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

37 session of the General Conference - Leaders Forum - Visite

Son Altesse Royale, la Princesse Marie du Danemark

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 - Leaders Forum

Ms Christine Antorini, Minister of Education of Denmark

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, Jesper Fisker, Deputy Minister of Education of Denmark

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. Mrs Christine Antorini, Minister for Children and 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

H.E. Mr Bertel Haarder, Minister of Education

“Denmark appreciates the achievements made during the terms of Mr Matsuura, particularly the persistent efforts to initiate a reform and evaluation process and the efforts to make UNESCO a serious and critical member of the United Nations family. We trust that Ambassador Bokova will be able to continue and develop the work further.”
“We must all take part in development strategies through co-ownership and commitment to further good governance, promote entrepreneurship and growth led by the private sector.”
“Concerning climate change, which is another big challenge, UNESCO has a crucial role to play through capacity-building and guidance especially in relation to developing countries. We need focus on research and climate change in education.”
“We like the way UNESCO is developing. We advocate that UNESCO strengthens its focus on core issues and demonstrates commitment to ensure progress in its work. UNESCO’s upstream and normative work through policy advice and capacity-building is necessary in executing this work. We believe that the reform initiatives must be continued to keep UNESCO in line with the development of the United Nations system.”
“Education is a driver for change, an investment to reduce poverty and also an individual human right. There was an old man in his eighties who started primary school at that age and halfway through he declared: “Education is freedom”.”
“Within the framework of Education for all, Denmark wants to enhance the focus on post-primary education, on technical and vocational training and on lifelong learning. There should be an increased focus on quality of education in order to reach the United Nations goals. Denmark welcomes the priority given to the 20 countries farthest away from achieving the EFA goals and also the priority given to gender equality and empowerment of women. We are convinced that gender equality is a key to accelerating progress – a means to achieve all the development goals.”
“(…) Intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation at the international level are of utmost importance. The cooperation with the Alliance of Civilizations should be further developed. The Copenhagen Conference last year on “Education for Intercultural Understanding and Dialogue” was a step in that direction.”
“(…) Freedom of expression is one of the fundamental rights of a democratic, pluralistic society. Therefore, Denmark advocates that UNESCO focuses on the development of independent media, on freedom of speech and on the safety of journalists.”
“I look forward to having the Faroes Islands among us as an Associate Member soon.”

34 session of the General Conference

H.E. Mr Bertel Haarder, Minister of Education

Denmark fully associates itself with the European Union statement put forward by Portugal.
Denmark strongly supports the efforts to improve the United Nations effectiveness and impact. The system should be now stronger and more focused especially at country level. Specialized agencies should be actively engaged in this process. UNESCO has also a unique role to play within the greater United Nations structure
“In working towards “One UN”, UNESCO should streamline its activities in accordance with its core mandate and thereby contribute to a clearer division of labour among the United Nations partners. This implies a critical look at the structure of UNESCO and its governing system and it implies a continued reform process and adaptation to the changing world.”
Denmark associates itself with the 60th anniversary of the human rights declaration and reminds us that some rights are directly linked to the mandate of UNESCO like the right to education and the freedom of expression, including freedom of media.
“One of today’s challenges is climate, a global issue involving complex issues such as poverty, economic development and population growth. […] Denmark will be hosting the 15th United Nations conference on climate change in Copenhagen in 2009.”
“Dealing with climate change is an important part of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. This is where UNESCO, in its capacity as the lead agency for the Decade, has a key role to play, in particular by building synergy among the United Nations agencies.”
UNESCO, as a lead agency for Education for All programme should continue to fully address this matter, stressing the lifelong learning perspective from early childhood to adult education. Progress has certainly been made since 2000, but much remains to be done halfway to 2015.
Denmark welcomes the EFA Global Action Plan that clarifies the roles of each of the international agencies. The EFA Global Monitoring Report is an excellent tool for a better targeting at the country level and for facilitating resource mobilization.
The Associated Schools Project (ASP) in Denmark is an outstanding example of how the ideas of UNESCO can be translated into concrete action.

Celebration of anniversaries

100th anniversary of the publication of Niels Bohr’s model of atom structure in Philosophical Magazine: “On the Constitution of Atoms and Molecules” (1913) (2013)

Niels Bohr was instrumental in building the theoretical framework of quantum mechanics and received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1922. He was very conscious of the social responsibilities of scientists.

200th anniversary of the birth of Søren Kierkegaard, philosopher (1813-1855) (2013)

Philosopher whose intellectual and spiritual influence is of global scope in the history of philosophy and prolific writer in the Danish “golden age” of intellectual and artistic activity. His work crosses the boundaries of philosophy, theology, psychology, literary criticism, devotional literature and fiction. Kierkegaard brought this potent mixture of discourses to bear as social critique and for the purpose of renewing Christian faith within Christendom. At the same time he made many original conceptual contributions to each of the disciplines he employed. He is known as the “father of existentialism”, but at least as important are his critiques of Hegel and of the German romantics, his contributions to the development of modernism, his literary experimentation, his vivid representation of biblical figures to bring out their modern relevance, his invention of key concepts which have been explored and redeployed by thinkers ever since, his interventions in contemporary Danish church politics, and his fervent attempts to analyse and revitalize the Christian faith.

200th anniversary of the birth of Hans Christian Andersen (2005)

The work of Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) occupies a special place in world literature and now forms part of the collective imagination. Andersen raised fairy tales to the rank of a separate literary genre directed not just to children but to adults as well.
His concern for the oppressed, marginalized and suffering children pervades his work, which has become everyone’s heritage. He has been published in UNESCO’s collection of representative works.

200th anniversary of the birth of Jens Baggesen (Denmark) (1964)

Reference document: 61 EX/16

100th anniversary of the birth of Carl Oluf Jensen (Denmark) (1964)

Veterinarian scientist, Initiator of the Danish Veterinarian Serum Laboratory.

100th anniversary of the birth of Jakob E. Lange (Denmark) (1964)

Botanist known for his mycological studies.

150th anniversary of the birth of Soren Kierkegaard, philosopher (1813-1855) (1963) (Denmark) (1963)

UNESCO/MC/46

100th anniversary of the birth of Arni Magnusson (Denmark) (1963)

Danish-Icelandic collector of manuscripts from the "Saga"