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

(41.1) Mr SOW (Mauritania) (Translation from the Arabic):
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate, the blessings of God be upon His noble Prophet.
Madam President, Mr Chairperson of the Executive Board, Mr Representative of the Director-General, Your
Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to begin by offering my heartfelt
congratulations to Ms Jaroslava Moserová on her election as President of this session of the General Conference,
and on her commendable guidance of its work since it began. I should also like to express my esteem for the
successful efforts made by the Director-General, Mr Federico Mayor, to prepare this Organization to meet the third
millennium with an adequate provision of scientific and cultural resources.
(41.2) Ladies and gentlemen, this Conference is being held just as we are taking our leave of a millennium the
final century of which has been marked by extraordinary scientific development, and the result of that, in turn, has
been comprehensive globalization, bringing in its train greater benefits for some and revealing a need for greater
international solidarity. Despite that development and the ending of the cold war, our Organization’s goals remain
valid. We still see, alas, civil wars and other sources of tension increasing almost daily. Moreover, even here at the
threshold of the twenty-first century, a substantial proportion of the world’s population is still illiterate. In this
context, I should like to say that Mauritania, thanks to political stability and the enlightened leadership of His
Excellency President Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya, has made a substantial literacy effort which has produced
impressive results. In addition, fresh successes have been achieved in economic and social matters: the country’s
major economic balances are solid, and economic growth has been uninterrupted for the past 10 years, with the
result that various human development indicators have improved markedly. The school attendance rate has soared,
thanks to substantial investment by the State and local communities in infrastructure, teacher preparation and skills
upgrading. Other social facilities also make a favourable impression. Women, in particular, have been targeted
under literacy programmes and programmes aimed at raising school attendance rates and promoting participation in
public life. On this occasion, I should like to thank UNESCO for its unwavering support for my country’s efforts in
these areas.
(41.3) Ladies and gentlemen, Mauritania wishes to keep pace with the age we live in and seeks to enable its
citizens to join in the onward march of globalization, and to that end it has embarked on an important educational
reform, the implementation of which was timed to coincide with the beginning of the current school year. The
reform features, in particular, the teaching of foreign languages and the new sciences, most notably computer
science, in the early years. With a view to the scientific and cultural upgrading of creative people and the adoption
of appropriate incentives to that end, an international prize, to be known as the Chenguetti Prize for Literature, Art
and Science, will be awarded yearly as of next year. Furthermore, a plan is currently being prepared for the
collection, preservation, conservation and evaluation of the country’s cultural heritage, taking into account the
cultural dimension of development. UNESCO has provided invaluable help in this connection, and I extend my
thanks to the Organization.
(41.4) Ladies and gentlemen, all these accomplishments undoubtedly owe much to this Organization’s
programmes. I note with gratification the positive evolution UNESCO is currently undergoing, both as regards its
methods of work and the results it has achieved. I am confident that the Organization will play an important role in
reducing the imbalance between developing and industrialized nations that continues to characterize the evolution
of science, and that it will do the same in the field of new information technologies, so that globalization does not
take place at the expense of some of the world’s peoples. In this connection, my delegation welcomes the Arabia
Plan project, under which a data network linking the Arab countries is to be set up.
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