignity and for their rights regardless
of their genetic characteristics.
(b) That dignity makes it imperative not to reduce individuals to their genetic
characteristics and to respect their uniqueness and diversity.
Article 3
The human genome, which by its nature evolves, is subject to mutations. It
contains potentialities that are expressed differently according to each individual’s
natural and social environment, including the individual’s state of health, living
conditions, nutrition and education.
Article 4
The human genome in its natural state shall not give rise to financial gains.
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B . R i g h t s o f t h e p e r s o n s c o n c e r n e d
Article 5
(a) Research, treatment or diagnosis affecting an individual’s genome shall be
undertaken only after rigorous and prior assessment of the potential risks and
benefits pertaining thereto and in accordance with any other requirement of
national law.
(b) In all cases, the prior, free and informed consent of the person concerned shall
be obtained. If the latter is not in a position to consent, consent or authoriza-
tion shall be obtained in the manner prescribed by law, guided by the person’s
best interest.
(c) The right of each individual to decide whether or not to be informed of the
results of genetic examination and the resulting consequences should be
respected.
(d) In the case of research, protocols shall, in addition, be submitted for prior
review in accordance with relevant national and international research stan-
dards or guidelines.
(e) If according to the law a person does not have the capacity to consent,
research affecting his or her genome may only be carried out for his or her
direct health benefit, subject to the authorization and the protective conditions
prescribed by law. Research which does not have an expected direct health
benefit may only be undertaken by way of exception, with the utmost restraint,
exposing the person only to a minimal risk and minimal burden and if the
research is intended to contribute to the health benefit of other persons in the
same age category or with the same genetic condition, subject to the condi-
tions prescribed by law, and provided such research is compatible with the pro-
tection of the individual’s human rights.
Article 6
No one shall be subjected to discrimination based on genetic characteristics that is
intended to infringe or has the effect of infringing human rights, fundamental free-
doms and human dignity.
Article 7
Genetic data associated with an identifiable person and stored or processed for the
purposes of research or any other purpose must be held confidential in the condi-
tions set by law.
Article 8
Every individual shall have the right, according to international and national law,
to just reparation for any damage sustained as a direct and determining result of
an intervention affecting his or her genome.
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Article 9
In order to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, limitations to the
principles of consent and confidentiality may only be prescribed by law, for com-
pelling reasons within the bounds of public international law and the international
law of human rights.
C . R e s e a r c h o n t h e h u m a n g e n o m e
Article 10
No research or research applications concerning the human genome, in particular
in the fields of biology, genetics and medicine, should prevail over respect for the
human rights, fundamental freedoms and human dignity of individuals or, where
applicable, of groups of people.
Article 11
Practices which are contrary to human dignity, such as reproductive cloning of
human beings, shall not be permitted. States and competent international organi-
zations are invited to co-operate in identifying such practices and in taking, at
national or international level, the measures necessary to ensure that the principles
set out in this Declaration are respected.
Article 12
(a) Benefits from advances in biology, genetics and medicine, concerning the
human genome, shall be made available to all, with due regard for the dignity
and human rights of each individual.
(b) Freedom of research, which is necessary for the progress of knowledge, is part
of freedom of thought. The applications of research, including applications in
biology, genetics and medicine, concerning the human genome, shall seek to
offer relief from suffering and improve the health of individuals and
humankind as a whole.
D. C o n d i t i o n s f o r t h e e x e r c i s e o f s c i e n t i f i ca c t i v i t y
Article 13
The responsibilities inherent in the activities of researchers, including meticulous-
ness, caution, intellectual honesty and integrity in carrying out their research as
well as in the presentation and utilization of their findings, should be the subject of
particular attention in the framework of research on the human genome, because
of its ethical and social implications. Public and private science policy-makers also
have particular responsibilities in this respect.
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Article 14
States should take appropriate measures to foster the intellectual and material con-
ditions favourable to freedom in the conduct of research on the human genome
and to consider the ethical, legal, social and economic implications of such
research, on the basis of the principles set out in this Declaration.
Article 15
States should take appropriate steps to provide the framework for the free exercise
of Research on the human genome with due regard for the principles set out in
this Declaration, in order to safeguard respect for human rights, fundamental free-
doms and human dignity and to protect public health. They should seek to ensure
that research results are not used for non-peaceful purposes.
Article 16
States should recognize the value of promoting, at various levels, as appropriate,
the establishment of independent, multidisciplinary and pluralist ethics committees
to assess the ethical, legal and social issues raised by research on the human
genome and its applications.
E . S o l i d a r i t y a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o - o p e ra t i o n
Article 17
States should respect and promote the practice of solidarity towards individuals,
families and population groups who are particularly vulnerable to or affected by
disease or disability of a genetic character. They should foster, inter alia, research
on the identification, prevention and treatment of genetically based and genetically
influenced diseases, in particular rare as well as endemic diseases which affect large
numbers of the world’s population.
Article 18
States should make every effort, with due and appropriate regard for the principles
set out in this Declaration, to continue fostering the international dissemination of
scientific knowledge concerning the human genome, human diversity and genetic
research and, in that regard, to foster scientific and cultural co-operation, particu-
larly between industrialized and developing countries.
Article 19
(a) In the framework of international co-operation with developing countries,
states should seek to encourage measures enabling:
(i) assessment of the risks and benefits pertaining to research on the
human genome to be carried out and abuse to be prevented;
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(ii) the capacity of developing countries to carry out research on human
biology and genetics, taking into consideration their specific prob-
lems, to be developed and strengthened;
(iii) developing countries to benefit from the achievements of scientific
and technological research so that their use in favour of economic
and social progress can be to the benefit of all;
(iv) the free exchange of scientific knowledge and information in the areas
of biology, genetics and medicine to be promoted.
(b) Relevant international organizations should support and promote the initiatives
taken by states for the above-mentioned purposes.
F. P r o m o t i o n o f t h e p r i n c i p l e s s e t o u t i n t h eD e c l a ra t i o n
Article 20
States should take appropriate measures to promote the principles set out in the
Declaration, through education and relevant means, inter alia through the conduct
of research and training in interdisciplinary fields and through the promotion of
education in bioethics, at all levels, in particular for those responsible for science
policies.
