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

ages, in view of the massively important new instruments of information and communication, has to be carried
out by means which we tend to associate more with cultural operations than with scholastic activities.
2.5 It has become increasingly important to realize that our primary major task is to manage – in order to
foster all sorts of creativity out of initially chaotic experience – the cultural revolution which is taking place on a
global scale; and that consequently we should regard the renewal of school-based education as just a constituent
part of our management of the cultural revolution, rather than vice versa. In Malta, the government is striving to
achieve an “inclusive” society. This means, among other things, catering for the special educational needs of
disabled children and their families and ensuring they are given equal opportunity to achieve their personal
potential. We are striving to take all the necessary measures so that students with special needs are adequately
prepared to contribute their share to a productive and creative society.
2.6 In relation to UNESCO’s Major Programme II, Sciences in the service of development, Malta is
preparing to take the necessary measures to broaden the reach of science and technology to the public at large.
This has required massive investment in physical and human resources, and is being undertaken in close
collaboration with the university and local industry. A new vocational college is being set up, as an alternative to
the university education route, for students whose natural bent is more practical than theoretical. Curricula in all
fields are also being revised to cater for the new teaching methods that computerization in the classroom requires.
2.7 In the field of Major Programme III, Cultural development: the heritage and creativity, Malta is trying to
give new impetus to its commitments under the 1972 Convention for the Preservation of the World Cultural and
Natural Heritage. We are grateful to UNESCO for the expert assistance received to safeguard the world heritage
sites, ranging from the megalithic to the Baroque, which are so impressively clustered on the small space of our
island and to render them as accessible and as significant as possible to the rest of humanity. A Restoration
Institute has been established which we hope will service not only Malta, but also the Mediterranean region,
especially with regard to those materials which are most typically used in Malta, such as stone. A new structure is
being given to our heritage safeguarding institutions involving public–private partnerships of different kinds.
Malta would also like to participate in the elaboration of UNESCO’s draft rules concerning the underwater
cultural heritage which, though in its initial phase, could provide landmark guidance where it is much needed, as
in the Mediterranean.
2.8 Madam President, obviously the Mediterranean Programme of UNESCO has particular interest for us.
We applaud the initiatives taken to facilitate the constitution by non-governmental organizations in the area of a
Mediterranean Council of Culture, to which the Government of Malta is offering hospitality. It is envisaged that,
among other things, the Council’s service will be useful for some form of coordination to emerge between the
various initiatives with a cultural dimension which are burgeoning somewhat confusedly in the area, such as the
European Union’s MEDA Programme, the Mediterranean Action Plan, and the Council of Europe and ALECSO.
The various projects emanating from intergovernmental organizations, of which I have just named some, are
concerned with “the memory of the Mediterranean”, the setting up of a pluricultural multilingual thematic
television channel, ecological awareness, water resources conflict-solving mechanisms and so on. We are
particularly interested in the “culture of peace” initiatives related to peace at sea, intercultural dialogue on human
rights and new integrated versions of Mediterranean history that will eliminate the negative stereotypes still
prevalent today.
2.9 In Major Programme IV, Towards a communication and information society for all, UNESCO envisages
investment in a house-wide preparation for the new millennium, with the necessary expertise. UNESCO’s
increased cooperation with the International Telecommunication Union is a step in the right direction. In another
forum – the Council of Europe – my Ministry will next week host a European conference on universal
community service. This initiative stems from the Thessaloniki Declaration of 1997 in which European
governments undertook to make new communications and information services, such as the Internet, accessible
and affordable to all at the local community level, regardless of their geographical location. The Maltese
Government is thus committed to implementing this principle with the cooperation of regional libraries and
municipal councils and to providing access to the information highway in every town and village of Malta.
2.10 Statistics reveal that over 90% of lower income earners in Europe do not have access to the Internet.
Imagine how much wider the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” will be in the next 20 years if nothing is
done at the universal intergovernmental level to bridge this growing chasm of inequality of opportunity. This is
again a responsibility that UNESCO cannot shirk and must address.
2.11 The Government of Malta intends to inaugurate the new millennium not so much by the traditional
setting off of fireworks and street partying with champagne, although no doubt that will also happen. The
government is turning one of the famous military installations of Valletta, known since the time of the Knights of
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