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

21.3 My delegation would like to convey its heartiest congratulations to His Excellency, Mr Koïchiro
Matsuura, for his nomination by the Executive Board as its candidate for the post of Director-General of
UNESCO. We are confident that the General Conference will unanimously endorse his candidature. My
delegation wishes him every success and would like to assure him of our fullest support and cooperation in
carrying out his important responsibilities. Lastly, my delegation would like to welcome Micronesia and Palau as
Member States of UNESCO and the Cayman Islands for being admitted as an Associate Member.
21.4 Mr President, this Conference assumes a special significance, as it is the last one before the start of the
new millennium. Much has been achieved by UNESCO in the last five decades, yet much more remains to be
done. The efforts of UNESCO, and of many others devoted to promoting the welfare of the human person, have
fallen far short of expectations. It is a sad commentary on this century that, despite its ground-breaking advances
in science and knowledge, the vast majority of the world’s population still lives in abject poverty and misery.
This Conference, therefore, is an important occasion to take stock of achievements and failures for the challenges
ahead. UNESCO’s mission to foster a culture of peace and human and sustainable development framed more
than 50 years ago continues to remain valid. Perhaps at this juncture we need only to reaffirm our faith in that
mission and devise strategies for its realization.
21.5 My delegation welcomes the declaration of the year 2000 as International Year for the Culture of Peace.
On its launch on 14 September this year, Bhutan formally joined the global peace initiatives through the
traditional lighting of thousands of butter lamps for world peace and signing the Peace Manifesto. In Bhutan, we
believe that peace is a state of mind and, therefore, there can be no peace if there is no peace within. My
delegation believes that the global initiative launched by UNESCO will contribute towards efforts to nurture
peace from within all of us, and will help usher in the new century with a true culture of peace as opposed to the
century that we are leaving behind, which has been marred by wars, bloodshed and destruction.
21.6 The coming millennium holds tremendous opportunities and challenges for all, and UNESCO has rightly
recognized the need to develop information societies based on knowledge resources. It now needs to ensure that
its education, science and technology programmes are geared towards bridging the digital divide between the
information “haves” and “have-nots” on a sustainable basis. The information age requires a certain level of
infrastructure to be in place so that its benefits are pervasive throughout the developed and developing world. To
this end, UNESCO must be able to assist the developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, in
building appropriate infrastructure in the area of education. It is encouraging to note that the Director-General
designate intends to focus his efforts on, amongst others, education and new technologies in the developing
nations.
21.7 Mr President, my delegation is pleased to note that since the World Conference on Education for All in
Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990, in which I was most privileged to participate in my capacity as the then head of
Bhutan’s education system, education has moved up the list of priorities of many governments. In Bhutan, ever
since 1961 when the nation started its modernization programme, education has been at the top of our priority
list. This priority has not changed. The Royal Government still allocates more than 26% of its national budget to
the social sector, of which education is a very important component. However, as a least developed country, the
task is not easy. Bhutan has to continue to look forward to the support of the international community in this most
vital sector of human development.
21.8 An issue of growing concern is that, with about 50% of the world’s population in their youth, there is an
increase in drug-related problems and juvenile delinquency. My delegation, therefore, feels that there is a need to
place greater emphasis on instilling values education in children and restoring family values to revive social
cohesion. The challenges for all of us remain enormous, so are the means to overcome them. The activities of
UNESCO, therefore, deserve our active support. Bhutan, for its part, is making every effort to respond to these
challenges. The recent establishment of new youth centres in different parts of the Kingdom is an example of the
determined efforts my country is making in this direction. We would welcome the active support of UNESCO in
our endeavours in this area.
21.9 Mr President, Bhutan fully supports the objectives of promoting an integrated approach to the
preservation and enhancement of the cultural and natural heritage. In a fast-changing world, this aspect of
UNESCO’s work is of paramount importance. In Bhutan, we have come to believe that a nation’s progress
should be measured not only by its achievements in the socio-economic fields but also by its success in
preserving and promoting its culture and traditions. Thus, for us the gross national happiness of the people is an
important as the gross national product. Gross national happiness is a concept espoused by His Majesty, King
Jigme Singye Wangchuck, for his people, according to which development in Bhutan is characterized by a
process that seeks to maintain the correct balance between socio-economic progress, environmental sustainability
and the preservation of traditional, cultural and spiritual values.
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