UNESCO. Executive Board; 142nd session; Report by the...

142 EXLINF.3 Part I PARIS, 1 October 1993 English & French only

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Hundred and forty-second Session

Item 5.1.1 of the nrovisional agenda

REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION SINCE THE 141st SESSION

PART I

GENERAL POLICY

SUMMARY

The purpose of this document is to inform the members of the Executive Board about the activities of the Organization since the 141st session of the Executive Board, and to provide material for the discussion of item 5.1.1 of its provisional agenda. Part I of this document concerns the Organization’s general policy.

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1. On 13 September 1993 in Washington, on the occasion of a ceremony held at the White House, a historic handshake between Mr Arafat and Mr Rabin marked the signing of the Israelo-Palestinian protocol agreement - the Declaration of principles on interim self- government arrangements. Thus another ‘taboo’, forbidding the mutual recognition of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, was overcome - only one of many since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. As President Clinton emphasized, the agreement ‘charts a course towards reconciliation between two peoples who have both known the bitterness of exile. Now both pledge to put old sorrows and antagonisms behind them and to work for a shared future, shaped by the values of the Torah, the Koran and the Bible’.

2. UNESCO, where the Jury of the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize has just awarded the Prize to Mr Arafat, Mr Peres and Mr Rabin, is determined to lend its full support to the building of this shared future. The Organization has, moreover, a long tradition of support for the Palestinian people in the fields of education and culture. Since 1950, it has supervised and provided most of the technical and vocational staff of the UNRWAAJNESCO Department of Education: the education programme taught by 11,000 teachers in 640 schools and eight vocational training centres concerns more than 400,000 Palestinian schoolchildren living in the occupied territories or as refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic. UNESCO also provides fellowships and educational materials and is responsible for the review and approval of the textbooks used in the UNRWA schools. A year ago, activities relating to the UNITWIN project for Palestinian universities were undertaken in collaboration with the Steering Committee of the PEACE (Palestinian European Academic Co-operation in Education) programme. Furthermore, in accordance with the resolutions and decisions of its governing bodies, UNESCO ensures the smooth running of the educational and cultural institutions in the occupied territories, as well as the preservation of the heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem. I have met the members of the Committee of Palestinian Universities on several occasions, and have spoken with President Yasser Arafat at different times about the ways in which we can adapt our assistance to the needs of the Palestinian people. I have also appointed a new director to head our UNRWA team, giving him the priority task of proposing to me the new forms of assistance that the change in the political situation calls for.

3. Today, therefore, it is important to specify very rapidly, in co-operation with the other organizations of the United Nations system and in association with the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, what support the Organization might provide for the implementation of the various parts of the Israeli-Palestinian co-operation set out in the protocol agreement of 13 September 1993. UNESCO also has a duty to take other steps to promote a ‘culture of peace’ in a region which, as Mr Rabin recalled, has known more than ‘enough blood and tears’. We have already put our shoulders to this task, and I intend to present to the Executive Board in my oral introduction an initial series of activities aimed at sustaining the peace process started in Washington.

4. From the White House too, during the interval since the last session of the Board, has come the hope that the Organization’s universality may be restored in the near future. In a letter addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 17 August 1993, President Clinton referred in the following terms to the question of the return of the United States to UNESCO: I... We are aware that UNESCO has made significant progress in resolving the management problems that led to the withdrawal of the United States from the Organization in December 1984. UNESCO has also taken action to promote democracy, respect for human rights, and freedom of the press. I am pleased to inform you that, as a result of these positive developments at UNESCO, we are currently reviewing our relationship with the Organization. We have consulted a wide range of government agencies and non- governmental organizations and are approaching the end of the review process. We will

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inform you promptly at the completion of the review as to the nature of our future relationship with UNESCO . ..I.

5. The Organization takes that statement as an encouragement to renew its efforts to contribute to the ‘revitalization’ of international co-operation, and to assert its position within the United Nations system, whose component parts must henceforth all work together in defining strategy and in taking action in the field; to restore its leadership through renewal of international intellectual co-operation, so as to lay down the new approaches called for in a radically changing world; and to continue the reform of its methods of work and above all to consolidate its presence in each of its Member States.

6. UNESCO’s vocation of universality is the logical consequence of its task to build peace ‘founded . . . upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind’. That universality - which has been strengthened by the recent accession to membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Eritrea, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Solomon Islands and Turkmenistan - is what gives it the necessary legitimacy and strength to exercise its mandate to the full. There are now 176 Member States.

UNESCO and international co-operation

7. The important events that have taken place between sessions - particularly the World Conference on Human Rights, the first meeting of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the substantive session for 1993 of the Economic and Social Council - confirm two trends mentioned on several occasions in previous reports: the growing consolidation of UNESCO’s role within the United Nations system, and the strengthening of co-operation and the co-ordination of tasks among the system’s various agents.

World Conference on Human Rights

8. The World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 14-25 June 1993) was, together with the ‘Earth Summit’, one of the main international events to take place since the twenty-sixth session of the General Conference of UNESCO. The results of the World Conference on Human Rights are the subject of a report to the twenty-seventh session of the General Conference (27 C/l 16).

9. UNESCO endeavoured to contribute significantly to the preparations for that Conference - working not only within the framework of the preparatory process itself (preparing a number of written contributions, participating in four sessions of the Preparatory Committee and in regional meetings with a view to promoting the Organization’s views on such issues as education for human rights and democracy), but also organizing, co-organizing or sponsoring a number of meetings of direct concern to the preparation of the World Conference: a seminar on academic freedom (Lund, Sweden, 9-l 1 March 1992); an international conference on academic freedom and university autonomy (Sinaia, Romania, 5-7 May 1992); the first international colloquium on human rights: the reform of international institutions in the protection of human rights (La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain, l-4 November 1992); an international forum on education for democracy (Tunis, 8-10 November 1992); an expert meeting on academic freedom (Poznan, Poland, 7-9 January 1993); and, of course, the international congress on education for human rights and democracy (Montreal, Canada, 8-l 1 March 1993), which is also the subject of a report to the next General Conference (27 C/l 15).


10. UNESCO also took a very active part in the work of the World Conference itself, which was attended by representatives of 171 States, United Nations organs, Specialized Agencies, intergovernmental organizations, national liberation movements and non-governmental organizations. During the Conference, UNESCO organized an exhibition of publications, texts, declarations, photographs and illustrations relating to human rights, democracy and development. Recent publications, in particular the UNESCO Courier in different languages; Access to Human Rights and a brochure especially prepared for the Conference: Human Rights. Major International Instruments. Status as at 31 March 1993 were widely distributed to participants.

11. At the opening of the general debate, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Boutros Boutros-Ghali, called on the Conference to be guided by the ‘three imperatives of Vienna - universality, guarantees and democratization’. In my address to the plenary, I myself insisted on two crucial themes for human rights: education and universality. UNESCO’s activities in the field of human rights received broad recognition and acknowledgement. Among the final documents of the Conference, the most important is the text negotiated and adopted as the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, a detailed account of which can be found in document 27 C/116. This document states (Part III, 4, para. 4): ‘Taking into account the World Plan of Action for Education on Human Rights and Democracy, adopted in March 1993 by the International Congress on Education for Human Rights and Democracy, and other human rights instruments, the World Conference recommends that States develop specific programmes and strategies for ensuring the widest human rights education and the dissemination of public information . ..I. Similarly, the suggestions formulated by UNESCO before and during the Conference concerning the proclamation by the United Nations of a decade for human rights education have been taken into account. The Final Outcome requests that the proclamation of this decade be considered. I must, however, indicate that specific mention of UNESCO was not made in the relevant documents of the Conference, while UNICEF and UNDP were mentioned. I therefore wrote letters to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and to the Secretary of the Conference to express my concern about such a procedure. Member States should take note of these varying positions and accents in different international forums, so as to enable their representatives to take coherent action.

12. Apart from a general request that relevant Specialized Agencies take the Outcome of the Conference into account within their fields of competence, a number of specific recommendations were approved aiming at: strengthening their efforts to implement a programme of action related to the Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination; integrating the question of the equal status of women and the human rights of women in their activities; reviewing and monitoring by their supervisory bodies of matters related to human rights and the situation of children; reporting on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1998) to the United Nations General Assembly on the progress made in the implementation of the final document of the World Conference on Human Rights; and submitting a report to the General Assembly at its fifty-third session. In a situation where a number of issues are still awaiting a decision of the General Assembly (High Commissioner for Human Rights, Decade for Human Rights Education, Decade for Human Rights), the overall review of the implications for UNESCO of the Conference might be undertaken by the Executive Board as soon as the decisions of the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights are known, that is during its 144th session in 1994.

13. The Conference called for increased co-ordination on human rights within the United Nations system, urging all United Nations organs, bodies and Specialized Agencies to


co-operate in order to strengthen, rationalize and streamline their activities, taking into account the need to avoid unnecessary duplication. The Secretary-General of the United Nations having expressed the wish, in the letter addressed to me on 13 July 1993, that UNESCO continue to play ‘a leading role in all the relevant activities relating to the follow-up of the World Conference’, I expect shortly to meet the Under Secretary-General for Human Bights and Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Bights in order to examine with him how - in the years to come - the tasks could be divided between our two institutions, with a view to enhancing their complementarity and mutual support.

Follow-up to the ‘Earth Summit’

14. The seventeenth session of the UNEP Governing Council (Nairobi, lo-21 May 1993) was marked by a single theme: change. The common vision of governments and of the new Executive Director, Ms E. Dowdeswell, was that UNEP post-Rio must be significantly reoriented. Its redefined mission should be to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development. UNEP has particular expertise for environmental issues; however, it needs to be much more open to co-operation with those organizations which bring the knowledge and skills associated with development. In both the plenary and the programme committee, many speakers stressed the essential role of education and the sciences in addressing environmental problems and in moving towards sustainable development. The wish was expressed that UNEP should step up its activities in these fields and also co-operate to the fullest extent possible with other United Nations organizations. This wish was echoed by Ms Dowdeswell who expressed her intention to adopt a very pro-active approach to co-operating with the United Nations system and with the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development. Consequently, UNESCO took the initiative of proposing to other Specialized Agencies that they agree to present a ‘joint agency statement’ during the general policy debate in plenary. The text of this statement, which was presented by UNESCO, put special emphasis on inter-agency co-operation in the field of environmental education, training and environmental sciences. It should be recalled that UNESCO with its intergovernmental scientific programmes (Man and the Biosphere, International Hydrological Programme, International Geological Correlation Programme and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission) has been, for many years, the most active partner in and adviser on environmental matters.

15. The conceptual redirection of UNEP’s programmes was translated in the apportionment of funds to the different subprogrammes. All subprogrammes which are of primary interest to developing countries (national capacity-building and environmental management of terrestrial ecosystems and freshwater resources among others) obtained significant budget increases in comparison to the original budget proposal by the UNEP Executive Director. A few subprogrammes highly appreciated by both developing and developed countries such as the subprogramme on oceans, coastal zones and small islands were allocated the level of funding proposed by the Executive Director, or somewhat higher. The Council also adopted a decision recommending the strengthening of UNEP’s role in the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) vis-h-vis the World Bank and UNDP. Moreoever, developing countries advocated that GEF, at present limited to biodiversity, global warming, ozone and intercoastal waters, should become a general source of funds for implementing Agenda 21 in developing countries. Both for GEF and for another mechanism set up by UNDP, Capacity 21, Member States should take the initiative of making the relevant requests for funding. UNESCO, for its part, is ready to provide the technical assistance required in its fields of competence for the formulation and submission of these requests. It should be recalled that in Chapter 38 of Agenda 21 there is an unequivocal appeal for better co-operation between the funding institutions and the Specialized Agencies.

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16. At the level of the United Nations system itself, a major event was the first meeting of the newly established Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), which took place at New York (14-25 June 1993). This session, in which UNESCO participated as an observer, was attended by representatives from all 53 elected Member States. More than 40 ministers (mainly ministers of the environment) attended the two-day high-level segment of the Commission, which, in itself, was a demonstration of strong political support for this new body on the international scene. All of them emphasized the common objective of their governments to use UNCED follow-up for working towards increased global partnership among nations for sustainable development.

17. The Commission decided on a thematic programme of work for the years 1994-1997, culminating in a report to the General Assembly’s 1997 special session which will review the progress made in the overall implementation of Agenda 21. The Commission also decided that five clusters of the cross-sectoral chapters of Agenda 21, being of strategic importance, would be reviewed at each of its annual sessions. One of these cross-sector-al issues includes education, science, transfer of environmentally sound technologies, co-operation and capacity- building. UNESCO topical priority areas in the UNCED follow-up will be reviewed by the Commission as follows: 1994 - freshwater; 1995 - biological diversity, desertification and forests; 1996 - oceans and all kinds of seas. As regards Chapters 35 (science) and 36 (education) of Agenda 21, UNESCO has agreed, as requested by the United Nations Under Secretary-General for Policy Co-ordination and Sustainable Development, to function as ‘task- manager’ for organizing a co-ordinated response by the United Nations system in implementing them. UNESCO will also assist the CSD secretariat in preparing the annual system-wide reports on education and science for sustainable development, for review by the Commission. These decisions have put UNESCO in a unique position within the United Nations system and among the Specialized Agencies in particular with respect to review requirements.

18. The Commission also issued a separate decision addressed to the Secretary-General and the ACC requesting them to ensure that the reports to be prepared for the 1994 session would, inter alia, ‘clarify organizational responsibilities within the United Nations system and assess whether allocation of tasks adequately reflects the expertise and comparative advantage of different organs, programmes and organizations’. This decision also included a request to governments to maintain consistent positions in various governing bodies in order to better harmonize policy direction within the United Nations system in relation to the implementation of Agenda 21 and the other agreements reached at UNCED. It was informed of the Executive Board’s decision on UNESCO’s role and plans in relation to the UNCED follow-up adopted at the 141st session.

19. The second meeting of the ACC Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD), held in New York from 8 to 10 September 1993, followed up the matter. Its agenda included several items of great relevance, such as how to divide responsibilities for implementation of Agenda 21 among United Nations bodies, the financing requirements of these bodies in relation to Agenda 21, and the co-ordination in the field of ocean affairs. This latter issue was also discussed at an inter-agency meeting on ocean affairs convened by the Under Secretary-General for Policy Co-ordination and Sustainable Development in his function as Chairman of IACSD. At the Director-General’s invitation, this meeting took place at UNESCO Headquarters on 23 and 24 August 1993. The meeting discussed a proposal jointly submitted by the Director-General and the Secretary-General of WMO to modify the existing Inter-Secretariat Committee on Scientific Programmes Relating to Oceanography (ICSPRO), the secretariat of which is provided by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic


Commission (IOC), so as to serve as the overall co-ordination body for ensuring system-wide implementation of the Agenda 2 1 chapter dealing with oceans and ocean-related matters.

20. The fourth Inter-Agency Consultation Meeting on Co-operation and Co-ordination in Environmental Education (Paris, 13-14 September 1993) provided another opportunity to draw up a work plan for organizing the system’s work in the field of environmental education; nine United Nations agencies, two intergovernmental and three international non-governmental organizations participated in the consultation, which was organized in the framework of the UNESCO-UNEP International Environmental Education Programme (IEEP). They called for the setting up of a data base and a focal point in each organization/agency for facilitating information exchange; closer collaboration among partners at country level; and the setting up of national co-ordinating mechanisms in environmental education and information. UNESCO was invited to prepare - on the basis of relevant inputs from the other United Nations bodies - a United Nations system-wide comprehensive review of environmental education for submission to the Commission on Sustainable Development, and a consolidated programme within the United Nations framework to reflect environmental education-related UNCED decisions. The Consultation also called for increased co-operation with non-governmental organizations, the private sector and the media to ensure an effective programme impact on all sections of the population, and greater efforts for identifying funding sources outside the United Nations system.

21. With UNESCO’s increasing role in the field of environment and development come heightened expectations on the part of governments and our partners in the United Nations system. UNESCO is thus faced with new opportunity but also new accountability. The Draft Programme and Budget for 1994-1995 has been designed with a view to contributing to the implementation of Agenda 21 recommendations concerning education and science, and to conducting interdisciplinary work under the interdisciplinary project ‘environment and population education and information for human development’.

ECOSOC

22. The substantive session for 1993 of ECOSOC (Geneva, 28 June-30 July 1993) had on its agenda several items of particular interest for UNESCO. Such was the case, in particular, of its high-level, ministerial segment, which discussed preparations for the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995) and more particularly the role of the United Nations in promoting social development. Resolution 47/92, by which the General Assembly decided to convene a world summit for social development at the level of heads of State or government, identifies three core issues to be addressed by the summit: enhancement of social integration, particularly of the more disadvantaged and marginalized groups; alleviation and reduction of poverty; expansion of productive employment. Based on a very stimulating report prepared by the Secretary-General, the Council had an extremely rich debate, which evidenced strong political support for the summit and a large measure of convergence on its possible outcome.

23. There was a general consensus on a need for a new approach to development which should ‘put people first’. Investment in people should be seen as a priority for development in all societies - since, as Ambassador Somavia, the Council’s President, put it in his summary of the debate, ‘investment in human resources makes good economic sense’. This implied a higher priority for creating social infrastructure and providing equal opportunities to all, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. The role of women, in particular rural women, was seen as critical for social integration of societies. In essence, the world summit will call for a strategy of development that will be pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women. In so doing, the

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summit could achieve a real conceptual and operational breakthrough, I fully agree with the newly appointed UNDP Administrator, Mr Speth, when he said recently that the challenge facing the social summit is, first, to achieve a political consensus on a new vision of development, which would ‘bring human numbers into balance with carrying capacities of nature and the coping capacities of societies’; second, to agree that the ‘do-able’ should be done without further delay. And I also fully support the views of the Secretary-General that in order to attain this objective, we should build a ‘united thrust in the multi-faceted activities’ of the United Nations system institutions.

24. To prepare UNESCO’s contribution to the summit and actively to participate in the inter- agency preparatory work, I transferred one of our senior regional social science advisers to Headquarters, who will be looking after the work of the summit. I will soon set up an intersectoral task force for this purpose which will develop and implement the activities devised to contribute to the summit.

25. The debate on the co-ordination of humanitarian assistance, emergency relief and the continuum to rehabilitation and development was all the more important in that many delegates expressed concern, during the session, about the extremely rapid growth, in recent years, of United Nations system interventions relating to conflict resolution, emergency aid, and assistance to refugees and displaced persons. Meeting the costs of these new challenges would entail the risk of sharp reductions in classical ‘development co-operation’. Many ECOSOC delegates felt that the time had come to establish policy guidelines that would preserve a reasonable ratio of resources for socio-economic development.

26. I am pleased in this regard that the point of view held by UNESCO - namely, that the action taken by the United Nations system in emergency situations should from the outset form part of a long-term strategy, closely linking the concept of emergency aid with that of development, in particular by promoting the development of endogenous capacities - appears to be gaining ground both in international institutions and within countries themselves. As proof of this, I would refer to the letter recently sent to me by the High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms Sadako Ogata, in which she expresses her sincere appreciation of UNESCO’s renewed emphasis on involvement in meeting the education requirements of refugees, returnees and displaced persons and by which she fully endorses UNESCO’s comprehensive approach to these issues, linking humanitarian assistance needs, especially in post-conflict peace-building situations, to a longer term rehabilitation and development perspective. In view of the excellent collaborative relationship that has been established with UNHCR in the context of the implementation of the SHARE programme (Scheme of Humanitarian Assistance for Refugee Education), I feel the time has come - and Ms Ogata agrees - to re-examine and amplify the Memorandum of Understanding between our two institutions.

27. I see another encouraging sign in the support for UNESCO’s initiatives to safeguard peace that was expressed at the Round Table of eminent persons convened by me at Headquarters on 7 and 8 July this year on the theme: ‘An Agenda for Peace: A Challenge for UNESCO’. The participants, who included Mr Alvaro de Soto, the Special Adviser for Political Affairs to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Ambassador Sahnoun, who led the first United Nations operations in Somalia, all agreed that in order to strengthen peace, the (re)building of national consensus was required; this presupposes a major public awareness and training effort for the main actors in civil society, wherein education, communication and culture have a crucial role to play. Their analyses and suggestions made it possible to flesh out the proposals contained in document 142 EX/13 (‘Action Programme to


Promote a Culture of Peace’). The Round Table also examined the main features of the ‘culture of peace programme in El Salvador’, presented in detail in that same document.

28. Also significant is the fact that several countries where the United Nations is currently carrying out peacekeeping or humanitarian aid operations have called upon UNESCO for help in their reconciliation and reconstruction efforts. In this connection, I recently spoke to President Aristide, whose return to Haiti is scheduled for 30 October of this year, and to Dante Caputo, a mediator appointed by the United Nations and OAS, regarding the forms of support that UNESCO could bring to the strengthening of democracy and the development of human resources needed for national reconstruction. As a follow-up to these meetings, an intersectoral mission is due to travel to Haiti at the end of November.

29. Along these same lines, following a meeting I had last June with the President of the Republic of Albania, Mr Berisha, I decided to pledge UNESCO’s support - in co-operation with other agencies of the United Nations, including UNDP and UNICEF - for the reconstruction of that country, ruined after several decades of dictatorship and isolation. An intersectoral mission has been sent to the site in order to determine the most pressing co- operation needs.

30. Under the heading of conflict prevention, I should like to add that I have informed the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the results of the fact-finding mission I sent to Kosovo last May, under the supervision of Mr Luis Ramallo, President of the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO. That mission concluded that, within the framework of UNESCO’s fields of competence, Kosovo qualified as a ‘disaster area’. I have also appealed to the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) to take steps to make the premises of the secondary schools of Kosovo and the University of Pristina widely accessible to Albanian-speaking students of Kosovo, so that these students can continue their education in better conditions than at present. UNESCO will provide some immediate humanitarian aid in the form of school materials.

31. ECOSOC also discussed two issues placed on its agenda at UNESCO’s initiative one concerning the designation of a United Nations Year for Tolerance and the other the promotion of press freedom and the designation of 3 May as International Press Freedom Day. Both proposals had been initiated by the General Conference at its twenty-sixth session, in resolutions 26 C/5.6 and 26 C/4.3 respectively. ECOSOC recommended their approval by the General Assembly at its forthcoming forty-eighth session.

32. The July 1993 session of ECOSOC also examined progress to date in implementing resolution 47/199, relating to operational activities for development - an item that is also mentioned in document 142 EX/26 (Operational activities for development undertaken in the framework of the United Nations system). Delegates agreed that progress was particularly evident in the normative texts approved already by ACC with respect to national execution, the programme approach, and the new framework for integrating system-wide country- programming: the Country Strategy Note. Resolution 47/199 called for a strengthening of the role and authority of Resident Co-ordinators and ECOSOC left this matter still rather unsettled. While urging all organizations of the system to give full support to the strengthening of the role of Resident Co-ordinators, the ECOSOC decision on resolution 47/199 undercut the effect of this appeal by referring to the senior country-level officials as UNDP Resident Co- ordinators. Most members of ACC consider that leadership of the United Nations system at country level can function effectively only on the understanding that this official is the United Nations system Resident Co-ordinator.