Article 21
States should take appropriate measures to encourage other forms of research,
training and information dissemination conducive to raising the awareness
of society and all of its members of their responsibilities regarding the fundamental
issues relating to the defence of human dignity which may be raised by research
in biology, in genetics and in medicine, and its applications. They should also
undertake to facilitate on this subject an open international discussion, ensuring
the free expression of various sociocultural, religious and philosophical opinions.
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D e c l a r a t i o n o n t h eR e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s
o f t h e P r e s e n t G e n e r a t i o n sT o w a r d s F u t u r e G e n e r a t i o n s
Par is , 12 November 1997
It was at the end of its 29th session, from 21 October to 12 November 1997,
that the General Conference of UNESCO formally proclaimed the Declaration
on the Responsibilities of the Present Generations Towards Future Generations,
the articles of which are as follows:
Article 1 - Needs and interests of future generations
The present generations have the responsibility of ensuring that the needs and
interests of present and future generations are fully safeguarded.
Article 2 - Freedom of choice
It is important to make every effort to ensure, with due regard to human rights
and fundamental freedoms, that future as well as present generations enjoy full
freedom of choice as to their political, economic and social systems and are able to
preserve their cultural and religious diversity.
Article 3 - Maintenance and perpetuation of humankind
The present generations should strive to ensure the maintenance and perpetuation
of humankind with due respect for the dignity of the human person. Consequently,
the nature and form of human life must not be undermined in any way whatsoever.
Article 4 - Preservation of life on Earth
The present generations have the responsibility to bequeath to future generations
an Earth which will not one day be irreversibly damaged by human activity.
Each generation inheriting the Earth temporarily should take care to use natural
resources reasonably and ensure that life is not prejudiced by harmful
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modifications of the ecosystems and that scientific and technological progress in all
fields does not harm life on Earth.
Article 5 - Protection of the environment
1. In order to ensure that future generations benefit from the richness of the
Earth’s ecosystems, the present generations should strive for sustainable devel-
opment and preserve living conditions, particularly the quality and integrity of
the environment.
2. The present generations should ensure that future generations are not exposed
to pollution which may endanger their health or their existence itself.
3. The present generations should preserve for future generations natural
resources necessary for sustaining human life and for its development.
4. The present generations should take into account possible consequences for
future generations of major projects before these are carried out.
Article 6 - Human genome and biodiversity
The human genome, in full respect of the dignity of the human person and human
rights, must be protected and biodiversity safeguarded. Scientific and technological
progress should not in any way impair or compromise the preservation of the
human and other species.
Article 7 - Cultural diversity and cultural heritage
With due respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, the present genera-
tions should take care to preserve the cultural diversity of humankind. The present
generations have the responsibility to identify, protect and safeguard the tangible
and intangible cultural heritage and to transmit this common heritage to future
generations.
Article 8 - Common heritage of humankind
The present generations may use the common heritage of humankind, as defined in
international law, provided that this does not entail compromising it irreversibly.
Article 9 - Peace
1. The present generations should ensure that both they and future generations
learn to live together in peace, security, respect for international law, human
rights and fundamental freedoms.
2. The present generations should spare future generations the scourge of war. To
that end, they should avoid exposing future generations to the harmful conse-
quences of armed conflicts as well as all other forms of aggression and use of
weapons, contrary to humanitarian principles.
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Article 10 - Development and education
1. The present generations should ensure the conditions of equitable, sustainable
and universal socio-economic development of future generations, both in its
individual and collective dimensions, in particular through a fair and prudent
use of available resources for the purpose of combating poverty.
2. Education is an important instrument for the development of human persons
and societies. It should be used to foster peace, justice, understanding,
tolerance and equality for the benefit of present and future generations.
Article 11 - Non-discrimination
The present generations should refrain from taking any action or measure which
would have the effect of leading to or perpetuating any form of discrimination for
future generations.
Article 12 - Implementation
1. States, the United Nations system, other intergovernmental and non-
governmental organizations, individuals, public and private bodies should
assume their full responsibilities in promoting, in particular through education,
training and information, respect for the ideals laid down in this Declaration,
and encourage by all appropriate means their full recognition and effective
application.
2. In view of UNESCO’s ethical mission, the Organization is requested to dis-
seminate the present Declaration as widely as possible, and to undertake all
necessary steps in its fields of competence to raise public awareness concerning
the ideals enshrined therein.
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D e c l a r a t i o n o f W i n d h o e ko n P r o m o t i n g
a n I n d e p e n d e n t a n dP l u r a l i s t i c A f r i c a n P r e s s
Windhoek (Namibia) , 3 May 1991
The first of the five seminars that UNESCO organized to promote independence
and pluralism of the media met in May 1991 in Windhoek, Namibia. It ended with a
Declaration, adopted by the General Conference at its twenty-sixth session,
the main articles of which are as follows:
1. Consistent with article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the establishment, maintenance and fostering of an indepen-
dent, pluralistic and free press is essential to the development and
maintenance of democracy in a nation, and for economic development
2. By an independent press, we mean a press independent from govern-
mental, political or economic control or from control of materials and
infrastructure essential for the production and dissemination of news-
papers, magazines and periodicals.
3. By a pluralistic press, we mean the end of monopolies of any kind and
the existence of the greatest possible number of newspapers, magazines
and periodicals reflecting the widest possible range of opinion within
the community.
4. The welcome changes that an increasing number of African States are
now undergoing towards multi-party democracies provide the climate
in which an independent and pluralistic press can emerge.
5. The world-wide trend towards democracy and freedom of information
and expression is a fundamental contribution to the fulfillment of
human aspirations.
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6. In Africa today, despite the positive developments in some countries,
in many countries journalists, editors and publishers are victims of
repression-they are murdered, arrested, detained and censored, and are
restricted by economic and political pressures such as restrictions on
newsprint, licensing systems which restrict the opportunity to publish,
visa restrictions which prevent the free movement of journalists,
restrictions on the exchange of news and information, and limitations
on the circulation of newspapers within countries and across national
borders.In some countries, one-party States control the totality of
information.
17. Today, at least 17 journalists, editors or publishers are in African
prisons, and 48 African journalists were killed in the exercise of their
profession between 1969 and 1990.
18. The General Assembly of the United Nations should include in the
agenda of its next session an item on the declaration of censorship as a
grave violation of human rights falling within the purview of the
Commission on Human Rights.
19. African States should be encouraged to provide constitutional guaran-
tees of freedom of the press and freedom of association.
