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PACIFIC LINK
Australian Permanent Delegation Newsletter to the Pacific Community of UNESCO
Issue 21, 1/2006

 

 

Editorial
Welcome to the spring issue for 2006 of the Pacific Link, the newsletter for Pacific Island Members of UNESCO which is prepared by the Australian Permanent Delegation to UNESCO in Paris. This edition is published on the eve of consultations for the National Commissions of Asia and the Pacific on the Medium-Term Strategy and Draft Programme and Budget for 2008-2009. As each Member State is considering programmes and priorities for the future, this edition highlights some recent developments and Executive Board decisions taken at the 174th session to inform preparations and discussions at the Hanoi meeting.

Since our last edition, there has been a change in the Australian National Commission for UNESCO. Professor Kenneth Wiltshire AO has, after nearly fourteen years in the position, stepped down as Chair of the Australian National Commission. Deputy National Commission Chair, Ms Susan Pascoe, Chief Executive of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria, and member of the National Commission for a number of years, has been appointed as his successor. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ken for his unfailing commitment to UNESCO for so many years and to give a warm welcome to Susie. We wish them both all the very best.

Extracts of the Intervention by H.E. Mr S.T. Cavuilati, Alternate Representative of Fiji on the Executive Board

“… five months or so ago at the General Conference we pledged our commitment to UNESCO, and importantly to its high ideals through its various programmes, from the natural to social sciences to communication/information to Conventions, against Doping in Sport and the Protection of Cultural Expressions; to the relevance of the South-South Cooperation and other important programmes including the UNESCO/IOC programmes to address our anxieties in as far as natural disasters are concerned, we remain committed to these and others in the array of pertinent programmes that UNESCO is engaged in globally.

There are, however, two issues that are of critical importance to my Delegation and, indeed, the Small Island States of the Pacific Region given global trends in multilateralism and its effects which I briefly stress for the understanding and support of the Board.

First, the vulnerability of Small Islands States of the Pacific to natural, social, economic as well as global issues as the Director-General has rightly noted in his joint report on the implementation of the programme and budget in document 174 EX 4 Add., pp 5-7. But as I refer to this paper may I also allude to a reference on colonial rule on page 5 for which some redrafting may be warranted. Be that as it may, the fact remains that the demands of the global multilateral systems, whether by the UN in terms of the timely satisfaction of the Millennium Development Goals and the eradication of poverty or the Bretton Woods Institutions and the WTO in terms of finance and multilateral trade respectively; all will have their impact one way or another on our small economies. The timely implementation of the sustainable development strategies for Small Island Developing States, including the Mauritius Strategy and all aspects of it is therefore crucial for us. The commitment by UNESCO in this regard and the significant role that it is playing is heartening to say the least. We also hope that with the blessings of this Board, UNESCO will encourage the mainstreaming of Small Island Developing States in the programming organs, agencies, funds, and programmes of the UN system.

Secondly, and in relation to the foregoing, Education for All (EFA) and its Global Agenda thus becomes critical and an agenda that my Government is according priority and emphasis in terms of the allocation of budgetary resources. The link to life-long learning education in view of the need for continuous enlightenment over the seeming contradictions between our cultures and traditions and the concepts of contemporary democratic principles as they impact on how we should govern and importantly relate to one another in our multicultural and multireligious society becomes all the more important. Our children just have to start early on these and the EFA strategies and commitment are welcome.

Science and technology and the crucial role they play in encouraging creativity and innovations when industries and the private sectors lose or erode their margins and preferences (as our small islands are being asked to subscribe to multilateral trade agreements but eventually cannot compete) leading to unemployment and social dislocations; these are realities and dilemmas that countries like Fiji and our neighbours in the Pacific Region have increasingly been subjected and will have to live with in the globalised world of this 21st Century. Whilst we would welcome any role that UNESCO could play in an exercise in policy coherence of the UN Organs, it would not be too unreasonable at the same time to expect it to forecast the likely fallout by its Members in light of current trends and the resulting social and cultural dislocation as a consequence of their failed attempts in the multilateral regimes they are Party to. This latter hope we believe is within reach and which certainly would assist Members in their level of preparedness, with EFA as a strategy, for what is shaping up to be very competitive and challenging future.

