UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC
The Future of UNESCO
Statement by His Excellency Ambassador Michael Omolewa
My dear colleagues and friends!
____
AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO)
President of the General Conference on the occasion of
a Session of the Informal Forum of Permanent Delegates
UNESCO Headquaters, Paris: France. 6 September: 2005
First of all, let me welcome you to another session of your forum, which gives us
the opportunity again to get together in an atmosphere of serious but free exchange
of thoughts and views on questions of common interest especially as they concern
our organisation, UNESCO.
As you all know, this session will be devoted to “Reflections on the Future of
UNESCO” – a subject we have touched upon in the past. But a question whose
topicality and pertinence cannot be denied at any time especially not at the
moment when we look forward to the celebration of the 6oth anniversary of the
founding of UNESCO and all the serious reflections, examinations, and rededication
that occasion must demand.
I am particularly happy that our colleague and friend, Ambassador Jalali, the
initiator of this forum, has accepted to be the main speaker at this session.
We look forward to hearing from him more information on the initiative taken
by the Asia and Pacific Group to inscribe an item on the future of UNESCO on
the agenda of the next session of the general Conference.
We also welcome Mr. Jean-Yves Le Saux representing the Director of the Bureau
of Strategic planning, who will talk to us about the future as envisaged by
the secretariat.
Dear colleagues and friends, allow me for a few moments to turn the subject of
this forum on its head so to say. In the manner of a debating society, let me
propose with this hackneyed phrase that “ this house believes that if UNESCO
had not been founded in 1947, it would have had to be invented very soon
afterwards.”
The history of UNESCO, since its creation, is replete with solid justifications
for its existence. These are concrete accomplishments that testify to the
necessity for its creation and maintenance.
UNESCO as an organisation for international cooperation, was created for service
to its Member States. And it is in this way that it has endeavoured to function
in the rehabilitation of education in Europe, the East/West cultural programmes,
the programme in education and science directed to help the newly independent
African, Asian and Caribbean countries in the 1960s, the programmes and projects
innovatively provided for the benefit of the newly independent countries of
Eastern Europe. These are living examples of UNESCO’s action for the benefit of
its Member States. They are only random examples. The list is long and the areas
of interest are vast. But the cement that holds all these together is “international
cooperation and solidarity.”
As we ponder on the future of UNESCO, we need to examine critically the state of
“International cooperation and solidarity” today. That ingredient, that inspired
the founders of UNESCO when they established the organisation sixty years ago.
Is it still as solid now as it was 60 years ago, or is there a slippage
in our commitment?
The areas of interest of UNESCO are clearly some of the most crucial to human
well being, to human fulfilment and to human progress. It is in the very nature
of the organisation and the very nature of its vocation that lies its “raison
d’ętre” and hence the assurance of its survival and progress. In other words
the importance of most of UNESCO’s areas of responsibility are so vital to
human welfare that the idea of a future without UNESCO becomes inconceivable.
In a gathering of Permanent Delegates of Member States such as this, charged
with the responsibility for ensuring the well being of the organisation, I have
no doubt that most of us do not need to be convinced that there has to be a
future for UNESCO
The big question of course, is what future? What are the prospects for the
future and what may be the impediments and challenges we may need to face
to ensure that future. These should be our concern as we pursue our
deliberation today.
Personally, I believe that one of the cardinal conditions necessary for a
healthy future for UNESCO, or any international cooperation organisation,
for that matter, is a solid, meaningful and genuine commitment to
international cooperation and solidarity. Hence my insistence on it.
For if together, we can identify our needs and aspirations in the context
of UNESCO, it certainly should not be beyond us to find TOGETHER,
appropriate solutions for them. But unfortunately, the creeping challenges
of individualism and self-centredness have tended to erode the initial
spirit of collectivism and solidarity that inspired our founders.
Therefore in our reflections and quest for a viable future for UNESCO,
we must together, seek rededication to these values that will generate
the overall environment in which the organization and its work will
flourish and be better equipped to fulfil the expectations of its Member
states and the international community.
At a time when we are being faced with the reality of a common destiny, it
is paradoxical that it should still be necessary for us to question the
importance of pooling our resources together for the common good. It was
in an era of hope for the future and belief in working for the common good
that UNESCO was created. And it is only in a global environment that fosters
and encourages such sentiments and actions of solidarity that UNESCO will
prosper and grow in the pursuance of its mandate for service to humanity.
In the context of the United Nations system, UNESCO’s role was clearly
defined at its creation, as were those of the other organisations in the
system. Over the years, its place in the system has been recognised and
confirmed by the many global roles on behalf of the international
community at large. There are several eloquent examples that confirm
this. But we cannot run away from the reality of today, where lines
demarcating areas of responsibilities have became so blurred that
sometimes organisations created to work in cooperation have become
competitors, sometimes to the detriment of the interest of the Member
states they are supposed to serve.
At this moment when the call for review and reform ring right through
the whole of the UN system, it must be time to revisit the relations
between the different elements that make up the system, to clearly
redefine their relationships and identify their areas of responsibilities:
this clarification of responsibilities will have to take into consideration
the evolution of the system itself and the de facto situation which might
have required certain variations or even distortions in the interpretation
of roles and responsibilities. This is an issue that calls for very serious
consideration. Its resolution will certainly enhance the service of each
organization to the Member States.
The achievements of UNESCO in its 60 years of existence is essentially a
rich treasury of ideas, actions, programmes and projects which have
involved its Member States in cooperative endeavours of measurable
importance. A thorough examination of those activities, their successes
and their shortcomings will without doubt yield lessons that will help
point us in the right direction for the future.
We must also keep firmly in our thoughts the fact that the future of
UNESCO belongs to the up-coming generation- to the youth. While
appreciating efforts that UNESCO makes to take into consideration
questions concerning the younger generation, we must make greater
efforts to involve them much more and in ways that they will
influence our conceptions as far as the future of UNESCO is
concerned. UNESCO of the future is their UNESCO and they must
contribute to its making in meaningful ways.
Dear colleagues and friends, these are just one or two thoughts that
I hope may help us on our way. But before I hand over to Ambassador
Jalali, our key speaker, I would like to thank you all for your
participation in this forum, which I am sure, will be rich
in its results.
Now dear friend, the floor is yours.