10. To encourage and consolidate the positive changes taking place in
Africa, and to counter the negative ones, the international community-
specifically, international organizations (governmental as well as non-
governmental), development agencies and professional associations-
should as a matter of priority direct funding support towards the
development and establishment of non-governmental newspapers,
magazines and periodicals that reflect the society as a whole and the
different points of view within the communities they serve.
11. All funding should aim to encourage pluralism as well as indepen-
dence. As a consequence, the public media should be funded only
where authorities guarantee a constitutional and effective freedom of
information and expression and the independence of the press.
12. To assist in the preservation of the freedoms enumerated above, the
establishment of truly independent, representative associations, syndi-
cates or trade unions of journalists, and associations of editors and
publishers, is a matter of priority in all the countries of Africa where
such bodies do not now exist.
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13. The national media and labour relations laws of African countries
should be drafted in such a way as to ensure that such representative
associations can exist and fulfill their important tasks in defence of
press freedom.
14. As a sign of good faith, African governments that have jailed
journalists for their professional activities should free them
immediately. Journalists who have had to leave their countries should
be free to return to resume their professional activities.
15. Cooperation between publishers within Africa, and between publishers
of the North and South (for example through the principle of twin-
ning), should be encouraged and supported.
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M o s c o w A p p e a l f o r t h e Y e a r 2 0 0 0
Moscow (Russ ian Federat ion) , 15 May 1999
On 15 May 1999, the International Forum: For a Culture of Peace and Dialogue among
Civilizations in the Third Millennium unanimously adopted the Moscow Appeal for the
Year 2000.
We, the participants in the International Forum of Mayors and figures from cul-
ture, science and public life, For a Culture of Peace and Dialogue among
Civilizations in the Third Millennium, proposed by Russian cultural personali-
ties and held in Mosocw in May 1999 under the auspices of the Director-General
of UNESCO Federico Mayor and the Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov,
Fully supporting and sharing the objectives of the International Year
for the Culture of Peace (2000), proclaimed by the United Nations Assembly, and
the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations (2001),
Address this Appeal to all those who are deeply concerned with mani-
festations of ethnic, religious and any other form of intolerance and open violence
in the world.
At the threshold of the Third Millennium, we cannot remain indifferent
to the fact that the use of force is ever increasing. Conflicts become exacerbated
when the minds of men and women are poisoned by hatred of designated enemies
rather than healed by the establishment of dialogue and a search for peaceful solu-
tions to existing problems. Under these conditions the most important task is to
consolidate the United Nations system and to respect the provisions established by
the Charter of the United Nations which authorizes the use of military force only
following a decision of the Security Council.
Each human life is invaluable. We must not be silent when before our
eyes violence and war cripple and kill human beings.
We cannot remain indifferent when the precious intellectual and material
resources of humankind are destroyed for purposes of war.
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We cannot remain silent witnesses of the mindless destruction of the
environment at the expense of future generations.
We cannot ignore the growing gap between rich and poor countries and
rich and poor people, which challenges the ideals and principles of equality and
justice.
We must strive to make the third Millennium a symbol marking a new
era for the transformation of the culture of war and violence into a culture of
peace and dialogue.
Each of us can, through words and behaviour, contribute to the creation
of a psychological climate in which violence is no longer accepted: a climate which
promotes values, outlooks and behavioural patterns compatible with the culture of
peace, tolerance, solidarity and dialogue.
Sharing the ideals of Manifesto 2000 ‘For a culture of peace and non-
violence’ proclaimed by a group of Nobel Peace Prize winners and UNESCO, WE
APPEAL FOR THE FOLLOWING:
Let us in our everyday life, at home, at work, in our community,
be guided by the principles of a culture of peace and non-violence to:
Respect the life and dignity of each human being regardless of
her/his origin, religion or convictions;
Reject violence in any form;
Show solidarity and compassion to those in need;
Learn to listen to and understand one another and learn to live
together;
Preserve the environment and protect our planet for both present
and future generations;
Preserve our cities, the centres of spiritual and material progress
which are the heritage of past, present and future genera-
tions, from destruction.
We call on all those who share the above-mentioned ideals to support
this Appeal and to join the global movement for the culture of peace and non-
violence.
Let your first step on this road be to sign – and encourage others to sign
– Manifesto 2000 which will be presented by UNESCO to the General Assembly
of the United Nations in September 2000, so that the millions of signatures placed
on the scales of the culture of peace, non-violence and dialogue may eventually
outweigh the culture of war and violence.
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T a s h k e n t D e c l a r a t i o no n a C u l t u r e o f P e a c e
adopted by the Executive Board of UNESCO at its 155th session
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 6 November 1998
Meeting at Tashkent on the generous initiative of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan,
Inspired by the wealth of the historic heritage of Uzbekistan and by its
desire to safeguard and promote its cultural values in a spirit of openness to
democracy and of peace, and thus encouraged to contribute to the advent of a
culture of peace, which will be a challenge for the new millennium,
The Executive Board,
1. Reiterating the commitment enshrined in the Charter of the United
Nations to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,
2. Recalling that UNESCO was created for the purpose of advancing,
through the educational and scientific and cultural relations of
the peoples of the world, the objectives of international peace and
of the common welfare of mankind for which the United Nations
Organization was established,
3. Thanking the Director-General for having launched the culture of
peace initiative and for having greatly contributed to the growing influ-
ence of this idea,
4. Recalling resolution 012 adopted by the General Conference at its
28 th session concerning the Medium-Term Strategy for 1996-2001,
which states that the major challenge at the close of the twentieth
century is to begin the transition from a culture of war to a cul-
ture of peace:
� a culture of social interaction and sharing, based on the
principles of freedom, justice and democracy, tolerance and
solidarity,
� a culture that rejects violence, endeavours to prevent con-
flicts by tackling their roots and to solve problems through
dialogue and negotiation,
� a culture which guarantees everyone the full exercise of all
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rights and the means to participate fully in the endogenous
development of their society,
15. Taking into account the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance and
Follow-Up Plan of Action for the United Nations Year for Tolerance
(28 C/Resolution 5.6),
16. Gratified that the United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the
year 2000 International Year for the Culture of Peace,
17. Fully aware of the great responsibility that will devolve upon UNESCO
during the International Year for the Culture of Peace with a view to
promoting a world historical and civilizational change in which the
peoples of the world learn to live together in a multicultural context
sharing common democratic ideals,
18. Recalling the recommendation of the Economic and Social Council of
the United Nations to the General Assembly that the first decade of
the new millennium be proclaimed an international decade dedicated
to a culture of peace and non-violence for the children of the world,
19. Considers that humanity's transition to a new millennium marks a his-
toric turning point when men and women must pledge to discard atti-
tudes and behaviour which, in the past, have so often been the source
of war, violence and social injustice and to adopt attitudes and
behaviour conducive to a future based on a culture of peace;
10. Reaffirms that all of UNESCO's activities must contribute to the pro-
motion of a culture of peace;
11. Stresses more particularly UNESCO's commitment in the field of edu-
cation to tolerance, human rights and democracy;
12. Recommends that UNESCO's programme for 2000-2001 contained in
document 30 C/5, marking the transition to the new millennium, bear
the stirring title Towards a culture of peace;
13. Invites Member States, the institutions of the United Nations system,
other intergovernmental organizations and the non-governmental orga-
nizations to celebrate the International Year for the Culture of Peace in
the year 2000 by memorable events, to take as of now all necessary
steps to ensure the success of the Year and thus to affirm the values of
tolerance and mutual understanding and the values of combating
poverty and exclusion, all of which are actions that will primarily be of
benefit to women, young people and the least developed countries;
14. Invites the Director-General to take the measures necessary for the
implementation of this decision and for securing its widest possible
circulation.
