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

84.3 The voting on the amendment proposed by Tonga and seconded by several countries was as follows:
13 in favour, 29 against, and 20 abstentions, out of 62 delegates participating in the vote. So I am afraid your
amendment was not accepted.
85.1 Mr SHEYA (United Republic of Tanzania):
Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I would like first of all to take this opportunity to thank
and commend the Chairperson of Commission III for this most elaborate report. Madam President, in the report
of the Chairperson of Commission III, mention was made of several items that were discussed during its
meetings. Unfortunately, one issue which comes to my mind, and which was discussed fully, was the culture of
maintenance. I am afraid this question is not reflected in the report.
85.2 But, Madam President, there is a significant point on which I wanted to propose an amendment to the
written report, specifically to paragraph 39, on page 13, of document 30 C/63. Madam President, the Chairperson
of Commission III, and those who participated in the debate during the meetings of Commission III, might recall
the observation made by the Tanzanian delegation, and supported by others, that there is an imbalance or poor
representation of African scientists within the IOC Secretariat. And, secondly, there was also a geographical
imbalance in the representation of scientists from developing countries within the IOC Executive Council. We
would like to introduce the following amendment to paragraph 39, after the words “The General Conference”:
“1. Invites the Director-General of UNESCO to ensure geographical balance of staff in the Secretariat
of IOC, in particular the recruitment of African scientists;
2. Calls upon the IOC Assembly to institute a system which will allow an equitable participation of
scientists from developing countries in the IOC Council.”
Thank you, Madam President.
86. The PRESIDENT:
Thank you. Before I ask whether this can be accommodated by the Chairperson of the Commission, I
should like to see if there is any support for your suggestion. Does anyone second this proposal? Yes, I can see
that it is seconded by Zimbabwe. I now give the floor to the Chairperson of the Commission to react to the
amendment proposed.
87. Mr LUGUJJO (Uganda), Chairperson of Commission III:
Madam President, in my oral report I alluded to the issue of staffing in IOC. This therefore is a very
pertinent addition, to which I have no objection.
88. The PRESIDENT:
Thank you. Are there any more remarks? Would the Executive Secretary of IOC like to make a
comment? Yes, you have the floor.
89.1 Mr BERNAL, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission:
Very briefly, Madam President, thank you for the opportunity to clarify some points. I think this is an
issue that should be explained to you because the Council of IOC is a governing body and is composed of
Member States, so this is something you should know, namely that the Assembly of IOC selects the Member
States to serve as the 35 members of the Executive Council of IOC. This is not, therefore, like another
intergovernmental programme; it is fully a decision of the Member States and the Secretariat has very little,
actually nothing, to do with the designation of members of the Executive Council of IOC. Any reference to the
Executive Council should be addressed accordingly.
89.2 In any case, there are rules of geographical representation that follow very much the rules of the United
Nations in terms of geographical groups and voting groups; therefore the governing bodies of IOC very much
mimic and duplicate, in the spirit of representation, what the rules are for the UNESCO body. Thank you.
90. The PRESIDENT:
Thank you Sir. So we have an amendment presented by the United Republic of Tanzania and seconded
by Zimbabwe which we would introduce in paragraph 39:
“1. Invites the Director-General of UNESCO to ensure geographical balance of staff in the
Secretariat of IOC, in particular the recruitment of African scientists;
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