Australian Embassy
France
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PACIFIC LINK

Australian Permanent Delegation Newsletter to the Pacific Community of UNESCO


Issue25 1/2009

Editorial


Welcome to Pacific Link the newsletter for Pacific Island Members of UNESCO which is prepared by the Australian Permanent Delegation to UNESCO in Paris. This issue focuses on the forthcoming 35th session of the UNESCO General Conference (6-23 October 2009). It also reports on the 181st session of the Executive Board.
In this issue of PLINK we have tried to provide you with a practical guide to assist in preparations for the General Conference. As well as early attention to flights and hotel bookings, key points to keep in mind are the composition of the Delegation, the Credentials, voting rights (including the need to be up to date with financial contributions), speaking slots and candidacies. There are some innovations in the organization of the work of the General Conference. We touch on all these briefly below. In line with past practice, we have also sought a joint appointment for Pacific Delegates with the Director-General and will advise details once the appointment has been confirmed.

The Director-General’s letter of invitation to the 35th session of the General Conference together with the provisional agenda for the session (35 C/1 Prov), and the organization of the work of the session (35 C/2) were sent to the Member States in early July. The General Conference website, where these documents can be found, is:
unesco.org/en/general-conference


Composition of General Conference Delegations


Each Member State and Associate Member is entitled to five delegates, including the Head of Delegation, five alternate delegates and as many advisers and experts as deemed necessary.
(Rule 21 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Conference)



General Conference Credentials


The credentials of delegates and alternate delegates are issued by the head of state, the head of government or the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Organization, however, accepts credentials signed by an alternate Minister if the Minister for Foreign Affairs has written to the Director-General advising that that Minister is authorized to issue credentials.

The credentials of delegates and alternate delegates of Associate Members are issued by the competent authorities.

These credentials, which include the names of the head of the delegation, delegates and alternate delegates as well as the experts and advisers, need to be submitted to the Director-General one week before the date of opening of the session i.e. by 28 September 2009 at the latest.

A copy of the credentials may be faxed (+33 1 45 68 57 01) in advance with the original to be submitted to the Credentials Committee no later than three days after the opening of the session.
(Rule 23 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Conference)


Voting Rights

Rule 83 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Conference explains in detail the voting rights.

Member States need to have paid all their contributions up to 31 December 2007 and kept up to date with any payment plan in order to maintain their voting rights at the forthcoming General Conference. The deadline for payment of outstanding contributions is 8 October 2009.

The Bureau of the Comptroller is able to advise as to whether or not a Member State risks losing its voting rights (fax: +33 1 45 68 55 10).

Participation by Pacific Member Countries

Pacific Member States, except Australia and New Zealand, are entitled, upon written request to the Director-General, to seek financial assistance from UNESCO for at least one participant per country to attend the General Conference. We encourage Member States to seek such assistance to ensure participation at the General Conference.

If the voice of the Pacific is to count, it is essential that your credentials and financial contributions are in order.

Accommodation during the General Conference

With the numerous trade fairs held in Paris at the time of the General Conference, it is imperative to book hotel accommodation as soon as possible. Following are a couple of moderately priced hotels within the proximity of UNESCO:

Ibis Paris Cambronne Tour Eiffel
2 rue Cambronne, 75015 Paris
Tel: +33 1 40 61 21 21
www.ibishotel.com


Duquesne Eiffel
23 avenue Duquesne, 75007 Paris
Tel: +33 1 44 42 09 09
http://www.duquesneeiffel-paris-hotel.com



Hôtel Baldi
42 boulevard Garibaldi
75015 Paris
Tel.: 01 47 83 20 10
http://www.baldi-paris-hotel.com


Citadines Tour Eiffel (appartment)
132 boulevard de Grenelle
75015 Paris
Tel: +33 825 003 505
http://www.citadines.com



Tourisme Hotel
66 avenue de la Motte-Picquet
75015 Paris
Tel: +33 1 47 34 28 01
http://www.hotel-paris-tourism.com



UNESCO’s accredited travel agency American Express can assist with hotel accommodation
fax: +33 1 71 06 98 29
france1.groupsevents@aexp.fr



More information on accommodation can also be found at the following:
http://en.parisinfo.com/
Elections during the General Conference



Elections for the Executive Board will be held on Wednesday, 14 October with, if necessary, a second ballot on Thursday, 15 October. Appointment of the Director-General will take place on Thursday, 15 October. Elections to the subsidiary bodies will be held on Friday, 16 October in the Nominations Committee. The elections to the World Heritage Committee are scheduled to be held on 26 October (N.B. after the conclusion of the General Conference). Only States party to the World Heritage Convention are eligible to participate/vote at the General Assembly.