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D e c l a r a t i o n a n dP r o g r a m m e o f A c t i o n
o n a C u l t u r e o f P e a c e
New Yor k , 13 September 1999
On 13 September 1999, the General Assembly of the United Nations at its 53rd session
adopted by consensus a Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture
of Peace.
A . D e c l a ra t i o n o n a C u l t u r e o f Pe a c e
The General Assembly,
Recalling the Charter of the United Nations including the purposes and principles
contained therein,
Recalling the constitution of the UNESCO which states that since wars begin in the
minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed,
Recalling also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant inter-
national instruments of the United Nations system,
Recognizing that peace is not only the absence of conflict, but requires a positive,
dynamic participatory process where dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are
solved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation,
Recognizing also that the end of the cold war has widened possibilities for strength-
ening a culture of peace,
Expressing deep concern about the persistence and proliferation of violence and
conflict in various parts of the world,
Recognizing further the need to eliminate all forms of discrimination and intoler-
ance, including those based on race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status,
Recalling its resolution 52/15 proclaiming the year 2000 the International Year for the
Culture of Peace and its resolution 53/25 proclaiming the period 2001-2010 as the
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International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children
of the World,
Recognizing the important role UNESCO continues to play in the promotion of a
culture of peace,
Solemnly proclaims this Declaration on a Culture of Peace to the end that
governments, international organizations and civil society may be guided in their
activity by its provisions to promote and strengthen a culture of peace in the new
millennium.
Article 1:
A culture of peace is a set of values, attitudes, traditions and modes of behaviour
and ways of life based on:
(a) Respect for life, ending of violence and promotion and practice of
non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation;
(b) Full respect for the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and
political independence of States and non-intervention in matters
which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State, in
accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international
law;
(c) Full Respect for and promotion of all human rights and fundamental
freedoms;
(d) Commitment to peaceful settlement of conflicts;
(e) Efforts to meet the developmental and environmental needs of pre-
sent and future generations;
(f) Respect for and promotion of the right to development;
(g) Respect for and promotion of equal rights of and opportunities for
women and men;
(h) Respect for and promotion of the rights of everyone to freedom of
expression, opinion and information;
(i) Adherence to the principles of freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance,
solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and
understanding at all levels of society and among nations;
and fostered by an enabling national and international environment
conducive to peace.
Article 2:
Progress in the fuller development of a culture of peace comes about through
values, attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of life conducive to the promotion
of peace among individuals, groups and nations.
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Article 3:
The fuller development of a culture of peace is integrally linked to:
(a) Promoting peaceful settlement of conflicts, mutual respect and
understanding and international cooperation;
(b) Compliance with international obligations under the Charter of the
United Nations and international law;
(c) Promoting democracy, development and universal respect for and
observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms;
(d) Enabling people at all levels to develop skills of dialogue, negotiation,
consensus building and peaceful resolution of differences;
(e) Strengthening democratic institutions and ensuring full participation
in the development process;
(f) Eradicating poverty and illiteracy and reducing inequalities within
and among nations;
(g) Promoting sustainable economic and social development;
(h) Eliminating all forms of discrimination against women through their
empowerment and equal representation at all levels of decision-
making;
(i) Ensuring respect for and promotion and protection of the rights of
children;
(j) Ensuring free flow of information at all levels and enhancing access
thereto;
(k) Increasing transparency and accountability in governance;
(l) Eliminate all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance;
(m) Advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity among all civiliza-
tions, peoples and cultures, including towards ethnic, religious and
linguistic minorities;
(n) Full realization of the rights of all peoples, including those living
under colonial or other forms of alien domination or foreign occupa-
tion, to self-determination enshrined in the Charter of the United
Nations and embodied in the international covenants on human
rights, as well as in the Declaration on the Granting of Independence
to Colonial Countries and Peoples contained in GA Resolution 1514
(XV) of 14 December 1960.
Article 4:
Education at all levels is one of the principal means to build a culture of peace. In
this context, human rights education is of particular importance.
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Article 5:
Governments have an essential role in promoting and strengthening a culture of
peace.
Article 6:
Civil society needs to be fully engaged in fuller development of a culture of peace.
Article 7:
The educative and informative role of the media contributes to the promotion of a
culture of peace.
Article 8:
A key role in the promotion of a culture of peace belongs to parents, teachers,
politicians, journalists, religious bodies and groups, intellectuals, those engaged in
scientific, philosophical and creative and artistic activities, health and humanitarian
workers, social workers, managers at various levels as well as to non-governmental
organizations.
Article 9:
The United Nations should continue to play a critical role in the promotion and
strengthening of a culture of peace worldwide.
B . P r o g ra m m e o f A c t i o n o n a C u l t u r e o f Pe a c e
The General Assembly,
Bearing in mind the Declaration on a Culture of Peace adopted on 13 September
1999,
Recalling its resolution 52/15 of 20 November 1997, by which it proclaimed the
year 2000 the International Year for the Culture of Peace, as well as its resolution
53/25 of 10 November 1998, by which it proclaimed the period 2001-2010 as the
International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the
World;
Adopts the following Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace.
