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

(27) Mr AL-HADJ MOUSSA (Sudan) (Translation from the Arabic):
Thank you, Mr President. Mr Director-General, ladies and gentlemen, in less than two months the
International Year for the Culture of Peace will have begun, and consequently this Conference, this year, had no
choice but to give particular consideration to the issue of a culture of peace, which has become the basic axis for all
the other issues relating to human rights, democracy, tolerance and the resurgence of discrimination in education.
This in itself is a memorable success for UNESCO, inasmuch as the Organization has been able to make a culture
of peace a major, fundamental issue in national programmes of action in all parts of the world, and an important
component of political discourse for leaders and rulers. At this point I must commend the Director-General,
Mr Federico Mayor, who has always regarded this issue as one of fundamental importance. What we must do now
is convert the term “culture of peace” from a mere political or cultural expression to a widespread reality among
humanity. If we want “culture of peace” to be anything more than a phrase that is repeated or a slogan that is
brandished, we must take a comprehensive approach to putting it into practice, we must integrate our respective
roles. Society must take precedence over State, and action by individual members of the people must precede
action by leaders. This is not a task for the State alone; rather, the organizations of civil society, the institutions that
generate awareness and form public opinion, must integrate their respective roles, as must religion, science,
education, the arts, literature, mathematics, school, home and place of worship (mosque, church or temple). We in
the Sudan are particularly concerned with the issue of a culture of peace because we need a climate in which the
issue of comprehensive development can be addressed. In this connection, in the course of the past four years we
have organized two regional groups for the study of a culture of peace. Both the Director-General of UNESCO,
Mr Federico Mayor, and the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity, Mr Salim Ahmed Salim,
honoured us by attending the first of these groups. Accordingly, we wish to support our interest in a culture of
peace by taking a similar interest in the UNESCO programme concerned with the matter, and, in particular, by
taking the necessary decisions to incorporate the issue of a culture of peace in the field of education, as
recommended in the reports that have been presented to us. Above all, it is essential to train teachers who are
qualified to inculcate the concept of a culture of peace into the minds of young people, both men and women. I
wanted to take this opportunity to urge fellow African delegations to support the draft resolution that we have
submitted for the establishment of a centre for capacity-building, in the framework of the UNESCO project
“Towards a culture of peace”. We have taken a practical step towards that goal. Now to turn a fine phrase into
practical reality and spread it throughout humanity! Thank you, Mr President.
28. The PRESIDENT:
Thank you. I now give the floor to the representative of Barbados.
29.1 Mr ATHERLEY (Barbados):
Thank you, Mr President. Barbados welcomes this opportunity to make a small contribution to this
debate. We have recognized not only in the reports from the various commissions but also in the many national
documents circulated at this General Conference, that there is wide acceptance of the concept, which is usually
tackled through specific actions. There have been many instances of intersectoral and transdisciplinary
approaches, which are clearly at the heart of the culture of peace. The International Year is a significant event
since it will stimulate a lot of ongoing actions and we were happy to be involved, in association with the
UNESCO Office in Barbados, in the launching of the Year on 14 September. The launch took place in one of our
secondary schools but we ensured through media coverage that everybody in our rather small community were
aware of it. On that occasion we challenged the schools and some community organizations to join a committee
that is developing a programme of events for the International Year. There is great excitement on the part of
young people, who have suggested lots of activities for the International Year, and we are hoping that their
enthusiasm will stimulate greater interest by adults. This activity is chaired by the Chief Education Officer,
showing that, for us, education is placed at the heart of all our efforts to promote a culture of peace.
29.2 But there is one example I would like to offer as something that will be central to our activities during
the International Year. We have recently established a National Committee on Reconciliation, a topic that is
relevant to all societies. We recognize that societies with a colonial past inherited a number of disadvantages
which were built into the society. Through dialogue and talking about this, and through the development of
specific programmes in which the different groups get together to make progress at the community level or in
businesses, we are involving all the social partners. We hope to stimulate the community to learn to live together
more effectively.
29.3 We recognize that it is important for the whole Caribbean region to share in the development of projects
which will promote the culture of peace, and one area where there has been cooperation is that of democratic
processes and the involvement of persons at all levels of government and decision-making. The Caribbean has
not yet launched the International Year for the Culture of Peace. Saint Lucia will be doing this on 10 December,
and there is a proposal that all the remaining countries that have not yet launched the Year should do so in a joint
programme in early January with a full-scale set of activities. We hope that all small communities will have a
story to tell and that our way of dealing with this noble venture will inspire and be inspired by others. Thank you.
(Ms Moserová resumes the Chair)
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