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

55. Mr MUKHTAR (Malaysia):
Thank you, Madam President. We note the view of the Chairperson on the proposal made by Tonga.
However, we must also recognize that not all countries had the opportunity to attend the IOC Assembly which
was held a few months ago. In our view, we should not close the door to them. After listening carefully to the
views of Tonga and Belize we would like to state that we subscribe to their views and we strongly support the
proposal made by Tonga. Thank you.
56. The PRESIDENT:
Thank you Sir, for the clarity and brevity of your statement. We have an amendment proposed that has
already been supported by three further speakers. The representative of Barbados has the floor.
57. Ms CUMMINS (Barbados):
Thank you, Madam President. I had not originally put up my plaque to discuss this item, but wanted to
refer to another item under the report. However, I should point out that Barbados does support the views
expressed by Tonga and it is of interest to note the report given by Belize. Thank you.
58. The PRESIDENT:
The next speaker is the representative of Germany. Do you wish to address the point that we are just
discussing? I see you do; you have the floor.
59. Mr SCHÖFTHALER (Germany):
Thank you, Madam President. I have to confess I feel somewhat lost. This is the fifth in-depth debate on
the same issue, on only two words: “marine processes”. I would like to say that Germany shares the concerns
expressed by Tonga, but we do not feel in a position to support the amendment; we feel that this amendment is
the wrong instrument for the right purpose. After the IOC Assembly discussed it and after the Executive Board of
UNESCO discussed it, we tried in the Legal Committee, to reconcile these two wordings, but as we were
unwilling to enter into any substantive debate, we deliberately left it to Commission III, where it was debated to
the full, and I fully share the view of the Chairperson of Commission III, Mr Lugujjo, that we should not reopen
the debate, as all the opinions have been expressed there. We support the proposal as adopted by Commission III
and would not like to reopen the debate here. Again, we share the concerns and we would like to invite all those
who also share these concerns to bring this in the clearest way possible to the attention of the next IOC
Assembly. I think that would be the appropriate place to discuss the situation of small countries vis-à-vis big
countries, but it should not be a hidden agenda connected to two words that obviously create misunderstandings,
and it would not help a lot if they were included. Thank you.
60. The PRESIDENT:
I take note of what the representative of Germany said, but the debate is already open. An amendment
was made and everyone has the right to react to it, as you have done. I shall now call on the representative of
Argentina.
61.1 Sr. GONZÁLEZ (Argentina):
Gracias, señora Presidenta: De cualquier modo, nos parece lamentable, sinceramente lamentable, que se
intente reabrir un debate sobre una cuestión que, lejos de ser pasada por alto, se debatió en profundidad en la
Comisión III. En este sentido, quisiera agradecer profundamente al Presidente de la Comisión III, el distinguido
representante de Uganda, que haya situado el debate mantenido en esa Comisión en sus justos términos. Para mí
esunapruebamásdelaeficienciaconlaquedirigióaesaComisión.
61.2 El hecho de que se haya abierto o se intente abrir el debate sobre esta cuestión, señora Presidenta, nos
obliga una vez más a intervenir para manifestar las dos razones principales por las que apoyamos el proyecto de
Estatutos de la COI aprobado por la Comisión III, es decir, el texto contenido en el documento 30 C/63 Add., y
en particular el Artículo 2 de esos Estatutos. Y estas dos razones son las siguientes: en primer lugar, señora
Presidenta, como usted sabe bien, esos Estatutos de la COI son el resultado de un proceso muy largo, un proceso
que se remonta a hace cinco años y que tuvo su etapa determinante en la aprobación de esos Estatutos por la 20ª
Asamblea de la COI. Ahora bien, la Asamblea de la COI no se compone de tres o cuatro expertos que se reúnen
para tomar café sino que es un órgano compuesto por todos los Estados Miembros de la UNESCO, y aún más,
por Estados que no son miembros de la UNESCO. Es decir, los mismos señores que están representados detrás
del cartel de Argentina, Belice o Tonga son los señores que hace tres meses se sentaron, o tuvieron la
oportunidad de sentarse, para expresar su opinión sobre el tema. No hubo entonces reservas de ningún tipo. El
trabajo de hace 3 años fue aprobado por unanimidad por la Asamblea de esa Comisión. Por lo tanto, las
manifestaciones de algunos delegados que ahora se extrañan de ciertos resultados de aquella Asamblea me
resultan realmente poco comprensibles.
723
25