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

27.9 Mr President, at this point I would like to wish Mr Federico Mayor, the out-going Director-General of
UNESCO, well as he successfully completes his final term as Executive Head of the Organization. The roots of
friendship, warm relations and healthy partnerships in development which started decades ago between UNESCO
and Lesotho deepened during his term of office. The people of Lesotho still remember with enthusiasm his visit
to the Kingdom in January 1997, which culminated in a visit to the top of Thaba-Bosiu, the national historic
monument of the Basotho, where he laid a wreath at the grave of our late King Moshoeshoe II as a symbol of
remembrance and tribute to him. Activities initiated as a result of the aide-mémoire signed between UNESCO
and Lesotho on the occasion of that visit are highly appreciated. It is also our sincere belief that the outstanding
items of that agreement will be seen to completion in due course; such items include the following: the
establishment of a UNESCO Chair in water management at the National University of Lesotho and the
scholarships for Lesotho students in the SADC region. Allow me, Mr President, to congratulate the Executive
Board on the nomination of Mr Matsuura as the new Director-General and hope that this nomination will be
unanimously endorsed by the General Conference. We look forward to the same support we enjoyed in the past
years under the stewardship of Professor Federico Mayor.
27.10 Mr President, allow me to comment that Lesotho supports the new-style, user-friendly, result-oriented
C/5 document. We have also identified many areas in it which are in keeping with the needs of Lesotho. For
instance, in the area of arts and crafts Lesotho needs assistance to establish craft centres in the rural areas. Such
centres would provide and create jobs for rural women and men and therefore alleviate poverty. The centres
would focus on promotion of high-quality and environmentally friendly crafts. In the long term there would be a
multiplier effect as the skills provided are traditionally passed on from older to younger generations.
27.11 Mr President, my last comment concerns field offices in our region. While Lesotho welcomes the
presence of UNESCO fields offices in southern Africa, we strongly believe that their mandate must be clearly
defined and made clear to both parties concerned, namely the Member States and the field officers. We feel that
the role of the field officers would be greatly enhanced if they worked closely with the local authorities, including
National Commissions. Whatever activities the field officers carry out should be in the interests of the local
people, because the Member States will, after all have to live with the consequences of the activities carried out
by the field officers. There should also be a mechanism to monitor their activities.
27.12 In conclusion, Mr President, we wish to refer to the report of the Executive Board on the activities
during the past biennium. In particular, we noted with great interest the reforms that have been introduced and
will continue in the next biennium. We hope that these reforms will not only have an effect here at Headquarters
but that they will further impact on the activities of the Organization at the grassroots level in Member States.
Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your precious time and attention.
28. The PRESIDENT:
I thank Her Excellency the Permanent Delegate of Lesotho to UNESCO, and I now give the floor to
Mr Louis Van Beneden, President of the World Confederation of Teachers.
29.1 M. VAN BENEDEN (Confédération syndicale mondiale de l'enseignement) :
Merci Monsieur le Président. Monsieur le Président, permettez-moi tout d'abord de féliciter
Mme Moserová qui a été élue à la présidence de cette assemblée et de remercier M. Federico Mayor qui a si bien
défendu les valeurs et les intérêts de cette Organisation. Mesdames et Messieurs, 2000 : année de la culture de la
paix. Eduquer pour la paix, c'est d'abord éduquer pour vivre ensemble, pour respecter l'autre, pour accepter le
principe du pluralisme dans son sens le plus profond de tolérance et de respect de la diversité. Non pas de la
diversité qui construit des murs mais de celle qui enrichit et suscite la créativité. Cela est vrai pour tous les
groupes sociaux, y compris les organisations. Il est du devoir de l'UNESCO, dans l'optique des conclusions du
Rapport de la Commission mondiale de la culture et du développement, d'encourager l'application du principe du
pluralisme tant dans son fonctionnement interne que dans ses relations avec ses partenaires.
29.2 La CSME constate avec satisfaction que l'UNESCO a intensifié, au cours de la décennie écoulée, sa
réflexion et son action dans de nombreux domaines de l'éducation et qu'elle envisage de réaliser une évaluation
du programme qui a trait à l'éducation pour tous à Dakar l'année prochaine et de lancer une vaste réflexion sur
l'enseignement secondaire. La CSME félicite l'UNESCO de ces initiatives et continue de s'inscrire comme
partenaire actif dans tous les programmes de l'UNESCO et en particulier dans ceux relatifs à l'éducation.
29.3 Compte tenu de son dernier congrès mondial dont le thème était "Le rôle des enseignants dans
l'éducation du XXIe siècle", la CSME désire demander qu'une attention particulière soit accordée à la situation
des enseignants dans l'éducation, et plus précisément à deux aspects qui touchent directement les enseignants et
qui sont d'une importance vitale pour la qualité de l'éducation : la formation et les conditions de vie et de travail
des enseignants.
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