Syrian Arab Republic

Joined UNESCO: 16/11/1946

Head of State and/or Government

Président de la République arabe syrienne: Son Exc. M. Bachar EL-ASSAD
Prime Minister: S. Exc. l'Ingénieur Imad Mohammad Dib Khamis

Permanent Delegation to UNESCO

H.E. Mrs Lamia Chakkour
Ambassador, Permanent Delegate (21/01/2011)


Permanent Delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic to UNESCO
Maison de l'UNESCO Bureau M8.12 / M8.26 1, rue Miollis 75732 PARIS Cedex 15
Telephone
01.45.68.34.97
E-mail
dl.syrie(a)unesco-delegations.org

National Commission for UNESCO

Président: H.E. Mr Emad Al Azeb*

Secretary-General: Dr Nidal Hassan

Commission nationale syrienne pour l'UNESCO
Ministry of Education Al-Mazraa Al-Shahbandar Square Syrian Arab Republic
Telephone
(963-11) 3321373 (963-11) 3312651
Fax
(963-11) 33501031
E-mail
ncom(a)scs-net.org; 7110846(a)gmail.com (SG)
Web site
http://www.syrianeducation.org.sy (arabic)

Read more National Commission for UNESCO

Representation in the Executive Board

The 1991 amendment modified Article V of the Constitution, regarding the status of members of the Board. From the 27th session of the General Conference (1993), the Executive Board consists of Member States rather than of persons (26 C/Resolution 19.3).
Title Name Years Sessions
MemberMr Constantin K. Zurayk1951-195427-39
MemberMr Hassan Muraywid1974-197896-105
MemberMr Eid Abdo1983-1987118-127
Representative2009-2013183-192

Participation in subsidiary organs

Other intergovernmental organs


Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
Member

Addresses delivered in the general policy debate by the Head of Delegation at the General Conference

37 session of the General Conference

Mr Hazwan Al Waz, Minister of Education of the Syrian Arab Republic

Speech delivered during the General Policy Debate of the 37th session of the General Conference - revised and corrected version of the verbatim records of plenary meetings

37 session of the General Conference

His Excellency Mr Hazwan Al-Waz, Minister of Education of the Syrian Arab Republic

Speech delivered during the General Policy Debate of the 37th session of the General Conference - revised and corrected version of the verbatim records of plenary meetings

36 session of the General Conference

H.E. Mr Saleh ALRASHID, Minister of Education

Speech delivered during the General Policy Debate of the 36th session of the General Conference and posted as received

35 session of the General Conference

S.E. Professeur Dr Ali Saad, Ministre de l'Education

“(…) Je remercie Monsieur Koïchiro Matsuura, le Directeur général, et je félicite la future Directrice générale, Madame Irina Bokova (…).”
“Notre stratégie éducative privilégie actuellement la qualité de l’enseignement, son approfondissement et sa généralisation. Nous nous efforçons d’intégrer la technologie aux programmes et aux méthodes d’enseignement, de former et recycler les maîtres et enseignants aux méthodes pédagogiques, mais aussi d’élever le niveau des élèves et étudiants en général. Nous accordons une attention spéciale aux plus brillants dans des centres idoines et nous procédons à une refonte des programmes de tous les cycles. Nous entendons aussi préserver les acquis de notre pays, à savoir un taux de scolarisation de près de 100 % et l’égalité des chances entre les deux sexes, en luttant avec plus de détermination contre l’abandon scolaire. Tout est fait également en faveur des personnes handicapées ou marginalisées au sein d’un système ouvert à tous et juste. Des mesures spéciales sont prises en faveur des bédouins nomades, comme la mise en place d’écoles itinérantes et le recours à l’information grâce à la chaîne de télévision par satellite appartenant en propre au Ministère de l’éducation.”
“Le Conseil exécutif, lors de sa dernière réunion, a bien voulu approuver la création d’un centre régional pour le développement de la petite enfance en République arabe syrienne, un centre de catégorie 2 placé sous l’égide de l’UNESCO. Vous savez, nous en sommes certains, l’importance qu’il y a à créer un tel centre, à le soutenir et le développer dans notre région arabe qui a besoin d’un surcroît d’efforts, de la part de l’Organisation, en faveur de la petite enfance.”

