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

RAPPORT DE LA COMMISSION IV : RESOLUTIONS ET RECOMMANDATIONS
REPORT OF COMMISSION IV: RESOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
INFORME DE LA COMISIÓN IV: RESOLUCIONES Y RECOMENDACIONES
ДОКЛАД КОМИССИИ IV: РЕЗОЛЮЦИИ И РЕКОМЕНДАЦИИ
1.1 The PRESIDENT:
As usual I should like to thank those who are on time, but I shall have to adjourn the meeting for five
minutes as there is no quorum.
(The meeting is adjourned for five minutes)
1.2 I declare open the twenty-fifth plenary meeting of the General Conference. We begin our work with the
examination of the report of Commission IV. The documents we have to consider are 30 C/64 and 30 C/64
Addendum and Corrigendum. I now give the floor to Mr Vassilikos, Chairperson of Commission IV, who will
present the oral report of his Commission.
2.1 Mr VASSILIKOS (Greece), Chairperson of Commission IV:
Madam President of the General Conference, Mr Chairperson of the Executive Board, Mr Director-
General, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure and an honour for me to present to this
plenary session of the General Conference for adoption, the outcome of the work accomplished by
Commission IV during its deliberations. The decisions taken by our Commission are reflected in document
30 C/64. I understand that document 30 C/64 Addendum and Corrigendum which you have received,
incorporates the amendments suggested during the adoption of the report by our Commission.
2.2 The presentation of this report, while not exhaustive, will reflect the substance of the discussions which
took place in our Commission and of the statements by all the participants who made our work possible. The full
oral report as presented by the Rapporteur in Commission IV is distributed in document 30 C/INF.54. As my
report is a synthesis of the decisions reached by consensus in the Commission, I will not mention the names of
the specific Member States which took part in the discussion unless such a mention has been specifically
requested by the Member State concerned or is otherwise exceptionally warranted.
2.3 The work of our Commission was divided into three debates. The first was on the parts in the Draft
Programme and Budget pertaining to culture and on most of the related agenda items with the exception of those
covering Jerusalem and UNESCO in the twenty-first century, which were discussed respectively in debates 2
and 3. I shall start with the first debate, on Major Programme III: Cultural development: the heritage and
creativity and on the Transdisciplinary project: Towards a culture of peace (Unit 3) together with agenda items
4.10, 4.11, 4.13, 4.14, 4.15 and 7.5.
2.4 In Debate 1 most of the delegates referred to the Stockholm Plan of Action for Cultural Policies as the
basis which must guide both the implementation of UNESCO’s programme for culture in the upcoming biennium
2000-2001, and the formulation of the next Medium-Term Strategy 2002-2007. However, a number of speakers
felt that the articulation between the draft programme as presented and the Stockholm Action Plan was not
specific enough.
2.5 The Commission expressed the concern that there may be some parts of UNESCO’s programme which
belong more properly to Major Programme III than to the programme in which they are currently placed. In
particular, delegates requested better-integrated trans-sectoral implementation of activities pertaining to: (1) the
preservation of the world’s linguistic heritage; (2) the Memory of the World programme; (3) artistic education;
(4) equity of access to new technologies, especially those involving cyberspace, and to the content of information
on the Internet; and (5) the work of the Institute of Statistics in support of the indicators being developed for the
World Culture Report. They also asked for closer cooperation with the principal organizations concerned with
issues related to culture and development. Numerous delegates referred to the positive results of the round table
of Ministers of Culture which took place at UNESCO on 2 November.
2.6 A majority of speakers underscored UNESCO’s important and unique role as regards standard-setting
actions. Delegates expressed satisfaction that the new Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the
Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict is being adopted by States Parties and this has
given renewed vigour and relevance to that Convention and empowered its contemporary application.
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