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

36 session of the General Conference

H.E. Mr Joaquim Mbana Nchama, Minister of Education and Sciences

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

34 session of the General Conference - Visit

S.E. Mr Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea

“We are pleased to greet the return of Singapore to the Organization and we give a warm welcome to Montenegro.”
“I bring to this General Conference the brotherly greetings of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, with our best wishes to work together with the Member States to promote quality Education for All, to extend scientific and technological knowledge […] and to reaffirm the positive values of culture for the total emancipation of the human being.”
“I want to reaffirm our total conviction that the resolutions and recommendations that are taken by the General Conference of UNESCO constitute the best catalyst to construct a balanced human society, free of current conflicts that cause social imbalances and restrain the evolution and the normal development of the South.”
“I want to recall to this General Conference of UNESCO that the problem of cultural identity is today of a great concern for the African society. Indeed, today the nations of the third world live in anxiety because of the processes imposed by the globalisation of the cultures. Black Africa has the urgent necessity to define its strategies to strengthen its cultural identity. This identity is in danger because of the influence of other cultures that are better equipped for expansion.”
“Education and science are today the only means for the individual development, which is in direct correlation with the development of the whole society. In fact, we think that there is no superior culture, since there are no humans who are superior to others. All the cultures are used for the same aims. We understand that, after the independence of African countries, we have to elaborate new educative systems that will contribute to reinforce and update the coherent assimilation of our native cultures. By avoiding the dangers of uniformity, they will be able to continue to have their own sense and meaning with the addition of scientific and technical contributions.”
“We want to thank and congratulate those who gave their contribution to the independence and recognition of African culture and values: the President of Senegal, Leopoldo Sedar Senghor, whose will and persistence were at the origins of the Negritude movement, the prestigious intellectual Alioune Diop, founder of “Présence Africaine” and his wife, widow and companion in the fight, Madame Cristine Diop. This movement has created great intellectuals and artists like Leon Damas, Aimé Césaire and others, who revealed in their works the aesthetic conception of the African black man and its universal projection […]. We also want to mention the great intellectual of the Colombian Negritude Manuel Zapata Olivella, who just passed away in Bogota. He was the vice-president of the “Black Congress of the Americas” and the vice-president of the First Hispanic-African International Congress of Culture, celebrated in Equatorial Guinea in 1984.”
“The true freedom of the man is attained by the means of integral formation and lifelong learning. For that reason, I reiterate my total conviction that UNESCO must continue its work to create a world of truly free human beings through education, science and culture.”
“[UNESCO] should provide sufficient economic and human resources to support the programmes of computerisation and the audio-visual technologies in Africa. […] We take this opportunity to express our gratefulness to Mr. Director General and all the Governing Bodies of our Organization for the constant institutional support offered to Equatorial Guinea since its independence, in 1968. […] We remember the support that UNESCO has offered us […]: the creation of a Centre of Teachers Training for Secondary Education […], the preparation and development of the First Hispanic-African International Congress of Culture in 1984, the “Conservation of the Forest Ecosystems of Monte Alén” (ECOFAC) project, the “Conservation of the Animal Species Threatened of Extinction” project, the “Conservation of the Vegetal Species” (CUREF) project, the creation of the National University of Equatorial Guinea, the Education For All programme, the equipment of laboratories of the National University.”
“Equatorial Guinea proposes to create a UNESCO prize for the conservation of the life of all human beings. This prize will be entirely financed by the Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.”
“Our country values the contribution of the UNESCO’s Africa Department.”

34 session of the General Conference

H.E. M. Cristobal Manana Ela, Minister of Education, sciences and sports

(Translated from Spanish)
“We wish to congratulate the Republic of Singapore on rejoining UNESCO, and the Republic of Montenegro on joining our great family.”
“My country fundamentally shares with UNESCO the task of boosting countries’ development through education, science and culture. […] Accordingly my country is investing in various programmes, including the programme of curricular reform from pre-school to secondary and vocational education, and the project for designing and providing textbooks and various teaching materials for those levels, tailored to guarantee quality education.”
“My Government attaches great importance to teacher training and has initiated a number of projects […] intended to help train secondary school teachers in scientific subjects…” The funds for these projects are shared between the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, UNESCO and UNDP.
“As part of its work on creating a national Education for All Plan, the Government is designing a multisectoral social development project, with emphasis on education, health and promoting women.”
“The Government has approved the construction of two university campuses at the cost of 40,000 million CFA francs within the 2008-2009 budget.”
“As part of the literacy campaign, with the support of our sister Republic of Cuba, a national literacy project has been launched […] Alongside these initiatives and in view of the importance of literacy, private initiatives are being started as part of our cooperation with UNESCO and the Malabo International Rotary Club. In order to increase teachers’ prestige, the Government and UNESCO have just institutionalized 5 October as World Teachers’ Day in Equatorial Guinea.”
“Concerning the development of culture, the Government and UNESCO are quantifying and rehabilitating the cultural heritage and training human resources in this sector.”
“We maintain that UNESCO must play a leading role in promoting education for peace, for an ever more developed and balanced world.”
“We think that our Organization should make its internal operational structures more flexible and enable all States to take part in the fulfilment of its organs’ different functions. That would require introducing electoral procedures with greater rotation, giving all the Member States a chance to assume their responsibility.”