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

a time when the fashion is to venerate the selfishness of the market, where intolerance is breeding terrorism
worldwide, only a culture of universal tolerance, compassion, coexistence, and a concern for human dignity,
respect and welfare will bring peace to this world. I take this opportunity to suggest that UNESCO initiate a
dialogue amongst civilizations to safeguard our common future. India would be happy to host a conference on the
subject.
12.4 UNESCO is not rich the way international financial institutions are. Nevertheless, its contributions to
cultural, social and educational development are bound to have an enduring influence far beyond what money can
have. Financial institutions can make the world richer, but it is only UNESCO that can make the world wiser! In
submitting to UNESCO the Report of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century,
the Commission Chairman Mr Jacques Delors, talks about seven different tensions. Almost as an afterthought, he
says “Lastly, another perennial factor – the tension between the spiritual and the material: often without realizing
it, the world has longing, often unexpressed, for an ideal and for values that we shall term ‘moral’ … It is no
exaggeration on the Commission’s part to say that the survival of humanity depends thereon”.
12.5 It would probably be more accurate to describe this tension between the spiritual and the material not as
the last one in consequence but as the primary one. An education that merely teaches one to exploit the forces of
nature apparently swells the head but shrinks the heart. The poet Oliver Goldsmith wrote: “where wealth
accumulates, men decay”. Likewise, in many wealthy countries, family values have collapsed to the extent that in
their selfishness, parents often go to the extent of abandoning their own children. In turn, children abandon their
aged parents. It is important for UNESCO to consider what kind of a millennium we are ushering in, what kind of
education we are organizing, what kind of society we are developing, and what kind of a culture we are
advocating when families are torn asunder by selfishness, children are brought up without love, but taught to live
only for pleasure, to die finally unwept and uncared for.
12.6 We are celebrating the arrival of the second millennium by promoting unabashed consumerism. We
have two options: one is to apply science and technology greedily for maximizing production. The other is to use
that knowledge wisely to get the maximum out of sustainable production. We need that wisdom. Unless and until
we evolve a culture of sustainable consumption, we will not be able to engineer the kind of sustainable
development many of us ardently desire.
12.7 Projects sponsored by UNESCO have worldwide sweep and thrust. Neither national nor bilateral
schemes can have similar scope. So, we seek the sponsorship of UNESCO for the following projects, which we
believe have widespread utility. We request like-minded countries to join us in these endeavours. Firstly, under
the onslaught of modern technology much traditional knowledge is getting lost without trace. Hence, it is
important to index and catalogue all such information. India will be happy to participate in any such exercise and
to help UNESCO in organizing an international/regional programme on traditional knowledge systems. As a
corollary, I propose that UNESCO also hold a workshop on the illicit transfer of cultural property.
12.8 Secondly, UNESCO already produces bi-annually a World Science Report. As a complement to this
series, I suggest publication of a bi-annual series of World Technology Reports – to highlight not what
technology can do but in what way technology impacts on social welfare and cultural change. India offers
organizational and editorial support for the same. Thirdly, India’s computer scientists have earned a worldwide
reputation for their skills. India will be happy to place that expertise, which incidentally is well-tailored to link
the capabilities of the Third World with the needs of developed nations, for use in UNESCO training
programmes, particularly in Information Technology, and for networking of on-line digital libraries.
12.9 Fourthly, I understand that UNESCO proposes to organize a series of regional consultations on a World
Conference on Communication and Information. India will be happy to host one of those meetings. Fifthly, the
world over, there is an asymmetric movement of talented people, by which rich nations have been able to secure
highly talented youth from developing countries. Rich nations cannot sustain that inflow, and will lose the
services of such talent, unless they help developing countries to maintain a high quality of instruction in their
schools and colleges. I suggest UNESCO initiate a programme that will induce the rich nations to support worldclass
education and research infrastructure in poorer countries. For that purpose, I suggest that UNESCO
commission a study.
12.10 Lastly, as a complement to the above, it will be useful also for UNESCO to define and evolve a
Minimum Package of Science for Everyone. That will be instrumental in promoting science literacy and a culture
of science.
12.11 These proposals will, hopefully, trigger a new direction for educational, scientific, social and cultural
development. In this context, it is worth noting that the greatest concern people have about the onset of the new
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