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

importance of strengthening field units and giving them the status of entities enjoying full partnership rights. I
advocate the enhancement of their role in development cooperation and in providing direct assistance to Member
States for the design, preparation and evaluation of strategies, programmes and projects. They muster
extrabudgetary resources, a function approved by all Member States, and they reflect UNESCO’s vitality.
Accordingly, I should like to see an increase in support, in terms of both human and financial resources, for
UNESCO’s Offices in the Arab region, and in particular the Regional Office for the Arab States of the Gulf, which
is hosted and supported by the State of Qatar.
(24.10) Secondly, as regards the proposed budget for the 2000-2001 biennium, my delegation considers that it is
important to continue the application of austerity measures, to achieve savings and to reduce, insofar as possible,
administrative and support services and staff costs, so as ultimately to remain within the budget ceiling approved at
the 29th session. Member States, especially developing Member States, should not be asked to bear additional
burdens. The situations of those States and the economic crises affecting them are well known to all and should be
taken into account. In this context, I should like to note that the Draft Programme and Budget for the 2000-2001
biennium does not make adequate provision for the actual specific needs of the Arab region, especially in
connection with the issue of illiteracy. Similarly, I should also like to emphasize the importance of enhanced
cooperation and coordination between UNESCO and such organizations as the Islamic Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization, the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization and the Arab Bureau for
Education in the Gulf States, especially in matters relating to programmes aimed at the States of that part of the
world.
(24.11) I should like to emphasize that, despite my remarks on the programme and budget and UNESCO’s
working methods, I have the utmost respect for this Organization. I should also like to express my esteem for
Mr Federico Mayor and offer him my sincere thanks for his commendable efforts during his term of office as
Director-General of UNESCO. Thanks to his effective direction, many notable achievements have been recorded to
his credit, and his name will live long in the history of this Organization. My best wishes to his successor,
Mr Matsuura, the Director-General-elect. Thank you for your attention, and I wish the Conference all success.
Peace and the Blessings and Mercy of God be upon you all.
25. The PRESIDENT:
I should like to thank His Excellency the Minister for Education and Higher Education of Qatar. I now
call His Excellency the Honourable Burchell Whiteman, Minister for Education and Culture of Jamaica. Your
Excellency has the floor.
26.1 Mr WHITEMAN (Jamaica):
Madam President, permit me first of all to congratulate you very sincerely on your election to the Chair
of this Conference and on your sensitive conduct of the proceedings so far. I trust that my colleague delegates
will permit you to preserve your equanimity and grace as we proceed.
26.2 May I also pay tribute to the Director-General for the role he has played during his tenure and in
particular, as my colleague from Denmark remarked, on raising the visibility of UNESCO and seeking to
establish important partnerships with stakeholders at every level.
26.3 We wish for the new Director-General a successful administration and trust that he will be guided and
supported by the collective wisdom, skill and goodwill which reside in the Organization and in its constituent
Member States and which is expressed particularly through the committed and conscientious Executive Board.
26.4 Madam President, Chairperson of the Executive Board, representative of the Director-General,
distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, in strict chronological terms 1984 is 15 years behind us. The
Orwellian spectre of Big Brother has been replaced by more benign manifestations of distributed information the
use of which has for the most part empowered rather than controlled individuals. The decade that is drawing to a
close has seen the consolidation of political and trading alliances that change the realities of the exercise of
economic and political power. In general, large nations and small island States, the earth’s richest countries and
the so-called developing countries have accepted both the challenges and the opportunities of globalization and
free trade.
26.5 But we still search for answers in respect of international peace and security, equity and the creation and
preservation of just societies. We seek also to sustain economic growth, while providing reasonable guarantees of
employment for the working-age members of the 6 billion inhabitants of our planet. The tension remains, Madam
President, between the industrial, technological and resource-blessed “haves” and the “have-nots”. And these
groupings and the tensions that exist within countries also exist between countries in the larger global
community. The ongoing disparities, the potential for serious social conflict – either large-scale or intensely
localized – cannot be removed by recourse to any single solution. But the identification of the steps to their
resolution has not been beyond us.
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