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

36 session of the General Conference

H.E. Mrs Sifa Mohammed, Minister of Educationon

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

H.E. Ms Zahiya Zareer, Minister of Education

Maldives would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Singapore and welcome Montenegro to the UNESCO family of nations.
Education must remain UNESCO’s greatest mission, as it helps to fight poverty and promotes cultural understanding. The Maldives are therefore fully supportive of UNESCO’s programmes aimed at promoting Education for All and lifelong learning.
The Maldives, with the help of UNESCO, is on its way to achieve EFA goals with a 98% literacy rate and gender equal universal primary education. The Maldives’ goal will be now to universalize 10 years of basic education and develop technical vocational education.
It is important to accelerate the progress of international efforts aimed at helping all countries achieve the Dakar goals by 2015. The Maldives is satisfied with the priority given to Major Programme I in the 34 C/4 document and the Programme and Budget for 2008-2009.
The Maldives has to make special efforts in teacher training. 70% of secondary teachers are expatriates from other countries and there is an urgent need to train more quality teachers. The Maldives seeks for assistance and support in this area and thanks the Director General for his proposals during his visit in 2006.
“We believe that education for sustainable development is an important aspect of UNESCO’s activities that will enable people around the world to benefit from development without causing further damage to the environment.”
The Maldives is in constant danger from natural disasters and welcomes the lead role played by UNESCO in the efforts to set up a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean region.
The country fully endorses the initiatives of the World Heritage Committee and appreciates UNESCO’s efforts to preserve cultural diversity and heritage
Unfortunately, the Maldives was recently a victim of a terrorist attack on the capital island. The country has now strengthened its commitment to promoting human rights and peace building in the world.
“The Maldives has benefited greatly from the Participation Programme, and we believe that it is truly useful for countries like ours. We would therefore welcome further activities under this programme...”
“We fully support the Draft Programme and Budget for 2008-2009. Furthermore, we stand firmly behind the programme-based Medium-Term Strategy […] we look forward to even more active and effective cooperation in the next programme period.”