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

obliged to come back to it. There is no point in sneaking something through only to find that something different
happens. I know it is difficult for you, Madam President, but given the number of people here now and the
apparent unawareness of what is going on, I think you might be well advised to try to find time for a plenary so
that the question can be put to a sufficient number of people fully aware of the explanation just given by the
Legal Adviser.
135. The PRESIDENT:
I shall of course listen to the General Conference because the General Conference is the highest
authority and has the right to decide such matters. But I feel that even the members of the Administrative
Commission, when they were dealing with this matter, did not quite realize that the effect of their action would be
a delay of five years.
136. Mr MARSHALL (New Zealand), Chairperson of the Administrative Commission:
I do not want to spend a lot of time recapitulating, but what happened was that we had about three
amendments to the original package. We did not extensively debate each amendment, but we decided as we were
required to do, the order in which the amendments would be put. But the very first amendment moved, which was
this one, was carried after a lengthy debate on all its implications, but that is not to say that we debated this
particular outcome.
137. The PRESIDENT:
Thank you, Sir. I should like to tell all the delegates here that the Administrative Commission has been
dealing with this matter very thoroughly for a very long time. So let us make it clear that they worked very hard. I
have on my list, Hungary, Zimbabwe, India and Canada. I give the floor to Hungary.
138. M. PATAKI (Hongrie) :
Madame la Présidente, je constate avec regret que la Conférence générale se trouve dans une situation
très difficile et que nous nous sommes ridiculisés dans cette affaire. J'ai assisté à la réunion de la Commission
administrative. La Commission a délibéré pendant cinq heures, elle a adopté une résolution, dont on nous dit
maintenant qu'elle ne sert à rien. J'estime que, dans ces conditions, il serait plus sérieux de reporter le débat à une
date ultérieure.
139. The PRESIDENT:
Thank you. I give the floor to Zimbabwe.
140. Mr MAMBO (Zimbabwe):
When I asked the Legal Adviser what "takes note" means, I was particularly concerned by the fact that
people may not have been fully aware of what they were voting for. To save time, Madam President, I second the
proposal by the Chairperson of the Administrative Commission and Hungary that this debate, which needs to be
continued, be deferred till we find time to do the job thoroughly. We cannot, as an Organization, be irresponsible
and simply leave things as they are for five years. That will not work, Madam President. Thank you.
141. The PRESIDENT:
The representative of India has the floor.
142. Mr RAO (India):
I fully agree with the two previous speakers, Hungary and Zimbabwe, and I sincerely hope that the
Secretary of the General Conference will find time for a plenary. Because even if a matter has been discussed in
the Administrative Commission, the discussion can be reopened in the plenary - that is why we are meeting in
plenary. So I suggest that the debate be held in another plenary meeting when there is sufficient time and all the
various ramifications are clearly explained to the delegations. Thank you, Madam President.
143. The PRESIDENT:
The representative of Canada has the floor.
144. Mr DEMERS (Canada):
Thank you, Madam President. We very much share the concerns of Nigeria and the United Republic of
Tanzania that the impact of the decision proposed is not totally clear. We therefore support the recommendation
of the Chairperson of the Administrative Commission and of Hungary to postpone the debate on this matter to
another meeting of the plenary. Thank you.
145. The PRESIDENT:
TherepresentativeofTogohasthefloor.
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