EFA is therefore vital for us just as empowerment of our national Commissions, and for the Pacific Region, the Apia Cluster Office, need support and the building of their capacities to be truly effective decentralised organs of UNESCO.

A paradigm shift is therefore required from our perspective together with fast tracking and adequately resourcing of programmes such as the Management of Social Transformation (MOST) and others of direct practical nature and significance and we are grateful that you are all there at the helm of the General Conference, the Executive Board and the Secretariat to steer us through decisively whilst ensuring relevance in as far as the needs of Members are concerned vis-à-vis the fast challenging world we are now living in.

In closing, I wish on behalf of my Government to take the opportunity to thank our partners and donors, both in our region and in the wider donor community for their invaluable support that has made Fiji and our neighbours the informed and enlightened society that they are today even though much still remains to be done. For this we keenly look forward to the Medium-Term Strategies of our Organization. …”

Professor Jennifer Graves, Head of the Comparative Genomics Research G roup and ARC Centre for Kangaroo Genomics, Australian National University, was designated laureate, for Asia and Pacific, of the 2006 L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science. Professor Graves was awarded this prestigious prize for her study on the evolution of mammalian genomes.

To date, thirteen Member States, including Australia, the Cook Islands, Nauru and New Zealand, have ratified the International Convention against Doping in Sport which was adopted by the General Conference at its 33rd session in October 2005.


Some Forthcoming Events

5 June: Consultation of Pacific National Commissions, Hanoi, Vietnam

6-9 June: Director-General’s Consultation of the National Commissions of Asia and the Pacific in preparation of the Medium-Term Strategy (34 C/4) and the Draft Programme and Budget for 2008-2009 (34 C/5), Hanoi, Viet Nam

21-28 June: 39th session of the Executive Council of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)

27-29 June: 1st session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage

3-7 July: 17th session of the Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP)

8-16 July: 30th session of the World Heritage Committee, Vilnius, Lithuania

19-21 July: Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts on a Declaration of Principles on Cultural Objects Displaced in connection with the Second World War

20-21 July (tbc): Conference of Parties to the Convention against Doping in Sport

26 September-12 October: 175th session of the Executive Board

14-16 November: High-Level Group on Education for All (EFA), Egypt



Entitled “Teachers and Educational Quality: Monitoring Global Needs for 2015”, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) report provides global and regional assessments on the state of teachers and education quality. By highlighting trends in teacher quantity and quality, it explores the policy implications of bridging the gap between the two, especially in developing countries. It also compares the strengths and shortcomings of recruitment and deployment policies as well as working conditions around the world.


Message from Professor Kenneth Wiltshire AO

After some 14 years as Chairman of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, it is time for me to step down. Our new Chair is Susan Pascoe, one of Australia’s leading educators, whom many of you will have met at UNESCO General Conferences. Susan was the Leader of our Delegation to the Dakar Forum on Education for All and has been extremely active in the Asia-Pacific region. She will be leading the Australian Delegation to the forthcoming UNESCO Regional Consultation in Vietnam.

It has been a great pleasure to work with all my Pacific colleagues over the years as we have watched the Pacific membership of UNESCO grow and strengthen. I have fond memories of our joint efforts to put the Pacific on the map in UNESCO’s programming - Focus on the Pacific, Vaka Moana, Pacific Youth Forums, ASPnet gatherings, PACVET, EFA, Pacific Statistics and so many other wonderful initiatives, not to mention the impact and mischief we caused at General Conferences with our Draft Resolutions and united interventions.

We have come a long way but much remains to be done. I think the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development offers tremendous potential for the Pacific because those two words “Sustainable Development” sum up so beautifully the challenges before us, and education is a renewable resource.

I hope to remain in touch and wish you all well.
Ken

The deadline for submission of written replies to the questionnaire on the preparation of the Draft Medium-Term Strategy for 2008-2013 (34 C/4) and the Draft Programme and Budget for 2008-2009 (34 C/5) is 15 July 2006.


UNESCO’s Education Sector has just launched an E-Network on Educational Planning and Management (E-MAP). This virtual Network aims to facilitate the exchange of information and expertise among UNESCO Offices worldwide, Member States, researchers and people working in this field, and to promote South-South cooperation.

E-MAP offers three databases:
• a directory of nationally and/or internationally known experts;
• a directory of institutions offering technical assistance, training and research in educational planning and management; and
• a user space for documentary resources and methodological tools.

