Editorial

The second issue for 2007 of the Pacific Link focuses on the forthcoming 34th session of the UNESCO General Conference (16 October to 3 November 2007). It also reports on the 176th 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 the practical considerations of 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.
We wish you all the best for the forthcoming Consultation of Pacific National Commissions, to be held in Apia, Samoa, on 14-15 June 2007.

The Director-General’s letter of invitation to the 34th session of the General Conference together with the provisional agenda for the session (34 C/1 Prov), the organization of the work of the session (34 C/2) have still to be sent to the Member States The General Conference website is:
<http://www.unesco.org/confgen>

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 9 October 2007 at the latest.
A copy of the credentials may be faxed 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 2005 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 18 October 2007.

A precedent was established at the 33rd session of the General Conference in 2005 when a number of Members States lost their voting rights.

Accommodation during the General Conference

The Rugby World Cup will be held in France from 7 September to 20 October 2007. With the semi-finals (13 and 14 October), bronze play off (19 October) and the final (20 October) all to be held in Paris, hotel accommodation during the General Conference will be at a premium. If you have not already done so, it is imperative to book accommodation as soon as possible. Following are a couple of moderately priced hotels within the proximity of UNESCO:

Hotel Segur
34 Bld Garibaldi, 75015 Paris
tel: (33 1) 43 06 01 85
fax: (33 1) 47 34 30 82

Hotel Baldi Eiffel
42 Bld Garibaldi, 75015 Paris
tel: (33 1) 47 83 20 10
fax: (33 1) 44 49 08 72

Carlson Wagonlit Travel Agency located in UNESCO can assist with hotel accommodation
tel: +33 1 53 44 16 83
fax: +33 1 53 44 16 84
email: <unesco@cwtfrance.com>

More information on accommodation can also be found at the following:

http://www.paris-touristoffice.com/index.hmtl

Participation by Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

UNESCO provides travel and per diem for one participant from each of the Least Developed Countries but only upon a written request to the Director-General. The Pacific Member States in this category should take advantage of this assistance.

Elections during the General Conference

Elections for the Executive Board will be held on Wednesday, 24 October with, if necessary, a second ballot on Thursday, 25 October. Elections to the subsidiary bodies will be held on 25 October in the Nominations Committee. The elections to the World Heritage Committee will be held during the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 24-25 October. (The General Assembly meets in parallel to the General Conference.)

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
 World Heritage Committee

If any Member State wishes to run for election to any of these bodies, it should notify the Secretary of the General Conference, Mr Michael Millward (fax +33 1 45 68 57 01), and the Chair of the Asia-Pacific (ASPAC) Candidatures Ad hoc Working Group, H.E. Mr Khamliène Nhouyvanisvong (fax +33 1 47 27 57 89), as soon as possible.

If your country is not able to attend the General Conference, credentials can still be prepared which authorise a non-national to act on your behalf, including voting. Their name would simply appear as part of your Delegation on the List of Participants. As there is provision for the Head of Delegation to modify the composition of the Delegation once the session has commenced, please ensure you bring some official letterhead with you.

As voting is very important if the voice of the Pacific is to count, it is essential that your credentials are in order.

Some Key Issues at the General Conference

• Adoption of the Medium-Term Strategy for 2008-2013 (34 C/4) and the Programme and Budget for 2008-2009 (34 C/5)
• Preliminary discussions on the draft Programme and Budget for 2010-2012 (35 C/5)
• Follow-up to 33 C/Resolution 92 concerning relations between the three organs of UNESCO
• Adoption of the draft Declaration of Principles Relating to Cultural Objects Displaced in Connection with the Second World War
• Overall review of Major Programmes II and III
• Round table for ministers of education on "education and economic development”
• Round table for ministers of science on "science and technology for development”
• Youth Forum
• Civil Society Forum

Innovations

The 34th session of the General Conference will have seven instead of six Commissions. The Natural Sciences and the Social and Human Sciences will be discussed in two separate Commissions. It is foreseen that the last session of the Natural Sciences Commission is held in conjunction with the first session of the Social and Human Sciences Commission.

Commissions will no longer be named by a number; they will instead be named by the programme acronym e.g. former Commission II becomes ED Commission (education).

The PRX Commission (former Commission I), will be held in the first week and therefore the consultations with National Commissions will now be held in the second week. The Education Commission will not be held in the first week of the General Conference, it will be held in the second week instead. The allocation of meeting rooms for each Commission/Committee has not, as yet, been communicated. Given that the timing of some Commissions has been changed from previous Conferences, the allocation of rooms will also be modified e.g. in the past both ADM and PRX met in Salle XI, this will no longer be the case as both Commissions will now meet simultaneously.

All the elections have been brought forward and will be held, including to the World Heritage Committee (WHC), on two consecutive days during the second week of the Conference (24-25 October). As the Nominations Committee (a Committee of all Member States) examines the list of nominations for all the elections, except WHC, participation in the Committee meetings is recommended.

Another innovation is the one-day Civil Society Forum to engage delegates, parliamentarians, donors, National Commissions, UNESCO Clubs, NGOs and Foundations and private sector in an open dialogue on cooperation issues.

Permanent Delegate of Australia to UNESCO

Sally Mansfield took up her position as Permanent Delegate of Australia to UNESCO in January and she looks forward to working closely with you.

