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

33.15 In order to lay the foundations of a knowledge-based society so as to address development challenges
more effectively, the major objectives of the education sector plan related to the higher education subsector are
as follows: to upgrade the base of scientific/technical and vocational education at all levels of the education
system; to develop higher institutions of learning, namely the general and professional universities and the
institutes of technologies as centres of excellence; to expand specialized and professional education and training
in all relevant fields; and to make admission to higher education needs-based and merit-based as well as costeffective.
33.16 Mr President, the process of social development comprises the upliftment of all the sectors of people in
a society in terms of knowledge and material well-being. Considered from this viewpoint, achievement of societal
development in Bangladesh presupposes the establishment of gender parity. In order to address this issue women
have been treated as a distinct target group in all governmental plans and programmes. The National Policy for
Women’s Advancement (NPWA) adopted by the government recently in pursuance of the United Nations Fourth
World Conference on Women, the National Action Plan (NAP) formulated on the basis of the Beijing Platform
for Action, setting the objectives for integrating women in mainstream development efforts in the current fiveyear
plan reflect the government’s determination to achieve the socio-economic upliftment of women. These
policy measures have been translated into concrete programme packages and projects.
33.17 I would also like to draw your kind attention to an issue which is of particular interest to countries like
Bangladesh. One of UNESCO’s prime concerns, as enunciated in Major Programme IV entitled “Towards a
communication and information society for all” is to collect and disseminate information with a view to enriching
the knowledge base and enhance the participation of member countries in activity areas of concern to them. As a
part of this programme, Bangladesh strongly recommends the inclusion of information regarding skill and
knowledge market variables in UNESCO activities for collecting and disseminating information. This will be of
the utmost utility to member countries like Bangladesh that suffer from imperfections in the market for skill and
knowledge. In the absence of timely and appropriate information and of an information dissemination
mechanism, it is quite common for underdeveloped countries to have a deficiency of certain types of skills and at
the same time a surplus of other skills. This causes considerable wastage of resources. The inclusion of this area
in the domain of information collection and dissemination activities of UNESCO is therefore suggested so that
relevant information flow within and between Members States is ensured.
33.18 Mr President, in conclusion I would like to reiterate the commitment of Bangladesh to the ideals and
principles of UNESCO. We pledge, as before, all support and cooperation to the Organization. Mr President,
Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I express my sincere gratitude for your kind and
patient attention. I thank you all.
34. Le PRESIDENT :
Je remercie S. Exc. M. Ashk Sadique, ministre de l'éducation du Bangladesh, et j'invite S. Exc. le
professeur Kader Asmal, ministre de l'éducation de l'Afrique du Sud, à prendre la parole.
35.1 Mr ASMAL (South Africa):
Mr President, delegates, ladies and gentlemen, comrades, from time to time in the affairs of great
institutions a turning point is reached. This is such a time. The fact that this is the last UNESCO General
Conference session of the twentieth century adds piquancy to our situation.
35.2 As the first streamers of the new century’s dawn brighten the eastern sky, humankind dreams the
millennium dream. It is an old dream, in which human degradation and brutality are banished, chaos gives way to
order and stability and people live their lives in dignity and decency, tolerance and peace, and enjoy the fruits of
human art, inquiry and enterprise.
35.3 UNESCO was born out of such a longing for renewal, in a world brutalized by the horrors of genocide,
of colonialism and slavery, of racism and xenophobia, of carnage and destruction. UNESCO’s founders were
leaders in the worlds of science and letters, as practical as they were idealistic. They believed implicitly that
education, science and culture were adornments of human society. But they had witnessed how skilled and
educated populations could be swept by fanaticism and mobilized for evil, how scientists and artists could be
beguiled by power and co-opted by ideologies rooted in hatred and chauvinism.
35.4 Thus they envisaged a world agency within the new United Nations system that would help construct
what they called the “defences of peace” in the minds of men and women. There is an inspiring statement of the
aims of this Organization, well known to all of us, which appears in the first paragraph of Article I of the
UNESCO Constitution. Like all great emanations of the human spirit, it continues to inform and to challenge us
no matter how often we contemplate its significance. It tells us, firstly, that the preconditions for peace depend
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