To join the network
http://www.unesco.org/education/emap
More information on UNESCO Education Portal
http://www.unesco.org/education

Pacific tsunami warning system put to the test

The first-ever region-wide test of the Pacific Tsunami Warning System was successfully carried out over 16 and 17 May 2006. Sponsored by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The exercise, known as Exercise Pacific Wave’06, aimed to increase preparedness, evaluate response capabilities in each country and improve coordination throughout the region.

Sustainable Development in Small Islands: Update from UNESCO
Representing 20% of UNESCO’s Member States, small islands are recognised as some of the most vulnerable countries in the world.

Spread across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, and the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) form distinctive groups. Each has its own unique characteristics, yet they share many common features. Recognised as some of the most biologically and culturally diverse countries in the world – they are also extremely vulnerable. They face multiple challenges including, but not limited to, small land size, large exclusive economic zones, vulnerability to natural hazards and disasters, limited natural resources, heavy dependence on imports, isolation from markets, and increasing tourism pressures. Many SIDS also figure in the list of Least Developed Countries. However, despite the many challenges, the people who call these islands home are resourceful, adaptable and resilient.

UNESCO undertakes many activities within its mandates and fields of expertise that focus on SIDS. Subsequent to the Barbados Conference on the Sustainable Development of SIDS (1994), the different sectors and units reviewed their programmes of work relating to SIDS, with the goal of contributing to the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action. Relevant activities and projects have spanned a wide range of technical fields and areas of concern, including distance education, basic and life-long education, environmental education and education for sustainable development, freshwater resources, global sea-level monitoring, renewable energy, natural hazards and disasters, coastal area management, local and indigenous knowledge, biodiversity conservation, tangible and intangible cultural heritage, poverty alleviation, national and regional enabling environments and use of modern communications technologies to mitigate problems of geographic isolation.

Recognising the special importance of intersectoral and interdisciplinary action for coastal regions in general and for islands in particular, the Environment and Development in Coastal Regions and Small Islands (CSI) Platform was established by UNESCO in 1996. The objective of CSI is to contribute to environmentally sustainable, socially equitable, culturally respectful and economically viable development in coastal regions and in small islands. Since its inception, CSI has promoted collaborative work among the five Programme Sectors, including the field offices and functions as the UNESCO focal point for the review and further implementation of the UN Programme of Action for the sustainable development of SIDS.

Some specific projects led by CSI that promote sustainable island living include:
Small Islands Voice (SIV) (www.smallislandsvoice.org), a crosscutting project involving small islands in the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. Small Islands Voice focuses on sustainable living and development activities at the local level through ‘Communities in Action’, and sharing of these experiences interregionally via exchanges and the media: print, radio, video, television and the internet.

Youth Visioning for Island Living (www.youthvisioning.org). Supported by many organizations at the national, regional and inter-regional level, Youth Visioning seeks to build capacity among island youth; to give youth a voice in sustainable development matters; and to make positive changes at the local and national level. From creating awareness about substance abuse in the Solomon Islands to starting a children’s environmental programme and playground in Jamaica and integrating disabled youth into society in Mauritius, the list of creative, dynamic Youth Visioning projects underway around the world is growing.

Sandwatc h (http://www.unesco.org/csi/smis/siv/inter-reg/sandw.htm), supported by UNESCO’s Education sector (ASPNet), Science Sector (CSI), provides a framework for school students, with the help of their teachers and local communities, to work together to critically evaluate the problems and conflicts facing their beach environments and to develop sustainable approaches to address these issues.

The LINKS initiative (www.unesco.org/links), which has evolved from a cross-cutting project to a regular component of the Science programme, seeks to empower local and indigenous communities by advocating local knowledge and practice as key resources for sustainable development. The project reinforces the role of local communities in biodiversity governance and ensures the continuing dynamism of indigenous knowledge by strengthening its transmission from elders to youth. LINKS activities address Pacific and Indian Ocean islands with a particular emphasis to date on the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Mauritius, Rodrigues and La Reunion.

To Find Out More
Coastal Regions and Small Islands Platform:
www.unesco.org/csi/
UNESCO and small islands:
www.unesco.org/en/sids

Contact
Dirk G. Troost, Chief CSI
d.troost@unesco.org                   Read more


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