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

hoy lucha por imponerse contribuye en mucho a que el tráfico de armas y drogas avance sin encontrar barreras
morales en su marcha.
5.11 Son muchos y muy difíciles los obstáculos que se interponen en la construcción de la paz, como
demuestran la violencia y las guerras que se han dado en esta última mitad de nuestro siglo. Sin embargo, si
existe una tarea que descuella por encima de todas y por la cual vale la pena todo esfuerzo, ésta es la de educar
para el futuro que deseamos. Quienes tenemos esperanza no podemos resignarnos a que la utopía no exista en
ninguna parte. Muchas gracias.
(5.1) Dr MORALES GARZA (Mexico) (Translation from the Spanish):
Madam President of the General Conference, Mr Chairperson of the Executive Board, Madam
Representative of the Director-General of UNESCO, ladies and gentlemen, I shall read out the message sent by the
Minister of Education of Mexico, Mr Miguel Limón Rojas, who is unable to attend for reasons beyond his control
but asks all of you to accept his warmest wishes and his words of tribute to Mr Federico Mayor in recognition of
his accomplishments.
(5.2) It is a great honour for me to express my thoughts, at this rostrum which represents humanity’s highest
aspirations, about the future of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
(5.3) The future is, on the one hand, the time yet to come when we would like our dreams to come true, but it
also holds uncertainties and fears; more hopes than fears for those of us who are determined to build peace.
(5.4) I wish, first of all, to congratulate the President on her conduct of the 30th session of our Organization’s
General Conference. I also wish to congratulate Ambassador Koïchiro Matsuura on his nomination by the
Executive Board as candidate for the post of Director-General of UNESCO. I should like in particular to express
my gratitude to Dr Federico Mayor and his staff for the determination and talent with which they have served
peace; for having developed at UNESCO the conviction that the desire to keep peace does not suffice to achieve it,
but that peace must be built on the foundations of equity, justice and freedom; and, in short, for having brought to
light the insoluble bond that exists between peace and development.
(5.5) Federico Mayor has made many wise moves, among which I should like to underscore the decision to
establish the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century and to place it under the
chairmanship of Jacques Delors. The Commission suggested many changes, but he retained and highlighted the
idea of educating for a full life. Upholding such an idea at a time when the emphasis was on output and the labour
market has proved to be of the utmost importance. To some extent, as a result of Federico Mayor’s initiative, the
future of education is less uncertain.
(5.6) The future becomes clear when we identify current trends and devise conceptual and legal tools that
permit concerted action. The future lies in the symptoms we see in the present, and can be read fairly correctly
when its language has been learnt from the lessons of history. Today, however, now that this century of such great
and far-reaching changes is nearly over, certain problems are emerging and we must use our imagination to the full
in seeking new, more efficient problem-solving strategies, beginning, as always, with the certainty that education is
one of the most important tools for peacekeeping and peace-building.
(5.7) Among the characteristic features of our time, at least very three different trends stand out, and we should
give thought to their effects to ensure that peace will continue to be built in the next century: growing
globalization, the increasing disparity in the distribution of wealth among nations and individuals and the growing
threat of arms and drug trafficking.
(5.8) In the context of globalization, UNESCO’s role is enhanced as never before. Its global recommendations,
the studies it conducts from a supranational perspective and, in view of the interdependence of the countries of the
world, its future-oriented studies are today crucial for peaceful and constructive coexistence among peoples.
(5.9) Unequal technological and scientific progress among countries is producing such a wide gap between
peoples and individuals that the long-standing distinction between rich and poor might seem insignificant. Faced
with that new version of inequality, UNESCO has ahead of it a task of substantial importance, which is to try to
ensure that the accomplishments achieved by human beings by making use of their best talents really redound to
the benefit of humanity rather than worsen current inequalities.
(5.10) Today, peace is threatened by arms and drug trafficking, not only on account of the violence that it
unleashes but because it perverts life, corrupts health and enslaves individuals. To combat this scourge, our weapon
is education: education that teaches the values that make democratic life possible and teaches freedom, justice,
dignity, equity, respect for others and oneself and the culture of peace; education that fulfils a preventive function
because it develops critical awareness, an ethical sense and a taste for the good things in life. It was this idea that
prompted Mexico to introduce substantial curriculum reforms. However, as the moral conscience of the United
Nations, UNESCO must focus world attention on the fact that the scale of values that is gaining ground today is a
major factor in enabling arms and drug trafficking to advance unimpeded by any moral barriers.
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