The bodies to be elected during the time of the General Conference include:



 Executive Board
 Legal Committee
 Headquarters Committee
 IBE - Council of the UNESCO Bureau of Education
 CIGEPS - Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport
 MAB - International Co-ordinating Council of the Programme on Man and the Biosphere
 IHP - Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme
 MOST - Intergovernmental Council of the Management of Social Transformations Programme
 IGBC - Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee
 Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation
 Executive Committee of the International Campaign for the Establishment of the Nubia Museum in Aswan and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo
 IPDC - Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication
 IFAP - Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme
 UIS - Governing Board of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics



If any Member State wishes to run for election to the Executive Board, it should notify the Director-General; and election to the World Heritage Committee, the Director of the World Heritage Centre. If you wish to run for one of the subsidiary bodies, the person to contact is the Chair of the Asia-Pacific (ASPAC) Candidatures Working Group,
H.E. Ms Bhaswati Mukherjee
(fax +33 1 47 34 51 88 or email: http://dl.india@unesco.org), as soon as possible.



Some Key Issues at the General Conference



• Appointment of a new Director-General of UNESCO
• Adoption of the Programme and Budget for 2010-2011 (35 C/5)
• Review of the Medium-Term Strategy for 2008-2013 (34 C/4)
• Preliminary discussions on the draft Programme and Budget for 2012-2013 (36 C/5)
• Ministerial round table on "The lessons of the five major international conferences on education for a new education for a new century”
• Ministerial round table on "Building stewardship for the Ocean: the contribution of UNESCO to Responsible Ocean Governance”
• Youth Forum on “Investing out of the crisis: towards a partnership between UNESCO and youth organizations”


Plenary Ministerial Forum


An innovation at the forthcoming session of the General Conference is a one day Plenary Ministerial Forum to be held in parallel to the General Policy Debate on 8 October. It is proposed that two meetings (morning and afternoon respectively) be devoted to the following themes: “Investing out of crisis and attaining international development goals – through action in education, the sciences, culture and communication and information”; and “Shaping UNESCO for the next decade as an effective multilateral actor, including in pursuit of international goals and United Nations reform”.



WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE



General Assembly of States Parties



Another innovation this year is that the bulk of the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage will be held after the General Conference. To keep in accordance with the Convention, the opening session of the General Assembly will be held from 13:00-15:00 on Friday, 23 October i.e. the last day of the General Conference. The session will then continue from Monday, 26 October until Wednesday, 28 October with the elections to the World Heritage Committee taking place on Monday, 26 October.
World Heritage Committee

The 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee was held from 22 to 30 June 2009 in Seville, Spain. Australia is a member of the 21 member Committee and Vice-Chair for the Asia-Pacific region.

Thirteen properties were added to the World Heritage List; 3 sites had their boundaries extended; 7 sites were referred; 2 were deferred and 12 nominated sites were withdrawn before the Committee could consider them. Three sites were added to the World Heritage in Danger List and two were removed. Thirty-one properties remain on the In-Danger List. In total, on completion of the Committee’s 33rd session, there are a total of 890 sites listed.

Perhaps the headline outcome of the meeting was that the Dresden Elbe Valley, Germany, was removed from the World Heritage List altogether, following the start of construction of the Waldschlösschen Bridge in the heart of the cultural landscape. This is only the second time that the Committee has removed a property from the World Heritage List and the first on the initiative of the Committee. While the need to make such a decision is highly regrettable, it does suggest that the Committee is increasing its focus on the standard of conservation of properties.

The 34th session of the World Heritage Committee will be held in Brasilia, Brazil, in July 2010.