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A. Aims, strategies and main actors
1. The Programme of Action should serve as the basis for the International Year
for the Culture, of Peace and the International Decade for a Culture of Peace
and Non-violence for the Children of the World.
2. Member States are encouraged to take actions for promoting a culture of peace
at the national level as well as at the regional and international levels.
3. Civil society should be involved at the local, regional and national levels to
widen the scope of activities on a culture of peace.
4. The United Nations system should strengthen its on-going efforts promoting a
culture of peace.
5. UNESCO should continue to play its important role in and make major con-
tributions to the promotion of a culture of peace.
6. Partnerships between and among the various actors as set out in the
Declaration should be encouraged and strengthened for a global movement for
a culture of peace.
7. A culture of peace could be promoted through sharing of information among
actors on their initiatives in this regard.
8. Effective implementation of this Programme of Action requires mobilization of
resources, including financial resources, by interested governments, organiza-
tions and individuals.
B. Strengthening actions at the national, regional and international levels
by all relevant actors through:
9. Actions fostering a culture of peace through education:
(a) Reinvigorate national efforts and international cooperation to pro-
mote the goals of education for all with a view to achieving human,
social and economic development and for promoting a culture of
peace;
(b) Ensure that children, from an early age, benefit from education on
the values, attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of life to enable
them to resolve any dispute peacefully and in a spirit of respect for
human dignity and of tolerance and non-discrimination;
(c) Involve children in activities for instilling in them the values and
goals of a culture of peace;
(d) Ensure equality of access for women, especially girls, to education;
(e) Encourage revision of educational curricula, including textbooks
bearing in mind the 1995 Declaration and Integrated Framework of
Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy for
which technical cooperation should be provided by UNESCO upon
request;
(f) Encourage and strengthen efforts by actors as identified in the
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Declaration, in particular UNESCO, aimed at developing values and
skills conducive to a culture of peace, including education and train-
ing in promoting dialogue and consensus-building;
(g) Strengthen the ongoing efforts of the relevant entities of the United
Nations system aimed at training and education, where appropriate,
in the areas of conflict prevention/crisis management, peaceful settle-
ment of disputes as well as in post-conflict peace-building;
(h) Expand initiatives promoting a culture of peace undertaken by insti-
tutions of higher education in various parts of the world including the
United Nations University, the University of Peace and the
UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme.
10. Actions to promote sustainable economic and social development:
(a) Undertake comprehensive actions on the basis of appropriate strate-
gies and agreed targets to eradicate poverty through national and
international efforts, including through international cooperation;
(b) Strengthening the national capacity for implementation of policies
and programmes designed to reduce economic and social inequalities
within nations through, inter alia, international cooperation;
(c) Promoting effective and equitable development-oriented and durable
solutions to the external debt and debt-servicing problems of devel-
oping countries, inter alia, through debt relief;
(d) Reinforcement of actions at all levels to implement national strategies
for sustainable food security including the development of actions to
mobilize and optimize the allocation and utilization of resources from
all sources, including through international cooperation such as
resources coming from debt relief;
(e) Further efforts to ensure that development process is participatory
and that development projects involve the full participation of all;
(f) Integrating a gender perspective and empowering women and girls
should be an integral part of the development process;
(g) Development strategies should include special measures focusing on
needs of women and children as well as groups with special needs;
(h) Development assistance in post-conflict situations should strengthen
rehabilitation, reintegration and reconciliation processes involving all
engaged in the conflict;
(i) Capacity-building in development strategies and projects to ensure
environmental sustainability, including preservation and regeneration
of the natural resource base;
(j) Removing obstacles to the realization of the right of peoples to self-
determination, in particular of peoples living under colonial or other
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forms alien domination or foreign occupation, which adversely affect
their social and economic development.
11. Actions to promote respect for all human rights:
(a) Full implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of
Action;
(b) Encouraging development of national plans of action for the promo-
tion and protection of all human rights;
(c) Strengthening of national institutions and capacities in the field of
human rights, including through national human rights institutions;
(d) Realization and implementation of the right to development, as estab-
lished in the Declaration on the Right to Development and the
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action;
(e) Achievement of the goals of the United Nations Decade for Human
Rights Education (1995-2004);
(f) Disseminate and promote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
at all levels;
(g) Further support to the activities of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights in the fulfillment of her/his mandate
as established in UNGA resolution 48/141 as well as the responsibili-
ties set by subsequent resolutions and decisions.
12. Actions to ensure equality between women and men:
(a) Integration of a gender perspective into the implementation of all
relevant international instruments;
(b) Further implementation of international instruments promoting
equality between women and men;
(c) Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action with adequate
resources and political will, and through, inter alia, the elaboration,
implementation and follow-up of the national plans of action;
(d) Promote equality between women and men in economic, social and
political decision making;
(e) Further strengthening of efforts by the relevant entities of the United
Nations system for the elimination of all forms of discrimination and
violence against women;
(f) Provision of support and assistance to women who have become vic-
tims of any forms of violence, including in the home, workplace and
during armed conflicts.
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13 Actions to foster democratic participation:
(a) Reinforcement of the full range of actions to promote democratic
principles and practices;
(b) Special emphasis on democratic principles and practices at all levels
of formal, informal and non-formal education;
(c) Establishment and strengthening of national institutions and process-
es that promote and sustain democracy through, inter alia, training
and capacity-building of public officials;
(d) Strengthening democratic participation through, inter alia, the provi-
sion of electoral assistance upon the request of States concerned and
based on relevant United Nations guidelines;
(e) Combat terrorism, organized crime, corruption as well as production,
trafficking and consumption of illicit drugs and money laundering as
they undermine democracies and impede the fuller development of a
culture of peace.
14. Actions to advance understanding, tolerance and solidarity:
(a) Implementation of the Declaration of Principles of Tolerance and
Follow-up Plan of Action for the United Nations Year of Tolerance
(1995);
(b) Support activities in the context of the United Nations International
Year of Dialogue among Civilizations in the year 2001;
(c) Study further the local or indigenous practices and traditions of dis-
pute settlement and promotion of tolerance with the objective of
learning from those;
(d) Support actions that foster understanding, tolerance and solidarity
throughout society, in particular with vulnerable groups;
(e) Further supporting the attainment of the goals of the International
Decade of the World's Indigenous People;
(f) Support actions that foster tolerance and solidarity with refugees and
displaced persons bearing in mind the objective of facilitating their
voluntary return and social integration;
(g) Support actions that foster tolerance and solidarity with migrants;
(h) Promotion of increased understanding, tolerance and cooperation
among all peoples, inter alia, through appropriate use of new tech-
nologies and dissemination of information;
(i) Support actions that foster understanding, tolerance, solidarity and
cooperation among peoples and within and among nations.
