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

development partners are fully committed to the exercise and work together. We strongly count on UNESCO.
Our collective and complementary efforts are also a must in the implementation of the Action Plans of the recent
major International Summits and Conferences and we are certain of UNESCO’s full involvement.
28.6 Finally, Madam President, as you are well aware, top priority for the UNDP agenda is and remains the
eradication of poverty through sustainable human development. There is no institution that can attain this
complex objective alone. But, by unifying our efforts, we can do a lot. Education is a prerequisite for attaining
this objective. UNESCO with its mandate as leading agency in education is and will continue to be a major
partner of UNDP in achieving this enormously difficult task. We encourage UNESCO to continue its proactive
role and be a full partner in the New Partnership Initiative and thereby further strengthen our collaboration in
confronting the new challenges. UNDP is pledging its full support. Thank you.
29. The PRESIDENT:
I should like to thank Mr Bonev, who represented the United Nations Development Programme. Our
cooperation is certainly necessary - let us only hope that we shall have the means to carry out our aims and our
joint projects. I now give the floor to His Excellency the Honourable Rondy Mani, Minister of Education and
Human Resources Development of Solomon Islands.
30.1 Mr MANI (Solomon Islands):
Madam President of the 30th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, Director-General
Federico Mayor, Heads of Governments, Ministers, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
let me begin by expressing for myself, my country and the Pacific as a whole our gratitude to and admiration of
Federico Mayor for the manner in which he has steered UNESCO for the past 12 years. I have not doubt that his
efforts to establish a Culture of Peace will endure and help us to face challenges of the new millennium. I wish to
convey the greetings of my people to this global gathering. I would also like to congratulate you, Madam
President, on your election to the Presidency of the 30th session of the General Conference of UNESCO.
30.2 Your Excellencies and distinguished delegates, thank you for this opportunity to represent the Solomon
Islands at the 30th session of the General Conference of this distinguished organ of the United Nations, the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, and its ever expanding involvement
in media telecommunication. In their deliberation my predecessors have acquainted you with the geographical,
historical, ethnic, financial and socio-economical standing of the small but sovereign Solomon Islands. However,
I wish to reiterate at the outset that the country’s educational profile indicates a very low level of educational
attainment. The adult literacy rate and the average number of years of schooling are the lowest in the Pacific
region (currently about 24% and six years respectively), despite considerable expansion in primary education
since the early 1980s and in junior secondary education since 1995, which has seen the secondary school access
rate rise from 26% in 1995 to 52% in 1999. Although education for all up to form 5 or equivalent or to the tenth
year became a government policy in 1989, its attainment has been illusive and difficult due to obvious financial
and economical constraints.
30.3 I shall return to this shortly, but before I do, I wish to register my government’s appreciation to
UNESCO for the benefits enjoyed by the Solomon Islands since it became a member in 1993. I acknowledge
with profound satisfaction, on the one hand, the technical assistance given in the areas of education, science,
culture and telecommunication and especially the personnel expertise and equipment provided in curriculum
development, early childhood education development, literacy and computerization; and, on the other, the
financial assistance of UNESCO through the Participation Programme, which has helped to improve library
services, the computerization of the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Cooperation (SIBC), Solomon Islands
Women’s Information Network (SIWNET) programmes, as well as the financial assistance to development of the
National Museum Programmes. I must also express my appreciation of UNESCO’s financial assistance to enable
my Government to host the Pacific Directors of Education Consultation in Honiara in December 1998 and the
International Conference hosted by the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SICHE) on Teacher
Education. Thirdly, Madam President, I cannot forget the fact that our participation in UNESCO’s international
forums, including this one, has been made possible by UNESCO’s financial assistance.
30.4 Your esteemed Director-General of UNESCO and distinguished delegates, by virtue of Article I,
section 2b of the Constitution, UNESCO is mandated to “Give fresh impulse to popular education and to the
spread of culture by collaborating with Members, at their request, in the development of educational activities”.
This is taken by my Government to mean: UNESCO should be ready to provide assistance for projects as they
are prioritized and objectivized by the respective governments, and by virtue of expert local knowledge.
30.5 In regard to government policy and the Education Sector Plan 2000-2010, I wish to tell you that on the
eve of the twenty-first century, having realized how far behind we are compared to the rest of you, my
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