UNESCO. General Conference; 30th; Records ... - unesdoc - Unesco

transforming their vast populations into human capital through proper education and training. UNESCO’s
response to the diverse needs of the Member States for education services through multifaceted programmes and
projects is, therefore, highly appreciated. Bangladesh fully concurs with UNESCO’s concern to ensure that
higher education makes a more substantial contribution to the development of the education system as a whole, as
enunciated in Subprogramme I.2.3.
33.8 Mr President, in elaborating Major Programme III, “Cultural development: the heritage and creativity”,
it has been concluded that UNESCO will have to reshape its actions in this arena. Such a conclusion is consistent
with the deliberations of the Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development held in 1998 in
Stockholm, the first World Culture Report also dating from 1998 and the Action Plan approved in Stockholm.
Bangladesh supports UNESCO’s decision to lay stress on indigenous capacity-building, assisting Member States
in designing frameworks for their cultural policies and encouraging training in cultural administration and
management which will follow from the proposed reshaping.
33.9 In this spirit, I draw the kind attention of the Conference to a special resolution submitted by my
delegation for your approval. This concerns declaring 21 February as International Mother Language Day to
honour about 4,000 mother languages in the world. We believe that languages are a most powerful instrument for
preserving and developing the tangible and intangible heritage of every society. The significance of 21 February
is that on this day in 1952, the entire 45 million people of Bangladesh rose in unison to protest against the
decision of the then rulers that, although Bangla was the language of the majority people of the country, it would
not be given official recognition and would be downgraded against another language. On that very day, four
persons were killed by the security forces shooting at a peaceful, unarmed student demonstration.
33.10 Now, a word about the transdisciplinary project “Towards a culture of peace”. Bangladesh is extremely
happy at the launching of the project, since the attainment of peace is a deep craving of mankind. In whatever
direction and under whatever banner human activities are initiated and carried out, what we are craving for is
peace – peace in mind, peace in body and peace in spirit. We extend our wholehearted support to this project.
We shared in the proclamation of the year 2000 as International Year for the Culture of Peace by the United
Nations General Assembly.
33.11 For Bangladesh, the key tools for realizing our national objectives are human resource development,
poverty eradication, mainstreaming women, empowerment of the poor and participatory development
programmes. The present government, elected in 1996, is in its fourth year of office. The state of affairs in the
political arena of the country furnishes ample proof that the recently established democratic process has gathered
enough momentum to overcome major hindrances on its forward march. The present government, in pursuance
of its constitutional obligations and electoral commitments, is working hard to establish the fundamentals of good
governance, namely accountability to the people, transparency and efficiency in conducting government business
and non-discriminatory dispensation of the laws of the land.
33.12 I recall here the impassioned speech of His Excellency the President of Venezuela, when he quoted a
statement by the Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen that there can be no famine in a democracy. This was very
accurately proved in Bangladesh. During the devastating flood in 1998, affecting two thirds of the country and
lasting for nearly three months, causing heavy damage to crops and stored food, the international news media
issued dire predictions of starvation and death for millions of people, but in actual fact not one single person died
of starvation and disease, as the government distributed food assistance to cover 20 million citizens for nearly
nine months. This was a remarkable achievement of a democratic and people-sensitive government.
33.13 Mr President, let me now recall our actions in the field of primary education. In primary education and
basic literacy Bangladesh has made remarkable progress during the last few years. We expect to overachieve the
EFA targets for gross enrolment and completion rates set for the year 2000. Gross enrolment in 1999 was 96%
against 95% targeted for the year 2000, and the completion rate in 1998 was 65% against the 70% rate targeted
for 2000. This is without a doubt a remarkable increase considering that the completion rate was only 40% in
1991.
33.14 The basic literacy rate has considerably increased. The present adult (15+) rate is estimated at 58%,
from less than 35% in 1991. We are happy to note that in recognition of our achievements Bangladesh was
awarded a UNESCO literacy award in 1998. In the secondary education subsector, in conformity with the main
line of action “Renewal and diversification of secondary education” of Subprogramme I.2.2 under Major
Programme I of the Draft Programme and Budget for 2000-2001, the programme of vocationalization of
secondary education has already started. This measure also serves the purpose of attuning secondary and tertiary
education to science and technology. The other notable achievement in this subsector is the enhancement of the
female participation rate. The female share in total enrolment stands at 48% in 1998 as against only 34% in 1990.
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