UNESCO

© Alfredo Cannatello
150
A dancer from the National Ballet of Cuba,
under the direction of UNESCO Goodwill
Ambassador Alicia Alonso, performing at
La Havana (Cuba) on 14 March, in honour of
the Organization’s 70th anniversary.
UNESCO’s 70th anniversary
worldwide
The events at UNESCO Headquarters
were only a part of the celebrations of
the Organization’s 70th anniversary.
Meetings, activities and events of all
kinds were organized by UNESCO national
offices, regional bureaux and cluster
offices, along with national commissions,
and in cooperation with governmental
and non-governmental partners.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Discussions in Uruguay
on UNESCO’s impact
in Latin America
On 17 June the UNESCO Regional
Office for Science in Latin America
and the Caribbean (ROSTLAC) and
the Uruguayan National Commission
for UNESCO organized the conference
entitled ‘70 Years of UNESCO: Its
Impact on Latin America’. This offered
participants a chance to reflect on the
fundamental contribution that UNESCO
has made since its inception, as well as
on the construction of innovative social,
cultural and scientific paradigms in
Latin America. Although much has been
achieved, there are still key issues that
require urgent solutions.
The conference was followed by
a discussion on 23 July on the theme
‘70 Years of UNESCO: Culture and
Heritage’. About 50 guests, including
diplomats, university officials and
the general public, enjoyed a debate
between Nelson Inda, President of
the Commission for Cultural Heritage of
the Nation and member of the National
Commission for UNESCO, and Mariano
Arana, architect and politician, former
Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning
and Environment for Uruguay, and
former Mayor of Montevideo.
In addition, ROSTLAC organized
a competition to invite designers to
produce a poster on the theme ‘Science
in Latin America and the Caribbean:
The 70th anniversary of UNESCO’.
The winning design was produced by
David Vladimir Peguero, an architecture
student from the Dominican Republic.
Joint celebrations in Costa Rica
2015 saw not only UNESCO’s 70th
anniversary, but also the 30th
anniversary of the establishment of
the UNESCO Office for Central America,
and the 65th anniversary of the Costa
Rican National Commission. All three
anniversaries were celebrated in
a ceremony at Parque La Libertad,
San José. The event was organized by
the Presidency of Costa Rica and the
National Commission for UNESCO, and it
included a concert and a poetry recital.
Ballet in Cuba
Under the direction of UNESCO
Goodwill Ambassador Alicia Alonso,
the National Ballet of Cuba honoured
UNESCO’s anniversary by restaging
on 14 March the ballet Tula, inspired
by the life and work of the renowned
Cuban writer Gertrudis Gómez de
Avellaneda. This initiative was sponsored
by the Cuban National Commission
for UNESCO and the UNESCO Regional
Office for Culture in Latin America and
the Caribbean in Havana.
Celebrating cultural heritage in the
Dominican Republic
The Ministry of Culture of the Dominican
Republic organized an event on
15 January to celebrate UNESCO’s
anniversary by highlighting the rich
cultural heritage of Santo Domingo. The
event was attended by UNESCO Director-
General Irina Bokova, who said, ‘Santo
Domingo is a city of encounters – here,
for the first time, the American, European
and African cultures came together for
very dynamic systems of knowledge,
languages, ideas and experiences.’