UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC
AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO)

Speech by Professor Michael Abiola OMOLEWA
President of the UNESCO General Conference
and Permanent Delegate of Nigeria to UNESCO at
the Annual Meeting of UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors
UNESCO Headquarters, Paris: 3 to 4 March, 2005

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Director-General,

Your Royal Highnesses,

Excellencies,

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here we are once again, here in UNESCO House, privileged to be part of the welcoming team to mark this fifth gathering of our very Goodwill Ambassadors. Distinguished, committed and generous all, who have continued to offer themselves, their talents, their renown and their GOODWILL, in the quest for contributing to the greater glory of UNESCO and its works. It goes without saying that you are all very busy people, and that your time, in very many ways, is worth its weight in gold. But it is even better said because it is in saying it that we can express something of our appreciation of your noble contributions to the vocation of “creating the defences of peace in the minds of men and women”.

Distinguished personalities that you all are, coming from different climes and deeply versed in various areas of human endeavour, the diversity of your knowledge and wisdom, taking in its stride the various strands that make up UNESCO, has been a rich source of inestimable value to making the UNESCO enterprise reach deeply into an ever-challenging world of ever growing demands.

In your quest to heighten public awareness and inform the public of what our Organization is all about, you have been advocates in the many and diverse areas of UNESCO’s interest. You have established strong international voices for the world’s poor, stimulated awareness of and support for human rights, gender equality, especially for women in developing countries; you have been the promoters of dialogue among cultures and civilization; you have been preoccupied with the need for a vigorous and sustained campaign against that modern scourge the HIV/AIDS pandemic; you have shown concern for the Education of children in need and have drawn special attention to the situation of street children: you have been the defenders of the Freedom of speech and expression just as you have proclaimed the richness in the diversity of cultures. The list is endless and so is your resourcefulness in being the propagators of the message of UNESCO. The message of working for the creation of a better, more equitable and more peaceful world through Education, Science, Culture and Communication.

Your cause is good and noble and that is why you have been able – through your shinning examples - to attract more and more distinguished persons to your number.

So it is with great pleasure, admiration and appreciation that I welcome the two new distinguished Ambassadors of Goodwill that have graciously accepted the UNESCO’s Director-General’s nomination. I shall start by congratulating and welcoming in my turn Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva, the First Lady of Azerbaijan, a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Oral and Musical Traditions. In my capacity as President of the General Conference, it is with emotion and satisfaction that I note the support of Her Excellency Mrs Aliyeva especially as she would be contributing to the promotion of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted at the 32nd session of the General Conference. I now turn to Ambassador Maria Lourdes Egydio Villela, whose outstanding commitment to Education and whose attachment to the ideals of UNESCO have earned her the recognition that led to the Director General’s invitation for her to be named UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassador for voluntary Action and Basic Education in Latin America.

Honourable Ladies, you are very welcomed as you take on this noble task. Your reputation and good works have preceded you here. And we look forward to your invaluable contributions to the work of the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:

You have a heavy programme and I shall not keep you much longer. The issues, which you are going to discuss at this session, are, as usual very much at the heart of the major concern of UNESCO. Therefore we look forward to the wisdom and good counsels that will undoubtedly radiate from your deliberations. For they will in no small measure contribute to guide us as, together, we continue to work for the great ideals we all believe in. I thank you all for your attention.

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