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15. Actions to support participatory communication and the free flow of informa-
tion and knowledge:
(a) Support the important role of the media in the promotion of a cul-
ture of peace;
(b) Ensure freedom of the press and freedom of information and commu-
nication;
(c) Making effective use of the media for advocacy and dissemination of
information on a culture of peace involving, as appropriate, the
United Nations and relevant regional, national and local mechanisms;
(d) Promoting mass communication that enable communities to express
their needs and participate in decision-making;
(e) Taking measures to address the issue of violence in the media includ-
ing new communication technologies, inter alia, the internet;
(f) Increased efforts to promote the sharing of information on new infor-
mation technologies, including the internet.
16. Actions to promote international peace and security:
(a) Promote general and complete disarmament under strict and effective
international control taking into account the priorities established by
the United Nations in the field of disarmament;
(b) Draw on, where appropriate, lessons conducive to a culture of peace
learned from military conversion efforts as evidenced in some coun-
tries of the world;
(c) Emphasize the inadmissibility of acquisition of territory by war and
the need to work for a just and lasting peace in all parts of the world;
(d) Encourage confidence building measures and efforts for negotiating
peaceful settlements;
(e) Take measures to eliminate illicit production and traffic of small arms
and light weapons;
(f) Support for initiatives, at the national, regional and international
levels, to address concrete problems arising from post conflict situa-
tions, such as demobilization, reintegration of former combatants into
society as well as refugees and displaced persons, weapon collection
programmes, exchange of information and confidence building;
(g) Discourage the adoption of and refrain from any unilateral measure,
not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the
United Nations, that impedes the full achievement of economic and
social development by the population of the affected countries, in
particular women and children, that hinders their well-being that
creates obstacles to the full enjoyment of their human rights,
including the right of everyone to a standard of living adequate for
245
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their health and well-being and their right to food, medical care and
the necessary social services, while reaffirming food and medicine
must not be used as a tool for political pressure;
(h) Refrain from military, political, economic or any other form of coer-
cion, not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the
United Nations. aimed against political independence or territorial
integrity of any state;
(i) Recommends to give proper consideration to the issue of humani-
tarian impact of sanctions, in particular on women and children, with
a view of minimizing humanitarian effects of sanctions;
(j) Promoting greater involvement of women in prevention and resolu-
tion of conflicts and in particular, in activities promoting a culture of
peace in post-conflict situations;
(k) Promote initiatives in conflict situation such as days of tranquility to
carry out immunization and medicines distribution campaigns; corri-
dors of peace to ensure delivery of humanitarian supplies and sanctu-
aries of peace to respect the central role of health and medical insti-
tutions such as hospitals and clinics;
(l) Encourage training in techniques for the understanding, prevention
and resolution of conflict for the concerned staff of the United
Nations, relevant regional organizations and Member States, upon
request, where appropriate.
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N e w s i t e s p l a c e d o n t h e W o r l d H e r i t a g e
L i s t i n 1 9 9 8
On 31 December 1998,there were 582 natur a l and cu l tur a l s i tes
on the Wor ld Her i tage L i s t
Austria
Semmering railway: one of the greatest feats of civil engineering from the pioneer-
ing years of railways, with its tunnels, viaducts and works of art, crossing a
spectacular landscape (built between 1848 and 1854).
Belgium
Grand-Place, Brussels: a remarkably harmonious group of buildings, a reflection of
the cultural and social life of this important centre;
Bolivia
Fort of Samaipata: Unique pre-Hispanic rock sculptures (fourteenth to fifteenth
centuries).
China
Summer Palace, an imperial garden in Beijing: a masterpiece of Chinese landscape
garden design (1750).
Temple of Heaven, an imperial sacrificial altar in Beijing: a majestic group of
religious buildings symbolizing the relationship between heaven and earth and the
role of the emperors in that relationship (first half of the fifteenth century).
Czech Republic
Gardens and castle at Kromeriz: complete, well-preserved example of a European
Baroque princely residence.
HolaÓovice Historical Village reserve: complete, well-preserved Central European
traditional village with many eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings.
Cyprus
Choirokoitia: one of the most important Neolithic sites in the eastern
Mediterranean (seventh to fourth millennium B.C.).
France
Routes to Santiago de Compostela in France: series of religious and secular buildings
along the four pilgrim routes leading to Santiago de Compostela (Middle Ages).
247
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Historic site of Lyon: many historic buildings from all periods demonstrating the
importance of the town since Roman times.
Germany
Classical Weimar: public and private buildings of the late eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, a period of cultural flowering of the town which attracted
Goethe, Schiller and others.
Italy
Archaeological site and Patriarchal Basilica of Aquilea: site of one of the most
important and richest towns of the early Roman Empire, destroyed in the fifth
century, the greatest archaeological reserve of its kind.
Historic centre of Urbino: a small, extremely well-preserved town which enjoyed
remarkable cultural prosperity in the fifteenth century which influenced the art of
the Renaissance in Europe.
Cilento and Val de Diano national Park, with the archaeological sites of Paestum
and Velia and the Charterhouse of Padua: a major communications route in
pre-history and the Middle Ages which has preserved a number of important sites.
Japan
Historic monuments of ancient Nara: temples, shrines and imperial palace of the
capital of Japan in the eighth century, a period of profound change.
Lebanon
Wadi Qadisha or the Holy Valley and the Forest of the Cities of God: Christian
monasteries, among the first in the world, set in an extraordinary rocky landscape.
Nearby, the remains of the great forest of the cedars of Lebanon.
Mexico
Archaeological site of Paquimé, Casas Grandes: town which played an important
part in the cultural relations of the pueblo culture and the more advanced
civilizations of Meso-America. The pueblo culture disappeared at the time of the
Spanish conquest.
Historic monuments zone of Tlacotalpan: colonial river port founded in the
mid-sixteenth century, with a particularly well preserved urban fabric.
Netherlands
Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal (D.F. Wouda steam pumping station): the biggest steam
pumping station ever built and still in operation. The apogee of Dutch hydraulic
engineering (1920).
