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

amendments. But I think it is hardly right for us to use as an argument that we have not had enough time to
consider this amendment. Thank you, Madam President.
62. The PRESIDENT:
I thank the distinguished representative of Jamaica and I now give the floor to the representative of
Mexico.
63. Sr. SÁNCHEZ GUTIÉRREZ (México):
Gracias, señora Presidenta: Esta delegación agradece a Nueva Zelandia y Canadá que hayan planteado
esta cuestión ante esta sesión plenaria de la Conferencia General. La duración del mandato de la Dirección
General es un asunto de la mayor importancia por las repercusiones que tiene sobre el programa de trabajo no
sólo del propio Director General sino de toda la Organización. Por esa razón suscribimos el punto de vista de
Indonesia, Hungría y otros Estados Miembros, en el sentido de conceder el tiempo necesario para considerar
debidamente el tema y de dar un mandato al Consejo Ejecutivo para que lo estudie y presente después a esta
Conferencia las recomendaciones que estime convenientes. De esta forma, la propia Conferencia General podrá
adoptar una decisión final al respecto. Gracias.
(63) M. SÁNCHEZ GUTIÉRREZ (Mexique) (traduit de l'espagnol) :
Je vous remercie, Madame la Présidente. Notre délégation se félicite de ce que la Nouvelle-Zélande et le
Canada aient soulevé cette question à la présente séance plénière de la Conférence générale. La question de la
durée du mandat du Directeur général est de la plus haute importance vu les répercussions qu'elle peut avoir sur le
programme de travail, non seulement du Directeur général mais de l'ensemble de l'Organisation. C'est pourquoi
nous souscrivons au point de vue de l'Indonésie, de la Hongrie et d'autres Etats membres, à savoir qu'il faut se
donner le temps nécessaire pour examiner correctement le sujet, et charger le Conseil exécutif de l'étudier puis de
présenter à la Conférence générale les recommandations qu'il jugera appropriées. Ainsi, c'est la Conférence
générale elle-même qui pourra prendre une décision définitive en la matière. Je vous remercie.
64. The PRESIDENT:
I thank the representative of Mexico. I am now going to call on the last speaker on my list. I give the
floor to the representative of South Africa.
65.1 Ms AFRICA (South Africa):
Thank you, Madam President. I would just like to comment on some of the things which have been said
by previous Members. To begin with I would like to refer to the question which has been raised about time: I
support the argument put forward by the representatives of Jamaica, Denmark and others that we have had quite a
long time to consider this amendment. The six months provided for in the Rules of Procedure were enough for
us; those of us who are members of the Commonwealth group will recall that in fact this first started being
discussed very early this year, as early as January or February, and we were thus able to transmit comments on
this item to our capitals. We consider therefore that we have in fact had nearly the whole year to think about this
and so we do not really think that the argument about time is relevant here. We also agree with Argentina that this
is the General Conference's responsibility and that while we could leave this to the Executive Board, we could
end up postponing it again at the next General Conference, and I think that the General Conference needs to
decide at this point if it does want to assume its responsibility or not on this matter.
65.2 I would also, Madam President, like to say that we support the amendment proposed by New Zealand
and amended by Canada. We think it is consistent with modern day practice. Institutional culture these days does
say that you do not go on for indefinite periods, and that accountability is important - if you wait for too long you
somewhat compromise the principle of accountability.
65.3 The other point which has somewhat disturbed us in the discussion this evening is a sort of assumption
that it is only the Chief Executive Officer that counts. We consider that the CEO works within the institution,
with the Member States, and that all of these bodies ensure the continuity of the Organization - not just the
person - and I think that it is the organizational culture which we should be more worried about, not the person.
We should be thinking in terms of the staff, the principles and values of the Organization, and the governing
bodies. UNESCO is not unique. Like all the United Nations agencies it is composed of Member States which are
the supreme decision-makers, and we ensure continuity, not just the CEO, and so I think we need to assume our
responsibility, and rather than say that it is only the person that counts, we need to say how we are responsible for
ensuring that the programme is properly managed, for safeguarding the Organization's memory, and for ensuring
that decisions are followed through over a period. That is the point I wanted to make.
65.4 Finally, Madam President, since I am the last speaker, I would like to take the time to inform some of
the other Members who said they do not have enough information about what happens in other United Nations
agencies, because I have a list here of some of our sister organizations. Members may be interested to know that
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