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33. In my report to the last session of the Executive Board (document 141 EX/INF.3), I drew attention to the difficulties encountered with respect to new support-cost arrangements. It was noted, in particular, that the role of the agencies in backstopping nationally executed projects was not being utilized as anticipated. As reported in detail in document 142 EX/26, a large proportion of the $6 million yearly budget available in the Technical Support Services account (TSS-2) to finance such backstopping remains unused. In June 1993, the UNDP Governing Council asked the Administration to take early measures to accelerate the use of TSS-2 funds and, in July, instructions to that effect were sent by UNDP to all its field offices. Furthermore, the scope of actions to be covered by TSS-2 was expanded to include project formulation. I should like to believe that these measures would produce positive results in the coming months and the agencies will be invited to play their full role in backstopping nationally executed projects.

34. In sharp contrast to the difficulties encountered with respect to TSS-2 funding, new UNDP arrangements under TSS-1 for sector-analysis and other upstream studies have been on schedule and initial results have been quite positive. The delivery of UNDP TSS-1 projects has continued to show improvement. At present, 37 TSS-1 studies, amounting to $2.2 million, are under way, including ten projects which have been completed. It is hoped that during 1994- 1995 UNESCO will be entrusted with a magnitude of new TSS-1 exercises similar to that received for 1992-1993 ($3 million).

35. Despite the above-mentioned difficulties, co-operation with UNDP and UNFPA has shown some improvement with regard to the volume of projects assigned for direct UNESCO execution: for example, UNFPA-financed projects increased by 27 per cent in the first seven months of this year compared to last year. An upward trend is also noticeable in UNDP allocations. At the end of July 1993, these amounted to $25 million, compared to $27.2 million for the whole of 1992.

Co-operation with Africa

36. The work of the fifty-eighth ordinary session of the Council of Ministers and the twenty-ninth Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity (held in Cairo from 21 to 25 June and from 28 to 30 June 1993, respectively) was marked by the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of OAU, which seemed to coincide with a new collective awareness of the role that the Pan-African Organization can and should play in the construction of peace, the establishment of democracy and the promotion of sustainable development.

37. These meetings showed how great was the appreciation of UNESCO’s action to contribute to the economic and social development of African countries. Some activities were the subject of resolutions underlining the quality of our co-operation in such areas as the drawing up of an international convention on combating desertification in countries severely affected by drought, assistance to African children, the African regional strategy on nutrition, and education for African girls, by way of example. A new form of co-operation, often mentioned, is the contribution that UNESCO strives to make in situations of conflict or the immediate aftermath of war. Reference was made, for example, to the establishment of ‘islands of education for peace’ in Somalia, the reconstruction of educational, scientific and cultural institutions destroyed by war, the education plan for child-soldiers, victims of the wars in Mozambique and Angola, and, lastly, the special project for South Africa. In addition, under the new machinery adopted by OAU for the prevention, management and settlement of disputes, UNESCO might provide, as requested, the findings of the research that it is carrying out on early warning indicators to prevent conflicts of a cultural or social origin, or it might

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even participate in the civil observation and anticipation missions provided for by the new machinery. Constructive discussions were also held between the UNESCO delegation and those of ANC and PAC - the two South African organizations recognized by OAU - on the contribution that UNESCO could make to the democratization process in South Africa. In response to a request for help in the civic education of electors with a view to the first democratic elections, to be held on 27 April 1994, UNESCO decided to provide ANC and PAC with three FM radio transmitters, for this purpose, that could be used by South African universities.

38. The references made during the OAU debates to the Priority: Africa programme show that this programme still has all the raison d’etre which justified its adoption by the General Conference at its twenty-fifth session in 1989 and its gradual strengthening since then. Indeed, this programme seeks to encourage, in UNESCO’s fields of competence, the identification and implementation of solutions to Africa’s current crisis. UNESCO has provided emergency aid representing $500,000 to some 7,000 students from approximately 20 African countries who are at present in Central and Eastern Europe. We are making every effort to mobilize extra-budgetary sources, especially in collaboration with the World University Service and the International Organization for Migration. Many countries and bodies which we have approached require fuller information on the situation. We have therefore undertaken, in co-operation with the Commission of the European Communities, a comprehensive study aimed at compiling detailed statistics on these students. Two encouraging factors have already emerged from the initial findings of the study: the first is that half the students registered to date will have completed their university training within the next two years; the second is that the majority of the subjects studied by these students are in the fields of engineering and technology, which should make it easier to integrate these future diploma-holders into their countries of origin.

39. These initiatives have been taken under the Priority: Africa programme, which should be regarded primarily as an outline programme, whose goal is to stimulate the definition and implementation of integrated regional strategies that will contribute, in our fields of competence, to the two United Nations plans of action for Africa: the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Development (PANUREDA), and its complement adopted in 1991, the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF). In the initial phase, the aim was to help Member States identify those of their needs that could be answered by enhanced regional or subregional co-operation. Hence a series of intersectoral missions, seminars and regional meetings which have enabled broad plans of action to be drawn up in key areas such as higher education, distance education, the introduction of information technology into teaching, the education of girls, management of tropical forests and the integrated development of the Sahel.

40. During the second phase, the Member States themselves should, above all, be helped to implement, nationally or regionally, action plans and projects based on previously defined guidelines. The Priority: Africa programme cannot be other than catalytic in character; it should accordingly, in this second phase, seek increased complementarity with the activities being carried out in each of the major programme areas for the benefit of Africa - which has been one of the three priority recipients of our action since 1991 - and reinforce all possible forms of synergy with institutions or sources of extra-budgetary funds. The transverse programme Priority: Africa proposed in document 27 C/5 clearly illustrates, I believe, this purpose of integration and complementarity. In any event, it is for Africans themselves to decide upon these lines of approach; to arrive at such decisions should be one of the aims of the Consultations for Africa that I intend to hold in 1994. The Organization will be particularly attentive to African countries, the vision they have of their own future and the


means that they intend to use to make it a reality. I have had a document prepared, on the achievements and future outlook of the Priority: Africa programme, which will be available for the twenty-seventh session of the General Conference and will take account of the conclusions of the Conference on African Development.

41. The Tokyo Conference on African Development (5-6 October 1993) is being organized by the Japanese Government, in collaboration with the United Nations and the Global Coalition for Africa (GCA). The participants will be countries of Africa and of other regions (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America and the European Community), as well as international or regional intergovernmental organizations and funding institutions. The Conference, which is not intended to be a pledging meeting, will address emerging trends in the evolution of African countries, focusing on the progress of democratization, economic reforms, development strategies (including population and environment policies) and institution-building. Special attention will be paid to a comparative analysis of African development experience and Asian economic growth, the role of the private sector, the obstacles to and potentials of regionai economic integration and co-operation. The Conference will lead to the adoption of a Tokyo Declaration which will highlight its outcome and appeals.

Giving fresh impetus to intellectual co-operation

42. The preceding paragraphs, I feel, are an excellent illustration of two trends:

indisputable progress in the partnership between agencies of the United Nations system at the international level; much remains to be done, but considerable headway has been made in recent years in the definition of common goals, the clarification of roles and the complementarity of actions;

stronger influence exerted by UNESCO within the system of international co-operation; because its profile and the distinctive nature of what it has to contribute are beginning to be better known, UNESCO is increasingly perceived as an indispensable partner, in the eyes of both international bodies and national authorities.

43. However, this enhanced influence is - and will be to an increasing extent - directly linked to our ability to exercise what I have called intellectual ‘leadership’: the ability to anticipate the needs and potential of tomorrow’s world; to devise new ideas and fresh approaches, off the beaten track of conventional thinking; to give fresh impetus and direction, and to oJjrer advice, becoming every day more prominent at the decision-makers’ table.

44. The work of the three recently established major forums of reflection takes on special importance in this light. The Ad Hoc Forum of Reflection will hold its second meeting in Cartagena (Colombia) as scheduled, from 27 to 29 September. I personally will take part in its proceedings, as requested by the Executive Board.

45. The World Commission on Culture and Development held its second meeting in Stockholm from 28 June to 2 July 1993, at the invitation of the Swedish Government, which contributed actively to its organization and provided financial backing. The meeting was preceded by a regional consultation attended by some 20 well-known experts, including ministers, decision-makers, directors of international agencies, heads of National Commissions for UNESCO, experts on cultural policy and development issues, researchers and creative artists. Important proposals were put forward in that context concerning the


Commission’s future work. One such proposal suggested that their deliberations be used as the basis for an Agenda for Culture and Development, to supplement the Brundtland Report and Agenda 21. Such an agenda, to be included in the Commission’s Report, would feature not only the ‘concrete, pragmatic and practical’ plan of action set forth in its mandate, but also proposed reforms and recommendations concerning follow-up mechanisms and monitoring. Valuable offers of partnerships were likewise made on that occasion. Representatives of the Council of Europe proposed that the Council should contribute to the Commission’s work by preparing a regional report on culture and development, in conjunction with other European bodies, which would be submitted to the Commission in order to facilitate the preparation of the World Report. The Council of Europe’s proposal was particularly well received by the Commission,

46. The participants in the consultation for the Europe region placed one question at the heart of their deliberations: what cultural policies were needed, and for what kind of development? From this angle, they examined overall development trends in Europe and future prospects for improved integration of the cultural dimension in national and regional strategies. Their work also dealt with the strengthening of ties linking development, cultural pluralism, solidarity and democracy. Discussions threw a prospective light on a number of problems, and opened up new avenues of research and action. The experts devoted particular attention to the sorts of development models and cultural policies that need to be devised and implemented, now that ‘work is leaving a work-based society’, unemployment and exclusion are widespread, and a disturbing worldwide trend of growth without job creation is developing. They put forward the hypothesis that new policies could foster - where full employment is in all likelihood now an unattainable goal - the emergence of a ‘fully active society’ based on integration, participation and cultural and social creativity.

47. In the second part of its meeting, the Commission further explored the ‘lines of inquiry’ identified in the annex to its mandate. While confirming their validity, it decided, in an effort to make them more effective, to condense those lines of inquiry, reducing their number from 12 to seven. The lines of inquiry adopted at Stockholm were thus as follows: (1) links between culture and development models; (2) cultural development; (3) development, culture, population, environment and management; (4) development, culture, education, science, technology and economics; (5) development and the culture of democracy, ethics, human rights and peace; (6) culture, development, the communication society and cultural industries; (7) cultural exchanges, intercultural relations and development.

48. In addition, the Commission considered several working documents dealing, for example, with development as an endogenous process, relations between cultures, environments and styles of development, and relations between development, cultures and democracy; and it studied some of the working hypotheses put forward at the regional consultation. On the basis of the courses of action adopted for the preparation of the World Report, it decided to examine at its next meeting, scheduled to be held in Costa Rica early in 1994, a first draft of that report, which will be submitted to it by the President.

49. The independent Commission launched a unanimous appeal to the authorities of Myanmar to free Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and honorary member of the Commission.

50. Following the Stockholm meeting, the Commission participated in a seminar organized for it in Norway by the Norwegian Government on the theme: ‘Majority-Minority Relations - The Case of the Sami in Scandinavia’. This event, which also featured field visits to selected sites, was held in Kautokeino, in the Arctic region of Finnmark, and was chaired by Ms Ase


Kleveland, Norwegian Minister of Culture, with the active support of Mr Ole Henrik Magga, member of the Commission and President of the Sami Parliament in Norway, and of the Norwegian National Commission for UNESCO. Leading Sami leaders and experts participated in the meeting, as did Scandinavian researchers and media representatives. The Kautokeino seminar provided an opportunity for the Commission to study the problems of indigenous populations and minority cultures in the field, as well as to appreciate the experience Norway has acquired in policy implementation in this field.

51. With regard to its financing, the Commission unanimously decided in Stockholm that greater financial and human resources would have to be placed at its disposal if it were to carry out the programme of work it had adopted at its inaugural meeting. Finland has just followed Sweden in joining the founding group of donor countries (Norway, Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland). UNDP has also announced that it will make a financial contribution, and has offered to take part in the review carried out by the Commission. The President of the Commission and I have sent a joint letter to all Heads of State and Government in order to associate them with the Commission’s work, and to enlist their support - whether financial or in kind. A similar letter was sent to international funding agencies, and likewise to selected international and national development aid organizations, and foundations.

52. The Secretariat as a whole has been called upon to make a contribution to the Commission’s work, and for this purpose I have set up an interdisciplinary panel, chaired on my behalf by ADG/BPE, whose members include all the Assistant Directors-General. During the period between sessions, the Commission has also received spontaneous support from several outside partners, and has established numerous contacts with all parties concerned. The active support promptly given by a number of National Commissions is very welcome. I should add, in conclusion, that in accordance with the wishes expressed by the Commission, the public statements made at its inaugural meeting are to be published, and this text is now being finalized.

53. The second session of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century took place in Dakar, Senegal, from 18 to 21 September 1993. It was preceded by the meeting of a working group on education in Africa (15-16 September), attended by some 15 persons involved in decision-making on education in Africa at the national and international level, as well as two members of the Commission and the Director of the Regional Office in Dakar. The working group provided a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences concerning the current state of education and development in sub-Saharan Africa, the challenges ahead and the ways and means to meet them. Participants in the working group reviewed past and present trends in education and development and addressed themselves to possible solutions and avenues for the future. They discussed economic decline in recent years in Africa and its effects both on educational systems and on the subsequent participation of school-leavers and graduates in the development of society, the diversity of cultural and linguistic groups in Africa and a number of points of tension within educational systems that resulted in problems specific to the continent. Some topics that needed further exploration were also discussed: the role and the potential of non-governmental bodies, particularly at the local level, in helping diversify the provision of education and in consolidating participation by individuals in decision-making in relation to education, both formal and non-formal; wider use of national languages in teaching; closer links between education and the local economies; and improved attention to the needs of special groups, in particular girls and women. The working group felt that greater capacities for research and the development of high-level expertise within Africa could be developed through an emphasis on science education, on creation and strengthening of information systems, and on transnational


co-operation in higher education and research, particularly through the development of centres of excellence that could serve African science and development over the whole continent.

54. The Commission itself first heard and discussed the report of the working group. Then, on the basis of several background papers, including studies and comments contributed in writing by its own members, it spent two full days debating education and development, with special emphasis on Africa. The debate was enriched by auditions of several personalities active in education, auditions that will be continued periodically throughout the work of the Commission. Topics discussed included community participation; diversification of educational institutions and of the provision of education, both formal and non-formal; expansion of opportunity for girls and the roles of women; the influence of donors on educational policy; and the relationship between education and work and economic transition generally. A key need was felt to be the building of national and regional capacity through the reinforcement of educated elites, for governance, for research and for management. This need seemed to be particularly acute in Africa, and the Commission intends to address the issue in its recommendations. The third day was devoted to discussion of education and communications technology, financing of education, and to submissions and discussion papers provided by the members themselves, as well as future working methods.

55. The Chairman of the Commission - with whom I had a meeting on 24 September 1993 to review progress and discuss the future work of the Commission - informed me that the debate was rich and intense, and that all members present expressed satisfaction with progress made, both in terms of content and in terms of emerging priorities for the report. The preparation of the report itself will not begin until well into 1994, when sufficient background work has been carried out.

56. The third meeting of the Commission, originally planned for Santiago, Chile, has been rescheduled for Paris (13-15 Janu::- y 1994) for material reasons. In order to ensure that the Commission benefits from a debate and insights on the part of Latin American and Caribbean decision-makers, a working group will be organized in the region, along similar lines to the one held in Dakar, during the next few months, with the active participation of UNESCO Offices and field units, National Commissions and members of the Commission itself. The fourth meeting of the Commission will take place in Canada, at the invitation of the Canadian Government, in April 1994.

57. A number of surveys and studies are under way, and others will be commissioned during the remainder of this year, in order to form a backdrop and information base for the reflection of the Commission. Working groups on regional issues, on international co- operation, on education and work and on fostering research for development will be convened during the coming year. An information document will be submitted to the General Conference on work in progress, and the Chairman of the Commission will address the General Conference plenary to inform Member States of activities to date and plans for the future. During the coming months, the active co-operation of Member States, both in organizing activities in support of the Commission and in preparing studies and proposals on topics related to its work, will be sought. The Commission Secretariat is at the disposal of Member States to establish direct co-operation or to inform them individually of its activities.

58. An ‘Intellectual Summit Meeting’ was held in Antigua Guatemala from 26 to 29 April 1993 in order to prepare the contributions to be made by intellectuals to the Third Ibero- American Summit Meeting of Presidents and Heads of Government. Over 100 eminent Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese intellectuals drafted a document that was subsequently

142 EXDNF.3 - page 15

adopted at the Ibero-American Summit, held on 14 and 15 July 1993 at Salvador de Bahia (Brazil). UNESCO thus contributed to this interregional integration mechanism, based on common bonds of civilization and culture, by providing technical back-up to facilitate the policy decisions of the Presidents and Heads of Government.

59. Another major event in the field of intellectual co-operation was the first meeting at Headquarters on 15 and 16 September 1993 of the International Bioethics Committee. Composed of some 40 eminent world specialists in biology, genetics, medicine, law, philosophy and the human sciences, this Committee - which is chaired by Ms Noelle Lenoir, a member of the Constitutional Council of the French Republic - has the task of setting out proposals of principle which could serve to meet the main ethical concerns arising from progress in the life sciences. On the basis of a report prepared by a scientific orientation group convened by Ms Lenoir between January and July 1993 (see Part II of this document, para. 106), the Committee organized its programme of work around the following four themes:

The state-of-the-art in genetics. Production and presentation of research in genetics; access to research findings; legal and commercial protection of genetic data resulting from research; rights and obligations of research subjects; responsibilities of researchers; etc.;

Population genetics, development and demography. The contribution of research and its applications to the solution of demographic problems in the countries of the South; genetic research on ethnic groups or population groups, taking into account its stated objectives and the risks involved in interpreting research findings; etc.;

The therapeutic applications of research in genetics from the point of view of diversity of cultures and diflerences in the development level of countries. Gene therapy, medicines, vaccines. The approach to be adopted in educating health practitioners, health workers, decision-makers and the general public;

Genetic screening and individual genetic tests. Factors making for freedom or sources of restriction? Predictive medicine, population monitoring and health programmes in various regions of the world.

At the same time the Committee will study the principles which might be used as a basis for drawing up an international instrument on the human genome, as well as the most appropriate legal form for such an instrument.

60. In the course of its work, the International Bioethics Committee stressed its desire to reconcile the universalistic approach to human rights with the need to take into account the diversity of cultures, traditions and religions, in an open and pragmatic way. It also emphasized its intention to take a constructive view of bioethical issues, endeavouring above all to assess how new developments in genetics might contribute to reducing world imbalances and combating injustice, poverty, handicaps and disease. The Committee will meet again in a year’s time on 20, 21 and 22 September 1994 to examine the reports which will be prepared on each of the four themes.

61. In conclusion, I should like to add that an independent commission, external to UNESCO, the International Commission on Peace and Food, held a meeting at UNESCO Headquarters from 19 to 21 July 1993 on the theme: global challenges and opportunities of the 1990s and human development. In addition to members of the Commission, the meeting


was attended by Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan and representatives of UNICEF, UNDP and UNESCO. Established in 1989, and composed of eminent scholars and scientists from many parts of the world, the Commission proposes to present its work in the form of a report which will identify opportunities for rapid progress in addressing the fundamental problems of today - nutrition and economic security, a safer and healthier environment, peace and political security. Moreover, the focus of the Commission is on re-examining the interlinkages and interdependence of the areas of work of different international institutions. I am happy that the Commission chose to sit at UNESCO Headquarters, which remains the meeting-place of everyone working in our fields of competence.

Improvement of the functioning of the Organization

62. The Organization continued to take measures to review and improve on an ongoing basis its programming and evaluation methods, programme delivery mechanisms as well as staff performance and management.

63. Bearing in mind the conclusions of the meeting held on the occasion of the 140th session of the Executive Board, I have decided to create a consultative committee on women with a view both to promoting fresh insights and approaches to women’s issues and to preparing UNESCO’s contribution to the fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995). This committee, which I will chair, will be composed of a very limited number of highly qualified experts, but its meeting will, in principle, be open-ended so as to allow particularly interested Executive Board members, permanent delegations and National Commissions to actively participate in its work. Hence, the consultative committee will meet in connection with sessions of the Executive Board. The secretariat of the committee has now been established and its composition will be finalized soon after the General Conference. In order to pave the way for its first session, an informal meeting opened to all members of the Executive Board and permanent delegations will be organized on 14 October 1993, particularly focusing on the Beijing Conference. As part of the preparation of the Beijing Conference, UNESCO also attended the Third Encounter of First Ladies of Latin America and the Caribbean on the theme the family in San Jose (Costa Rica) from 6 to 9 September 1993.

64. Also acting on the wish expressed by the Executive Board at its 141st session for greater provision to be made for the least developed countries in all the Organization’s activities, I have decided to set up and chair myself the Intersectoral Committeefor the LDCs, which will be composed of all the Assistant Directors-General of the programme sectors and of BPE, BER and BRX. I have also decided to expand the functions of the Least Developed Countries Unit, which will be entrusted with the task of encouraging, following up and evaluating activities relating to the LDCs - whether financed under the regular programme or from extra-budgetary resources. The Unit will be required to clarify UNESCO’s LDC strategy, particularly in the light of action taken by other international agencies, with a concern to achieve complementarity and synergy; establish a regularly updated management chart of all activities concerning the LDCs while keeping closely in touch with the LDC focal points that will be designated in each sector; and prepare the Organization’s contribution to the mid-term evaluation (1995) of the Programme of Action for the 1990s for the Least Developed Countries, adopted by the United Nations Conference which met on that subject in September 1990 at UNESCO Headquarters.

65. Since the last session of the Executive Board, two evaluations regarding the regular programme activities have been completed. Their results together with the Director-General’s comments thereon are submitted to the present session of the Executive Board in document

142 EXlINF.3 - page 17

142 EX/lO. While one of them concerning the Records and Archives Management Programme (RAMP) was carried out by an external consultant, the second one, on UNESCO periodicals, has been implemented through the joint efforts of an external evaluator, the Central Programme Evaluation Unit and the Inspectorate-General as well as the participation of National Commissions. In effect some 50 National Commissions for UNESCO took part in the processing of almost 1,500 questionnaires sent to different categories of readers of the three main periodicals: Prospects, Nature and Resources and the International Social Science Journal. Furthermore, nine evaluation reports on projects financed from extra-budgetary resources have been finalised and the Guidelines for the evaluation of development co- operation projects have been distributed.