2009 is the International Year of Astronomy


Some Forthcoming Events
(to be held at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, unless otherwise indicated)

7-23 September: 182nd session of the Executive Board of UNESCO

28 September: 2 October: 4th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

6-23 October: 35th session of the General Conference of UNESCO

23-28 October: 17th session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage

26 October: 183rd session of the Executive Board of UNESCO

5-7 November: World Science Forum, Budapest, Hungary

1-4 December: Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI), Belém, Brazil


WORLD CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION


The World Conference on Higher Education gathered almost 1,000 participants from 148 countries from 5 to 8 July 2009 at UNESCO Headquarters to address “The New Dynamics of Higher Education and Research for Societal Change and Development”. It closed with a call to governments to increase investment in higher education, encourage diversity and strengthen regional cooperation to serve societal needs.

The communiqué can be found at the following address:
<http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001832/183277e.pdf>
EXECUTIVE BOARD DECISIONS AT A GLANCE

The 181st session of the Executive Board was held from 14-30 April 2009. The Board, which had 60 items on its agenda,

• Failed to reach consensus on a budget ceiling to recommend for adoption by the General Conference
• Recommended that the General Conference endorse a number of biennial sectoral priorities including supporting the achievement of Education for All (EFA) through building effective education systems from early childhood care and education to higher education; sustainable development of freshwater, ocean and terrestrial resources as well as disaster preparedness and mitigation and the strengthening of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC); responding to critical global social challenges and the need to build a culture of peace; protecting, safeguarding and managing tangible and intangible heritage; promoting the diversity of cultural expressions, languages and multilingualism; and promoting freedom of expression and access to information
• Discussed the procedure for the nomination of the Director-General for the Organization
• Decided to inscribe the examination of a possible international standard-setting instrument for the protection of indigenous and endangered languages on the agenda of the General Conference
• Decided to recommend that the General Conference authorise work to continue on developing a new standard-setting instrument (SSI) on the conservation of the historic urban landscape

International Conference on Broadcast Media and Climate Change

A high-level International Conference on “Broadcast Media and Climate Change: A Public Service Remit” will be held at UNESCO Headquarters from 4 to 5 September 2009, to consider a global consensus to raise public awareness on the challenges of climate change. It will focus on the role and needs of national broadcasters, particularly in least developed countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), exploring their capacities to report on climate change issues, and discussing access to relevant information, reference material and the possible exchange of broadcast material.

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR UNESCO




Ms Anthea Tinney, Chair, Australian National Commission for UNESCO



We would like to extend a very warm welcome to Anthea Tinney who was recently appointed as Chair of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO. Anthea is currently the independent Chair of the Steel Stewardship Forum and an independent member of the Audit and Risk Committees for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Old Parliament House authority. Immediately prior to her leaving the Australian Public Service at the end of 2008, Anthea was the Interim CEO of the National Film and Sound Archive, having been a Deputy Secretary of the environmental portfolio in the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts since 1997.

We wish Anthea and the other new members of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO all the very best in their endeavours and look forward to cooperating closely with them over the coming years.

Many of you will have the opportunity to meet Anthea during the forthcoming 35th session of the General Conference of UNESCO.

 


