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

(28) Mr AL-KHAJA (Bahrain) (Translation from the Arabic):
Madam President, to return to item 4.15, I should like to recall the observations of Group IV in the debate
in Commission IV on Arab culture and the Arabia Plan programme. It is essential to emphasize the importance of
this programme and to include it in the list of programmes and plans for implementation to which the Culture
Sector is to devote particular attention. I hope the General Conference will take this decision in the interests of
multiculturalism and for the sake of intercultural dialogue. Thank you.
29. The PRESIDENT:
Thank you. The observer for Palestine and the representative of Zimbabwe are asking for the floor.
ARABIA
(30) Mr ABDELRAZEK (Palestine) (Translation from the Arabic):
Thank you, Madam President. I should like to follow my colleague, the representative of Bahrain, in
reverting to item 4.15 on the plan for the development of Arab culture. I sincerely believe that it would be
superficial for us to get into a debate on this matter, especially after the excellent address delivered by Mr Matsuura
at the ceremony inaugurating him as Director-General of UNESCO. Mr Matsuura referred on that occasion to the
benefits of cultural exchange and dialogue between cultures. I should like to ask, is it possible for there to be
cultural exchange and dialogue between cultures in the absence of Arab culture? I believe that Arab culture has an
important role to play in exchange and dialogue with other cultures. I am quite confident, of course, that the
Secretariat will concern itself with this matter, and I therefore propose that the General Conference should ask the
Secretariat to include the Arabia Plan programme in the Programme and Budget for 2000-2001. Thank you.
31. The PRESIDENT:
I understand that these are not objections. These last two statements support the wording which is
presented in the written document, if I understand correctly. The representative of Zimbabwe has the floor.
32. Mr MAMBO (Zimbabwe):
Thank you, Madam President. I should like to bring you back to the issue of reparations. I am not sure
whether I understood you to have agreed with the representative of the United Republic of Tanzania regarding
the inclusion of the word “reparations” in the paragraph in question. Certainly, Zimbabwe would support the
inclusion of that word in the paragraph, so that when the study is carried out, all aspects of the issue are studied
together, rather than one by one. So we endorse the proposal made by the United Republic of Tanzania. Thank
you, Madam.
33. The PRESIDENT:
I think that the United Republic of Tanzania was happy with the wording as it is. We have “all aspects”
mentioned in that particular paragraph, and I think that meets everyone’s concerns. In my opinion, we have only
two amendments, on which we have already reached consensus, and they are the amendment proposed by Benin
and the amendment proposed by the United Republic of Tanzania, which can be accommodated. I took note that
the Arabia Plan should have support, but I do not think it needs any change in the document. Mr Chairperson,
would you like to comment? I think that we are slowly getting there.
34.1 M. VASSILIKOS (Grèce), Président de la Commission IV :
Madame la Présidente, le Plan Arabia est destiné à être financé au moyen de ressources
extrabudgétaires. S'il devait avoir des incidences budgétaires, le projet de résolution dont il a fait l'objet entrerait
dans une catégorie différente, et son adoption serait remise en question. Le texte que nous avons adopté est très
clair sur ce point : le Directeur général y est invité à mettre en œuvre, "en particulier à l'aide de ressources
extrabudgétaires, un programme d'activités de nature interdisciplinaire visant à rapprocher la culture des
populations".
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