66. The changes in international co-operation for development, particularly the trend for co- operation based on a comprehensive approach and integrated programme planning, imply changes both for the direction of UNESCO’s activities and for the need to develop new patterns of action. I have therefore reviewed the respective roles to be played by the programme sectors and the central units (see DG/Note/93/18 dated 13 May 1993). The former will be responsible for identifying, executing and monitoring the quality of operational activities and will give higher priority to sectoral analysis, policies and programme development. The Bureau for Relations with Extra-Budgetary Funding Sources will have as its main function the co-ordination of relations with funding sources and assisting the programme sectors in securing extra-budgetary resources.

67. During the 19 months which have elapsed since 1 January 1992, UNESCO has executed projects funded from extra-budgetary resources amounting to a total of $130.7 million, which represents a significant increase, in the order of 15 per cent, compared to the corresponding period during the last biennium. This overall increase is largely attributable to the growth (by as much as 38 per cent) in the volume of funds-in-trust projects. Efforts to improve the design and implementation of trust fund projects have enabled UNESCO to achieve continuous growth and these efforts will be continued. Donor governments continue to show interest in the Organization’s extra-budgetary activities. This has been particularly evident in the case of the Nordic countries, Germany, France, Italy and Japan. I should also like to point out that the decision I took recently to allow UNESCO field offices the initiative to raise extra-budgetary resources in support of projects identified by them has begun to bear fruit. For example, UNESCO offices in Bangkok, Dakar and San Jose have mobilized locally funds from extra- budgetary sources - mainly UNDP and funds-in-trust donors - for projects amounting to $1.7 million, $1.2 million and $3.5 million respectively.

68. UNESCO’s co-operation with the African Development Bank continued at the same level as last year. During the 32nd ADB/UNESCO co-ordination meeting, both institutions reviewed the Co-operative Programme activities and noted that: projects were identified in three African countries; preparation missions were undertaken in six other countries; UNESCO also participated in the appraisal of six projects and in the supervision of four others. Loans and grants amounting to over $300 million are in the process of being approved by ADB before the end of 1993 for projects in education and training that were identified and/or prepared by UNESCO.

69. Regarding project formulation activities and assistance to the countries emerging from the ex-Soviet Union, the Organization has participated in four consultative group meetings on Armenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Russia organized by the World Bank. Changes introduced in the structure and procedures of the World Bank in January 1993, namely the creation of a vice-presidency for Human Resources Development and Operations’ Policy, should facilitate


negotiations for UNESCO’s participation in the Bank’s upstream activities. Furthermore, UNESCO is exploring possible co-operation with the European Development Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the implementation of activities financed by this Bank.

70. Progress has been made in strengthening co-operation with the Commission of the European Communities with which joint projects are being prepared or implemented. Several meetings between the officials of the two institutions have been held, both in Brussels and Paris. The visit to Paris in September of Mr Manuel Marin Gonzalez, Vice-President of the Commission, who is in charge of co-operation with developing countries, confirmed the growing co-operation with the CEC.

71. With regard to decentralization, document 142 EX/6, which is being submitted to this session of the Board, provides a review of the implementation of the recommendations contained in 136 EX/Decision 3.3 concerning decentralization policy. I will add that the Secretariat is preparing a Plan of Action for Decentralization with the execution of the Programme and Budget for 1994-1995 in view. The preparation of the Plan of Action, which I consider to be of the utmost importance, has been entrusted to a working group chaired by the Deputy Director-General a.i. and composed of the programme Assistant Directors-General and representatives of the central units. The Plan of Action will set out a consistent and precise strategy, by sector and by region, for the implementation of decentralized activities under the regular programme and the implementation of extra-budgetary projects, taking into account the situation and capacities of field offices and units and the specific and priority problems of regions and countries. It will be finalized after the General Conference has adopted the Programme and Budget for 1994-1995 (27 C/5).

72. The Working Group’s task is not only to set out precisely the nature, volume and forms of activities to be decentralized, but also to decide on the procedures needed to ensure that field units are quickly given the autonomy that they must have in order to discharge their new responsibilities, and to identify, on a case-by-case basis, the posts that will have to be transferred so that those new duties can be carried out. This becomes all the more important when one takes into account on the one hand the current trend towards restructuring the programming methods and strengthening the role of United Nations representatives at the country level, and on the other hand the close working relations that UNESCO has established, at the international level, with its institutional partners and donors. To instil this spirit of co- operation and complementarity in the very places where action is being implemented and to establish genuine partnership with countries at a national level - that, to my mind, is one of the priority requirements that the Organization will have to attend to in the years ahead.

73. The National Commissions, as I never tire of saying, have a crucial role to play in this regard. Regional or subregional consultations held recently (Cook Islands, Ghana, Mozambique and China) have revealed a growing awareness of the Commissions’ responsibilities in this connection. This was particularly true of the tenth Regional Conference of National Commissions of the Latin America and Caribbean Region, held in Havana from 12 to 16 July, which I had the pleasure of attending. The Conference established a concrete plan for stimulating co-operation and the flow of information between the National Commissions in the region, and between the National Commissions and the Secretariat - both at Headquarters and in the field. The Conference also stressed the need to strengthen interregional co-operation and, in this regard, proposals were made for the preparation of projects for implementation by National Commissions. It is encouraging to note that in all recent subregional and regional activities of National Commissions, observers from


Commissions of other regions have participated actively, illustrating the will of National Commissions to play an increasing role in international intellectual co-operation.

74. Since the last session of the Executive Board, the processing of the latest requests approved under the 1992-1993 Participation Programme has continued in close collaboration with the various programme sectors. A document summarizing all the requests submitted by the Latin America and the Caribbean region has been prepared as an experiment. It is a very useful working tool which should be extended to all regions. The circular letter governing the next biennium was prepared, due account being taken of the new budget provision of $25 million and its allocation to the various programme activities. It was sent to Member States in September and is available in English, French and Spanish. My colleagues are, of course, ready to provide Member States with any further information they require and assist them in preparing their requests.

75. The restructuring of the Ojjke of Public Information has just been completed, with the holders of the three key posts of the Office, namely the Director of OPI and the chiefs of the Audio-Visual and Public Relations Divisions being appointed and taking up their duties. It will therefore be possible to complete the redirection of OPI’s activities very shortly within the framework laid down in my note DG/Note/92/20 of 31 July 1992. With regard to written and audio-visual production, the four young journalists who were covering the Organization’s activities have gone back to their original employers after working for two years for UNESCOPRESSE. For financial reasons, only two young journalists could be recruited to replace them. The following have been produced and distributed: a series of programmes in Russian on copyright, financed by the Societe civile des Auteurs Multimedia; two programmes in French on solar energy in Africa, on the occasion of the World Solar Summit and in collaboration with Radio France Internationale; programmes in Spanish based on UNESCO’s ‘Letra Grande’ collection; and a UNESCO feature ‘To save our world heritage’ broadcast during the CNN World Report on 27 June at peak viewing time in both Europe and the Americas, thus reaching 300 million viewers in 120 countries. OPI’s press room concentrated on the meeting ‘Youth in Action’, the International Congress on the Conservation of Stone and other Materials, and on the World Solar Summit. These events were therefore widely covered by the press and audio-visual media. A round table on scientific popularization was organized on the occasion of the World Solar Summit.

76. Efforts continued to be made to improve the circulation of the UNESCO Courier. Encouraged by the results of the first campaign launched in January 1993, a second mailing campaign for the French edition in France was carried out in June 1993. A campaign to promote the English-language edition in the United States was organized in collaboration with an American professional marketing organization and launched at the end of August 1993. Preparations are also under way for undertaking consultations with National Commissions, with a view to adapting the editorial policy to the needs and aspirations of the target readership and to improving the circulation of the non-Headquarters’ editions.

77. In a decision adopted at its last session (141 EX/Decision 3.4.1), the Executive Board invited me to report to it on the stage of development and prospects of the Organization’s information services and on the part they could play in the plan to create an integrated library network within the United Nations system. In that connection, it should be remembered that the objective sought is to ensure that the central library, archives and the various sectoral information services and documentation centres operate effectively as a network within the framework of an integrated and computerized information and documentation system. Activities have been carried out at several levels to that end: making and updating an


inventory of UNESCO’s data bases and information services; training the staff of the various documentation centres to enable their bibliographical data to be entered on computer; organization of courses to train users in the management of archives, files and documents and in searching for data contained in the data bases; and automation of the information processing and retrieval system of the UNESCO Library, which manages a collection of about 200,000 volumes and 2,000 periodical titles.

78. All the bibliographical data bases can now be accessed on-line within the Secretariat. The UNESBIB data base, which has 49,000 references of UNESCO documents and publications, is updated on a regular basis. Outside users can have on-line access to this bibliographical data base through the ECHO server of the Commission of the European Communities and the IDRC server (International Development Research Council) in Canada. Documents and publications can be ordered on-line once they have been found in the base. On-line access to the Index Translationurn and DARE data bases is also possible through the ECHO server. Furthermore, after the evaluation of the pilot experiment of distributing a prototype CD-ROM containing six UNESCO data bases to 80 countries and 287 institutions, a second edition of the ‘UNESCO data bases CD-ROM’ containing 10 data bases was produced in 1993. The plan to produce a multimedia CD-ROM on the world heritage, shelved in 1992 for financial reasons, has been taken up again and a second test file in three languages (English, French and Spanish) has been developed in co-operation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

79. It should be recalled that UNESCO is a member of the Technical Panel on Inter-Library Co-operation Standards and Management (TP/LIB), which forms part of ACCIS (Advisory Committee for the Co-ordination of Information Systems). Over and above networking its own data bases, UNESCO co-operates actively with other libraries by means of the system of inter-library loan and exchange (the reciprocal dispatch of documents and data bases on CD- ROM). Moreover, ACCIS has produced an inter-agency CD-ROM, UNS/SABIR (United Nations Systems/Selected Agencies Bibliographic Information Records), which contains an integrated data base of the bibliographic references of the documents and publications of all the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations system, including UNESCO. Lastly, it should be emphasized that, in order to ensure compatibility, all the computerized data bases have been established using the CDS/ISIS software designed by UNESCO. This software, used by a majority of the libraries of sister organizations, should facilitate the project to create an integrated network of libraries within the United Nations system.

80. The budgetary constraints have hindered the creation of an integrated management system for the UNESCO Library. At the present stage, the Library possesses two computerized data bases on acquisitions of books and periodicals (AQUIB and AQUIP) which are being used as prototypes. The systems for ordering, lending and managing periodicals have not yet been fully automated; and the Library’s lending system, as well as the information processing and retrieval system of UNESCO’s archives, have yet to be fully computerized. On the other hand, the offer of on-line access to bibliographic data bases and the distribution of UNESCO CD-ROM in Member States have resulted in a sharp increase in requests for access to the documents produced by UNESCO. Consequently, the Draft Programme and Budget for 1994-1995 provides for the launching of a pilot project on computerized access to the full text of documents produced by UNESCO, and no longer merely to their references.

81. A significant aspect of the new personneZpoEicy which I established in 1990 has been to have a thorough review carried out of the post descriptions of all Secretariat posts in order to ascertain that content and classification matches in fact; 2,563 General Service and


Professional posts at Headquarters and in the field have thus been examined on the basis of the classification standards officially in force in the Organization. The duties, responsibilities and qualifications pertaining to each post, were systematically reviewed and evaluated. On the basis of the results of this technical exercise, which unfortunately could not be completed before the finalization of document 27 C/5, I decided that a total of 212 posts (including seven without budgetary implications) should be upgraded, both under the regular programme and drawing on extra-budgetary resources. As regards the 277 posts recommended for downgrading, they will, in principle, be downgraded as and when they fall vacant. Thirty-two of these posts have already been downgraded for the 1994-1995 biennium. A detailed report on the matter is contained in document 27 C/5 Rev.1, which also deals with the ways and means of financing the increased expenditure resulting from this exercise.

82. Among the activities carried out with a view to establishing greater equality between men and women, a study was undertaken on the advancement of women in the Secretariat. It showed that there had been an improvement in the number of women being recruited to the Professional category. Between 1977 and 1992, the proportion of professional women increased from 13 per cent to 32.42 per cent. None the less, the number of women appointed to P-4 and P-5 levels is still low; every effort should be made to remedy this situation.

83. Staff training continued with the organization of a workshop on the development of management in Nairobi (from 30 August to 3 September). Twenty members of staff from Regional Offices in Africa and the Arab States participated in that workshop. A self- instruction centre was opened in June 1993 in the Training Section: there, staff members can teach themselves how to master new software.

84. Lastly, I should like, once again, to stress the importance that I attach to the Junior Professional Probationers Programme, which is designed, on the one hand, to improve geographical distribution and, on the other, to facilitate the renewal of the Secretariat by the recruitment of competent young staff members. Accordingly, a letter was sent in July to the National Commissions and permanent delegations of unrepresented and under-represented Member States urging them to propose candidates for the 1994 Junior Professional Probationers Programme.

Financial and budgetary matters

85. As reported to the 141st session of the Board, the accumulation of arrears of contributions at the end of April 1993 was such that the cash deficit of the combined resources of the regular budget and Working Capital Fund amounted to $25.4 million at that date. In accordance with decision 8.2 adopted by the Board at the session, vigorous efforts have continued to collect contributions since then. I have personally made representations to governments and permanent delegations on numerous occasions, as have several high-level officers of the Secretariat. In July 1993, I have personally written letters to all Member States to explain the need for substantial reduction and, whenever possible, total elimination of their arrears. These various actions have borne fruit. A total of $92.6 million has been received over the four months since 30 April last. In addition, by September 1993, contributions due for previous financial periods had been reduced to $13.5 million from $25.5 million at the end of April 1993. I wish to thank most sincerely all Member States that contributed over this period for the efforts they have made. At 10 September 1993, contributions due total $122.4 million down from $215 million at 30 April 1993. I would therefore appeal to all Member States that have not already done so to pay their contributions in order that the programme may be delivered to the fullest extent possible. A full report on the current status of contributions is submitted to the Board under cover of document 142 EX/32 Add.


86. Since 30 April 1993, despite the cash flow savings made, borrowing has been required, as reported in detail in document 142 EX/32 Add., in order to finance expenditure for the approved programme. Such borrowing has been kept to the strict minimum. In particular, maximum use has been made of internal facilities available for loans at low interest rates. External borrowing has been arranged for minimum periods of time and frequently adjusted on a day-to-day basis to reduce interest costs. I am happy to report that since the first working day of June 1993, external borrowing that had been necessary in various amounts over the months of April and May has been repaid in full. Since then, external borrowing has not been necessary. Total interest costs for the biennium up to the end of August 1993 amounted to $894,749, which is very reasonable, when measured against the total budget to be implemented and the level of arrears to be financed. At the end of August 1993, the cash deficit was $14.2 million, down from $47.6 million at the close of 1992. This deficit was fully financed from internal borrowing. I expect to be in a position to report a further reduction in arrears of contributions between now and the opening of the twenty-seventh session of the General Conference. In accordance with decision 8.2 taken by the Executive Board at its 141st session, reports have been communicated to Board members each month on the status of contributions, borrowings and cash flows since 30 June 1993.

87. The implementation of the Programme and Budget for 1992-1993 continued to be seriously hampered by cash flow problems. Within the limits set for cash outflow on programme implementation by the Executive Board in Option C, efforts have continued to execute the programme respecting programme priorities. In this effort, I have been encouraged by the favourable responses and indications received from Member States regarding the payment of assessed contributions. As reported in detail in document 27 C/68, of the amount of $38.7 million originally put into reserve under Option C, and taking into account the $8.4 million already released in May 1993, a further amount of some $4.2 million was released in June, thereby reducing cash flow savings to about $26 million. It would seem excluded, under the present circumstances, to achieve the $4 million cash flow savings which were decided by the Board in ibspect to staff costs. Heavy lapse requirements, which were fully respected, and staff streamlining efforts involving termination indemnities for which adequate funds had to be found, exceeded the budget volume for this type of expenditure. As a consequence, cash flow savings in Option C presently stand at $22.1 million, including $5 million which will have to be made available through the suspension of some Financial Regulations by the General Conference. Further evolution in the situation will be reported to the Executive Board and the General Conference in an addendum to document 27 C/68.

88. By the end of July, the implementation rate stood at over 87 per cent for the funds allotted for planned programme activities and almost 90 per cent of the increased provision for the Participation Programme. Ways and means of implementing programme activities and funds, which will eventually have to be carried over to 1994 if contributions have not been received in time, are analysed in document 27 C/68. Furthermore, a full picture of programme implementation as at 31 August 1993 is given in the Management Chart (142 EXmNF.3, Part III).

89. One of the particularly important issues with which the Executive Board will have to deal at this session concerns the final recommendations on the budget for 1994-1995, proposed by the Director-General in document 27 C/5. I have prepared revised budget estimates in document 27 C/5 Rev.1 which, although in no way affecting the total budget, propose certain amendments within the budget in order to finance additional staff cost expenditure, resulting from the housewide post classification review (see para. 8 1 above).


90. Finally, the Executive Board will be interested to note that 238 draft amendments to document 27 C/5 have been received from 85 Member States by 9 August 1993 (deadline for draft resolutions with substantial budgetary implications), of which some 170 involve either the undertaking of new activities or a substantial increase in budgetary expenditure. According to preliminary estimates, the budgetary implications amount to over $12.5 million. This does not however include the estimate for certain draft resolutions because of lack of sufficient information concerning the costs involved. These are being currently evaluated by the concerned services of the Secretariat and a more realistic estimate of the budgetary implications will be made available soon. A full report on draft resolutions is submitted to the General Conference in document 27 C/8. However, it should be emphasized already at this stage that Member States submitted more than twice as many draft resolutions for document 27 C/5 than for document 26 C/5, with considerably higher budgetary implications than the funds requested previously.

91. In this regard I should to point out that according to preliminary estimates the budgetary implications of the draft resolutions which could be considered for financing under the Participation Programme amount to some $3 million. Besides some other draft resolutions relating to activities, such as the UNESCO chairs scheme, the UNITWIN project and the Memory of the World project, could be considered for financing through extra-budgetary resources (it being understood that some seed money may have to be made available under the Participation Programme or the regular programme for financing preliminary studies in certain cases). Thus the proposed $1.5 million reserve for draft resolutions will not be sufficient to cover the balance estimated at over $9.5 million without drastic changes in the work plan. Consequently, it is to be expected that the financing of draft resolutions would involve rather difficult and delicate negotiations at the General Conference. It is for this reason that I thought it desirable, already at this stage, to draw the attention of the members of the Executive Board to this important and sensitive matter.

* * *

92. The great many challenges that the world has to face and the global and integrated responses that these require make the United Nations system an entity which is more than ever indispensable. As Mr Boutros Boutros-Ghali pointed out in his last Report on the Work of the United Nations, ‘only the United Nations has the universal character, the global convening power and the extensive networks which cover virtually every international function in the service of all peoples’. The mandate of the United Nations is to work for a better world by establishing objectives for its peoples and nations, and criteria for international co-operation. In this regard, three imperatives have come to the fore since the end of the Cold War: the construction of peace, the pursuit of sustainable development and the universalization of human rights and democracy. In the light of these objectives, the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of UNESCO’s Constitution, which will be celebrated at the same time as that of the founding of the United Nations, should afford fresh proof of the current and continuing relevance of the text which was signed on 16 November 1945 in London, and of its complementarity with the San Francisco Charter.

93. The year 1995 will, in every respect, mark a turning-point for the United Nations system and for the international community with the holding of the World Summit for Social Development, that of the World Conference on Women and the proclamation, proposed on UNESCO’s initiative, of a ‘United Nations Year for Tolerance’ - three events which, by giving pride of place to the dignity and solidarity of humanity, are directly connected with the ethical task of our Organization. 1995 should also be the point of departure of the ‘recasting’

142 EWINF.3 - page 24

of the United Nations as a whole, with the completion of the process of restructuring the various organizations of the system according to two principles: a clear division of tasks and synergy in action, both at the global level and on the ground, that is, at the national level. The year 1995 will also mark the adoption of UNESCO’s fourth Medium-Term Plan, whose symbolic importance is all the greater in that it will usher our Organization into a new century and, what is more, a new millennium.

94. All these reasons lead me to attach the utmost importance to the activities commemorating UNESCO’s fiftieth anniversary and their co-ordination with the events being prepared at the United Nations. Accordingly, I have set up a working group to prepare for this celebration in consultation with the various units at Headquarters and in the field. Three types of activities might be envisaged. Firstly, those concerning the commemoration itself - which should be backed by a campaign of advertising, awareness and promotion targeting the general public. Secondly, activities which I would call substantive, capable of giving fresh impetus to the programme and concerned to further the revifalization of UNESCO’s intellectual function, following the example of the major bodies of reflection recently set up by the Organization. It is to be noted that the reports of the two International Commissions on Education and Culture will be published in 1995. The establishment of another international commission might also be envisaged, on science this time, since this is clearly a domain that will exert a decisive influence over the destiny of future generations. The convening might also be envisaged, in co-operation with the organizations present at Jomtien, of a major conference aimed at reinvigorating the efforts to universalize basic education and literacy instruction, and which might adopt a ‘Declaration on the Emergency in Education’, containing clear pledges for the period up to the year 2000; another possibility would be to organize a symposium on ‘The relevance of UNESCO’s Constitution on the eve of the twenty-first century’. A final set of activities might be planned to support any initiatives that Member States and non-governmental organizations might take on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of UNESCO. These are merely suggestions. Discussions within the governing bodies of the Organization will no doubt make them more precise, besides producing others. What is clear is that we are about to witness a conjunction of dates and events coinciding with a point in history that is already being perceived as the end of one era and the start of a new age, as well as with an international climate that is exceptionally favourable for bold undertakings aimed at renewal. It will be long before such a conjunction occurs again. Let us be sure to take advantage of it.

I -

,..i L ,. i, ‘li ,.

142 EXDNF.3 Cot-r. Part1 PARIS, 21 October 1993 English & French only


EXECUTIVE BOARD


Item 5,l. 1 of the agenda


PART I

Corrigendum

Paragraph 56:

Replace the first two sentences in the paragraph (from The third meeting of the Commission . . . . ..I to ’ . . . . . . . . members of the Commission itself.‘) by the following sentence: The third meeting of the Commission should be held in Santiago, Chile, from 13 to 15 January 1994, subject to a rearrangement of the timetable of the Chairman of the Commission.‘.

142 EX/INF.3 Part II PARIS, 1 October 1993 English & French only


EXECUTIVE BOARD


Item 5.1.1 of the nrovisional agenda

REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION

SINCE THE 141st SESSION

PART II

PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

SUMMARY

The purpose of this document is to inform members of the Executive Board about the activities of the Organization since the 141st session of the Board and to provide material for the discussion of item 5.1.1 of its provisional agenda. Part II deals with the most noteworthy aspects of programme implementation since

’ the last session.

