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

Member States. This year, 1999, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau have become
Members. Mr President, please allow me humbly to share with you the fundamental belief of the people of the
small island States. Land and sea are one inseparable commodity. Land and sea are our blood. Our fertile limited
soil and our vast rich marine resources, combined with the constant trials and tribulations of nature - these we
take as our normal burdens to bear. These are our finest hour and we will with God’s guidance and grace
continue to live in this part of the globe, and thereby be vigilant in taming the mighty power of the sun, sea,
earthquakes and the winds to our corporate advantage.
20.2 Mr President, may I remind all of us that from Adam and Eve to the greatest flood the world has known
it took 2,000 years, from Noah to the birth of Christ another 2,000 years, and from the birth of Christ to
31 December 1999 another 2,000, with now only 57 days to go in this second millennium: I put it to you,
Mr President, how come it is our generation, how come it is we, selected by God, who will be witnessing -
though some of us may not - the end of the second millennium?
20.3 Mr President, I ask you for your forgiveness for what I am going to say. We are interested that
Ms Moserová was selected by your male-dominated Executive Board as President of this General Conference. I
know why! She is essentially and foremost a mother at heart.
20.4 The Pacific people are still crying from the wilderness, from the largest lake in the world. The Pacific
people are still at large, and alive, still to be found somewhere out there at sea. We say in the Pacific: "If there’s
no wind, row". And the Bible says: "Seek and thou shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you, ask and it
shall be given". Mr President, the Pacific is most grateful to the UNESCO Office at Apia, Samoa, for all the
tender loving care that the subregion has received during the past years. For the next biennium the Pacific would
sincerely and humbly appreciate it if the post for science were filled as soon as possible.
20.5 Permit me to state that Focus on the Pacific is in great need of UNESCO’s serious attention. In reality,
with due respect to the Secretariat, there is very little concern for this initiative in terms of real financial growth.
Focus on the Pacific is still lost at sea. Therefore we hope and pray that something more substantial will emerge
in the near future. Focus, in our understanding, means a torch with the spotlight switched on. Furthermore, the
Small Island Unit in UNESCO should be strengthened and, I may venture to suggest, be upgraded to Division
level and be staffed accordingly.
20.6 The Education for All programme is basic to all we do in education and therefore deserves continued
and realistic attention. The Associated Schools Project is to be highly commended for its relevance and
popularity.
20.7 We are now all convinced about the importance of information technology, after a long period of
misgivings. Even the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr Tony Blair, was reported by The Times
newspaper of 10 October 1999 as saying that he had always been scared of new technology. We are very thankful
for the World Parliament of Children and the Youth Forum that is still ongoing. The youth and general
population of the Pacific must be given all possible opportunities in the field of information technology. In other
words, technical and vocational education and training must be one of the priorities for the Pacific, highlighting
land and sea skills, including the culture of maintenance and, may I add, with due respect to UNESCO, the
culture of bureaucracy. Technical and vocational education and training are the best solutions to the all-time
problems of how to cater for the majority of pupils in our schools. Information technology is super-high
technology.
20.8 I conclude, Mr President, by briefly referring to verses from the Bible: "Throw your bread to the water
and forget about it" and "It is better to give than to receive". From the age of 7, as a young boy in my small
Tongan village, my parents taught my brothers and sisters a valuable lesson that I did not understand at the time.
We took turns at doing an "unpleasant" chore. Every Sunday, at meal time, one of us had to take food - the best
food - to our grandmother who lived five houses away in the village. I had to walk on an empty stomach along
the public road to reach my grandmother’s house. While I was walking I would think about the food I was
holding; it was always hot. During the week, if we had something worth taking, we would take it. The belief is
that what one gives, one gives to oneself. If one gives the best, one shall receive the best.
20.9 The Director-General has given his best to UNESCO and the Member States. We thank your
Excellency, Dr Federico Mayor, and your good lady and family. During these 12 years, you have helped revive
the principles of our UNESCO house of learning, education, science, culture and communication and, above all,
the house of the culture of peace dedicated to learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, learning
to be. You have brought back the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And it is now over to
the new Director-General designate Mr Matsuura, to complete the great task you have initiated by bringing back
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