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

39.1 Mr BAVU (Tanzania):
Thank you, Madam President. The United Republic of Tanzania is convinced that the proposal to
change the length of term of office needs to be thoroughly examined, taking into account all the viewpoints raised
by previous speakers, so that we can come up with a clearer and better understood and supported decision.
39.2 Madam President, UNESCO is a unique organization in the United Nations family. It is the only
organization which deals with ideas. Ideas as raw material do require a lot more time to conceptualize so as to
come up with specific programmes and programme activities. I therefore think it is quite wrong and not
altogether reasonable to compare UNESCO with other United Nations agencies, especially when it comes to
questions of planning and also the length of service of the executive head of the Organization. Madam President,
I am very much persuaded by the arguments which have already been presented, and which I need not repeat, by
Venezuela, India, Hungary, Russian Federation and France, and I think in this case that we should not take a
decision on this matter at this session of the General Conference, but that it should be referred to the Executive
Board, which should be requested to study it in depth and make specific recommendations to the General
Conference at its next session. Madam President, the fact that letters were sent to Member States more than six
months ago does not necessarily mean that adequate consideration has been given to this question.
39.3 I remember, Madam President, that in 1990 or 1991 I think, when we were considering an amendment to
the Constitution, there was a specific arrangement whereby Member States in their capitals and Member States'
representatives here in Paris, including the Permanent Delegations in Paris and the various regional groups, were
able to discuss the proposal at length. The discussions proved very effective and finally some kind of consensus
was reached which was brought to the General Conference. I think that was a fairly effective way of discussing
matters of such importance; and I would suggest that the way this particular proposal has been communicated and
finally brought to the General Conference leaves a lot to be desired. I think we do need much more time to look
into this properly. Thank you, Madam President.
40. The PRESIDENT:
I thank the distinguished delegate of the United Republic of Tanzania and I now give the floor to the
delegate of the Philippines.
41. Mr VILLAROEL (Philippines):
Madam President, thank you. The Philippine delegation regrets it is unable to support the New Zealand
proposal and the Canadian amendment. We will argue our position not only on legal but also on moral grounds.
Allow me to explain. When the candidates, among whom was our own Ms Manalo, contested the Director-
General's set it was on the understanding that whoever is elected would be given a six-year term. We will not
deny that at the time the Canadian and New Zealand proposals to curtail the term of the incoming Director-
General had already been tabled. But, as opposed to the six-year term which the UNESCO Constitution provides
and is a fact, the amendment suggested remains to this day a proposal and has no legal status. It was in this
context that the electoral process leading to the election of the new Director-General was launched, though I will
concede it is not yet completed. Nevertheless the electoral process has begun and the office has been contested
on the basis of a six-year term. To change the rules now, in midstream as it were, would be in our mind not only
inelegant, but unjust. Having said this, we would like to make it clear that the Philippine delegation finds many
merits in the Canadian and New Zealand proposals, and our delegation would be prepared to participate fully in
further discussions on this issue, but not now. In other words, the Philippine delegation supports Indonesia's
proposal. Thank you, Madam President.
42. The PRESIDENT:
Thank you Sir. I should now like to give the floor to the representative of Trinidad and Tobago.
43.1 Mr CARRINGTON (Trinidad and Tobago):
I will be very brief, as brief as the details will allow me to be. First of all I wish to indicate that I am
speaking both as the representative of Trinidad and Tobago and also as a former nominee for the position of
Director-General. I want to remove from the discussion any arguments that may appear to be sound but on
examination do not have the validity that they appear to have when they are first proposed.
43.2 First of all, on the matter of the letter written to Member States inviting nominations for the position of
Director-General: I do not think that any letter written to Member States inviting nominations for the position of
Director-General takes precedence over the provisions that the General Conference shall decide on concerning
the contract of the Director-General before his or her appointment.
43.3 I wish to bring to your attention, Madam, that no new Director-General has been appointed and
therefore the notion of unfairness is immaterial. A new Director-General takes office at a particular date with a
571
18