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

(21.3) Thirdly, and turning to the draft resolutions that we are to approve, my delegation considers that, in view
of the reports submitted by the various commission chairpersons, the concept of “human rights education” should
figure as such in the texts that are submitted to us. The same holds, perhaps, for the concept of “poverty
eradication”, which, like “human rights education”, is a very specific conflict-prevention method. It is through
these specific activities in the area of solidarity and freedom that the various conflicts in the world are prevented.
(21.4) Lastly, my delegation also thinks that our conclusions should probably include a reference to youth,
taking into account the importance of the forum that has just been held. Thank you, Mr President.
22. The PRESIDENT:
I thank the delegate of Spain, and I now invite the representative of Uzbekistan to take the floor.
23.1 Mr IKRAMOV (Uzbekistan):
Thank you very much. Mr President, Mr Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Chairperson of the
Executive Board, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the delegation of the Republic of Uzbekistan I would like to
express our support for the reports of the chairpersons of the different commissions presented during the General
Conference, and particularly the reports on the transdisciplinary project “Towards a culture of peace”. We
consider that this programme should be the key programme of UNESCO in the twenty-first century in all its
fields of competence in education, science, culture and communication.
23.2 The new UNESCO projects and initiatives in the field of inter-religious dialogue in the context of
intercultural dialogue could contribute a lot to the development of a culture of peace in the Member States. In this
regard we would like to recall that the Tashkent Declaration on a culture of peace and activities of UNESCO in
Member States, which was adopted by the Executive Board at its 155th session, which was held in Tashkent in
November last year, urged Member States to adopt programmes on the culture of peace in the year 2000. The
Republic of Uzbekistan immediately prepared and adopted a special national programme which will start in 1999
and continue in the next decade, devoted to the culture of peace. There are several activities foreseen and some of
them have already been implemented, such as the second International Music Festival, which was held in
Samarkand with the support of the Government of Uzbekistan and under the patronage of UNESCO, and brought
together more than 400 artists from different parts of the world who for one week had the opportunity to share
their knowledge and culture. To give another example, to celebrate International Day of Peace on 14 September
in Uzbekistan, we held major festivities in four historic sites - Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva -
including scientific meetings, educational programmes and cultural activities, the events being concluded by the
signing of Manifesto 2000.
23.3 We consider that the culture of peace idea should be widespread among all educational institutions
worldwide. In Uzbekistan, in particular, we have initiated pilot projects to this end through high schools, various
youth camps and educational camps and among youth leaders of our country and region. The academic
programme of the International Institute for Central Asian Studies, which was established with the support of
UNESCO in Samarkand, has already been approved for the years 2000-2001, with special studies on the culture
of peace and the history of the culture of peace in Central Asia. It will consolidate the studies and research of
scholars from different parts of the world on the culture of peace idea, including the study of its origins and
practical recommendations for the future.
23.4 In this connection, we consider very important - and support the distinguished delegates who spoke on
this issue in Commission IV and here in the plenary - the completion of the “histories” of different regions,
particularly the completion of the History of Civilizations of Central Asia, stressing as we do the importance of
this matter for the further development of a culture of peace. In this regard, we would like to make certain
specific proposals. Unfortunately, when work on this History began, our countries of Central Asia were not
independent. And since 1991, when the countries became independent, not all the scholars and the scientific
community of Central Asia have been broadly involved in the preparation of this History. Our proposals concern
starting work on the revision of the History from the beginning, with broad involvement of scholars from Central
Asia so that they may have the opportunity to express their viewpoints as well.
23.5 In conclusion, Mr President, I would like to express our hope that the coming years will show us the
real, practical implementation of culture of peace ideals and programmes worldwide. Thank you very much.
24. Le PRESIDENT :
Et maintenant je donne la parole à la représentante de la France.
25.1 Mme BEST (France) :
Monsieur le Président, permettez-moi tout d'abord de m'associer à notre collègue de la délégation de
l'Espagne pour dire combien l'éducation aux droits de l'homme est pour nous capitale, et au coeur même de la
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