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

DEBAT DE POLITIQUE GENERALE (suite)
GENERAL POLICY DEBATE (continued)
DEBATE DE POLÍTICA GENERAL (continuación)
ОБСУЖДЕНИЕ ВОПРОСОВ ОБЩЕЙ ПОЛИТИКИ (продолжение)
1.1 The PRESIDENT:
Distinguished delegates, I shall adjourn the meeting for five minutes pending a quorum. Thank you.
(The meeting is adjourned for five minutes)
1.2 Ladies and gentlemen, I declare open the tenth plenary meeting of the 30th session of the General
Conference. We now continue our general policy debate and I have the honour to invite the first speaker this
morning, His Excellency U Linn Myaing, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Myanmar to
UNESCO, to take the floor.
2.1. Mr U LINN MYAING (Myanmar):
Thank you, Madam President. May I on behalf of the members of my delegation and myself, extend to
you our warmest congratulations on your unanimous election as President of the 30th session of the General
Conference of UNESCO. This particular session is of special significance as it is the last session not only of the
twentieth century but also of this millennium. It is time to take stock of our endeavours during the years of
UNESCO's existence and also to meet the challenges of the next millennium. Furthermore, during this
30th session a new Director-General of UNESCO is to be elected. We would like to congratulate His Excellency
Mr Matsuura on having been nominated by the Executive Board to be the new Director-General. At this juncture,
we would also like to pay tribute to His Excellency Mr Federico Mayor, who has served two very distinguished
terms as Director-General of UNESCO. He has been untiring in his efforts to make UNESCO a better and more
effective Organization. He has sought to unify the Organization through difficult and challenging years.
2.2 Madam President, as the new millennium approaches and with the rapid advances in the field of
information and communication technology, it is increasingly clear that no country can insulate itself from others.
In this era of globalization, regional and international cooperation has become imperative. However, while the
process of globalization can facilitate economic development and thus promote living standards it can also bring
about undesirable negative effects to which smaller and less developed nations can easily become vulnerable. At
the same time the ever-widening gap between the developed and less developed countries continues to grow. In
the endeavour to close the gap, UNESCO has an important role to play in its areas of competence - education,
science, culture and communication.
2.3 Madam President, Myanmar is a nation with a long history of education, literature and the arts. I would
like to dwell briefly on the past before apprising this august assembly of the recent developments and trends
taking place in our country. Myanmar became a unified nation during the reign of King Anawrahta (1044-
1072 AD), when the first Myanmar Empire was established and the Bagan dynasty began. The glory that was
Bagan can still be seen from the achievements of that era, which have survived the ravages of time, nature and
man. European colonial aspirations and expansion changed the course of history in Asia. Almost all countries of
mainland South-East Asia were affected. Myanmar was no exception. The Second World War also wreaked
destruction as Myanmar became a major battlefield. Myanmar regained independence on 4 January 1948 but was
left with a legacy of deep racial division as a result of the "divide and rule" policy of the colonial administration.
It is only in recent years that law and order, as well as peace and tranquillity, have been restored to those areas
which had been under dissenting groups. Areas which have been denied social development, especially in
education, are now being reached.
2.4 Madam President, the education system in Myanmar has always stressed not only the importance of
cultural heritage but also the need to regard culture as a dynamic process by which members of its society enrich
themselves and so bring about improvements to their quality of life. The cultural element is seen as an essential
factor in socio-economic, technological, scientific and other forms of development. Having a strong literary and
cultural tradition that dates back many centuries, Myanmar has a long history of dynamic interaction between
education and culture.
2.5 Madam President, in 1998 and again this year, wide-ranging educational reforms have been discussed at
a number of nationwide seminars covering basic education and higher education. As a result, there has been a
discernible shift away from a rigid, examination-dominated system of education to a system of competency,
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