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PACIFIC LINK
Australian Permanent Delegation Newsletter to the Pacific Community of UNESCO
Issue 18 - 1/2005
Part 2/2
Since we last met as a Board, the most devastating event to occur has been the tsunami disaster in Asia. Thank you Mr Matsuura for your actions. Unfortunately UNESCO’s role, notably the important work by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission on early warning systems, was barely mentioned in the Australian and regional media. I know UNESCO is not working for its own glory but surely the Organization needs to raise its profile further. We recently spent a long time debating and approving a communication strategy but it seems to be comprised largely of a series of innocuous press releases each day. Where is our true communication strategy? In so many areas we have a great story to tell but UNESCO is still one of the world’s best kept secrets.
Australia is totally committed to the mandate and ideals of UNECO, but we ask – will there be life after 60?
The answer is – only if this is a biennium of demonstrable achievement. Only then can UNESCO give vision, hope and leadership to the world and truly contribute in practical ways to peace and human development.”
Kenneth Wiltshire AO
GENERAL CONFERENCE
The 33rd session of General Conference of UNESCO will take place at UNESCO Headquarters from 3 to 21 October 2005. We will need to commence our preparations for as well as participation at the General Conference. As well as the practical considerations of flights and hotel bookings, key points to keep in mind as we prepare 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. We will expand further on these in our next issue. A provisional timetable of meetings during the General Conference can be found at the end of this edition. A draft plan for the organization of the work can be found in document 171 EX/23 on the Executive Board website.
World Heritage and Pacific 2009
A ‘World Heritage – Pacific 2009’ Workshop, co-organized by the WHC and the New Zealand Department of Conservation, was held in Tongariro, New Zealand from 14 to 24 October 2004. Over 70 participants attended the workshop which was funded by the Nordic World Heritage Foundation and Italian Funds-in-Trust.
Although the Pacific region covers an immense geographical area and displays vast natural and cultural treasures, it is only represented on the World Heritage List by one property: East Rennel in the Solomon Islands, if we do not take into account the sites of Australia and New Zealand. One of the objectives of the workshop was to discuss ways of increasing inscription of sites from the Pacific region to enhance the protection of the unique natural and cultural heritage located in that region of the world.
Representatives from all the Pacific Island States, together with experts from Australia and New Zealand, had an opportunity to visit a world Heritage property, examine its conservation and management, and exchange common problems. They also gained an understanding of the World Heritage Convention and its main concepts and mechanisms, as well as the newly adopted Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
An Action Plan for the implementation of this Pacific-wide programme was discussed. The plan highlights clear and prioritized actions that need to be undertaken to achieve concrete objectives and results identified by the Committee in 2003.
As soon as the Plan is finalized and distributed to all the participants, the WHC will commence work on its implementation on a national and regional level. The WHC will also develop some large-scale project proposals under the Plan for selected areas of the Pacific.
World Heritage Newsletter
EXECUTIVE BOARD OF UNESCO 2005-2009
Australia and Vanuatu complete their terms on the Executive Board of UNESCO at the end of the 33rd session of the General Conference of UNESCO in October 2005. It is important that the Pacific voice is heard in UNESCO and we are pleased that the Governments of Fiji and Palau have decided to seek election to its Executive Board. A strong effort will need to be taken by all to ensure their successful election.
Dr Kate Michie, a post-doctorate research fellow and undergraduate tutor in biochemistry in the School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences at the University of Sydney, is a beneficiary of one of the fifteen UNESCO-L’ORÉAL Co-sponsored Fellowships for Young Women in Life Sciences for 2005.
This fellowship will allow her to study the structure and function of a protein complex involved in DNA maintenance at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. Solving the mystery of the way the protein (SMC/kleisin) complex functions will have a significant impact on the future development of new therapies for genetic disorders, infertility and cancer.
UNESCO-L’ORÉAL Co-sponsored Fellowships for Young Women in Life Sciences are designed to identify and reward fifteen deserving, committed and talented young women scientists active in the field of life sciences, and are open to all Member States of UNESCO. Applications for 2006 should be submitted to UNESCO, Fellowships Section, by 15 September 2005. Details were recently sent to all National Commissions. If they have not been received, please contact Rachel Jakubowicz r.jakubowicz@unesco.org
or fax (33 1) 45 68 55 03.
Message from the Australian Representative to the UNESCO Executive Board
The recent Executive Board meeting was a mixed blessing.