------ _--I__ .~_.. .-- --.-

142 EX/INF.3

MAJOR PROGRAMME AREA I

Towards basic education for all

1. UNESCO released the first Jomtien progress report entitled Education for all: status and trends (para. 01112).l The July-September 1993 issue of Education for All 2000 Bulletin focuses in particular on education of girls and women.

2. In preparation for the forthcoming Education for all Summit of the nine most populous developing countries (New Delhi, 15- 16 December 1993), a meeting of Ministers of Education of the nine countries was organized in Paris on 3-4 June 1993. This meeting which was also attended by senior officials from UNICEF and UNFPA, co-sponsors of the Summit, decided on the content of the principal documents for the Summit, notably a declaration and a plan of action; it established a schedule for preparatory activities, including the organization of major national events, media coverage and the preparation of national plans of action. UNESCO will prepare a position paper for the Summit on the basis of the nine country papers and the latest available statistical data (paras. 01121 and 01132).

3. The second meeting of the International Consultative Forum on Education for All was held in New Delhi (8-10 September 1993) on the theme quality education for all, this global mechanism set up for following up the Jomtien Conference was convened on behalf of the Executive Head of UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank, and some 80 senior executives and personalities from developing countries, intergovernmental bodies, donor agencies and NGOs participated in the meeting, which opened on International Literacy Day.

4. The three international literacy prizes for 1993, i.e. the International Reading Association Literacy Award, the Noma Prize and the King Sejong Literacy Prize, were awarded respectively to the Sebenta National Institute, Swaziland, the Indian National Federation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations, and the Illiteracy Eradication and Adult Education project, Ministry of Education, Jordan.

5. As part of its co-operation with the World Food Programme (WFP) in the preparation and evaluation of food aid-assisted education projects, the Organization participated in four missions in Latin America and the Caribbean and one in Asia, as well as in a seminar on the role of school feeding programmes in Central America, during which a declaration was unanimously adopted by the Ministers of Education of the five countries concerned (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama). It also attended the last session of WFP’s governing body, the Committee on Food Aid Policies and Programmes, which approved four education projects at a total cost to WFP of some US $71 million (paras. 01124 and 01132).

6. Within the framework of the joint UNESCO-UNICEF Street and Working Children project, a book entitled Fleurs de Poussibre - Les Enfants de la rue en Afrique will be published in French on the occasion of the twenty-seventh session of the General Conference and distributed to the representatives of Member States. Its English and Spanish versions will be ready in early 1994. A subregional training workshop for street educators was jointly organized by UNESCO, UNICEF, and CHILDHOPE for the South Asian countries in Manila (1-12 September 1993). Each of the 21 educators from five Member States (Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam) trained during the workshop was provided with an individual plan of action to implement in his/her respective country which should result

1. Paragraph references are to document 26 C/5 Approved.


in a multiplier effect. A meeting will be held in 1995 to evaluate the results and to chalk out further action. A regional seminar on children and adolescents in conflict with the law was organized by UNESCO and UNICEF for Latin American countries at the University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, from 17 September to 2 October 1993. Under the project Education For Au: Making it Work, the second meeting of the international advisory group on the analysis and dissemination of innovations in basic education, took place at UNESCO Headquarters on 8-9 July 1993 (para. 01104).

7. UNESCO organized, in co-operation with the Polish Government, the first European round table on education for all in Warsaw (9-l 1 September 1993). Some 150 experts from the Central and Eastern European countries and representatives from donor agencies exchanged views on various aspects of the Polish education reform process and on policy developments in the other countries in transition (para. 01141).

8. A regional training workshop for the preparation of reading materials for rural women in Arab countries was held in Tunis (June 1993) as a follow-up to the summit on the economic advancement of rural women (Geneva, February 1992). Twenty-two women and four men representing 18 Member States in the Arab region participated in the workshop and prepared 18 prototypes of illustrated books on subjects of specific interest to rural women with limited reading ability.

9. The fifth meeting of the Committee of the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (PROMEDLAC V) was held in Santiago, Chile, in June 1993. There were 200 participants, including 23 ministers, deputy ministers and secretaries for education. The participants discussed eight topics: the expansion of education, equity in education and improvement of the quality of education, especially at the primary level; the struggle against illiteracy; basic learning for young people and adults; adapting education to modernization; the decentralization of education systems; the ‘professionalization’ of schools, teachers and headmasters; greater participation by new social actors and aid agencies and the strengthening of horizontal co-operation; the contribution of education to economic and social development with. a view to consolidating democracy and peace in the region (pat-as. 01107- 01112).

10. Within the framework of the Young child and the family environment project, a funds-in- trust project for early childhood and community development, financed by the Government of Portugal, has been agreed. To promote the Convention on the Rights of the Child, an illustrated booklet for children aged 6 to 10 has been prepared in co-operation with the French Minisdre des Affaires Sociales, de la sante et de la ville. In preparation for the International Year of the Family, 1994, two books in French Le devenir de la famille (author Djamchid Beynham) and FumiZZes en mutation duns une sock% en mutation have been published and an illustrated work in English Families will be published for the General Conference in 1993.

11. UNESCO guidelines on values education will be discussed at an international experts’ meeting (Oslo, 6-8 October 1993), organ&d in co-operation with the Norwegian Ministry of Education and the Consortium of Institutions for Development and Research in Education in Europe (para. 01208).

12. A Declaration endorsing the further development of Project 2000+ was adopted by an International Forum on Scientific and Technological Literacy for All, held at UNESCO Headquarters (6-10 July 1993), to set up an agenda for action and identify the supporting steps that individuals, institutions, organizations and governments can take together in working to reform and revitalize science and technology education at all levels. The 400 participants of the


forum came from 80 countries and included representatives of UNESCO and other United Nations agencies, intergovernmental bodies as well as non-governmental organizations (paras. 01210-01214).

13. The International project on technical and vocational education (UNEVGC) has now become operational. The UNEVOC advisory committee held its first meeting at the UNEVOC Implementation Unit in Berlin (20-22 September 1993). The participating institutions for the international network in technical and vocational education have been identified and the computer&d directory is now under preparation. In co-operation with the IL0 Training Centre, two international seminars were organized: one on the role of technical and vocational education in education systems (Turin, 14-18 June 1993), and the other on curriculum development in technical and vocational education (Turin, 30 August-3 September 1993). Other UNEVOC-related activities included the organization of a national conference (Beijing, September 1993), and the planning of a round table on technical and vocational education at the sixth Conference of Ministers of Education of Member States in Asia and the Pacific (Kuala Lumpur, June 1993). A subregional workshop on the introduction of computers in technical and vocational education was organized in Dakar (26-30 July 1993) with the participation of Burkina Faso, C8te d’Ivoire, Mali and Senegal. The workshop focused on three themes: computers as a discipline, computers as teaching support and maintenance of computer equipments. This was the second of a series of workshops organized in Africa to develop a common core programme. The first was held in Harare (24-26 May 1993) (paras. 01225-01227).

Higher education

14. The 10th Consultation of the liaison officers of the European Centre for Higher Education (CEPES), from 2 to 4 July 1993, focused on the implementation of the electronic networking system, and the participation of the liaison officers in the activities of CEPES. In collaboration with the Romanian Ministry of Education, CEPES organized in Oradea, Romania (5-7 May 1993), a high-level consultation of Ministers of Education and Vice-Ministers in charge of higher education in the Central and Eastern ‘European countries on policy issues related to quality assessment and institutional accreditation in higher education. Professors Justin Thorens and Gottfried Leibbrandt, the Director-General’s personal representatives in the talks on the future of CEPES with European intergovernmental organizations, have submitted their final report; its main findings, together with the previous decisions of the Executive Board, will contribute to the measures needed for the full utilization of CEPES’ intellectual and material. resources and the possible restructuring of the CEPES advisory committee (para. 01236).

15. The total number of UNESCO chairs, set up or under consideration, has increased from 70 to 91. A few networks are under consideration, while new proposals have been received, inter alia, from Australia, Bahrain, France, Germany, Jordan and Netherlands. A data base for the computerized evaluation and monitoring of the programme was set up and efforts are being made to involve the National Commissions in the implementation of the UNESCO chairs scheme. Two meetings were held, one in Dakar on a UNESCO chair on teacher education and the other in Curitiba, Brazil, on co-ordination of networks on sustainable development (para. 01239).

16. Discussions were held with the Council of Europe on the elaboration of a joint new convention on the recognition of studies and qualifications in Europe. Several Member States from Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, expressed their


interest in joining UNESCO’s regional conventions on the recognition of studies, diplomas and degrees in higher education. As of 20 August 1993,93 Member States had ratified the regional conventions (para. 01241).

17. The 4th joint UNESCO-IL0 subregional seminar on the status of teachers was organ&d in Abidjan (28 June-2 July 1993), and brought together representatives of governments, teachers’ unions and employers of teachers in the private sector to evaluate the application of the ILO-UNESCO 1966 Recommendation on the status of teachers in French-speaking countries of Africa The participants also discussed the implications of structural adjustment measures on the teaching profession and on the status of female teachers. A subregional seminar on the assessment of teacher-training institutions in French-speaking countries of Africa was convened in Dakar (28 June-2 July 1993) to assess teacher-training programmes and to recommend mechanisms for improved exchange of information among teacher-training institutions (paras. 01243-01247).

18. In July 1993 the Secretariat allotted a $50,000 grant-in-aid to the Palestinian Council of Higher Education in order to set up temporary liaison offices for Palestinian universities and colleges in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza. At these offices, students who could not travel to the educational institutions concerned because of the sealing off of the occupied territories, could register for the 1993-1994 academic year (par-a. 01308).

19. The English and French versions of Women in higher education management, co- published by UNESCO and the Commonwealth Secretariat, appeared in September 1993.

Promoting the advancement of education

20. The seventh meeting of the advisory committee on regional co-operation in education in Asia and the Pacific (ADCOM VII) was held in Kuala Lumpur from 14 to 17 June 1993. A ‘Concept paper for a programme of regional co-operation in support of basic education in Asia and the Pacific’, prepared by UNESCO and UNDP, was presented to this meeting. ADCOM VII recommended that UNDP and the UNESCO Office, Bangkok, elaborate a regional project for submission to UNDP for financing, which would involve the two regional programmes in the region, namely APEID and APPEAL. The overall recommendations of ADCOM VII focusing on basic education, education for the twenty-first century and international regional co-operation, were submitted to the sixth Conference of Ministers of Education of Member States in Asia and the Pacific (MINEDAP VI) to facilitate its deliberation. Also submitted to the Conference was the report of the final regional workshop on the preparation of national education for all action plans, convened in Bangkok (May 1993) with 22 participants from six Member States in Asia and the Pacific. MINEDAP VI, which was held in Kuala Lumpur from 21 to 24 June 1993, adopted recommendations on education for all, education for women and girls, quality and relevance of education, and on international and regional co-operation. A Kuala Lumpur declaration focusing on education for women and values education was also adopted. A full report on MINEDAP VI is presented in document 27 C/91 (paras. 01309-01311).

21. The 6th subregional consultation meeting on the Caribbean Network of Educational Innovation for Development (CARNEID) was organized in May 1993 and 16 chief education officers and representatives from the Caribbean Development Bank, the Caribbean Community Secretariat (CARICOM), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD), UNICEF, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the British Development Division participated. It was


recommended that CARNEID focus on promoting networking in curriculum development, educational management and administration, materials production and training. It was also given a task of conducting research concerning the causes of indiscipline in school (para. 01328).

22. A donors’ consultation meeting on the master plan for education of the Dominican Republic was held on 16 and 17 June 1993 at UNESCO Headquarters. The meeting was jointly organized by the Dominican Republic, UNDP and UNESCO, and was attended by delegates from nine countries, representatives from two United Nations agencies and five regional/international organizations (para. 0 13 15).

23. UNESCO has been implementing a humanitarian project to aid the children of Iraq. This project is developed within the context of the Inter-Agency Humanitarian Programme for Iraq, co-ordinated by the Department of Humanitarian Affairs. Its focus has been on repair of schools and the provision of kits for schoolchildren in all parts of Iraq. At present it is a limited programme as funding for the programme actions is not plentiful. However, this activity demonstrates the Grganization’s commitment to being active in all emergency situations.

24. As part of the activities aimed at providing technical support to countries under socio- economic transition, UNESCO is collaborating with Mongolia, in formulating new modalities for the training of educational administrators and institution managers in rural Mongolia (para. 01316).

25. The World Education Report for 1993 focuses on the theme ‘education in a world of adjustment and change’ and highlights three aspects of this theme: the changing global pattern of disparities in access to education, which draws attention to the existence of a real danger of the knowledge gap’ widening for some of the world’s poorest countries, despite the progress being made in reducing the disparities; the continuing relevance of existing international legal conventions relating to education; the quest for new and better informed education standards and the increasing interest in international co-operation in educational research. Its appendices will include a unique set of statistics - world education indicators - giving country-by-country data on key aspects of education in over 170 countries and a list of UNESCO’s reports, publications and periodicals concerning education in the period 1991-1993. The report is at an advanced stage of preparation and is expected to be completed by mid-December 1993. Efforts will be made to make available to the twenty-seventh session of the General Conference a limited number of advance copies at least in one language.

International Institute for Educati&al Planning (IIEP)

26. IIEP has completed its annual training programme in educational planning and administration (1992- 1993 session); 41 trainees from 37 Member States (including 14 women) received the certificate marking the completion of nine months of practical and intensive training. A subregional workshop on education, employment and the development of human resources was held from 15 to 25 June in Fiji for the countries of the South Pacific; 22 participants (including 11 women) took part in this workshop, during which special emphasis was placed on alternative strategies for the development of human resources taking account of the specific characteristics of the region (paras. 01503-01504).

International Bureau of Education (IBE)

27. In preparation for the 44th session of the International Conference on Education, on the theme ‘Appraisal and perspectives of education for international understanding’ (October


1994), the IBE has sent all Member States a questionnaire and suggestions for the preparation of a national report. It has also contacted a number of specialists in various regions with a view to the preparation of a series of national studies on the state of education for international understanding. Regional meetings and round tables are being organized, and various working documents are being prepared, in the run up to the International Conference on Education (para. 01403).

Co-operation for development

28. Out of the 33 TSS-1 activities (Technical Support Services at programme level - Upstream activities) to be carried out under co-operation for development in education, five have been completed, 17 are being implemented while a further seven are ready for start-up in the next quarter. This has involved missions to 26 Member States by staff members and consultants from Headquarters and field units and resulted in the submission of some 100 proposals through UNDP field offices for 19941995.

MAJOR PROGRAMME AREA II

Co-operation in basic and engineering sciences

29. A consultative meeting on ‘UNESCO and the international physics community: an agenda for scientific co-operation’ was organized, at UNESCO Headquarters, in collaboration with the American, European and Japanese Physics Societies, to agree on joint actions in physics for development, physics in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and the planning and implementation of very large research facilities. The meeting recommended that UNESCO appoint an international advisory committee on physics research and education (para. 02117).

30. The Latin American meeting for the evaluation of the PUFFAL project (UNESCO university foundation course in physics), held in Rio de Janeiro from 11 to 13 August 1993, revised alternative proposals for physics curricula for the Latin America region. The UNESCO project for introducing computers into undergraduate basic science courses in the Arab region is progressing satisfactorily and includes computer-aided learning for physics education and a project for modernization of mathematics teaching (para. 02105).

3 1. Through the UNESCO Biotechnology Action Council (BAC) a total of 110 short-term fellowships in aquatic, environmental and plant biotechnologies were awarded over the period September 1991-September 1993. These included 40 fellowships to women scientists, 14 fellowships to researchers from the least developed countries, eight fellowships to researchers from island countries and eight fellowships within the framework of South-South co-operation. In addition, four UNESCO-BAC and four UNESCO-MIRCEN professorships were made available for research guidance in developing countries in different areas of biotechnologies (para. 02120).

32. In the framework of co-operation with UNDP and through the UNESCO network of Microbial Resources Centres (MIRCENs) two projects for Africa and Europe have been completed. The former project included the award of ten fellowships, the completion of ten workshops and 22 research projects, and the organization of three international conferences in Senegal (1988), Nigeria (1990) and Morocco (1992) by the African Association for Biological Nitrogen Fixation (AABNF). The project could thus bring together a number of commendable, yet scattered research and training activities, that are contributing to soil fertility, biofertilizer


use for food production, development of rural markets and bioremediation. Furthermore, advanced research institutions in 25 African countries were the beneficiaries of peer-reviewed laboratory protocols and manuals. In the latter project special attention was paid to the development of a biotechnological information exchange system (BITES), to bioremediation of hazardous wastes and industrial waste-waters, to the development of soil conditioners via university-industry interaction, and to the conservation of microbial diversity, through nine international training courses and seminars (with a total of 280 participants) and 22 fellowships in biotechnological applications in industry, agriculture and medicine.

33. Preparations for the hundredth anniversary of the death of Louis Pasteur foresee the organization of five regional symposia by the Pasteur Institute in close collaboration with UNESCO Offices in Europe, Africa, South-East Asia, the Pacific and Latin America. FA0 and WHO have expressed interest to join the Government of France and UNESCO in the commemorative events.

34. Under the UNESCO Scientific Co-ordinating Committee on the Human Genome, ten young scientists, including five women, were awarded fellowships to receive advanced training during two to three months in laboratories and institutions involved in the study of the human genome (par-a. 02119). Furthermore, 15 young researchers - including six women scientists - have been awarded UNESCO-ICSU short-term fellowships for advanced training in basic sciences (para. 02122).

35. Active collaboration with the international non-governmental organizations continues to be a fruitful one with an important multiplying effect. Thus, from 1962 to the end of 1992, the International Cell Research Organization (ICRO), an NGO created by UNESCO, organized a total of 338 training courses in 72 countries, with the attendance of about 8,000 participants from all over the world.

36. A high-level expert meeting of the World Solar Summit process was held at UNESCO Headquarters from 5 to 9 July 1993. This meeting attracted several international, regional, and national institutions including UNEP, WHO, UNU, the Commission of European Communities, the International Energy Agency, the Solar Energy Society, EUROSOLAR, the French Agency for Energy and Environment, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation. More than 340 experts from 50 countries discussed the future role of renewable energies: assessment of advantages and disadvantages of solar energy, status and perspectives of the various technologies and applications, opportunities and barriers to the diffusion of solar energy, and related social, financial and economic factors impeding the use of renewable energy. The meeting concluded that there was a need to identify large-scale projects to help the developing nations in the field of energy and environmental protection. These projects relate to rural electrification, public information, solar energy for the development of Africa, and solar energy for peace. To finance such projects the meeting proposed the establishment of the World Solar Fund. It also proposed the preparation and adoption of an International Solar Treaty to encourage governments to take steps to develop and implement renewable energy technologies and to share knowledge and technology innovations. Finally, the meeting adopted a resolution inviting the Director-General to follow up the World Solar Summit process by organizing a series of regional high-level expert meetings with round tables on each new and renewable energy source; convening a major congress for the World Solar Summit process by the end of 1994; leading consultations with the heads of other interested United Nations Specialized Agencies and bodies so as to recommend to the United Nations General Assembly a World Solar Decade for 1995-2005; and initiating the steps towards a Summit of Heads of State to be held between 1995 and 1997. A regional project for the


establishment of a network for training and research on solar energy in the Mediterranean region was launched during a meeting of directors of solar energy laboratories from Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia (para. 02125).

37. The third in the series of International Congress of Engineering Deans and Industry Leaders was held at UNESCO Headquarters from 23 to 25 June 1993, in collaboration with the International Union of Technical Associations and Organizations. Its main objective was to examine the methods of adapting the engineering and research profession to the needs of industries and national economies. The Director-General of UNIDO as well as 260 participants from 60 countries attended the meeting. One major recommendation of the congress concerned the use of satellite-delivery mechanisms for courses in continuing engineering education, possibly in association with distance learning institutions. The participants also made several recommendations for the improvement of the UNESCO programme on university-industry-science partnership (UNISPAR). In particular the creation of UNESCO chairs at universities and sponsored by industries was suggested as a component of UNISPAR. Furthermore, UNESCO was requested to assist in the creation of data bases for the distribution of information on various mechanisms aimed at promoting university research and industry co-operation (para. 02127).

38. The UNESCO Office in Brasilia has helped to develop a national plan for postgraduate courses in technological education for the federal centres for technological education in Brazil; to prepare an international seminar on ways and means of setting up joint ventures by universities and the industrial sector; and to run a national course in textile engineering in co- operation with the National Confederation of Industries and the University of Rio de Janeiro (para. 02 127).

39. A series of meetings with Italian officials have been held with a view to reinforcing the Regional Office for Science and Technology for Europe, located in Venice, so as to increase the role of East-West and North-South co-operation in Europe. It is expected that under the agreement which is being negotiated with the Italian Government, European and interregional projects being carried out by the UNESCO Office will be supported through extra-budgetary resources.

40. The International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) with UNESCO and the Commission of European Communities convened a conference on the role of science in rebuilding Central and Eastern Europe, at Leeds Castle (United Kingdom) in April 1993. The conference was attended by 33 persons from 15 countries and six international organizations, including a number of leading international scientists, ministers, parliamentarians and off&&ls responsible for policy-making. It was recognized that priority-setting among different needs of society entails difficult decisions, especially at a time of economic restructuring and financial stringency; nevertheless it is vital that governments make adequate provision to safeguard science since it is very difficult to re-establish the necessary human capital and infrastructure once these have been dissipated. It was recognized that both basic research and its application must be supported and that increased interaction between scientists and industry is imperative. Recommendations of a more specific nature included: the establishment of a clearing house or a network to provide information on existing international opportunities to assist science and scientists in Central and Eastern Europe; the setting up of chairs and exchange programmes to strengthen university teaching and research; the support to outstanding individuals to allow them to pursue their teaching and research; the introduction of financial and material incentives to discourage the brain drain; the support of increased research on technology transfer between

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East and West and between basic research and industry; the undertaking of independent assessments of science and technology capacity and potential in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and disseminating the results widely; the development of appropriate legislation in Central and ,Eastem European countries to meet changing conditions in science and technology, including questions of intellectual property rights, patents and fiscal matters (para. 02127).

41. Under the Asociacion Universidades Grupo de Montevideo-MECCO-UNESCO programme, the activities initiated in 1993 consisted of the exchange of scientists and professors among member universities of Argentina, South Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Preparatory activities for the establishment of a chair in micro-electronics and basic sciences were also initiated under this programme. The UNESCO-MECCO-BOLIVAR seminar, held in Montevideo on 11 August 1993, was a milestone, as it was the first time that MECCO and BOLIVAR programme co-ordinators of two Member States, Argentina and Uruguay, met and exchanged experiences. Several activities, mainly for the training of industrial professionals, were agreed to be financed by the Bolivar National Committees and MECCO.

Environment and development

42. At the level of the United Nations system, the most important event was the first session of the newly established Commission on Sustainable Development - CSD (New York, 14-25 June 1993) (see Part I of this document).