34 session of the General Conference

H.E. Dr Ali Saad, Minister of Education

The level of cooperation between the Syrian Arab Republic and UNESCO is deeply satisfying. The Syrian Arab Republic wishes however to deepen this fruitful partnership, as UNESCO is a platform for confronting global challenges that faces humanity.
Education, learning, and culture sector is a top priority in the Syrian Arab Republic. The education system has allocated great space to citizenship, human rights, environmental, and population issues. The education policy is to enhance the sense of cultural and national identity.
The Syrian Arab Republic focuses on integrating technology in education, developing kindergartens and schools in rural and Bedouin areas, helping talented children. The country also participated in other international programmes, such as child friendly schools, teaching girls program, societal school with UNICEF, vocational training programs with the European training institution, United Nations development program and various experiences with ISESCO and ALESCO organizations.
Children in the Syrian occupied Golan and the occupied lands in Palestine are still suffering from deprivation of their basic rights in education. The Syrian Arab Republic renews its invitation to UNESCO to take practical measures concerning educational and cultural establishments in the Arab occupied territories and exerting efforts to stop these arranged aggressive practices.
The Syrian Arab Republic notes that the aggressiveness of some political trends, such as new conservatism, is very suspicious. The danger of blind terrorism is clearly a threat to humanity, but the desire to control the world in a brutal way is even more frightening.
1.5 million of Iraqis refugees have migrated to the Syrian Arab Republic. UNHCR confirms that around 300.000 Iraqi students are in Syria and that large numbers have been absorbed in local schools, thus affecting negatively the educational system. The Syrian Arab Republic requests that UNESCO and the Member States mobilize their efforts to handle this crisis.

Celebration of anniversaries

  • 750th anniversary of the heyday of Alaa al-Din Ali Ibn Abi al-Hazm al-Qurashi, known as Ibn al-Nafis, scientist and scholar (1210-1289) (Syrian Arab Republic with the support of Cuba and Ecuador)

    • Ibn al-Nafis is one of the most important personalities in science during the Islamic Golden Age. He was the first physician of the thirteenth century to mention the lesser (pulmonary) circulation, which he described in his monumental work Al-Shamil fi al-Tibb (Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine), an encyclopedia that should have comprised 300 volumes, but remained unfinished because of his death.

  • 100th anniversary of the birth of Farid el-Atrash, musician (1915-1974) (2015)

    • Al-Atrash had a long and colourful music career lasting four decades. He composed musically diverse songs, and was a highly regarded composer, singer and instrumentalist. Over his lifetime, Farid el-Atrash starred in 31 movies and recorded approximately 350 songs. He composed songs for top Arab singers. He is widely considered to be one of the four “greats” of Egyptian and Arabic music. One of Farid el-Atrash’s most unusual and distinguishable traits was his voice. High and mellow at the start of his career, it evolved into a wider, deeper sound.

  • 50th anniversary of the death of Sami al-Shawa, musician (1889-1965) (2015)

    • Sami al-Shawa advanced knowledge of Arabic and Iraqi music allowed him to play an important role in planning and preparing for the Arab Music Conference, he participated in the committee of the musical scale, which began its preparatory work in 1929 and contributed significantly to the activities of the conference and its theoretical discussions. He has left behind him a legacy of important recordings that reflect prestigious standing that he built for the Arab Violin. In 1906 Shawa established a school in partnership with Mansour Awad to teach music following the European notation approach. In this context, he wrote a number of educational exercises such as “the Eastern Oud Method” (1921) and in 1946, he published a research paper on Arab and Western music theories.

  • 100th anniversary of the death of Abdurahman Ibn Ahmad Kawakibi (2002) (with the support of Egypt)

    • Abdurahman Ibn Ahmad Kawakibi (1854-1902) was a great figure in the field of politics, sociology and religion. He was a promoter of the theory of pan-Arabism. He published two fundamental works: Umm Al-Kura (The origin of villages) and Taba’i al-istibdad wa-masari’ al-isti’bad (The nature of dictatorship). The first book represented, in the Arabic language, the first phase of the evolution of pan-Islamism into pan-Arabism. Al-Kawakibi played an important role in the revival of the Arab nations. His writings (intellectual, political and literary works) continue to have an enormous impact on young generations and the general public in the Arab region and elsewhere.
    This celebration is also supported by the Permanent Delegation of the Arab Republic of Egypt to UNESCO.

  • One thousand five hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Arab poet Imru'al-Qais (1997).

    • A famous Arab poet, Imru’ al-Qais was the master, leader and standard-bearer of
    oriental poets.
    His great work, the ‘Diwan’, is distinguished by the ingenuity of its metaphors
    combined with its use of traditional poetical themes.
    The work of Imru’ al-Qais, which has been translated into several languages, forms
    part of the world literary and poetic heritage.

  • Seven hundredth anniversary of the birth of Salâh ad-Dîn as-Safadî (1997).

    • A historian, poet, writer and artist, Salâh ad-Dîn as-Safadî the author of more than
    200 works, including biographies of great figures.
    He made a substantial contribution to the cultural development of his country and
    that of other Arab countries.