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2002 - Address by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura |
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| Director-General of UNESCO | |
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Mr
President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, I
am particularly happy to welcome you today to UNESCO on the occasion of
the presentation of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize to Mr Kay
Rala Xanana Gusmão, President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. My
greetings and my thanks go to President Abdou Diouf, Patron of the Prize
and Secretary-General of the International Organization of the
Francophonie, and to President Henri Konan Bédié, Sponsor of the Prize. I
heartily commend the unique contribution they have made and are still
making to the success of the Prize. I
am pleased to see here in our midst Mr Pedro Roseta, Portuguese Minister
of Culture, representing Prime Minister Durão Barroso; Mr Sébastien
Danon Djédjé, Minister of National Reconciliation of Côte d'Ivoire,
representing President Laurent Gbagbo; Mr Michel de Bonnecorse, Adviser
for African Affairs, representing Mr Jacques Chirac, President of the
French Republic; Mr Mamadou Bamba, Cabinet Minister, Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Côte d'Ivoire; Mr Kim Holmes, Assistant Secretary of State of
the United States of America; H.E. Mr Teiichi Sato, Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Delegate of Japan to UNESCO,
representing the Prime Minister of Japan; and also, Mr Amara Essy, acting
President of the Commission of the African Union. I
am sorry that Dr Henry Kissinger, President of the Jury, has been unable
to join us today because of the strikes. But I am very happy that his
eminent fellow members of the Jury are among us, having once again chosen
a prizewinner whose merits are unanimously acknowledged. I
wish to greet them and pay tribute to their action in the service of the
Prize which, in the space of a decade, they have managed to make one of
the highest international distinctions. Ladies
and Gentlemen, As
you are aware, the key objective that UNESCO pursues through education,
science, culture and communication is primarily the expansion of the place
given to peace in people's minds. This
peace, which the founding fathers of the Organization enshrined in the
Preamble to its Constitution, was considered by them as the basic
condition for human progress. In
a world where trouble spots are spreading and where terrorism has become
an international scourge, the quest for peace through the achievement of
moral, economic and intellectual solidarity between all the nations is
becoming an ever more pressing political requirement. Only
the establishment of such active solidarity between people will permit the
very roots of violence to be destroyed and enable us to envisage the
future under more favourable auspices. Excellencies, I
should now like to pay tribute to the laureate of the Prize, President
Xanana Gusmão, a freedom
fighter who, for almost a quarter of a century, struggled for the
independence of his country before being triumphantly elected President of
the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. Mr
President Gusmão, I
am especially pleased to see your name associated today with that of
UNESCO, for it symbolizes the values of peace and tolerance upheld by the
Organization since its founding in the wake of the Second World War. The
courage and the selflessness with which you have for so many years
defended your people's legitimate aspirations to freedom and the
management of their own affairs are admired by all. To
your fellow citizens, including a generation which has known only war, you
have, since independence, spoken of reconciliation and forgiveness. You
have understood that the young Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste could
neither grow nor prepare its future without becoming reconciled with
itself and its neighbours. It
is in recognition of your devotion to the cause of peace, dialogue and
forgiveness that the Jury has decided to award the Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Peace Prize to you. Excellencies, In
this troubled world, the example of Timor-Leste is a source of
encouragement for all defenders of democracy and peace. UNESCO is
gratified to note that the political philosophy of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny lives on through the Prize that bears his name. It
remains a fountain of wisdom which should, today even more than yesterday,
inspire us to strengthen peace and fellowship throughout the world. Mr
President Gusmão, Allow
me to express to you, on behalf of UNESCO, my very best wishes for the
success of your endeavours in the service of your country and the values
in the name of which the Prize has been awarded to you. You have
demonstrated, in your struggle to achieve your country's independence and
in the one year you have presided over its destiny, a quite remarkable
sense of rigour, justice and the common good. The announcement made only a
few days ago of the accession of your country to membership of UNESCO,
making Timor-Leste our 189th Member State, seals the fruitful
collaboration which has already been established between us in the fields
of culture, education and communication. The magnificent ancient statue
that you have just offered to UNESCO, of high symbolic and spiritual
value, is a reflection of the relations that we will forge between your
country and the Organization. I dare say that the official visit I am
about to make to your country in early July can only add to that. Many
congratulations, Mr President.
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