43. UNESCO’s IOC provided technical support to three intergovernmental actions set up by the General Assembly as a follow-up to UNCED: the elaboration of an international convention to combat desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa; the preparation of a global conference on the sustainable development of small island developing States (Barbados, April 1994); and the convening of a United Nations Conference on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (New York, 12-30 July 1993). UNESCO was represented at the first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on a Convention to Combat Desertification (INCD), held in Nairobi from 24 May to 3 June 1993. UNESCO contributions were a technical document on the freshwater issues and an exhibit on Ecology in action’ promoting UNESCO programmes to combat desertification. Four other meetings are planned for the preparation of the Convention, the last being hosted by UNESCO for the final agreement and the signature of the document.

44. The members of the committee for the follow-up of UNCED, reporting directly to the Director-General, started to work closely with in-house small intersectoral groups in developing the following four cross-cutting areas: adapting capacity-building to complex environment and development issues; information on environment and development; interdisciplinary sciences for sustainable development; and biological diversity.

45. Some progress has been made in the field of co-operation between UNESCO and financing institutions and mechanisms involved in UNCED follow-up (e.g. the Global Environment Facility - GEF, UNDP’s Capacity 21). However, these financing institutions and mechanisms continue to hold the position that Specialized Agencies such as UNESCO have a limited role to play in providing technical assistance to developing countries in their respective areas of competence. Forthcoming senior-level inter-agency consultations will provide another opportunity to discuss this matter (para. 02205). UNESCO Offices, Jakarta and New York, have examined, with UNDP, the World Bank and UNEP, the ways in which a major UNESCO initiative for an ‘Indo-Pacific marine and environmental science and technology education and training network could be implemented.


46. Eighteen International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP) projects had their field meetings with the participation of about 900 researchers from 55 countries (para. 02225). A new activity was launched to strengthen the earth science component in IGBP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme) with a first project CLIP (Climates of the Past), which will reinforce the co-operation with marine scientists.

47. Contacts have been established with current deep continental drilling projects, e.g. Germany and with OECD, to create a consortium or a network on deep drilling, taking into account the interest of the developing countries. The GARS (Geological Application of Remote Sensing) project in Latin America is being terminated; this year the European and Japanese Space Agencies will provide the project with radar remote sensing information; this data will be used to develop a geographic information system on the protection of people and the economic infrastructure against landslides (para. 02227).

48. The international summer school on direct application of geothermal energy (Skopje, Macedonia) organized in Bansko (Bulgaria) a meeting of experts and a training seminar on the applications of geothermal energy, mainly for specialists from Central and Eastern Europe. This meeting could lead to setting up a network of seminars on low-temperature geothermal energy within the region (para. 02226).

49. Demonstrating the application of modern information technologies, especially geographic information system (GIS), in the environmentally sound management of natural resources is the goal of a joint programme of UNESCO and the International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC) in Enschede, Netherlands, initiated in 1988. Recent progress and future plans were discussed at the fourth steering committee for the UNESCO/ITC Geoinformation Programme, which took place at UNESCO Headquarters on 25 June 1993. The programme consists of interlinked components in the fields of geology, hydrology and ecology. The geology component is focused principally on the use of GIS in the mapping of mountain hazards in the Andes. The hydrology and ecology components are concentrated on several pilot projects related to the planning and management of three biosphere reserves (Amboseli in Kenya, Cibodas in Indonesia, Wuyishan in China), and the dissemination of the results through training courses, regional seminars, publications, and demonstration packages (pat-a. 02243).

50. An international symposium on tropical phytogeography took place in Paris from 6 to 8 July 1993. Organized jointly by the Laboratory of Tropical Botany of the University of Paris Pierre and Marie Curie and the French Institute for Scientific Research for Development in Co-operation (ORSTOM), with the technical and financial support of UNESCO, the symposium brought together some 200 researchers from all regions of the world. The symposium was articulated around the following themes: vegetation structure, distribution areas, new methods, recent evolution of concepts; biodiversity and speciation; phytogeography and adaptation; phytogeography and useful plants; phytogeographical consequences of climatic and anthropic modifications (para. 02243).

51. The Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR) of the National Centre for Scientific Research of Viet Nam played host in Hanoi from 28 June to 1 July 1993 to a regional workshop on tropical forest ecosystem research, which brought together about 100 participants, including some 30 scientists and managers from Asian countries other than Viet Nam and representatives from such programmes and bodies as the Mekong Committee, SEAMEO, BIOTROP and WWF. Technical presentations spanned such topics as the use of satellite data for monitoring forest cover in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, forest

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rehabilitation in Guangdong Province (China), agroforestry as a sustainable land-use system in Indonesia, forest structure and regeneration after logging in Laos, forest resource management in Brunei Darussalam, nutritional status of forest populations of West Kalimantan as a motivation for deforestation, use of geographic information systems for assessing forest change in Cambodia, management of production forests in Thailand (para. 02245).

52. The UNESCO Office in Brasilia has helped to launch the project for a biosphere reserve in the cm-ado ecosystem and to frame a project for an ecological museum on this type of vegetation.

53. From 24 to 25 June 1993, the steering committee for the TUBS-SCOPE-UNESCO programme Diver-s& met at ICSU headquarters in Paris, to examine recent progress and future plans of this collaborative endeavour, which seeks inter alia to contribute to the research needs called for in Agenda 21 and the International Convention on Biodiversity (para. 02243).

54. For the third time, the UNESCO Office, Jakarta, collaborated with the Goethe Institute, Jakarta, in organizing in Indonesia’s capital a seminar on waste and sustainable development; a challenge to environmental education (14-17 December 1992), the proceedings of which were published in August 1993. A similar seminar will be organized towards the end of 1993 on air pollution in big cities, for which UNESCO together with the Indonesian Ministry of Environment will provide substantive inputs. This is an example of co-operation activities catried out with no other resources required from our Regional Office than UNESCO’s expertise and active participation.

55. The activities concerning the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and marine science-related issues included: the further development of the floating university through cruises in the Mediterranean and the Baltic Seas; a workshop on coastal zone studies and sea-level changes in conjunction with the Coastal Zone ‘93 Conference in New Orleans (United States) with particular emphasis on Africa and the Caribbean; the completion of the first field phase of the International Mussel Watch for the Caribbean and South America resulting in baseline information on distribution of pesticides (chlorinated hydrocarbons) in coastal waters there; the second leg of the Open Ocean Baseline Study in the North Atlantic; a training course on toxic algal blooms supported by DANIDA; and coastal zone studies in East and West Africa. Furthermore, a meeting of the UNEP-IOC-WMO-IUCN Task Team on Coral Reefs was organized for the preparation of a global pilot monitoring of coral reefs (Miami, June 1993). IOC has participated in the further co-ordination of the World Climate Programme, the development of the Global Climate Observing System and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). A co-operation agreement between IOC, WMO and ICSU, on the development of the scientific and technical parts of GOOS, has been formally concluded (paras. 02259-02260,02268,02270-02272).

56. The UNESCO Office, Cairo, produced and disseminated two issues of the Arabic version of the International Marine Science Newsletter - IMS. The same Office supervised the translation to Arabic of the book entitled Scientific diving: a general code of practice, and wilI publish the proceedings of the UNESCO symposium on marine chemistry in the Arab region (Suez, Egypt, April 1991). The Office also purchased software programmes which are useful tools in the processing of oceanographic data, and identifying and classifying marine flora and biota; copies of these programmes are being distributed to the marine science institutions in the Arab States (para. 02262).


57. A workshop was held by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) and the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) on the development of water-related information systems in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Geological Survey has expressed strong interest in continuing to collaborate with IHP during its fifth phase. IHP sponsored several scientific meetings at the IAHS-IAMAP (International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics) scientific assembly. Working group sessions were held in the areas of climate change, snow and ice problems and large-scale hydrological experiments over the Amazon Basin (para. 02288). Support was provided to the postgraduate course on environmental hydrology held at Cairo University, in May-June 1993, in co-operation with the Egyptian IHP Committee (para. 02289).

58. Negotiations have been conducted with Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, concerning the co-publication of selected IHP volumes. Within the International Hydrology Series, the first volume is devoted to Humid tropics hydrology and water resources management (para. 02289).

Science, technology and society

59. An international workshop on ‘Science and technology legislation for Europe in transition: role of governments and parliaments’ was organized in Certoza di Pontignano (Italy), from 17 to 20 May 1993. The meeting, financed by the Italian Government contribution, was attended by ministers of science, chairmen of parliamentary commissions and directors of departments. Another meeting on Legislative framework for science, technology and innovation’, held in Constinesti (Romania) from 3 to 6 June 1993, was supported by UNESCO. Furthermore, the Organization supported the participation of specialists in the annual conference ‘A world at the crossroad, organ&d by the Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs, in Hasseledden (Sweden) from 9 to 15 June 1993; and in the XIX International Congress of History of Science, organ&d by the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science in Zaragoza (Spain) from 22 to 29 August 1993 (para. 02305).

60. The feasibility study and action plan for the Arab regional training network for science and technology management was completed and widely distributed throughout the region for comments, with executive summaries sent to potential funding sources. A follow-up mission to Bahrain and Kuwait was undertaken in May 1993 in order to seek funds for the network. A meeting of the preparatory committee of the network took place at the UNESCO Gffice, in Cairo, on 27 and 28 June 1993. Two training courses are being planned for 1994 under the regular programme and in co-operation with the Arabian Gulf University, on methodologies for transferring research results to production units and for the evaluation of research proposals (para. 02308). The fifth meeting of the Network of Postgraduate Studies on Planning, Management and Social Studies of Science and Technology in Latin America, held in Porto Alegre (Brazil) from 25 to 27 May 1993, resulted in a regional co-operation programme for 1993-1994. The UNITEC programme working group meeting, held in Caracas from 23 to 24 June 1993, prepared a draft proposal on the UNITEC Technology Management Programme in Latin America (para. 02309).

61. In co-operation with the periodical Scientific American, UNESCO has initiated work on the international Award for Service to Science in the Cause of Man-1993. The 1992 Swraj Paul Award for the Promotion of Science and Technology Policy, established by the International Science Policy Foundation under the auspices of UNESCO, was given to


Professor Fred Jevons (Australia) during a ceremony organized by the Australian Commission for UNESCO on 8 September 1993 (para. 02305).

MAJOR PROGRAMME AREA III

World Decade for Cultural Development

62. The second annual celebration of the World Day for Cultural Development (21 May) elicited considerable interest this year, both at Headquarters and in the field. On 20 May, the United Nations in New York dedicated to the World Day its weekly briefing for the 1,500 non- governmental organizations affiliated with the United Nations. At UNESCO Headquarters a round table on the theme ‘Culture on the Eve of the Third Millennium’ was attended by a number of well-known international personalities. The celebrations of the World Day also included a gala concert and the awarding of the ‘Mozart Prizes’ to a number of highly talented young musicians, while, on 27 May, the monumental painting ‘Le Continent Terre’, by Italian artist Lucia Fanti, was unveiled (para. 03010).

63. There is increasing interest in understanding the interaction between culture and development, as illustrated not only by the proceedings of the Commission on Culture and Development (an account of which is provided in Part I of this document) but also by the success of two international seminars that were held at the end of April with UNESCO’s assistance. The first, in Delhi, a five-day seminar on the theme ‘Cultural identity and development’ undertaken in co-operation with the Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts, brought together a host of distinguished international academics and researchers, representing disciplines as diverse as anthropology, economics, communication, environmental sciences, history, philosophy, architecture and law. The seminar generated excellent press and television coverage and provoked a number of in-depth articles in India’s mass circulator daily newspapers on the culture-development interface. The second international meeting was held in Hanoi, on the theme The cultural dimension of development’. Co-chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister of Viet Nam, H.E. Mr Nguyen Khanh, this seminar represented the first international meeting of its kind ever held in Viet Narn, and brought together participants from Member States often long isolated from one another: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, the two Koreas, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam (para. 03008).

64. A guidebook entitled The Cultural Dimension of Development. Towards a practical approach has just been completed. This work, which provides a summary of experimental methods of making allowance for cultural factors in development, endeavours to take stock of the research findings built on by UNESCO throughout the 1980s and the experiments carried out in the field by various bodies in the United Nations system, multilateral and bilateral aid agencies and non-governmental organizations specializing in development assistance. The guide has just been submitted for consideration by a meeting of experts that was held at Headquarters on 9 and 10 September 1993, and the final version will be distributed in the next few months (para. 03007).

65. Lastly, the series of regional and subregional consultations of the National Committees for the Decade has been continuing. A meeting was held in Sana’a, Yemen (20-23 June 1993), to review progress made in the Arab region thus far, and to set a number of priorities for regional co-operation during the remaining half of the Decade. Another meeting, organized by the New Zealand National Commission and held in the UNESCO Regional Office for the Pacific in Apia, centred around the major Decade project for the Pacific Vaka Moana, or the Ocean Roads, and brought together representatives of all the UNESCO Member States in the


subregion, four non-Member States, the University of the South Pacific, FAO, WHO and UNDP, among others (paras. 03010-03011).

Cultural identities and intercultural dialogue

66. Worthy of special mention are several recent publications in the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works: an anthology of contemporary novels written by Turkish women, entitled Paroles d&oil&es; the Livre de Abdullah by the Lebanese writer Antoun Ghattas; an anthology of modern Albanian poetry (An Elusive Eagle Soars) and another of twentieth- century Ukrainian poetry (Una iconografia del alma) (para. 03 104).

67. An international consultation of experts was held at UNESCO Headquarters on 16 and 17 June 1993 to consider new perspectives for the programme to preserve the intangible cultural heritage. Taking part were 80 participants from some 30 countries. Many recommendations were put forward on UNESCO’s role, its modus operandi and the priorities and methodological approaches that should be adopted. The consultation also looked at five pilot projects on the safeguarding and the revitalization of the intangible cultural heritage, in Hungary, Mexico, Niger, Tunisia and Viet Nam, which will be submitted for extra-budgetary funding. A vast project by ICPHS, The red book on endangered languages, was also presented. The consultation was funded jointly from the regular programme and by a Japanese Government funds-in-trust for safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage, amounting to a total of $250,000 for the period August 1993 to March 1994 (para. 03110).

68. The findings of the Silk Roads project continued to be put to good use. The first two books in the series of four: The Silk and Spice Routes, already published in English, appeared in French. The scientific report of the expedition along the Nomads’ Route in Mongolia enjoyed wide circulation. Co-operation was established with two French museums for the production of documentary films, and a Silk Roads festival, organized by the Turkish authorities, was opened in Istanbul. Two expert workshops were organized as part of the international research programmes developed by way of extensions to the project: one in Turku, Finland, and the other in Bonn, Germany, on the theme of ‘Epics along the Silk Roads’. A centre for research on the Silk Roads was opened at Nara, Japan, in July. In order to raise funds for these research programmes, a numbered series of five silk scarves illustrating the silk roads was put on sale by subscription. The scarves were original works that won prizes in a competition organized in co-operation with the French Association for the Promotion of Decorative Arts on Fabrics (para. 03 127).

69. An assessment of the activities initiated by UNESCO in connection with the celebration of the five-hundredth anniversary of the encounter between two worlds is currently being prepared. It will be distributed in the form of a work entitled Me’morial pour un nouveau miWnaire and will attempt to identify the new approaches that emerged during the commemoration of the encounter with regard to such themes as inter-ethnic relations, cultural pluralism, ‘modernity and relationship with the world’, etc. UNESCO is thus playing an important role in creating a new area of dialogue between indigenous and non-indigenous populations. This comes out quite clearly from the meeting organized in collaboration with the Mexican authorities and held at Oaxaca in May on the theme ‘Education, work and cultural pluralism’, and the one at Campeche, in the following month, entitled Derechos de Zos pueblos indigenos en el mar-co de las nuevas relaciones. The declarations adopted after these meetings - together with the Chimaltenango Declaration, adopted at the first World Summit on Indigenous Peoples, to which UNESCO lent its support and which was organized by Rigoberta Menchu, the Noble prize-winner, helped to augment the contribution made by the


organizations representing the indigenous populations of America to the World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, June 1993). In Venezuela another link was forged in the series of Afro-American encounters. These meetings are beginning to bear fruit in the shape of a vast programme of co-operation, ‘Africania’, drawn up under the joint patronage of the University of Alcala de Henares; Spain, and UNESCO. Lastly, in May the prizes were awarded for the literary competition co-sponsored by UNESCO and the Etonants Voyageurs association, the organizers of the Saint Malo international festival of adventure books and travel. The first prize was awarded to a Portuguese writer, Jose Jorge Letria, for his essay in Portuguese on ‘An India called America’ (para. 03 128).

Culture for development

70. Under the programme for the promotion of crafts, a design seminar for craft experts from Latin America and the Caribbean was organized with the financial support of FINIDA and in co-operation with the Finnish National Commission for UNESCO at the University of Industrial Arts, Helsinki (7-18 June 1993). It brought together 15 participants (eight men and seven women), selected in 15 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, for an exchange of ideas and experience with their Finnish counterparts on the development of crafts through design and on the best means of marketing Latin American and Caribbean crafts (para. 03208).

7 1. The ‘visual arts’ section (printing, sculpture and new technologies) of the UNESCO Prize for the Promotion of the Arts was awarded for the first time on 27 May 1993 in a ceremony held at Headquarters with the participation of many French patrons of culture. The first ‘CARIBART’ festival of painting and sculpture was held in Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles, with the financial support and under the patronage of UNESCO. On show were 175 original works by artists from 35 Caribbean countries. In order to extend the festival’s impact, the organizers are thinking of arranging a travelling exhibition to tour outside the subregion and possibly be shown at the Organization’s Headquarters during the next session of the General Conference (para. 03207).

72. A round table was organized by the International Fund for the Promotion of Culture (IFPC) on 28 and 29 June 1993. Its purpose was to orient the Fund’s Council with regard to the proposed ‘Artists Across Frontiers’ programme - which is to be the focus of the Fund’s work in the coming years - and to cement new partnerships with the institutions represented, e.g. 32 foundations or associations active in the arts and 18 governmental or non-governmental organizations such as the Commission of European Communities, the Council of Europe, the European Culture Centre, the European Cultural Foundation and the Nordic Council of Ministers. The round table thus paved the way for a constructive meeting of the Council of the IFPC, held on 30 June 1993, which decided that the ‘Artists Across Frontiers’ programme should be based on the following three subprogrammes: promotion of the intercultural exchange and mobility of emergent artists in all disciplines; a special initiative in favour of disabled artists, to be launched under the aegis of Ms Marisa Berenson, who is a member of the Council; a special initiative to help artists in emergency situations that is to be developed under the aegis of the well-known Finnish singer Arja Saijonmaa, who is also a Council member (para. 03410).

73. Under the programme on books and reading, regional training seminars on book promotion and distribution techniques were held in July in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in co- operation with the Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre (AMIC) and in September in Tokyo with the support of the Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) (para. 03224). In close collaboration with the Regional Centre for Book Development


in Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLALC), a mechanism was established to provide assistance with translation in order to facilitate the publication of works by Spanish-American authors in languages other than Spanish and Portuguese (‘PROFIT’ project) (para. 03221). Lastly, UNESCO provided assistance for the drafting of legislation on books in El Salvador. Before the legislation was submitted to the legislative assembly a consensus was negotiated between the private book-publishing sector and the Government of El Salvador regarding the main lines of emphasis of a national policy for the development of books and reading (pat-a. 03219).

74. The manual for teaching copyright and neighbouring rights prepared by UNESCO has just been published in Spanish and distributed to the universities of Latin America, more than a dozen of which have already started to teach the subject at UNESCO’s prompting. The Spanish version of the international data bank on copyright legislation is also being prepared at present at CERLALC; the computer hardware was installed and the local staff trained in its use thanks to extra-budgetary funding provided by Spain (para. 03213).

Preservation and enhancement of the world heritage

75. The Bureau of the World Heritage Committee held its seventeenth session at UNESCO Headquarters from 21 to 26 June 1993 under the chairmanship of Mr Robert Mihre (United States). The Bureau, which received 39 proposals for inclusion in the World Heritage List, recommended 17 of them and returned some files to the States Parties concerned for further information. The final decision will of course be a matter for the World Heritage Committee, which meets next December in Cartagena, Colombia, at the generous invitation of the Colombian Government. The Bureau also studied reports on the state of conservation of 19 natural and 15 cultural properties. It took note of the encouraging restoration work carried out on the Srebarna reserve in Bulgaria and welcomed UNESCO’s activities at Angkor. It also received a detailed report on the state of the city of Florence, where serious damage was caused by a terrorist attack. After ex amining a report on a site-monitoring experiment in Latin America under a UNDP-UNESCO project the members of the Bureau expressed the wish that the experiment be extended to other regions. The Bureau approved requests for technical assistance in respect of the Dja Faunal Reserve in Cameroon, the Park of ComoC in C&e d’Ivoire, the Hal Saflieni site in Malta and the Valley of Mai in the Seychelles. Emergency assistance was granted to Guinea to improve the management of the Mount Nimba Reserve, and assistance will also be provided to China and Mali for the organization of training seminars. Lastly, the Bureau reaffirmed its support for the establishment of the World Heritage Centre and requested that it be provided with the appropriate staff and resources (para. 03305).

76. Since the session of the Bureau and at its request the Secretariat has provided assistance for the compilation of tentative lists in Georgia, Romania and Slovakia. It has continued to execute a variety of activities to promote the convention, such as the dispatch of exhibitions, the organization of ceremonies for the affixing of commemorative plaques (for example, at Chartres Cathedral in France), the publication of works such as the 1994 World Heritage Diary and the updating of the world heritage pamphlet.

77. Under the auspices of his Majesty Ring Hassan II, the Government of Morocco and the municipal authorities of Fez organ&d, in co-operation with the city of Quebec and UNESCO, from 6 to 8 September 1993, the second international symposium of the World Heritage Towns. Of the 81 cities placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, 56 were represented at Fez, the majority of them by their lord mayors. The symposium, which focused on the


institutional and financial aspects of conservation work, was also attended, amongst others, by the World Bank, UNDP, the African Development Bank, HABITAT, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Getty Grant Programme, which augurs well for future partnerships. The meeting was followed by the constitutive assembly of a new international non-governmental organization called The Organization of World Heritage Cities’, whose statutes and charter both underline international co-operation in improving management of the world heritage sites as its primary objective. The Secretariat of this new organization will be hosted by the city of Quebec and will co-operate closely with UNESCO, ICOMOS and ICCROM in conserving such an irreplaceable patrimony (pat-a. 03305).

78. Further consideration was given to ways of consolidating the Organization’s efforts to protect cultural property in the event of armed conflict. An annex to document 142 EX/15, submitted under item 5.5.2 of the Boards provisional agenda, contains the report of a meeting of experts held in July at the initiative of the Netherlands to look at ways of achieving more effective application of the Hague Convention. On 14 September the Secretariat also held an open briefmg session on that subject, at which a study on the Hague Convention prepared by a consultant, Professor Boylan, was presented and discussed (par-a. 03306).

