PRESIDENT
OF LITHUANIA STRESSES UNESCO’S ROLE AS A FORUM FOR DIALOGUE
Paris, October 19 (No.2001-110) –
President Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania today stressed the importance of
UNESCO’s role as a forum for dialogue in the light of the attacks on New York
and Washington on September 11, in an address to the 31st session of the
Organization’s supreme governing body, the General Conference.
Speaking to representatives of UNESCO’s 188 Member States, the
President said that UNESCO should serve as “a moral voice of the world’s
nations” and that “in the face of the new reality” this role “has
acquired crucial significance”.
President Adamkus recalled that the United Nations proclaimed the year
2001 as the Year of Dialogue among Civilizations and spoke of the international
conference on that subject which was organized with UNESCO in Vilnius in April.
The events of September 11 “challenge and threaten peaceful coexistence
among civilizations and the peaceful future of nations”, President Adamkus
said, adding that “today we must respond to this threat by mustering the
wisdom and good will of all nations.”
“Cultural diversity must not be made an instrument of armed
conflict,” he cautioned. “Victory over terrorism is the goal of all cultures
and civilizations […]. On the other hand, we are facing a shared
responsibility to prevent, now and in the future, the fight against terrorism
from becoming a war against culture or religion, or nation, or a conflict of
civilizations.”
“If we want to conquer terrorism,” President Adamkus said, “we must
fight together against poverty, exclusion, racism and intolerance, desperateness
and hatred.” He added: “I believe that in the wake of these events, UNESCO
could initiate new measures for strengthening mutual confidence and moral
principles.”
The
President went on to voice support for the proposal by UNESCO Director-General
Koïchiro Matsuura to convene a summit of heads of state to evaluate the results
of the Year of Dialogue among Civilizations.
Backing the international commitment to provide access to basic education
for all by the year 2015, President Adamkus insisted that “we must also take
care of the quality of education to ensure passing on the values and experience
of former generations. [...] Modern education systems will contribute to
creating a better life for all people and all nations only if they consistently
encourage and pursue a dialogue among civilization.”
Expressing support for UNESCO’s work on bioethics and on the ethics of
information and communication, President Adamkus said that “the future role of
UNESCO in identifying possible challenges to humanity and proposing solutions to
them has acquired crucial importance today. Ever increasing advancement of
science, technologies and communication raises complex ethical problems for
humanity. Therefore, UNESCO should continue to act as a global forum for
discussing, establishing and defending common moral criteria and principles.”
“In the wake of recent events the role of UNESCO has acquired crucial
significance. It should remain the principal forum for intellectual and ethical
discussions. It should consistently build the humane future of the world and
work in its defence.”
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