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

18-20 June – First Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

18-28 June – 24th session of the Assembly of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)

23 June-2 July – the 31st session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Committee), Christchurch, New Zealand

September – 2nd ordinary session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Japan (date and venue to be finalised)

25 September-11 October – 177th session of the Executive Board of UNESCO

12-13 October – Youth Forum

16 October-3 November – 34th session of the General Conference of UNESCO

24-25 October – 16th session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage

5 November – 178th session of the Executive Board

EXECUTIVE BOARD DECISIONS AT A GLANCE

The 176th session of the Executive Board of UNESCO met from 10 to 27 April 2007. The Board’s agenda comprised 62 items, 37 of these were examined by the Programme and External Relations (PX) Commission, and 27 by the Finance and Administrative (FA) Commission. PX and FA had 22 common items which were examined by both Commissions separately. The two Commissions also held a joint meeting to examine five of the items. The Executive Board also convened, for the first time, a Special Plenary Meeting.

The Executive Board, as it did not conclude its examination of the Draft Programme and Budget for to 2008-2009 (34 C/5), exceptionally authorized the Drafting Group to reconvene before its 177th session in order to complete its work
• It did not reach consensus on which budget ceiling to recommend for adoption by the General Conference.
• Endorsed the proposal by the Director-General to conceive document 34 C/4 as a rolling strategy, allowing for a revision every two years by the General Conference so as to reflect developments pertaining to the Organization’s fields of competence, and recommends that the General Conference adopt 34 C/4 as a rolling strategy. It also recommends that the General Conference request the Executive Board to begin reviewing document 34 C/4 at its 180th session, and to submit any proposed revisions to the document to the General Conference for consideration, beginning with its 35th session.
• With respect to the Report by the Director-General on the conclusions and recommendations of the expert team on the overall review of Major Programmes II and III, requested the Director-General to provide it with comments on the Review Committee’s Report by the intergovernmental and international science programmes; to conduct widespread consultations on the possible implementations of the Review Committee’s recommendations; and to take appropriate steps in order to allow for informed decision-making regarding UNESCO’s core functions and competencies in the field of science.
• Stressed the importance of the UNITWIN programme and transfer of knowledge, and welcomed the proposed alignment of the Programme with UNESCO’s priorities. The need to ensure a balance in the geographical distribution of the UNESCO Chairs was underlined and the need to close inactive Chairs was acknowledged. Simplification of selection procedures, fostering a new generation of Chairs, and limiting the duration of appointments to be in line with the Medium-Term Strategy cycle was also requested.
• Asked the Director-General to continue reflection in the context of documents 34 C/4 and 34 C/5 on the place of religion, under an interdisciplinary approach which fosters knowledge of and respect for all cultures and religions, and to pursue action aimed at putting in place an operational framework to promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue.
• Noted with satisfaction the report of the ninth session of the Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendations concerning Teaching Personnel (CEART), and invited the Director-General to assist the Joint Committee with its next cycle of work, the report of which will be submitted to the Executive Board in 2010.
• Recalled that the Organization has undertaken to promote linguistic diversity and multilingualism through international standard-setting instruments such as the 2001 UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Requested that the Director-General conduct a preliminary study of the technical and legal aspects of a possible international standard-setting instrument for the protection of indigenous and endangered languages and to submit such a preliminary study to the 179th session of the Executive Board.
• Noted with serious concern the flaws and irregularities that the External Auditor identified in the procurement process, monitoring of contracts and procedures used to hire consultants, including the lack of competitive bidding, for the restructuring of the Education Sector.
• Recommended that the 34th session of the General Conference approve the adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) as the accounting standard of UNESCO from 1 January 2010.
• Noted the progress achieved in the further elaboration and implementation of the Director-General’s Action Plan on improved management of UNESCO’s extrabudgetary activities, including cost recovery. Encouraged the Director-General to continue to participate, as appropriate, in the discussions on the “United Nations system-wide coherence” exercise in order to improve the management and programming of extrabudgetary activities.

WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE
Christchurch, New Zealand
23 June to 2 July 2007

Message from the Chair
Tumu Te Heuheu

Human identity is strengthened by an affiliation with the surrounding environment. All over the world people have longstanding relationships with land, forests, waterways, oceans and the air, creating unique views and understandings of what heritage means and embodies.

The 31st session of the World Heritage Committee in Christchurch, New Zealand, will provide an opportunity for people and cultures to share their own distinctive views of natural and cultural heritage with the rest of the world and develop an understanding of their own unique values associated with these relationships.

One of my goals for the 31st session of the World Heritage Committee is to build an appreciation of our global heritage in its broadest context. I also hope to help showcase the natural and cultural beauty and magnificence of the Pacific region.

I believe that for too long the outstanding universal value of the Pacific and its culture has been overlooked. The concept of the World Heritage Convention enables United Nations communities to see the incredibly rich and diverse heritage of the Pacific region as a cultural treasure valued by all communities of the world. I hope to share some of this unique heritage with you during your stay in Christchurch.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you travelling to New Zealand and hope that your time in our country is filled with memorable experiences. Travel safely and I look forward to seeing you in Christchurch at the 31st session of the World Heritage Committee.

Welcome to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Tumu Te Heuheu
Chair World Heritage Committee