79. It should be noted that the eighth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illegal Appropriation, which was to be held in Guatemala last June, had to be postponed because of the events in that country. The meeting will now be held in the first half of 1994 (para. 03307).

80. An international congress on the conservation of stone and other materials was organ&d by UNESCO and RILEM (Reunion intemationale des laboratoires d’essais et de recherche sur lees mat&iaux et les constructions) at UNESCO Headquarters, between 29 June and 1 July 1993. Some 310 participants from over 46 different countries took part in sessions covering a variety of topics from the causes of the deterioration of stone and its diagnosis, to the role of the media and industry in this increasingly important field of conservation. The publication in two volumes, Conservation of stone and other materials: proceedings of the international congress was distributed to all participants at the congress. On the basis of the reports and discussions of the meetings, a scientific committee proposed a series of conclusions and recommendations to ensure a secure future for the science of conservation and hence for our built cultural heritage (para. 03308).

8 1. Since the last session UNESCO has continued to co-ordinate the operations for the safeguarding and presentation of the Angkor site and organ&d the first meeting of the body of experts on Angkor. The meeting at which all the missions working on the site were represented, produced some joint recommendations concerning work to be carried out for the Angkor/Siem Reap region and the Archaeological Park of Angkor; it also drew up strategic guidelines to co-ordinate future action over the whole area of the historic site of Angkor and laid down a set of procedures and arrangements aimed at consolidating and speeding up international support for Angkor. The Director-General also took the urgent provisional measures necessary to guarantee the security of the Angkor Conservation Office, which had been the object of an attack during which hostages were taken, and he considered with the Cambodian authorities ways of protecting the works stored in the office’s buildings. Prince Sihanouk renewed his support for whatever action UNESCO deemed best suited to ensure the preservation of the Cambodian national heritage. A long-term plan of action was drawn up and will be implemented in the next few months with the assistance of France and Japan. UNESCO has also agreed to provide the secretariat staff for the intergovernmental conference on the

142 EX/INF.3 -page 18

safeguarding and restoration of the historic site of Angkor, which will be held in Tokyo on 12 and 13 October 1993 at the initiative of France and Japan. The Organization is making active preparations for the conference, working with the two co-presidents and the Cambodian authorities (para. 03310).

82. As a result of the fact-finding mission led by Dr Edmund Pillsbury, Director of the Kimbell Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, to the Hermitage Museum in February of this year, a technical advisory mission visited St Petersburg in June, comprising specialists in museum management, income generation and merchandizing, and architectural renovation, as well as observers from potential financing bodies. The outcome of this mission was a project proposal in the form of a strategic plan, upon which specific activities for the future can be based. The main framework of the report was presented by the Director-General to the President of the Federation of Russia when he met him in Moscow at the end of June. A more elaborate framework, to be used as a basis for approaches to potential donors, has now been completed (para. 03310).

83. Following the mission led by Ambassador Angmmy (France) to evaluate the present situation of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in November of last year, a report was presented to the Russian authorities in June, the main thrust of which is the need to preserve the architectural heritage of the building while, at the same time, adapting it to modern theatrical requirements. Since then, an agreement was reached on the terms of the Organization’s co- operation with the Russian authorities in this project and on the various stages of the work to be done. The fund-raising campaign could be launched on the occasion of a large-scale ball at the Bolshoi on 30 October 1993 (para. 03310).

84. The group responsible for the execution of projects to safeguard the old city of Dubrovnik has started to meet. Restoration work has begun with UNESCO’s assistance and using funds provided by the Croatian Government and raised by local and outside private associations. UNESCO, working in conjunction with the national and local authorities, is endeavouring to raise additional funds from Member States and sponsors (para. 03310).

85. As regards Jerusalem, efforts to safeguard the cultural heritage of the old city will continue in strict adherence to General Conference resolutions, as explained in document 142 EX/14, which covers the subject of item 5.5.1 of the agenda (para. 033 10).

MAJOR PROGRAMME AREA IV

Communication

86. Following a proposal made by the Director-General to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Council recommended at its July 1993 session that the United Nations proclaim 3 May ‘International Press Freedom Day’.

87. UNESCO provided financial support to the International Freedom of Expression Exchange Network, set up by the Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists in co-operation with the International Federation of Journalists and several press freedom organizations. About 40 media organizations from 20 countries are already associated with the network, which, by 1995, is expected to link up more than 80 media organizations. Furthermore, three projects for the creation of press freedom monitoring centres in Asia, Central America and the Baltic

---. -_ ----.


States, have been submitted to the 14th session of the IPDC Council, in October 1993 (pat-a. 04104).

88. An advisory committee has been set up for the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) project on the development of an independent African press. It consists of African and non-African professionals representing all trades and professions in the newspaper industry; its job will be to lay down the criteria for the selection of publications that would be eligible for assistance under the project and also to supervise its implementation. The project, which is for a total of $6 million, has received a contribution of $200,000 from the IPDC Special Account and contributions from Italy ($300,000), Denmark ($100,000) and the United States ($35,000) in the form of funds-in-trust (paras. 04104 and 04204).

89. UNESCO sponsored the first training course on desk-top publishing organized by the Media Institute of Southern Africa for media practitioners from this subregion (Windhoek, Namibia, 21-30 June 1993). Fifteen participants representing a wide range of media from six countries (Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe) were trained; the course also contributed to the breaking down of the national boundaries which has kept media practitioners of the region isolated from each other. Support was provided to Namibia for training activities addressed to the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation personnel and to the Namibian Press Agency, which has now become part of the South-East Africa News Agency Development (SEANAD) project (para. 04307). Document 108 of the Studies and Documents on Communication Series was devoted to Women and the communication technologies.

90. As a follow-up to the seminar on promoting independent and pluralistic Asian media (Alma Ata, 5-10 October 1992), a study tour to Kuala Lumpur was organized for media practitioners from Central Asia in order to exchange experience with local media and international professional organizations (paras. 04104 and 04217).

91. Preparatory meetings were organized in connection with the third regional seminar for the promotion of free and independent media, to be organ&d jointly by UNESCO, the United Nations and UNDP in Santiago, Chile, in April 1994, on the theme ‘Media development and democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean’ (para. 04104).

92, At the invitation of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, a UNESCO mission visited Zagreb and Split in August-September 1993 to inquire into the position of the independent media in that country and recommend steps that could be taken to promote them. During the same period UNESCO took part in a mission composed of representatives of various organizations in the United Nations system involved in humanitarian activities in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, the purpose of which was to make recommendations with regard to United Nations priorities and programmes in those countries in 1994.

93. UNESCO also provided the television corporation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with various items of technical equipment donated by three German television stations and the Sony corporation; they are now in daily use in Sarajevo and Tuzla. Thanks to UNESCO’s assistance, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has regularly been providing the newspaper Oslobodenje with paper and reprographical materials since August 1993; in addition, $20,000 in financial support has been provided for the Oslobodenje weekly edition for Bosnian refugees (para. 04104).

142 EXDNF.3 - page 20

94. A mission went to Phnom Penh from 29 June to 2 July to evaluate the most urgent needs in the field of communication that Cambodia will face when UNTAC hands over to the national authorities who will be in power following the elections organized under the auspices of the United Nations. officials of the Ministry of Information have asked UNESCO to help them to set up and operate communication agencies (radio, television and press) to promote national reconciliation and democracy. The aim will be not only to set up the installations but also to draft a new legal framework for the democratic functioning of official and private media and to train personnel.

95. Within the framework of its action on the computerization of Asian scripts, UNESCO organized a round table in Cambodia on the computerization of Khmer, with the participation of experts from Australia, Belgium, United Kingdom and the United States, and some 40 specialists, mainly from Cambodia. Proposals are being prepared for the publication of the first reference document on Khmer computing (para. 04307).

96. An intersectoral project to provide support for basic education in the least-developed countries was set up with funds-in-trust from Germany amounting to $2,400,000 for 1992- 1996, the communication component of which was $710,000. The project started in March 1993 in Ouagadougou with a workshop for communication and education experts to establish close interaction between basic education officials and communication media officials, more specifically the rural radio and press. Five national seminars, including one held in Burkina Faso (28 June-2 July 1993) and one held in Mali (26-30 July 1993) were prepared by that workshop (pat-a. 04409).

Computer science

97. The Bureau of the ‘Intergovernmental Informatics Programme’ (IIP) held its eighth session from 8 to 9 June 1993 to examine 53 projects submitted by Member States, representing a total cost of $19,995,000, of which $9,912,000 (i.e. nearly 50 per cent) was requested under BP. The Bureau approved 32 projects and awarded funding to 13 under voluntary contributions and fund-in-trust arrangements and to three others under the regular programme. The total amount of the funds allocated to these 16 projects (which include one for Africa, eight for Latin America and the Caribbean, one for Asia, two for the Arab States and one for Eastern Europe) is $870,000. Funds are now being sought for the projects approved at the seventh and eighth sessions of the Bureau (para. 02616).

98. Under the INFORMAFRICA programme the second meeting of high-level computer experts was held in Nairobi from 12 to 16 July 1993 and was attended by 33 experts from 17 African countries and observers from other United Nations agencies. The object of that meeting was to make a first assessment of action taken since the start of the INFORMAFRICA programme at the end of 1990, elaborate on the content of the programme and work out the procedures for operating the ‘Regional Informatics Network for Africa’ (RINAF). The African experts confirmed the priorities of INFORMAFRICA, namely the training of computer specialists, users and maintenance workers and the production of software (para. 02610).

MAJOR PROGRAMME AREAS V, VI AND VII

International development of the social and human sciences

99. Activities to promote the twinning of universities and the establishment of UNESCO chairs were the subject of new agreements between UNESCO and university institutions in the

- - l - - . . - - ._- ._“ -___-- . . . - -

.-__

142 EXANF.3 - page 21

seven Member States having Portuguese as their official language, following a meeting in Lisbon in May 1993. Similar agreements have been proposed to the Russian Academy of Sciences and Masseno Campus in Kenya (para. 05 103).

100. UNESCO provided financial and technical support for the Conference on the social sciences and the democratic transition in Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa, organ&d by CODESRIA (Council for the Development of Economic and Social Research in Africa) and the Centre for African Studies, University Eduardo Mondlane, in Maputo from 1 to 3 June 1993.

101. The pilot project implemented to improve training and national capacities for the collection and analysis of data relating to the social implications of worldwide environmental changes gave rise to the publication of a book entitled Environment in the Balkan countries, which focused on collective perceptions of ecological risks in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Turkey (para. 05 108).

102. The computerized DARE data bank is now accessible in the CD-ROM UNESCO data base version (para. 05118). Four volumes (anthropology, economics, political science and sociology) of the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, prepared under the aegis of the International Committee for Social Science Information and Documentation (ICSSID), were published (para. 05119).

103. The jury for the UNESCO Prize for Landscape Architecture, which met on the occasion of the eighteenth World Congress of the International Union of Architects, recommended to the Director-General that the prize for 1993 be awarded to Mr Can Ehnas, of Turkish nationality (para. 05207).

Philosophy and ethics

104. UNESCO contributed to the nineteenth World Congress of Philosophy, held in Moscow in August 1993. A compendium entitled L.a tolkmce aujourd’hui: analyses philosophiques prepared by the Organization was discussed in plenary meeting, with a view to gaining support from the philosophical community for the planned proclamation of the International Year for Tolerance (1995) (para. 05408).

105. Two books were published: Shahrastani (Volume II), a book on religions and sects, published by Peeters, and La philosophic en Europe, published by Gallimard (para. 05405). Two public lectures have been held at Headquarters since the last session, on the following themes: ‘Le technocentrisme: monoculturalisme de la science modeme’ and ‘Peut-on parler de philosophie dans la culture indienne?’ by Raimundo Panikkar, in May 1993, and ‘From exclusion to insertion - for an active tolerance’ in collaboration with the Association des Amis of the Parisian monthly Passages, in June 1993 (pat-a. 05403).

106. The Director-General has set up the International Bioethics Committee, which is to hold its first session at Headquarters on 15 and 16 September 1993. About 40 eminent specialists in biology, genetics, medicine, law, philosophy and the social and human sciences have agreed to become members, with Ms NoClle Lenoir, a member of the Constitutional Council of the French Republic, in the chair. This Committee’s work, which will be the subject of a report under item 5.1 of the agenda of the 142nd session of the Executive Board, will be based on a report prepared by Ms Lenoir in accordance with the assignment given to her by the Director- General in June 1992. This report is itself based on the work of a multidisciplinary scientific and technical orientation group that met eight times between January and July 1993 and


organized its discussions around the following five themes: genome research, embryology, the neurosciences, gene therapy and genetic testing. On each of these themes the group endeavoured to take stock of research worldwide, assess the application of research findings in medicine and in various areas of social life, identify the main ethical concerns for the present and for the future and set out proposals of principle to meet those concerns.

Development and social change

107. Several activities focusing on women as agents of social change were undertaken: an international seminar (Greece, 2-5 June 1993) to identify new areas and orientations for gender studies towards the year 2000, organized in collaboration with the Mediterranean Women’s Institute; a subregional meeting (Ankara, 8-12 June 1993) on the legal and social rights of women and their application in the Balkan countries, under the aegis of the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO; and an international consultative meeting (Sofia, 14-18 June 1993) on the impact of socio-economic changes on the condition of women in the period of transition to market-oriented economies, which emphasized the need to create counselling centres and initiate training and retraining projects for women to develop new and specific skills (para. 05208).

108. In co-operation with the Pan-African Social Prospects Centre, a regional workshop was held in Porto Novo (19-22 July 1993) with a view to adapting strategies formulated at the first meeting of the international network for research and action in favour of women working in the informal sector (Bogor, Indonesia, 1992) to French-speaking Africa In May 1993 a book was published entitled Women in developing economies. Making visible the invisible. A meeting on the economic roles of female migrants, financed by UNFPA and organ&d jointly by the Committee for International Co-operation in National Research in Demography, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Population Division and UNESCO, took place in Geneva (16- 18 June 1993) to prepare a work programme for national research projects on migrant women (para. 05213).

109. UNESCO participated in the preparatory meeting of the second Mediterranean Women’s Forum, held in Rabat (17-20 June 1993) in collaboration with the National Commissions of Spain, Italy, Morocco and Tunisia. The meeting prepared a general research framework for the second forum, which is to be held in 1995 on the theme ‘Le travail des femmes; les economies nationales et le developpement regional’.

110. In co-operation with the Central University of Venezuela (Caracas), an international symposium on cultural diversity and identity-building in Latin America and the Caribbean was held in June 1993 (pat-a. 06104).

111. An international meeting was held in Curitiba (Brazil) from 1 to 4 July 1993 on the working procedures of the UNESCO chairs on sustainable development; it was attended by 130 decision-makers and representatives of universities, firms, international organizations and NGOs (para. 06105).

The young

112. Activities carried out as part of the International Youth Clearing House and Information Service (INFOYOUTH) include the establishment of an interactive, decentralized network for exchanges and contacts, with about 300-400 partners and a question-and-answer service for correspondents; a newsletter distributed by FAX; the publication of an international directory entitled Youth and Heritage and prepared in co-operation with the ‘Youth and Heritage’

_..------.-- _-- - .-.

142 EXLlNF.3 - page 23

organization; and the preparation of a world directory of foundations that could finance youth activities (pat-as. 05305-05306).

113. Impetus was given to the promotion of the youth voluntary service and to co-operation with the Co-ordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service: a subregional training camp for youth officials in Lesotho; a workshop on the modernization of international voluntary-service programmes (Vic-sur-C&e, France, June 1993); and an international youth camp for the preservation of an old cemetery in Windhoek (September 1993). An agreement was concluded between UNESCO and the United Nations Volunteers Programme for the joint organization of activities in November-December 1993 (para. 05307).

114. The third meeting of Youth in Action, which was held at Headquarters, brought together 12 young people from 11 countries who had been involved in innovative projects to improve life in their communities (environmental protection; promotion of human rights; development of the economy and of education or health systems). Their ten-day visit to UNESCO was marked by a meeting on 16 June 1993 with the Director-General, who gave each participant a diploma and a medal in recognition of their exemplary contribution to the development of local communities (para. 05307).

Peace, human rights and democracy

115. On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the Associated Schools Project an international symposium was organized in Soest, Germany (12-17 September 1993) in co- operation with the German National Commission for UNESCO. Invitations were sent to 52 countries and to some 15 intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. A booklet entitled Dewcratic culture - Contributions from the Associated Schools Project prepared in French, including contributions from eight Member States, was published by the Swiss National Commission for UNESCO for consideration by the symposium (para. 07 111).

116. The 1993 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education was awarded to Madeleine De Vits (Belgium), in recognition of her work with the UNESCO Associated Schools Project as well as of the work she has undertaken during many years to facilitate peace education in the schools of her country; and to the Graduate Institute of Peace Studies of the Kyung Hee University, Republic of Korea (para. 07115).

117. The Organization participated in the World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna from 14 to 25 June 1993 (see Part I of this report). The UNESCO delegation maintained constant and intensive contacts with the United Nations Secretariat, the Specialized Agencies and took part in a number of events organized by non-governmental organizations. The final document of the Conference contains reference to the world plan of action on education for human rights and democracy; it was recommended that States ‘taking into account the world plan of action on education for human rights and democracy, adopted in March 1993 by the International Congress on Education for Human Rights and Democracy, and other human rights instruments, . . . develop specific programmes and strategies for ensuring the widest human rights education and the dissemination of public information, taking particular account of the human rights needs of women’. During the Conference UNESCO held a round table to present its activities in combating the sexual exploitation of women, with a view to strengthening its partnership with the NGOs concerned - such as the International League for Human Rights, the International Council of Women and the Communaute’ Fraqaise of Belgium.

142 EXLINF.3 - page 24

118. A workshop on democracy and protection of minority groups was organized in Moscow, from 8 to 10 September 1993, under contract with UNESCO, by the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (para. 07107). Another workshop on education for human rights and democracy in post-communist societies will be organized in Warsaw, from 23 to 25 September 1993, under contract with UNESCO, by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Poland. The Organization supported financially the setting up of the Institut des droits de l’homme et de la promotion de la democratic, in Cotonou. As a follow-up to the Montreal Congress on Human Rights, a workshop on education, training and information on human rights was organ&d by UNESCO, the University of Namibia and the United Nations Information Centre in Namibia (para. 07209).

119. In collaboration with UNESCO, a meeting on Femmes d’Europe, femmes du Maghreb: kgalitk, dkmocratie, solidarite’ was held in Strasbourg (24-25 June 1993) by the Centre murocain pour la coop&ration et les droits de l’homme to exchange information on the socio- economic and legal status of women in the Maghrib (paras. 07218-07219).

120. Several books have been published or are now in press: the brochure Human rights. Major international instruments (status as of 31 March 1993); a book, Culture and Democracy, by G. Her-met, based on the results of the Prague Forum on Culture and Democracy, held in 1991 (Editions Albin Michel, Paris); two books, Les prkis de la d&nocratie, by J. Baechler, and L’kducationpour la dknocratie, based on, and inspired by, the results of the International Forum on Education for Democracy (Tunis, November 1992), edited by P. Augier.

TRANSVERSE PROGRAMMES

General Information Programme

121. The first meeting of the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World project took place in Warsaw from 12 to 14 September 1993. The meeting attended by the 12 members of the Committee, as well as by some 20 observers representing private companies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and held jointly with a regional experts’ consultation on conservation, preservation and promotion of the documentary heritage of Central and Eastern European countries, finalized the implementation strategy of the project.

122. With a view to assisting the PGI Intergovernmental Council with its mandate to seek extra-budgetary financing for project proposals submitted to PGI, a forum on fund-raising for information-related activities was held at UNESCO Headquarters from 21 to 22 June 1993. The experts made a number of recommendations on the type of projects that could find a positive response from new funding sources (foundations, corporations and other private donors), the main criteria that should guide the design of projects, and the possibility of including an information component in development projects. The Bureau of the PGI Intergovernmental Council at its 20th meeting (Paris, 23-24 June 1993) expressed its appreciation of the results achieved by the forum and the emphasis placed on a broader strategic mission for information activities in. economic and human development, and the promotion of new approaches to fund-raising, including the possible creation of special funds (para. 11309).

123. A meeting of experts on the education of information specialists in the Arab region was held in Rabat (Morocco) from 10 to 13 May 1993, in order to examine the major changes in


the field of information in the region and their implications for education. Participants recommended the reinforcement of regional co-operation and suggested practical means to attain it; initial steps were taken for the creation of a regional association of schools of library and information science (para. 113 12).

Clearing house

124. A new version of the UNESCO CD-ROM has been produced; it has ten data bases: UNESBIB, AIDS, DARE, ENERGY, IAUDOC, IBEDOCS, ICOMMOS, ISISDIF, UNESDATA and UNESIS. The plan to prepare a multimedia CD-ROM on the World Heritage, shelved in 1992 for financial reasons, has produced a second test file in English, French and Spanish, in co-operation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (paras. 11403 and 11405).

125. The UNESBIB data base, which has 49,000 references of UNESCO documents and publications has been updated. On-line access to the UNESBIB data base can be gained by outside users through the ECHO server of the Commission of the European Communities and the Canadian International Development Research Council (IDRC) server. All tests in connection with the INDEX TRANSLATIONUM and DARE data bases have been completed. On-line access to these data bases, which is gained through the ECHO server, became effective in July and August 1993 (paras. 11403-l 1406).

Statistical programmes and services

126. The fourth joint meeting of the Economic Commission for Europe and UNESCO on cultural statistics and indicators was held for the first time in Paris. The meeting formulated recommendations to guide further work on the UNESCO framework for cultural statistics (FCS) and identified a set of indicators for monitoring and evaluating cultural policies and development (pat-a. 11506).

127. In compliance with 26 C/Resolution 11.5, a ‘questionnaires list’ covering the third quarter of 1993 was dispatched to Member States for the first time. These quarterly lists, which will hereafter be sent regularly, are intended to inform Member States ahead of time about the Organization’s information gathering activities.

128. A consultative document concerning the revision of the International Standard Classification of UNESCO (ISCED) was disseminated for comments and suggestions to National Commissions, national statistical services, specialized institutions and educational specialists. Also, in compliance with 141 EX./Decision 6.1, a report on ISCED (27 C/83) has been prepared for consideration by the General Conference. School enrolment projections for developing countries and the developed regions regarding primary, secondary and higher education were revised using the United Nations demographic estimates and projections for the 1960-2025 period, and a statistical table covering the three levels of education in Sub- Saharan Africa was also prepared at the request of donors.

129. Among the other activities carried out, mention should be made of the ongoing updating of UNESCO’s Statistical Databank; the fmalization of the 1993 edition of the UNESCO Statistical Yearbook; the publication of two Statistical issues, one on repetition in secondary education and the other on foreign students in higher education; and the translation and publication in Arabic, in co-operation with ALECSO, of five Statistical issues on education and a working document on cultural statistics (para. 11503).

