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

17.14 Agradezco y saludo el acompañamiento valioso de la UNESCO y sus organismos en este tema, de igual
manera que en nombre del Gobierno y del pueblo de Guatemala agradezco los homenajes que se han rendido y se
rendirán a nuestro Premio Nobel de Literatura, Miguel Angel Asturias, en el centenario de su nacimiento.
17.15 Señora Presidenta, excelencias, señores delegados: Termino mis palabras con la seguridad del éxito de
esta Conferencia General y el de las reuniones de las comisiones, así como con la esperanza de un futuro
promisorio para la UNESCO y a sus miembros y agradeciendo la benevolencia de su generosa atención. Muchas
gracias.
(17.1) Mr ZEA FLORES (Guatemala) (Translation from the Spanish):
Madam President of the General Conference, Mr Chairperson of the Executive Board, Mr Director-
General, Ministers and Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to begin by extending my good wishes and
congratulations to the President of the General Conference on your well-deserved election, and my gratitude to
Mr Federico Mayor Zaragoza, whose successful term of office at the head of UNESCO will soon be coming to an
end. He leaves an indelible impression behind him and has traced out a path for the leading world body in
education, science and culture to follow. I am sure that Mr Mayor has every reason to feel satisfied with his
achievements and to regard himself quite rightly as a citizen of the world.
(17.2) We are particularly grateful for the opening of the UNESCO Office in Guatemala and for the support we
have received under the Participation Programme which, in addition to advancing the process of decentralization,
has contributed to the development of extrabudgetary projects that help to consolidate the peace accords reached in
my country.
(17.3) With the signature of firm and lasting peace on 29 December 1996, Guatemala launched a process of
peace-building which laid the foundations for a culture of peace and genuine participatory democracy. One of the
pillars of this social edifice is the blueprint for educational reform drawn up by a joint team in which all the
peoples, sectors, organizations and institutions that make up our society played an important part. This blueprint is
designed as a comprehensive national project that effectively responds to the characteristics and needs of a multiethnic,
multicultural and multilingual country.
(17.4) The main lines of the blueprint for educational reform are: a life guided by democracy and the culture of
peace, unity in diversity, overall sustainable development, and science and technology. Education policy covers
such areas as social mobilization for educational reform, the renewal of curricula, human resources, equity,
multiculturalism, modernization and financing.
(17.5) At the present time, the Consultative Commission for Educational Reform, attached to the Ministry of
Education and composed of representatives of the government and civil society, is making every effort to put the
blueprint into practice and as a result of its activities we hope that a National Education Plan for the next 20 years
will emerge in the near future.
(17.6) The Ministry of Education has made a great effort to improve educational conditions in the country and
to this end is carrying out a series of activities designed to expand enrolment to a significant extent, improve the
quality of education, modernize institutions, increase community involvement, extend out-of-school education and
literacy work and step up national and international cooperation. A promising programme of civics and values
education has been carried out to instil the principles of democracy and citizen participation so that present and
future generations will be able to put them into practice. An effort has been made to develop bilingual intercultural
education, which now covers larger areas and a wider range of languages, thereby helping to create a nation in
which the cultures and languages of others are valued and respected. In 1999, the National Self-Management
Programme for Educational Development (PRONADE) succeeded in extending school enrolment in the first three
years of primary education to 250,000 children in 3,400 communities.
(17.7) In 1998 public investment in the education sector reached the goal of 2.2% of GDP as proposed in the
Peace Accords. Illiteracy fell by 7.1%, from 38.8% in 1994 to 31.7% in 1998, and we have every reason to foresee
a significant reduction in the next few years. There has also been greater female participation in the educational
process thanks to a programme of scholarships for girls in rural areas, which is helping to close the gap between
boys and girls in access to education and completion of schooling. The results of progress in education, as in other
areas of overall national development, are plain to see.
(17.8) Just as education is acknowledged to be fundamental to the overall sustainable development of peoples,
we also need to recognize that, for a country like Guatemala, this is equally true of the study, promotion and
strengthening of its cultures, which underpin our cultural and national identity and which, as pointed out by
Mr Enrique Iglesias, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, at the Summit of Ministers of Culture of
Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1998, have to be like a leafy tree with deep roots in
order to withstand the onslaught of the globalization process.
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