General Conference at a Glance



Provisional Timetable of Work
1-3 October: Youth Forum
5 October: Partners Forum
6-12 October: Plenary
6-7 October: Credentials Committee
6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 16 October: Nominations Committee (mornings)
6-12 October: General Policy Debate (Plenary)
7-8 October: Legal Committee
7, 9, 13, 16, 20 October: Bureau (09:00-10:00)
8 October: Plenary Ministerial Forum on “Investing out of crisis and attaining international development goals – through action in education, the sciences, culture and communication and information” (morning)
8 October: Plenary Ministerial Forum on “Shaping UNESCO for the next decade as an effective multilateral actor, including in pursuit of international goals and United Nations reform” (afternoon)
6-7 and 9-12 October: ADM Commission (Finance and Administration)
9-10 October: Round table for Ministers on the theme “What Education for the Future? Lessons from the five major international education conferences”
9-13 October: PRX Commission (General questions, programme support, external relations, including National Commissions and the Participation Programme)
12 October: Director-General’s response to the General Policy Debate (morning)
12-13 October: Round table for Ministers on the theme “Building stewardship for the ocean: the contribution of UNESCO to responsible ocean governance”
12-15 October: ED Commission (Education)
13-15 October: CI Commission (Communication and information)
14 October: Elections to the Executive Board of UNESCO (polling closes at 13:00)
14-16 October: SC Commission (Natural sciences)
15 October: Appointment of the Director-General (Plenary)
15-19 October: CLT Commission (Culture)
16 October: Elections to the Subsidiary Bodies (Nominations Committee)
16 October: ADM Commission (afternoon - adoption of report)
16-19 October: SHS Commission (Social and human sciences)
17 October: PRX Commission (morning - adoption of report)
19 October: ED Commission (afternoon – adoption of report)
20 October: SC Commission (afternoon – adoption of report)
21 October: SHS Commission (afternoon – adoption of report)
20 October: CI Commission (morning – adoption of report)
21 October: CLT Commission (afternoon – adoption of report)
21-23 October: Plenary (21-23 October - adoption of the reports, 23 October – closure)
22-23 October: Joint meeting of the programme and administrative commissions
* * * * * * * * *
23-28 October: 17th session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
26 October: World Heritage Committee Elections


Meetings of Pacific Member States during the General Conference
Arrangements are in hand for the Pacific Delegations to meet during the General Conference. We have requested a conference room (Room XVI) be made available for our use from 08:00 to 10:00 for every day of the General Conference commencing from Monday, 5 October 2009.
Date and time of the appointment with the Director-General have still to be advised.

Speakers' list


Heads of Delegation wishing to speak during the General Policy Debate in Plenary will need to register their request with the Secretariat of the General Conference (fax +33 1 45 68 57 01) as soon as possible. The Director-General has requested that two optional dates at least 48 hours apart are proposed. Speakers are requested to limit their interventions to 6 minutes in the General Policy Debate (N.B. the shorter speaking time is another innovation at this session). As the List of Speakers is filling up rapidly, we recommend that you secure your speaking slot as soon as possible.

Meeting times

Meeting times are 10:00 - 13:00 and 15:00 - 18:00 though meetings often commence earlier and/or finish later. The General Conference will be in session on Saturdays.

Seating arrangements


In the plenary and commission meeting rooms, places allocated to Member States are in the French alphabetical order commencing with Norway, whose name has been drawn by lot. The number of seats allocated to each Member State depends on the size of each room.

Documents


Most General Conference documents will be sent to Member States before the session. Delegations will also receive, on arrival, a full set of documents. A limited number of spare copies will be available in the meeting rooms. All documents will accessible on the internet as soon as they appear, both before and during the session. The General Conference website <http.www.unesco.org/confgen> provides access to other useful information.

Essential Reading


35 C/1 (General Conference Agenda)
35 C/2 (Organization of work of the General Conference)
35 C/3 (Director-General’s Report on the 2006-2007 biennium)
34 C/4 (Draft Medium-Term Strategy for 2008-2013)
35 C/5 (Draft Programme and Budget for 2010-2011)
35 C/6 (Comments by the Executive Board on the 35 C/5)
35 C/8 (Compilation of Draft Resolutions (DRs) on the 35 C/5)
33 C/Resolution 92
"Basic Texts” 2008 edition (includes UNESCO’s Constitution, the Rules of Procedure of the General Conference, the Financial Regulations etc)
“Webzine” (daily e-journal which provides each day’s programme, a daily overview of the work of the Conference as well as official notices and other information of interest)

WiFi Access

 
WiFi access is possible in most of the meeting rooms for those wishing to bring their laptops.

General Conference Secretariat

Mr Michael Millward, Secretary of the General Conference
tel: +33 1 45 68 12 40 fax: +33 1 45 68 57 01 m.millward@unesco.org
Mr Luis Salamanques, Assistant to the Secretary of the General Conference
tel: +33 1 45 68 14 39 fax: +33 1 45 68 57 01 l.salamanques@unesco.org

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