142 EXnNF.3 Part III PARIS, 1 October 1993 English & French only


EXECUTIVE BOARD



PART III

Management chart for programme execution in 1992-1993 (26 C/5 Approved)

No. 12

Status as at 31 August 1993

142 EWINF.3 PART III

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Paae

I. PRESENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME AND BUDGET FOR 1992-1993

Chart 1 - UNESCO budget from 1973-l 974 to 1992-l 993 ......................................... 3 Chart 2 - Breakdown of the budget for 1992-l 993 by sector ...................................... 3 Chart 3 - Breakdown of the budget for 1992-I 993 by sector and major programme area 4 Chart 4 - Breakdown of the budget by personnel and other expenditure ....................... 4

II. REGULAR PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

Table 1 - Status of contributions as at 31 August 1993 ............................................ Table 2 - Regular budget execution by major programme area .................................... Table 3 - Programme implementation by sector ........................................................ Table 4 - Programme implementation by object-of-expenditure (Parts I to VI) ............... Table 5 - Modalities and functions ......................................................................... Table 6 - Conferences and meetings ....................................................................... Table 7 - Publications ........................................................................................... Table 8 - Training ................................................................................................. Table 9 - Decentralization ..................................................................................... Table lo- Participation Programme ..........................................................................

a) General ............................................................................................. b) Major Programme Areas ..................................................................... c) Analysis by region ............................................................................. d) Analysis of LDCs ............................................................................... e) Analysis of Special Provisions ............................................................. f) Nature of expenditure ........................................................................

Table 1 I- Fellowships, study grants and participants travel to training seminars ............ Table 12- Staff and Staff costs ...............................................................................

5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 12 13 13 13 14 14 14 15 16 17

Ill. PRESENTATION OF THE EXTRA-BUDGETARY OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES

Chart 5 - Extra-budgetary operational programmes by source of funds ........................ 18

Chart 6 - Extra-budgetary operational programmes : allocations vs. expenditure ........... 18

IV. EXTRA-BUDGETARY OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES IMPLEMENTATION

Table 13- Programme implementation by source of funds ........................................... 19

Table 14- Programme implementation by region ........................................................ 20

Table 15- Programme implementation by sector ........................................................ 21

142 EX/INF. 3 PART III - page 3

I. PRESENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME AND BUDGET FOR 19924993

CHART 1 Unesco Budget from 1973-l 974 to 1992-l 993

600

* Three year budget

CHART 2 Breakdown of the Budget for 1992-1993 * by Sector

Natural Sciences 13.4%

,Ic ,,,,. L . . . . ~:.+!.yY~~ , ,._ <.~..+I.::.: ,I. . . ..e.....: : :y:::::: : :.,. :... ..’ ~~:!:~~~~iXisliiiiiiiii:i:i:li 4:+..:... .\...... . . . .

Social and Human . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .+:.::.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: ..:.:,i:.~,): &L$:.:.:.:::::::;::::::::::::~ ;:,zx.:, .e..r..;;. . . . . . . . ,,,!.:.:,:.:,:.:.:.:.:.:.~:.:.:.:.:.:.~:.:.:.:.:.~~:.:.:.

Sciences

Education xl

Culture 7.9%

* . Commun,cat,on #

6.0% L

Other Programmes 4.7%

General Policy and 7.7% Direction

Programme Support 18.4%

Administration

* Regular programme - Parts I-VI 8.8%

# Communication, Information and lnformatics (including PGI)


CHART 3

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

60 -

40 -

20 -

A /

I I /

/ /’ /

/”

Breakdown of the Budget* for 19924993 by Sector and Major Programme Area

Millions of US$ /’

1

u--7- 7----- ---I

I II III IV v VI VII Total

Major Programme Area

* Regular programme - Part I1.A # Not including PGI (1l.B): $8.8 m.

CHART 4 Breakdown of Parts I-VI of the Budget by Personnel and Other Expenditure*

Millions of US$

/

412.7

-1

671.8

Personnel (39%) Other (61%) Total (100%)

W Programme m Programme Support DAdministration

* Regular and Extra-budgetary programmes


II. REGULAR PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

TABLE 1

Status of contributions as at 31 August 1993

Contributions due

[Note]

$

Total due as a percentage of

amount assessed for second year

of biennium %

STATUS AT 31 August 1993

1993 assessment unpaid 69,709,936 Cumulative arrears for prior years 67,555,583

Total due at 31 August 1993 137,265,519

COMPARATIVE SITUATION FOR 1991 AND 1989

Status at 31 Auaust 1991



Status at 31 August 1989



63.50

58.62

39.43

Note: Contributions due in French francs are translated at the approved budget rate of exchange.


TABLE 2

Regular budqet execution bv maior wooramme area

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

II. A.

I II III IV V VI VII

B.

1. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Ill.

IV.

v.

VI.

Appropriation Line 26 Cl5

Approved as adjusted

$

Implementation as at 31 August 1993

$ %

5,445,lOO 1,358,559 25.0 6,366,507 4,166,024 65.4 1,890,900 1,661,858 87.9

16,430,095 15,106,726 91.9 1,221,390 1,096,400 89.8

GENERAL POLICY AND DIRECTION

General Conference Executive Board Directorate Services of the Directorate Joint UN machinery

TOTAL, I 31.353.992 23,389,567 74.6

PROGRAMME OPERATIONS AND SERVICES MAJOR PROGRAMME AREAS

Education and the Future 79,847,478 66,272,569 83.0 Science for Progress and the Environment 56,353,OOl 48,552,862 86.2 Culture: Past, Present and Future 33,401,840 29,848,206 89.4 Communication in the Service of Humanity 10,576,187 8,441,418 79.8 Sot. & Hum. Scs. in a Changing World 11,983,650 10,264,919 85.7 Studies and Strategies on Development 5,055.516 4,166,466 82.4 Peace and Human Rights 6,650,488 5,401 ,014 81.2

Subtotal, 1I.A 203,868,160 172,947.454 84.8

Transverse Themes and Programmes

Women 543,700 550,667 101.3 General Information Programme 8,112,533 6,446,610 79.5 Clearing House 3,353,400 2,775,964 82.8 Statistical Programmes and Services 4,654,600 3,951,302 84.9 Future-oriented Studies 814,800 699,427 85.8

SUPPORT

GENERAL

Subtotal, 1l.B

FOR PROGRAMME EXECUTION

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

MAINTENANCE AND SECURITY

CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

Total, I-VI

Option C - Parts I-VI

17.479.033

76,387,535

35,087,228

28,822,600

4,539,400

397,537,948

12,833,854

14.423.970 82.5

62,701,084 82.1

29,225,092 83.3

22,259,298 77.2

4‘488,279 98.9

329.434,744 82.9

Option C - Part VII

Total, Option C: $14,593,254

410.371.802

1,759,400

329,434,744 80.3


TABLE 3

Proaramme imDlementation by sector (excluding staff and indirect programme cost and Participation Programme)

Part/Sector/Unit 26 C/5 Approved

as adjusted Implementation

as at 3 1 August 1993

$ $ %

PART I 13,892,392 7,290,501 52.5

PART II II.A

ED SC CLT CII (MPA II, III, IV) SHS

18,895,461 14,895,952 78.8 17,679,079 14,976,633 84.7

9,911,256 8,273,379 83.5 4,891,553 3,737,499 76.4 8,895,521 7,209,785 81 .O

Total, 1I.A 60,272,870 49,093,248 81.5

II.B FEM CII/PGI CLH BPE/ST BPE/FOS

90,800 76,127 83.8 2,358,518 2,029,072 86.0

613,300 505,606 82.4 583,100 520,900 89.3 413,200 370,718 89.7

Total, II.B 4,058,918 3,502,423 86.3

PART III 12,398,749 10,124,693 81.7

PART IV 7,634,028 6,686,496 87.6

PART V 14,315,800 11,433,408 79.9

PART VI 4,539,400 4,488,279 98.9

TOTAL, PARTS I - VI 117.112.157 92,619,048 79.1


TABLE 4

Regular budqet execution bv obiect-of-expenditure

Object-of-expenditure I/ 26 Cl5 Approved Implementation

as adjusted as at 31 August 1993

Staff - Headquarters - Field

Temporary assistance

Interpreters

Consultants - Advice to Member States - Advice to the Secretariat

Other personnel services

Travel on official mission - Delegates’ travel - Staff travel

Publishing contracts

Other contractual services 21

General operating expenses

Other supplies, acquisition of supplies and equipment 31

Fellowships and study grants 41

Subventions and contributions

Participation Programme

Other expenditure

Option C

TOTAL 410,371,802 329,434,744 80.3

I/ This table summarizes the most significant items of expenditure. A complete list of items of expenditure is given in Appendix II of 26 C/5 Approved.

21 Including contracts for meetings, co-publications, research, studies, evaluation.

a/ Including field equipment.

$ $ %

206,401,500 172,329,771 83.5 47,402,300 40,350,219 85.1

7,467,544 5,556,163 74.4

4,813,822 2,056,513 42.7

4,390,ll 1 1,476,780 33.6 1,575,495 1,465,462 93.0

1,470,353 1,346,591 91.6

6,208,165 5,757,815 92.7 9,282,715 7,603,152 81.9

2,480,550 1,615,160 65.1

34,142,327 26,273,829 76.9

19,874,974 18,690,504 94.0

14,606,254 14,420,659 98.7

5,023,970 2,687,971 53.5

1 1,637,470 8,960,429 77.0

17,477,426 15,922,169 91.1

3,282,972 2,921,557 89.0

12,833,854

41 Including travel of participants to training seminars.

TABLE 5

Modalities and functions

Functions Advance of

knowledge

- I

Collection, dissemination and exchange

of information

Standard- setting

action

- !

Development of public

awareness

Training

Policy- Participation

making in the planning implementation

and project of activities in identification Member States

Programming

co-ordination and

evaluation of

programme activities

Total

Amount 96 Modalities of action

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ s I - STUDIES AND RESEARCH n Surveys, stock-taking & inventories

n Technical or methodological studies n Feasibility studies n Evaluation studies

n Other studies and research

1 17,287 455,691

8,710 73,266

346,576

77,169 49,120

2.000 19,392

120,217

4,705 738

41 ,011 20.146

45.640 163,809

25,323 10,000

345,409

13,000

5,221

4.7 3.5 0.7 0.5 3.4

II - CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS 1,603.327

1,808,487 693,952

172,294 82,924

180,736

2,949.778 364,983 1,278,616 952,143

69,972 259,533

9,147 17,060

122,772

2,708,190

163,444 102,300 100,634

540,472

804,695 8 14,943 23.4

Ill - PUBLICATIONS n Books n Periodicals

490,062 780,373 60,538 1,557,523 16,548 727.182

8,841 1,084

n Other (reports and documents) 3,936

41,803 136,607

33,730 2,200 214,441 203,603 48,214

2,497 6,000

74,810 5,000 2,276

1,461,267 3.0

1,664,991 3.4

1.291.010 2.6 I -

IV - TRAINING COURSES, SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS Icat. VII) 354,312 535,514 82,053 1 14,326 4,425,367 265,721 236,713 21.767

V - FELLOWSHIPS, STUDY AND RESEARCH GRANTS 221,901 1 13,050

1.284,500

1,550 1.947,235

VI - SUBVENTIONS TO NGOs 50,000 320,000

7.000 4,344

760,000 405,500

2,800

VII - FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS 288,850 958,612 13,930 107,496

- 4.974,431 332,740 1.5870431 34,256

VIII - TECHNICAL AND ADVISORY

SERVICES n Staff missions

m Consultants n Supplies and equipment

56,367 29,287

6,731

63.516 72,035

84,868 62,732 369 29.207

IX - OTHER 35,958

285.320 194.07 1 496,843

212,836 70,137 32,561

345.09 1 777,491 1,069,521

189,587 865,333 935,889 244,559 52,965 241,992

99,816 37,101 568,183

134,046 55,967 31,847

97,523

2,803,387 5.7

i-

2.417.734 4.9 1,104,513 2.2

1,154,115 2.4

TOTAL 4,215,411 13.033.995 960,531 2.375.097 14,110,820 6.334.323 6.844.425 1,218,646 49.093.248

% 8.6 26.6 2.0 4.8 28 7 12.9 13.9 2.5 100.0 - -


TABLE 6

Conferences and meetinqs

Sector/ 26 Cl5 Reductions Estimates Implementation as at Unit Approved and adjustments 1992 31 March 1993

No. $000 No. $000 % No. $000 No. $ %

ED 26

SC 25

CLT 10

CII 13

SHS 13

BPE/ST 2

BRX 3

1,648.5 - (8.1) (0.5) 26 1,640.4 16 672.0 41 .o

664.3 (3) (161.3) (24.3) 22 503.0 11 275.8 54.8

228.5 - (38.7) (16.9) 10 189.8 5 65.0 34.2

574.2 - (4.0) (0.7) 13 570.2 8 271 .O 47.5

744.7 (5) (301 .I 1 (40.4) 8 443.6 2 102.0 23.0

103.6 - (23.8) (23.0) 2 79.8 1 41 .I 51.5

256.4 - 2.2 0.8 3 258.6 2 99.1 38.3

TOTAL 92 4,220.2 (8) (534.8) (12.7) 84 3.685.4 45 1.526.0 41.4


TABLE 7

Publications

Sector/Unit 26 Cl5 Approved

Periodicals, Books Title/Unit

Reductions and adjustments

Title/Unit

Implementation as at 31 March 1993

Title/Unit

ED P 8/I 86 l-/44) 8175 B 27180 (2/5) 9/l 5

Budget $ 1,153,500 (202,l 12) 263,000

SC P 24/l 36 12152 B 17/l 9 (414) 3/4 SM 314 (-/I 1

Budget s 623,000 175,500

SHS P II/54 (9/50) 1 I2 B 919 (8/8)

Budget $ 282,500 (251,000) 4,500

CLT P 2164 (O/l 6) 2124 B 19120 (315) 617

Budget $ 930,900 (297,500) 243,800

CII P 2/56 2128 B 4/l 0 (l/l) 212

Budget $ 37,800 (I 5,000) 11,200

BPE/ST B 4123 (l/6) 1 I5

Budget $ 56,500 (14,500) 32,200

COU’ P 2196 l/12

Budget $ 146,300 (2,800) 66.900

BPE/FOS B 1 I5 313 313

Budget $ 10,000 19,000

BRX P 2124 2/l 8

Budget $ 15,000 3,700

TOTAL P 51/516 (9/l IO) 281211 B 811166 (16/26) 24136 SM 314 (-/I)

Budget $ 3,255,500 (929,512) 819,800

A unit of publication corresponds - for books, to each language version of a title - for periodicals, to each language version of a number

l Publication of UNESCO Courier is implemented under the Publications Fund.


TABLES 8 and 9

Traininq*

Sector/Unit Estimates 1992-I 993 Implementation as at 31 August 1993

ED 6,344,030 5,369,783 84.6 SC 8,200,686 5,660,710 69.0 CLT 787,049 1,036,386 131.7 CII (MPA II, III, IV) 1,317,119 969,549 73.6 SHS 969,786 1,074,391 110.8 CII/PGI 478,414 450,218 94.1 Clearing House 198 BPEfST 103,850 75,059 72.3 BPE/FOS 4,800

$ $ %

18.200.934 14,641,094 80.4

+ Including certain studies and research, training courses, seminars and workshops, fellowships and study grants, financial contributions, subventions to NGOs for their training activities, or technical and advisory services).

Decentralization”

Sector/Unit 26 C/5 Approved as Implementation as at 31 August 1993 adjusted at 3 118193

$ $ %

PART II.A ED 43,515,341 36,314,763 83.5 SC 16‘933,423 15,076,491 89.0 SHS 4,091,289 3,645,527 89.1 CLT 8,942,547 8,284,866 92.6 ClUMPA II, III, IV 5,599,871 4,995,100 89.2

Total, II.A 79,082,471 68.316.747 86,4

PART II.8 CII/PGI CH BPEIST BPE/FOS

1,739,565 1,696,554 97.5

34,000 34,000 100.0 92,800 80,665 86.9

Total, II.6 1,866,365 1,811,219 97.0

Total, II 80,948,836 70,127,966 86.6

PART III BAO BRX OPI UP0

270,600 249,952 92.4 3,742,796 3,681,401 98.4 1,009,600 817,311 80.9

258,700 2 10,008 81.2

Total, Ill 5,281,696 4.958.672 93.9 Total, II to III 86.230.532 75.086.638 87.1

* Including direct and indirect programme costs, Participation Programme and staff costs.


TABLE 10 ParticiDation Proqramme

(a) General

b Budget in 26 C/5 Approved b Additional DG allocation

Total

b Amount requested

b Amount approved

b % of approved amount

b Number of requests received

F Number of requests approved

k % of app roved requests

$15,408,300 $ 2,069,126

$17,477,426

$43,546,974

$17,477,426

40.1%

2263

1334

58.9%

Data submitted in application of Resolution 15.3 approved by the General Conference at its twenty-fifth session with respect to reporting on PP implementation. Details on each request are available for consultation.

(b) Major programme areas

Programme Expenditures against

Allocations Allotments allotments as at 31 August 1993

$ $ $ %

I - Education and the future 6,801,969 6,801,969 6,125,219 90.1 II - Science for and the environment progress 2,181,221 2,181,221 2,03 1,068 93.1 III - Culture: past, present and future 4,350,298 4,350,298 4,029,569 92.6 IV - Communication in the service of humanity 602,752 602,752 475,992 79.0 V - Sot. & Hum. Scs. in a changing world 489,200 489,200 478,l 12 97.7 VI - Studies and strategies on development 250,500 250,500 247,838 98.9 VII - Peace and human rights 357,700 357,700 345,000 96.4

General Information Programme Clearing House Statistical Programmes and Services Future-Oriented Studies Co-operation with National Commissions

TOTAL

994,315 994,315 849,l 19 85.4

34,000 34,000 34,000 100.0 25,000 25,000 25,000 100.0

1,390,471 1,390,471 1,281,252 92.1

17,477,426 17.477.426 15,922,169 91.1

142 EX/INF. 3 PART III - 14 page

(cl Analysis by region

Approved % of Amount Amount % of Region Requests requests apprvoed requested approved approved

requests amount

OO $ $ OO

AFRICA 646 345 25.9 14,732,817 5,197,249 29.7

ASIA & PACIFIC 395 253 19.0 7,085,953 2‘945,755 16.8

9.6 ARAB STATES 241 137 10.3 3,163,381 1,669,225

EUROPE & NORTH AMERICA 352 202 15.1 5,633,463 2,284,700

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARRIBEAN 405 255 19.1 7,787,656 3,107,027

INTERREGIONAL 224 142 10.6 5,143,704 2,273,470

13.1

17.8

13.0

TOTAL 2263 1334 100 43,546,974 17,477,426 100

(d) Analysis of LDCs

b Requests received (from 44 countries) 558

b Requests approved 325

b % of app roved requests 58.2%

b Amount requested $10,865,794

b Amount approved $4,603,579

b % of amount approved 42.4%

b % of amount approved compared to all requests approved under PP 26.3%

(4 Analysis of Special Provisions

Special Provision Requests submitted Amount requested Requests approved Amount approved

$ $

Priority Africa 34 1,544,156 22 1,152,548

Emergency Assistance 76 2,473,905 60 1,681,093

Literacy 99 1,988,269 76 969,500

WDC 196 4,846,205 83 1,134,200

Total 405 10,852,535 241 4,937,341

N.B. As concerns requests aimed at improving the status of women, 49 countries sent in 78 requests for an amount of $1,462,128. 50 requests were approved for an amount of $596,200.


(f) Nature of expenditure

Nature of expenditure Allotments

$

Expenditures against allotments as at 31 August 1993

$ %

Interpretation 19,000 9,144

Consultants 926,258 314,381 Participants to seminar 489,998 432,847

External Translation 23,000 12,041

Publications 30,000 30,792 Contracts for programme activities 76,000 85,741

Communications 2,792 1,122

Reproduction supplies 10,000 5,071

Library book and supplies 25,300 19,246

Supplies for field projects 19,500 19,500

Equipment 1,153,356 684,074

Fellowships 319,300 2 18,629

Financial contributions* 14‘352,922 14,089,581

TOTAL 17,477,426 15.922.169 91.1

48.1 33.9 88.3 52.4

102.6 112.8

40.2 50.7 76.1

100.0 59.3 68.5 98.2

* The breakdown of the $14,352,922 for financial contributions is:

. Financial contributions for: Meeting/seminars: $4,588,372 11 II b Training: $1,557,907 II .I . Fellowships: $ 284,000 I, II b Equipment: $2,672,092 II II . Publications: C-1,382,204 11 11 . Others: $3‘868,347

Total $14,352,922


TABLE 11

Fellowshitx, studv qrants and Dartickants travel to trainina seminars

Major Programme Area/

Programme

PART I 4,293

PART 1I.A

I II III IV V VI VII

Sub-total II.A

PART 1I.B

CII/PGI BPE/ST BPEIFOS

Sub-total II.B

PART III

PART IV

PART V

GRAND TOTAL

769,482 3,153,954

302,500 159,730 137,350

28,650 82,500

4,634,166

514,719 66.9 1,510,105 47.9

185,697 61.4 1 IO, 120 68.9

59,797 43.5 4,500 15.7 7,909 9.6

2.392.847 51.6 282,700 195,767 69.2

70,400 69,050 25,660

165,110

95,100

129,594

20,127 66,208 25,660

111,995

5.023.970

79,246

99,435

155

2,687,971

Regular Programme Participation Programme I I

Implementation implementation Allocations as at 31 August 1993 Allocations as at 31 August 1993

$ $ % $ % $

221,200 34,300

5,000

14,700 7,500

168,654 76.2 13,500 39.4

13,613 92.6

28.6 95.8

100.0

67.8

83.3

76.7

36,600 22,800 62.3

36,600 22,800 62.3

62

53.5 319,300 218,629 68.5


TABLE 12

Staff and Staff Costs

(i) Summary of UNESCO serving staff as of 31 August 1993

Professional & General Total above Service

Staff Amount ($1

AT HEADQUARTERS w Regular Budget 613 1078 1691 8,758,005 b Other than Regular Budget 108 153 261 1,361,558

TOTAL 721 1231 1952 10,119,563

IN ESTABLISHED OFFICES b Regular Budget 171 281 452 1,863,318 b Other than Regular Budget 52 24 76 297,093

TOTAL 223 305 528 2,160,411

EXTRABUDGTARY OPERATIONAL PROJECTS 55 61 116 515,243

TOTAL p Regular Budget 784 1359 2143 10,621,323 b Other than Regular Budget 215 238 453 2,173,894

(including Operational Projects) TOTAL GENERAL 999 1597 2596 12,795,217

The serving staff summary as of 31 August 1993 provided above calls for the following clarification in so far as posts financed by the Regular Budget are concerned:

a) In the Appropriation Resolutton adopted by the General Conference at its 26th Session, para. (h), a total number of 2297 posts financed by the Regular Budget were approved.

b) It is to be noted that the total of 2 143 serving staff (including temporary staff) under the Regular Budget shown in column 3 above is less by 154 posts as compared to the total of 2297 authorized posts.

c) Of the 154 posts presently vacant and others whrch will become vacant, a net number of 89 posts are proposed for abolition in 1994-1995 (27 C/5 and 27 C/5 Rev. 1).