New Zealand
New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands: rich biological diversity, wildlife population
densities and endemism among birds, plants and invertebrates.
Portugal
Prehistoric rock-art sites in the Côa Valley: outstanding group of Palaeolithic rock
engravings (22,000-10,000 B.C.).
Russian Federation
Golden Mountains of Altai: complete sequence of vegetation zones (steppe,
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248
forest-steppe, mixed forest, alpine and sub-alpine vegetation) playing a key role in
preserving endangered species (the snow leopard).
Solomon Islands
East Rennell: the largest raised coral atoll in the world, a true natural laboratory
for the scientific study of cyclones.
Spain
Rock art of the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula: an exceptionally
large group of sites in which human life is vividly and graphically depicted
(late pre-history).
University and historic precinct of Alcalá de Henares: first planned university town
in the world, model widely copied in Europe and America (early sixteenth
century).
Sweden
Naval port of Karlskrona: European planned naval city of the late seventeenth
century. The original plan and many buildings survive.
Turkey
Archaeological site of Troy: one of the best known mythic sites in the world, with
four thousand years of history, which has inspired artists through the ages.
Ukraine
L’viv – the ensemble of the historic centre: founded in the late Middle Ages, the
town has preserved its urban topography and magnificent baroque and later
buildings.
249
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�G R A P H S
0
100
200
300
400
500
1998-991996-971994-951992-931990-911988-89"1986-871984-851981-83*
Regular budget growth, from 1981-1983 to 1998 - at 31 August 1999
Regular programme expenditure:percentage distribution for programme execution and services,and support for programme execution, 1998 au 31 août 1999*
(Parts II.A, II.B and III of the budget)
Mill
ions
of
US
$
* These figures relate to the US $404 381 315 for programme execution and services, and support for programmeexecution (Parts II.A, II.B and III of the budget), which represented 77.4% of all regular programme expenditurein 1996-1997.
* Regular budget for three-year period was US $625 904 445 or US $417 269 630for two-year period.
374.9
328.2350.8
379.7
446.7
417.3
Towards lifelong education for all25.3%
The sciences in the serviceof development21%
Cultural development: the heritage and creativity10.6%
Communication, information and informatics
7.3%
Participation Programme7.3%
Information and dissemination services
5.6%
Support for programme execution12.9%
458.4
544.4
518.4
Transdisciplinary projects and activities
10.1%
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250
0
50
100
150
168.5
104.7
115.4
97.8
115.9
72.0
115.4
130.7126.1 127.9
115.6111.8
Allocations
Expenditureon execution
87.282.584.7
77.482.3
118.7
88.787.8
72.5
87.5
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Trends in extrabudgetary resources over the last 11 years(1988-1998)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1988
44.4
45.548.3
48.233.9
27.6
24.0
20.4
25.521.0
30.8
22.6 26.3
38.9 31.2
27.1
33.9
59.9
11.112.5
15.117.2
15.5 15.5 17.421.7
16.421.5 21.2
6.1 8.0 10.5 14.8
3.6 4.3 3.93.7
4.34.7 4.9
2.6 2.93.5
4.1
9.1 5.6 6.35.7
4.34.6 5.1
3.34.7
4.92.9
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Trends in extrabudgetary resources over the last 11 years(1988-1998)
United Nations Funds-in-trust Banks Associated experts Special accounts
Mill
ions
of
US
$
251
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es
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0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
601.0
422.1
224.7
52.4
162.8
39.1
140.6
106.0
161.5
100.3 111.0
149.6
Allocations
Expenditureon execution
Breakdown of extrabudgetary resources by sector(total for last 11 years 1988-1998)
Mill
ions
of
US
$
Education Cul tureSocial and human
sciences
Communication,information
and informatics
Natural sciences
Other
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
352.2
237.0
185.5
282.4
146.5
191.3 185.1
114.4
49.237.7
214.4
275.4
Allocations
Expenditureon execution
Breakdown of extrabudgetary resources by region(total for last 11 years 1988-1998)
Mill
ions
of
US
$
Africa ArabStates
Asia andthe Pacific
Europe Latin Americaand
Caribbean
Interregional
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252
988 734881 1 009
1 062
1 223
2 321
1 277 1 252
1 885
345 230
51 34 24
65
54 35
1 623
888
26
693
16
1996-971994-951992-931990-911988-89
Trends in number of fellowships, travel grants and study grants from 1988-1989 to 1996-1997
Num
ber
of
awar
ds
Study grantsTravel grantsFellowships Unspecifiedby categories
Data for 1988-1989 to 1990-1991 include only awards administered by the Bureau for Relations with Extrabudgetary FundingSources. Data for 1992-1993, 1994-1995 and 1996-1997 refer to the overall UNESCO action.
4313
31
85
60
102
157
141
150 100 50 0 50 100200 150 200
166
74
168
62
Distribution by grade of staff in the Professional categoryand above at Headquarters and
in the field on 1 June 1999
Field staff
D-2 and above
D-1
P-5
P-4
P-3
P-1/P-2
Headquarters staff
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Graphs from Learning:The Treasure Within
(Delors Report)
The evolution of the age-structure of the world’s population,1980-2010 (percentages)
Figures compiled by UNESCO’s Division ofStatistics. The regions correspond toUNESCO’s nomenclature. The countries of
the former Soviet Union are considered asdeveloped countries, and those that are inAsia are also included there.
0
20
40
60
80
100
15 years and over0 to 14 years
2010
1995
1980
2010
1995
1980
2010
1995
1980
2010
1995
1980
2010
1995
1980
2010
1995
1980
Sub-Saharan Africa
Arab States Southern Asia Latin America/Caribbean
Eastern Asia/Oceania
Developed countries
Estimated net enrolment ratios for the age-groups6–11, 12–17 and 18–23 years,* by region, 1995
6–11 12–17 18–23
M F M F M F
Sub-Saharan Africa 55.2 47.4 46.0 35.3 9.7 4.9
Arab States 83.9 71.6 59.2 47.1 24.5 16.3
Latin America/Caribbean 88.5 87.5 68.4 67.4 26.1 26.3
Eastern Asia/Oceania 88.6 85.5 54.7 51.4 19.5 13.6
Southern Asia 84.3 65.6 50.5 32.2 12.4 6.6
Developed countries 92.3 91.7 87.1 88.5 40.8 42.7
* Percentage ratio of the number of enrolledpupils/students in each age-group to thetotal population in the age-group.
