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Interventions by Australia > 167th session

UNESCO EXECUTIVE BOARD
167th session
Reports by the Director-General on:
The execution of the programme adopted by the General Conference;
The follow-up of decisions adopted by the Executive Board at its previous sessions;

Intervention by Kenneth Wiltshire AO (Australia)

16 Sept. 2003

At this 167th session of the Executive Board, we come to the end of two years of experience to face the General Conference with an account of our stewardship.

Thank you Madame Chair for the report you have prepared on the Executive Board’s activities. It is succinct, focused and impressive. You told us Madame Chair that, so far in this Board, we have made some 200 Decisions.

So what does our report card look like at the end of two years? There are many Distinctions, even some High Distinctions

UNESCO has proven to be effective and relevant in post conflict situations. In Afghanistan and Iraq, there has been good design and preparation of programmes. Now it is time for for practical, on the ground implementation.

UNESCO has achieved a much higher profile within the UN and international community as lead agency in many areas. To name a few: EFA, Durban, Johannesburg, recently the New Delhi Dialogue Amongst Civilizations, soon the World Summit on the Information Society, then the Decade for Education for Sustainable Development.

We have witnessed the development of many successful partnerships:

· NEPAD in Africa

· the private sector, with an impressive list of partners given to us by the Director-General yesterday

· micro-credit – we must not forget this wonderful grassroots programme which for us blends financial assistance and education.

There has been much programme success. In the field of water, the International Year of Freshwater has been an outstanding success – visit the website, it is marvelous. The 50th Anniversary of the Associated Schools Project networks in Auckland revealed again the remarkable success and importance of this flagship programme. The Barbados +5 and soon the Barbados +10 programme is so important for the small island states of the Pacific. The contribution of the Institute for Statistics to UNESCO’s programmes is exemplary.

But like all school reports cards there are some subjects that read “shows potential but can do better”.

Fight against Terrorism

After September 11 two years ago, the Director-General appealed to this Executive Board to take up the fight against terrorism. Then came the Executive Board Decision which became General Conference Resolution 39. Then came the United Nations Plan of Action with UNESCO as the lead agency. But very little is happening; we have not fully risen to the challenge. The New Delhi Dialogue among Civilizations gives us a springboard. Australia has developed, with our Asia and Pacific partners, a proposal “Educating for Peace, Tolerance, Shared Values, Inter-cultural and Inter-religious Understanding” aimed at education curriculum and teacher training materials.

Since terrorism begins in the mind, it is in the mind that the defences against terrorism need to be constructed.

Governance

Our back yard is not tidy. Over two years some good ideas have emerged but not a lot of change. Early during the next Executive Board we need a new innovative approach, a forum, maybe a seminar, in a less constrained format, where we can build on these ideas in dialogue.

Reform

At this Executive Board the main item is decentralization with the evaluation report of field offices as the main item. Thank you Director-General for the transparency revealing the shortcomings in the field network, which appear to be many. Also the so called bureau offices seem to be rising up to become like the old principal offices. Does UNESCO need a three tier structure? Can the Head of a field office serve three masters – Bureau of Field Co-ordination, Programme Assistant Directors-General and bureau offices?

In a similar vein, we have not yet resolved the vital relationship and partnership which should exist between Headquarters and all of the Institutes and Centres affiliated with UNESCO.

The Participation Programme has not received the recognition it deserves. There is no more devastating combination than a good National Commission working with a good Participation Programme to raise the effectiveness, impact and visibility of UNESCO.

International Instruments
Over the past two years this Executive Board has addressed seven key international instruments which have probably given rise to more debate than any other items. The approach often has been too ad hoc. It is time for us to draw on our experience and enunciate some principles for addressing such matters in the future, along the following lines:

First – international instruments have been a very important element of UNESCO’s work, for example in Human Rights, Copyright, World Heritage.

Second – they are one modality, amongst many available to us, and we must use them carefully and wisely.

Third – perception is important. They should not be seen primarily as regulations. UNESCO is not a regulatory body. They should be seen as standard-setting, capacity building, empowering, and establishing best practice. As the wonderful partnership between the World Heritage Centre and the Associated Schools Project demonstrates, they can be powerful educational instruments for teachers and students.

Fourth – it should by now be possible to create a template of the steps required to develop an international instrument. This should include at least the following:

· Throughout the whole process gain the imprimatur of the General Conference and engage the Executive Board throughout

· Establish the need for the instrument, bearing in mind the need to achieve a balance between treaties and other options

· Establish the nature of the instrument – explore all the options

· Clarify beyond doubt the relationship to other instruments

· Define clear objectives

· Produce robust definitions

· Governments must be involved in the process from the very beginning. At frequent stages in the sequence consult: experts, regions, and civil society including relevant NGOs

· Communicate in a transparent way constantly with all stakeholders

· Blend the policy with the practical to create a workable instrument.

Fifth – we need to recognise the context of modern international instruments. Our world is witnessing a convergence of the economic, the social, the cultural, the ecological, and the technical. We see this expressed in the arenas of:

· intellectual property

· information/knowledge societies

· labour markets/education and training

· trade and cultural forums

· sustainable development

· the ethics of outer space and inner space

· bioethics.

The world is crying out for an holistic approach in these areas, and UNESCO must be in partnership will all the players, not always at odds with them, to reach the necessary balance:

· the public and the private

· the yin and the yang

· the exact and the inexact

· the left and the right.

In short, this is what the Director-General has conceptualised as the “honest broker” role of UNESCO.

Finally, Madame Chair, we come to the 32nd session of the General Conference. This will be my 6th General Conference and I am always excited and energized by the experience.

There are many issues – the main one at the moment seems to be the new identity cards and the photographs. We have a saying in my country – “If you look like your passport photo you are too sick to travel”. Hopefully these photos will be better.

In ten days time the Youth Forum begins with over 100 young people already registered. The theme is excellent “UNESCO and Youth: A Reciprocal Commitment”.

We must reach out to our Youth, the citizens of today not just tomorrow. There are 1.1 billion of them (15-24 years) and they make up nearly 20% of the world’s population – the largest group. They live in an uncertain world; we must see them as partners, as part of the solution not the problem. They want to contribute, to make a difference.

Thank you Mr Director-General for the Youth Forum – you understand their importance. (Of course Japan has the most successful approach to Youth. In Japan, I understand, everyone is young until they are sixty, then they become “living treasures”.)

We will welcome Timor-Leste, at the General Conference to the UNESCO family. Australia is actively endeavouring to assist with the creation of a National Commission in this new nation.

We also particularly welcome the United States of America, not just in a diplomatic sense, but we look forward to harnessing the enormous wealth of professional expertise in the USA across all of UNESCO’s fields of competence.

We welcome the thousands of delegates who will flood and revitalize this place. They will come long distances in search of relevance and inspiration. They want to contribute, in UNESCO, and in their own countries, with their National Commissions.

Madame Chair, like all report cards, ours is a blend of achievement and unrealised potential. The Executive Board can be proud of its achievements of the past two years.

As we face the General Conference to account for our stewardship, Australia would like to express our thanks to our three leaders:

You Madame Bennani, Mr Jalali, and Mr Matsuura.

Under your leadership we have enjoyed a very productive partnership between the three “organs” of UNESCO.

You have created harmony and synergy and it has been a pleasure to serve under you in our pursuit of the noble goals of this Organization - to enrich the spiritual and human well being of every women and every man on our planet.

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