(ii) Posts budgetarily vacant as at 31 August 1993

26 C/5 Approved Staff Establishment Deduct

Category

Total Number Filled Posts Supernumerary and of posts posts not filled temporary staff

Professional Headquarters 649 589 60 24 Field 199 167 32 4

Posts budgetarily vacant

36 28

General Service Headquarters Field

1159 1064 95 14 81 290 279 11 2 9

TOTAL 2297 2099 198 44 154


III. PRESENTATION OF THE EXTRA-BUDGETARY OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES

CHART 5 Extra-budgetary Operational Programmes for 1992-l 993 by Source of Funds and by Major Programme Area

($246,8 million )

UNDP 64.7

giona’ Banks 2’

UNFPA 30

Other UN. 9.5

World Bank 8.5

Special Accounts 30.2

ssociate Experts 6.6 Other programmes

Funds-in-trust 76.3

6 Extra-budgetary Operational Programmes Allocations vs. Expenditure*

/ ~ 1988-l 989 / 1990-I 991 / 1992-1993

Allocations EZl Expenditure f# .‘.:.‘:.:.:.:.:.:......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘~~;sii:i~~ii:iii’:‘:~:~:~:~‘~:~:~:~’~:~’~’~’~:~:~:~:~:~:~~~~~~~:~~~~~~~:~:~~~:~::~::::::~::::::::~.::~.~~ ;:.:. ~~) ).:.:.:.:.:.:,:.:.~.:,i). ~ :(.:.:,~.:.:,:) i:,):,~ _.:,: .,.

* 1992-l 993 allocations and expenditure are for the first twenty months

IV. EXTRA-BUDGETARY OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES IMPLEMENTATION

TABLE 13

lmolementation of Extra-budaetarv Proarammes Bv source of funds

FUNDING SOURCE

UN Sources

Projections in 26 Cl5 Approved

SM

1992-l 993 1990-1991

Expenditures Rate of Projections in Expenditures Rate of 1 Jan.92 - 31 August 93 Expenditure 25 Cl5 1 Jan.90 - 31 August 91 Expenditure

(20 months) (time elapsed Approved (20 months) (time is 83%) elapsed

is 83%)

SM % SM SM %

UNDP

UNFPA

Others

Other Programmes

World Bank

Regional Banks & Funds

Funds-in-Trust

Associate Experts, Special Accounts & Voluntary Contributions

TOTAL

64.7 35.4 54.7 70.0 56.3 80,4

30,o 14.8 49.3 30.0 19.4 64,7

9.5 4,7 49,5 9,l 6,8 74.7

8.5 3,l 36,5 53 LO 36,4

21,0 83 40.5 16.0 5.1 31,9

76.3 38,6 50,6 44,0 25,5 57,9

36,8 31,2 84,8 27,7 23.2 83.7

246.8 136.3 55.2 202,3 138.3 68.4

TABLE 14

EXTRA-BUDGETARY OPERATIONAL PROJECTS

Exoenditures bv Reaion and Sources of Funds china period 1 Januarv 1992 to 31 Auaust 1993 (20 months)

(In millions of U.S. dollars)

INTER- UN SOURCES TOTAL AFRICA LATIN ASIA AND THE ARAB EUROPE REGIONAL &

AMERICA PACIFIC STATES GLOBAL

UNDP 35.4 16.2 4J3 11.4 I,8 0,5 0.7

UNFPA 14,8 5,7 03 23 03 4.8

Other UN Sources 4.7 O,l 0.9 0,7 a2 23

Sub-total UN Sources 54,9 21.9 5.8 14.8 3,4 0.7 8.3

OTHER PROGRAMMES

World Bank T.A. 3,1 I,8 0.4 0.3 W-5

Regional Development Banks 83 1,O 0.1 0.3 63 0.6 and Funds

Self-benefiting Funds Donated Funds 38,6 10,o 62’ 7,3 4,6 3,3 72

Associate Experts, Voluntary Contributions Special Accounts 31.2 3,4 2,6 3,1 2,l 3,D 17,o

Sub-total Other Programmes 81.4 16.2 983 11.0 13.8 6.3 24.8

TOTAL EXTRA-BUDGETARY FUNDS 136.3 38.1 15.1 25.8 17,2 7.0 33.1

TABLE 15

Implementation of Extra-budaetarv Proarammes Bv Sector

I 1992-I 993

SECTOR Expenditures

1 Jan.92 - 31 August 93 (20 months)

ED

SC

SHS

CLT

CII

Others

SM SM

103.4 60,6

49.4 27,4

12,6 7.5

29,5 13,8

36.6 14,5

15,3 12,5

58.6

55.5

59,5

46,8

39.6

81,7

SM SM %

95,l 63,2 66.5

39‘2 I

33,s I

86.2 II

11.7

26,5

6.8 58.1

11.8 44,5

25,4 I

14,l I

55.5 II

4,4 8,6 195,4

TOTAL 246.8 136.3 55.2 202.3 138.3 68 4

- r Rate of

Expenditure (time elapsed

83%)

%

1990-1991 I I I

Projections in Expenditures 25 Cl5 1 Jan.90 - 31 August 91

Approved (20 months)

Rate of Expenditure

(time elapsed 83%)

142 EXLINF.3 Add. PARIS, 13 October 1993 English & French only


EXECUTIVE BOARD


Item 5.1.1 of the agenda

INTRODUCTION BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL TO HIS REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE

ORGANIZATION SINCE THE 141st SESSION

142 EX/INF.3 Add.

Madam Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. It was with great sadness that we learnt of the loss of human life, suffering and material damage caused by the earthquake that struck the state of Maharashtra, in India, on 30 September. I immediately sent a telegram of condolence to Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, on UNESCO’s behalf and on my own, to convey to him our sympathy and sadness. Initial emergency assistance of $100,000 was released within a few days. Allow me, Mr Krishnan, to renew my condolences and assure you of the entire Secretariat’s unreserved assistance in this difficult ordeal.

Madam Chairperson,

2. I intend to be brief this morning - firstly because this session is extremely short and we are pressed for time; secondly because by written report was distributed last week and is sufficiently comprehensive and was sufficiently recently updated to make long comments on it unnecessary. Besides, my assistants will give you whatever additional information you require in the Programme and External Relations Commission.

3. In that report, and above all in Part I entitled ‘General Policy’, I have endeavoured to highlight the main lessons that could be learnt from the events that occurred on the international scene during the last few months. Whether at the World Conference on Human Rights, which was held in Vienna, the first meeting of the Commission on Sustainable Development or the substantive session of the Economic and Social Council, one point has to be noted: the various players of the United Nations system are beginning to constitute a real partnership. That partnership is in many cases starting to take shape not as mere co-ordination any more but as genuine co-operation, that is to say joint action, In that process, to which UNESCO has made a great contribution, our Organization is affirming its role and confirming its specificity.

4. As proof of this, I refer to letters the Secretary-General of the United Nations sent me recently - one, following the Vienna Conference, to reaffirm his desire to see UNESCO playing a leading role’ in all the relevant activities undertaken to follow up that conference, and the other to lend full support to our ‘culture of peace’ programme and to underscore the crucial role that UNESCO should play ‘with regard to prevention, early warning and preparedness activities, and in promoting measures to meet long-term goals of social reconstruction and development’. The idea that we have long been defending, namely that emergency action should always closely interlink ‘aid’, ‘rehabilitation’ and ‘development’ and that it should include from the outset the training of local human capacities, is therefore gaining ground. It has the support of the Of&e of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with which we have developed excellent co-operation, for example in our action in the former Yugoslavia.

5. After the installation last March of two education centres for Bosnian refugees, one in Slovenia and the other in Croatia, we undertook to set up a new centre in Bosnia itself, in the Bihati enclave. The first of the three schools planned is being built of prefabricated components in Slovenia, and it will be transported and erected with the active assistance of UNPROFOR and of the UNHCR. Unfortunately, the resumption of fighting in September seriously delayed the opening of the school, which was scheduled for mid-October. I should add that UNESCO was represented by the Assistant Director-General for Communication at the celebration on 16 September last of the fiftieth anniversary of Oslobodenje, the daily newspaper, in Sarajevo itself The Assistant Director-General held talks on that occasion with the Bosnian authorities

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and the recently created National Commission; everyone stressed the fact that the intellectual isolation imposed on the population of Sarajevo was at least as dangerous as their being deprived of food and electricity. Humanitarian aid to Bosnia should, I am convinced, be extended to the provision of books, newspapers and paper. That is one point I intend to raise with the UNHCR, and I appeal to Member States to provide such assistance as soon as possible.

6. We must now, more than ever before, forcefully reaffirm the chief message of UNESCO’s Constitution, namely the intellectual and moral solidarity of humankind. We cannot agree to silence, exile or imprisonment being imposed on intellectuals, still less can we agree to their being killed, merely because they have expressed views that differ from ours. We have just learnt of the murder of another Algerian intellectual. It was a barbarous act, which we must publicly condemn; I have done so before on other occasions, and I do so today, before you, in the strongest possible terms: the intolerable cannot be tolerated.

7. Fortunately, on a more positive note, last week-ends news gave us cause for satisfaction: the Nobel Prize for Literature which has just been awarded to Ms Toni Morrison honours an entire life’s work dedicated to the struggle against intolerance and racial prejudice and the defence of human dignity. We are naturally quite delighted. I have congratulated her on behalf of the Organization.

8. Madam Chairperson, I should now like to come back to my original point by citing another significant example of the growing awareness among our national and international partners of the need to associate action in respect of education and training with emergency operations. I am speaking of the assistance provided both by UNOSOM and the African Development Bank and by various international non-governmental organizations, such as Sweden’s International Aid, for our ‘islands of education for peace’ project in Somalia. Some 150,000 copies of school textbooks and teachers’ manuals covering the first four years of schooling have already been printed and distributed. In connection with the emergency economic rehabilitation programme for Haiti, UNESCO has likewise been requested to provide its assistance in the fields of basic education, the development of Creole, school mapping and the training of trainers.

9. However, I am convinced - as the Secretary-General of the United Nations has himself so strongly urged - that we have to lay more stress on activities aimed at peace-building and the prevention of conflict. We are making tremendous efforts and are spending unprecedented amounts on operations involving reconstruction, rehabilitation, restoration and repair work - and yet we are investing so little in prevention. Our action in favour of peace is still largely tied to thinking that is bound up with the culture of war. What we have to do is to eradicate war itself! I witnessed most striking evidence of this during my recent mission to Kuwait, which is still so deeply marked by the physical aftermath of the conflict and, above all, its psychological impact. In this connection, I drew comfort from the feeling I clearly perceived in my conversations with the sovereign, Emir Sheikh Al Saber Al Sabah, and the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, She&h Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, that the wounds of the past, and especially of the recent past, have to be healed and all efforts concentrated on building the future, which is bound to involve sharing. I gained the same impression from my conversation with President Hafez El-Assad, whom I had met a few days earlier. I noted the vision of the future that inspires him and the importance he attaches to building peace at last in a region harrowed by war and suffering for too many years. This was also the context of the audience I had in September last of His Majesty Ring Hassan II, which was my second meeting with the Moroccan sovereign. He underscored the important role which our Organization is expected to

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play in the construction of such a future, based on the intellectual and moral solidarity of the Member States.

10. I paid these official visits at the very time when the will to bring about peace and clear thinking had just won the day over the attitudes of rejection and bitterness of the past, and when the mutual recognition of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples had given rise to great hopes for peace throughout the region. We must now turn that hope into reality. As soon as the draft agreement had been signed, I instructed an intersectoral working group to draw up, on the basis of the guidelines defined with Ms Leila Shahid, the Observer for Palestine, a set of proposals aimed at strengthening our assistance to the Palestinian people and at adapting it to the new political context. This plan provides for two stages: operations required as a matter of urgency in Jericho and Gaza, such as the setting up of a radio and television broadcasting studio; the strengthening of the PEACE programme (Palestinian European Academic Co- operation in Education); a programme of refresher training for teaching personnel; intensive short-course training for the most vulnerable social groups, and so on. These immediate activities would pave the way for a development plan in all our fields of competence set in a medium-term perspective. I plan to discuss these proposals with President Yasser Arafat, who will be visiting us in about ten days’ time. I also plan to appoint a co-ordinator familiar with the situation in the field to work with a small team and the logistic backing of our offices in Cairo and Amman in ensuring the follow-up to our action in Palestine.

11. In addition to these assistance activities, it is UNESCO’s duty to contribute to the promotion of a genuine ‘culture of peace’ between peoples who have been tom apart for all too long. Back in July, in agreement with the highest Israeli and Palestinian authorities, I took steps to organize an international meeting in Granada, hoping to provide a setting in which the intellectuals of the region could engage in dialogue and support the ongoing negotiations. Those negotiations have now been successfully concluded, but the spirit of reconciliation has yet to be rooted in people’s minds and hearts. In this respect, intellectuals, artists and scientists have a decisive part to play, in view of their reputation with the public.

12. I am aware that the question of Jerusalem has not been included in the Israeli-Palestinian Protocol Agreement and that it is to be addressed at a later stage. But since a report on the situation of the Old City of Jerusalem has been submitted to the Board, I should like to make two comments here. The first one concerns the Holy Sepulchre. For a number of years now, the reports submitted by my personal representative, and confirmed by a mission of experts of international repute, have been expressing concern regarding the state of this monument. Work already carried out and work planned for the future could pose a threat to the architectural and historic value of the famous sanctuary. I could see this myself when I visited Jerusalem last March. Discussions were undertaken with the patriarchs of the three Christian communities directly responsible for the building in order to improve the situation. But the talks were not successful, and I recently learnt that the leaders of the communities have decided not to accept UNESCO’s intervention in present or future operations in the Holy Sepulchre. As you know, UNESCO has major responsibilities concerning the safeguarding of the heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem, which is included in the World Heritage List. The Holy Sepulchre now is in danger of losing the value which justified its inclusion on the List and UNESCO finds it physicahy impossible to fulfil its obligations with respect to what constitutes a heritage of humanity. I should therefore like to seize this opportunity to appeal to the leaders of the Christian communities of Jerusalem and to the governments which guarantee the status quo. Some consideration should be given to the consequences of the work now being done, remodelling it and future projects in order to allow for the need to safeguard the intrinsic value of the monument.

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13. In regard to the restoration of the Dome of the Rock, the Al Aqsa Mosque and other Islamic monuments in Jerusalem, in accordance with the wishes of the General Conference, a committee comprising individuals of international repute has been set up by the authorities of the Waqf of Al Quds to advise them on the conduct of the restoration work. Complex negotiations are still taking place with the different authorities responsible for the management of Islamic religious property. Major difficulties are still being encountered, but I hope that they will soon be successfully overcome. This situation must be dealt with as a matter of urgency. The financial resources required are available. This being the case, the preservation of a major heritage of humanity, to which we are all very much attached, should not be impeded by other considerations. I therefore fervently hope to be able to inform the General Conference of the successful outcome of the negotiations now taking place.

14. Another point on which I laid great emphasis in my written report is the need to continue and indeed to reinforce efforts to revitalize intellectual co-operation within the framework of UNESCO. We much achieve a genuine mobilization of the intellectual resources of the whole planet in order to try to understand the new world which is evolving before our eyes. UNESCO’s influence has always been linked to its ability to act as an ‘echo chamber’ for the new ideas which, thanks to it, spread gradually and engender new attitudes of thought, and even new forms of behaviour, with respect to major situations and problems. The Brundtland Report and the Rio Conference have endorsed the concept of sustainable development which was devised exactly 25 years ago by the conference that UNESCO convened to define ‘the basis within the sciences for the rational use and conservation of the resources of the biosphere’, a conference which was to lead to the creation of the MAB programme on Man and the Biosphere. During the commemoration of this anniversary on 8 October, I drew attention to the pioneering role played by MAB, which was in a way an anticipatory response by UNESCO to the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

15. This concern for the protection of the world environment, which has inspired UNESCO’s action for such a long time, very recently found concrete expression, during my official visit to Italy, in the conclusion of an agreement with the government of this Member State and ENEA on the reduction of the consequences of natural catastrophes. This is a fresh illustration of the scale of the co-operation between UNESCO and Italy which is also demonstrated by the assistance given to the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, the Third World Academy of Sciences, the UNEVOC project, our activities in Mozambique and, of course, our Bureau in Venice, to cite but a few examples.

16. Today, perhaps more than 25 years ago, we have to develop this ability to anticipate new needs and identify novel approaches. In this regard, I have great expectations of the work of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century and of the one on Culture and Development. I have had discussions with their Chairpersons on several occasions during the past few months and have organized an exchange of information between the two bodies. The account which is given, in my written report, of the activities of the two Commissions clearly attests to the quality of the work being done. It will no doubt be a valuable source of inspiration to UNESCO and the international community as a whole. In this respect, I should like to point out to the members of the Executive Board that, contrary to what is indicated in Part I of document 142 EX/INF.3, the Chairman of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century, Mr Jacques Delors, is examining the possibility, despite the constraints of his personal schedule, of holding the third meeting of the Commission in Santiago, Chile.

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17. The ad hoc Forum of Reflection held its second meeting in Cartagena on 27, 28 and 29 September 1993, as scheduled. The report of the Forum was distributed to you in French and English last Friday and is about to be distributed in the other working languages of the Board. It is not for me to introduce the report, but I should like to thank the Executive Board for having invited me to take part in that session of that Forum which I found highly stimulating. I should also like to thank the Colombian authorities for their very warm welcome and to extend special thanks to Gabriel Garcia Marques who was the moving spirit of the meeting and a brilliant spokesman for the Forum to the press. It is always fascinating to hear outstanding personages, many of whom are not very familiar with the work of our Organization, expressing the hopes they place in UNESCO and the impressions they have formed of it. I was especially struck by their conviction, which was both strong and unanimous, that there could be no viable solution to the major problems facing humankind except through education and training. I was struck also by their insistence on the need to focus attention on the poorest, those who are left by the wayside’ and those who are excluded from all forms of learning. The speakers emphasized repeatedly that we must ‘reach the unreachable’ and put forward a very bold proposal that in my view deserves deeper reflection. It is for the Board and the General Conference, however, to decide whether that proposal should be taken up.

18. The message of the Forum of Reflection - I am happy to say - corroborates the idea that inspired the Jomtien Conference and also led to the decision to hold, on 15 to 16 December 1993 in New Delhi, a ‘Summit of Heads of State of the nine most populous developing countries’ on the theme ‘Education for All’. The preparations for that conference, which I consider to be of the utmost importance, are well under way. I was able to discuss it with the Indian Minister of Development of Human Resources, Mr Arjun Singh, when I went to Delhi in September to take part in the second meeting of the International Consultative Forum on Education for All and to attend the ceremony at which the 1993 Literacy Prize was awarded. The summit, as I said, is particularly important since it will be considering the future of many hundreds of millions of men, women and children who represent the majority of those on whom the forum focused its attention, namely the ‘unreachables’, those to whom the doors of learning are closed. It is my keen hope that the summit will proclaim the determination of heads of State and government to alter national priorities so as to promote and speed up education in their countries, especially that of girls and women. Their education - I am convinced - is the solution to at least two of the major problems of our century: the population explosion and massive migrations of peoples, which have their roots in the pauperization of the rural communities of the Third World and the drift to the towns.

19. We have also recently received a message of hope and solidarity from the continent of Asia, through the Tokyo Conference on African Development, which was held from 5 to 6 October 1993. Here I should like to pay tribute to the action taken by the Government of Japan in convening that conference, which is in itself an expression of confidence in the African continent. Faced with the gravity and persistence of the problems besetting Africa, there are those, of pessimistic outlook, who simply give in - as though we were confronted by some inevitable fate. I am glad that the Tokyo Conference confirmed, as did other documents previously drawn up by the international community, that there are solutions to the crisis in which Africa is immersed. In this respect I should like to quote the words of the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr Hosokawa, concerning the need for solidarity with the African continent: There is a maxim in Japan that says “though one arrow can easily be broken, three arrows banded together cannot” . . . I am convinced that a clue to tackling the challenges facing Africa can also be found in the three arrows, namely the efforts of the African governments, the active participation of the African peoples and the warm assistance of the world community’.

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20. Placing special emphasis on training, the Tokyo Declaration confirms that Africa must, more than ever, be the focus of our action. May I add that this solidarity is all the more justified in that African governments are endeavouring today, despite difficulties of all kinds, to promote an economic and political environment conducive to the development of their countries. The last summit of the Organization of African Unity demonstrated this clearly. We must not forget, however, that - as our Constitution states - development in the economic and political spheres is necessary but not sufficient; it is the intellectual and moral solidarity of humankind that is the key to the future of the world. The ‘Consultations on Africa’ UNESCO is to hold in 1994 will enable us to follow up the work of the Tokyo Conference, to hear the voice of the African States and to understand the vision they have of their own future and the means they intend to use to attain their goals. The international community must listen to the voice of Africa, for, as the Secretary-General of the United Nations has said, it is we who have failed in our way of approaching the problem, not Africa. May I add that, looked at in the right way, Africa is also a ‘solution’ and not only a ‘problem’.

21. In conclusion I should like to enlarge the importance of this observation by stressing that UNESCO, for its part, will be more closely attuned to all the Member States, in that it will step up its presence at national level. In order to do this the Organization has numerous channels of communication - firstly the National Commissions, then the UNESCO Clubs, the university networks, the Associated Schools and the parliamentary groups - which enable it to achieve its original ambition to spark off a meeting of minds. These channels must be strengthened; these vectors must be put to optimum use. I have already spoken at length of the National Commissions and the importance of their role. You know the great importance I attach to the UNITWIN programme and the UNESCO chairs network. But should we not do more for the UNESCO Clubs and for the Associated Schools, whose fortieth anniversary we celebrated recently in Soest, Germany? The Associated Schools constitute an admirable instrument for disseminating the Organ&ion’s ideals, but its potential is still largely untapped. Should we not also, in this period of our existence that is marked by the advancement of democracy, move closer to parliamentary groups and to all organizations representative of civil society?

22. I am convinced that it is only by effective presence in the field - which implies also further decentralization - that UNESCO will truly succeed in meeting the expectations of the people, who are the real targets of its action. It is towards civil society that Member States of the Organization must henceforth resolutely turn. With the restoration of its intellectual leadership, which is widely effective today, with its increasing influence inside the United Nations system, this is the third ‘operational area’, doubtless the most crucial for its future, in which UNESCO must now succeed.

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