Source: World Education Report 1995, p. 36,Paris, UNESCO, 1995.
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254
Estimated number (millions) of adult illiterates by region,1980–2010
Figures compiled by UNESCO’s Divisionof Statistics. The regions correspond toUNESCO’s nomenclature. The countriesof the former Soviet Union are
considered as developed countries, andthose that are in Asia are also includedhere.
Developed countries
Latin America/Caribbean
Arab States
Sub-Saharan Africa
Eastern Asia/Oceania
Southern Asia
1980 1995 2010
137
39
70
147
126
471
43
65
141
210
416
44
29
56
126
276
346
Public expenditure on education (all levels) per head of adultpopulation, 1992 (US $)
0
200
400
600
800
1 000
Developed countries
Latin America/Caribbean
Arab StatesSouthern Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Eastern Asia/Oceania
3454
78
188 192
1 040
Figures compiled by UNESCO’s Division of Statistics. The regions correspond to UNESCO’s nomenclature. The
category ‘Developed countries’ does not include the countries of the former Soviet Union.
255
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�Graphs from Our Creative Diversity
(Pérez de Cuéllar Report)
Middle
East
Centra
l and
South
Ameri
caAfri
ca
East
ern E
urope
Asia
Pacifi
c
West
ern E
urope
North
Ameri
ca
Hosts in 1995 (in thousands)
Increase 1994-95 (in per cent)
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
2,5
3
3,5
0
30
60
90
120
150
Middle
East
Centra
l and
South
Ameri
caAfri
ca
East
ern E
urope
Asia
Pacifi
c
West
ern E
urope
North
Ameri
ca
New Internet communities show largest growth,1995
The numbers of TVs and radios in developing countries are increasing,but lag behind developed countries
Per
1 0
00 in
habi
tant
s
0
200
400
600
800
1 000
TVs
Radio
199019801970
Developed countries
Developing countries
Source: UNESCO Statistical Yearbook, 1995.
Source: Internet Society,The Economist.
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256
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Health
Education
Social security benefits
EgyptBrazilBurundiIndiaGermanyUnitedStates
Japan
Per
cen
tage
of
GD
PSocial expenditure in selected countries, 1992
Source: Human Development Report, 1994.
The world’s young people
% enrolled in Ages 15–19% who secondary school (Females)
die beforeage 15 % % having
boys ever a birthRegion and girls Boys Girls married each year
Africa total 17 31 22 30 12
Northern Africa 10 61 49 33 14
China 7 56 45 4 1
Latin America 7 45 48 17 8
Ex-USSR 4 63 80 0 5
Source: Population Reference Bureau, The World’s Youth, 1994.
World 10 53 44 21 6
Sub-Saharan Africa 18 22 15 30 12
Asia (except China) 13 52 37 22 5
North America 1 91 91 5 6
Europe 2 91 93 5 2
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Asia-Pacific54
Latina America40
Arab States37
Africa16
Europe and North America 174
321 sites
World Cultural Heritage sites and monuments: by region, (1995)
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Center, 1995.
Linguistic diversity: percentage of national population speaking the same language
Dominant language is spoken by at most 35 per cent of the national population
Main language Number ofCountry in percentage languages spoken
Cameroon18.5 269
Source: H. Müller, University of Zurich. The World Cultural Atlas: feasibility study, 1995.
Zaire 17.7 212
Uganda 19.0 41
Tanzania 18.6 127
South Africa 21.5 32
Nigeria 21.4 413
India 25.4 380
Côte d’Ivoire 23.2 72
Kenya 29.5 59
Liberia 28.6 34
Guinea Bissau 32.9 22
Chad 29.8 117
Zambia 33.7 37
Sierra Leone 33.5 23
Dominant language is spoken by at Least 35 per cent of the national population
Main language Number ofCountry in percentage languages spoken
Japan 99.2 14
Korean DPR 99.5 2
Burundi 98.2 3
Bangladesh 99.1 37
Egypt 97.8 11
Yemen AR98.1 3
Somalia 96.1 7
Saudi Arabia 97.0 6
Tunisia 93.0 11
China 93.9 142
Rwanda 92.7 3
Lebanon 92.9 5
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258
0 20 40 60 80 100
2015
1995
1975
1950
Ex-URSS
Oceania
Europe
North America
Latin America
Africa
Asia
Pourcentage of total population
60 50 40 30 20 10
Book production
Arab States
Africa
Latin America
Asia
Oceania
North America
Europe and ex-URSS
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Population
Pourcentage distribution
The trend towards urbanization continues: urban population, 1950-2015
Source: United Nations, World Urbanisation Prospects, 1992.
Book publishing: an uneven global distribution, 1991
Source: UNESCO, Statistical Yearbook, 1994.
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B i b l i o g r a p h i c s o u r c e s
The Constitution of UNESCO
The Report of the Director-General (C/3) (6 biennia)
The third Medium-Term Plan (1990-1995) and the Medium-Term Strategy for 1996-
2001 of the Organization (C/4)
The Approved Programme and Budget (C/5) of the Organization, adopted by the
General Conference (6 biennia)
The Draft Programme and Budget (2000-2001) (C/5)
The reports by the Director-General to the Executive Board on the execution of the
programme adopted by the General Conference (from the 129th session to
the 155th session)
The Summary Records of the meetings of the Executive Board (from the 129th ses-
sion to the 155th session)
Green Notes from November 1987 to 1999
The speeches of the Director-General
UNESCO PRESS published by OPI from 1988 to 1999
UNESCO Sources
The UNESCO Courrier
Appraisals and documents produced on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of
UNESCO
Learning: The Treasure Within (The Delors report)
Our Creative Diversity (The Pérez de Cuéllar report)
The world reports published by UNESCO
Reports by UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank
The story of a grand design, by Michel Conil Lacoste
Special synoptic reports provided by the sectors: BRX, SC, COR/ENV, SHS, CLT,
AFR, AFO, UPO, MCR, OPI, PHE, ETH, PAL, WGE, PROCEED, UCJ,
OPS, MFU
Books and brochures published by the programme sectors
Synoptic documents provided by Adnan Nasrawin
The UNESCO Internet site
This document was compiled by
Marie-Ange ThéobaldProgramme Specialist
Directorate
assisted byAdnan NasrawinProgramme Specialist
With the collaboration of
Jacques de Barrin
Christian Chesnot
Marie Renault
