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

helped us to come together in an unprecedented way in history and to give birth to organizations such as
UNESCO, will secure peace and stability for the world of tomorrow. Thank you Madam President.
22. The PRESIDENT:
I thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Croatia. It was certainly good to hear about the positive role
that UNESCO played, thanks to the Director-General, in the very difficult times your country went through, and
it is true that sharing experiences is important, particularly sharing information about the mistakes that are to be
avoided. I now call upon His Excellency Mr Isikeli Mataitoga, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Fiji to
UNESCO. You have the floor, Your Excellency.
23.1 Mr MATAITOGA (Fiji):
Madam President, Mr Chairperson of the Executive Board, Mr Director-General, ministers, heads of
delegations, ladies and gentlemen, please allow me, on behalf of the Fiji delegation to this session of the General
Conference of UNESCO, to express our sincere congratulations on your election to the presidency of the
Conference, and my wishes for the success of this special and very important session which has been placed
under your leadership. I take this opportunity on behalf of my delegation and my government to thank the
Director-General and the Executive Board for their efforts in this biennium, as the millennium also draws to a
close, ending yet another chapter where you have made the best of the trying times we have witnessed in these
two years.
23.2 My delegation welcomes the new Member States that have joined UNESCO and is particularly
delighted to welcome our Pacific neighbours, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia, bringing to 16 the
total number of Member States in our subregion.
23.3 Madam President, during the 27th session of the General Conference, the head of the 1993 Fiji
delegation spoke about Fiji and its people; the 1997 delegation delved into the history of education in Fiji.
23.4 The United Nations Development Programme defines sustainable human development as “enlarging
people’s choices by expanding human capabilities”. Progressing towards the goal of sustainable human
development requires that people’s capacities, choices and opportunities are expanded and that they can lead
satisfying and productive lives. This in turn requires that people’s opportunities and well-being are the central
goals for all development policies and programmes. In a United Nations report published in June of this year,
entitled “Creating opportunities”, the most urgent concern across the Pacific subregion at the moment is how
better to meet the needs and aspirations of the upcoming generation of Pacific island people. Madam President,
currently there are 1.4 million young people aged 15 to 24 years, representing 20% of the region’s population; by
the year 2010, this number will have increased by at least 300,000. Many school leavers find they have
inadequate or inappropriate skills for the jobs that are available for agricultural work or for other types of
livelihood. A sizeable number of young people may therefore face a future of unemployment and
underemployment, without much chance to experience the dignity, discipline and satisfaction that work brings.
23.5 In our attempt to conform with the commitment to provide basic education and to the attainment of
education for all by the year 2000, Fiji is pleased to have been part of the UNESCO Education for All 2000
Assessment exercise, plotting the path and measuring educational trends since Jomtien. With a population of
about three quarters of a million and with 98% of children having access to primary education, my government is
progressively introducing compulsory education to more education districts with the hope of covering the whole
country by the year 2001. This is complemented by the implementation of a financial assistance scheme which, to
date, sees all primary and middle secondary-school children having access to free education, thus allowing all
school-age children to have at least 15 years of free education.
23.6 Madam President, the UNESCO International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century’s
landmark report points to the clear and urgent need to fundamentally reorient national education systems to meet
the emerging national, regional and global challenges. In response, Madam President, my government has
decided to establish the Fiji Education Commission 2000 to review and evaluate Fiji’s education system and to
identify development priorities in education. The Commission will aim at making recommendations to support
and improve the standard and quality of education in the Fiji islands to meet the needs of the nation in the new
millennium. As the last review of Fiji’s education system was conducted in 1969, we see it as vital that the
system is re-examined not only to ensure that it provides the best possible basis for meeting the challenges of the
new century, but also to serve its multi-ethnic society, and assist the country in meeting its aspirations for social
cohesion, peace, harmony and a higher standard of living.
23.7 Madam President, since its establishment in 1993, the Fellowship Bank Scheme has done a lot for Fiji
and the Pacific, through whose assistance another of Fiji’s officers is currently attending the eight-month
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