On the positive side there are very good programme opportunities looming for the Pacific especially through the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development. This theme lies at the heart of many Pacific needs and if we can develop a strategy for our cluster, building also on the excellent outcomes from the Mauritius meeting on Small Island States, we will be able to take full advantage of the Decade.
I was also delighted to hear of the excellent progress which is occurring on our Pacific Statistics project and I understand that the recent workshops with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics have been valuable for Pacific countries in building up their capacity especially to reach the Education for All targets, and the UN Millennium Development Goals.
On the other hand it seems that some of the reform initiatives in UNESCO are running out of steam. There was a good deal of concern expressed at the Board meeting by most members, including Vanuatu and Australia, that the field offices are not all yet fully functional across all of the programme sectors. This is especially true for the Pacific, UNESCO’s largest cluster.
Uncertainty still exists regarding the financial and administrative support for National Commissions at headquarters, and the Draft Programme and Budget had proposed cuts to the Participation Programme which is the lifeblood for National Commissions in the Pacific. Fortunately the Director-General seems to have noted these concerns. We will need to be vigilant in focussing on these aspects at the coming General Conference.
Also at the General Conference we will be deciding on the 26 Recommendations from the Ad Hoc Working Group on Governance - the three organs of UNESCO - which was set up by the last General Conference. It was my privilege to serve as a member of the Working Group and I commend the reforms it suggests to you, especially the ones which seek to make each General Conference more user friendly and less daunting. We must restore the General Conference to being the true parliament of UNESCO.
Speaking of the General Conference, please take action now to make sure your country’s financial contributions are up to date, and that you have set in train the forwarding of your Credentials to UNESCO. If you need any advice contact the Apia Office or myself.
A big welcome to Visesio Pongi as the new Director of the UNESCO Apia Office. We have heard excellent reports of him and look forward to his leadership.
Professor Kenneth Wiltshire AO
Tel: (61 7) 33652733, Fax: (61 7) 33656988,
e-mail: k.wiltshire@business.uq.edu.au
Vacancies in UNESCO
Following are some of the posts currently under recruitment. The job descriptions for these, and other, posts can be obtained at the following address: http://recrutweb.unesco.org
Director (D-2), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), Montreal, Canada, post INN/ST/CAN/UIS/0001
Chief of Library Unit (P-4), Division of Information Systems and Telecommunications, Sector for Administration, post ADM-164
Programme Specialist (Water Sciences) (P-3), Sustainable Water Resources Management Section, Division of Natural Sciences, post SC-395
Some Forthcoming Events
(unless otherwise indicated, in UNESCO Headquarters, Paris)
25 May-3 June - Third session of the Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts on the preliminary draft convention on the protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions
20-24 June - Second session Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on the Preliminary Draft Declaration on Universal Norms on Bioethics
21-30 June - Twenty-third session of the Assembly of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)
22-24 June - Intergovernmental Committee of the Universal Copyright Convention
27-29 June - Bureau of the International Coordinating Council of the Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB)
10-17 July – 29th session of the World Heritage Committee, Durban, South Africa
13-29 October - 172nd session of the Executive Board
3-21 October - 33rd session of the General Conference
24 October - 173rd session of the Executive Board
PARTICIPATION PROGRAMME
There are still some Pacific countries that have not met the acquittal requirements for previous Participation Programme (PP) grants. Payments will not be made for any PP requests that have been approved until all the previous ones have been acquitted.
The third session of the Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts (IME) on the Preliminary Draft Convention on the Protection of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expression will be held at UNESCO Headquarters from 25 May to 4 June 2005. The objective is to further develop the draft convention with an aim to having it submitted to the 33rd session of the General Conference for adoption. Details on the outcome of the third IME in our next issue.
Inter-religious and Intercultural Understanding
At the recent Executive Board meeting, Arief Rachmann and Kenneth Wiltshire, co-chairs of the Asia-Pacific Conference in Adelaide on inter-religious and intercultural understanding, presented Mary Joy Pigozzi, Director of Quality Education, with the Conference “Call to Action” which outlines the resolutions passed at the Conference.
The Venerable Master Dr Chin Kung President of the Amitabha Buddhist Association and the Pure Land Learning College, is to meet with the Director General to make a donation towards UNESCO’s continuing work in values education, especially continuation of the Adelaide initiative on developing curriculum for education in inter-religious understanding. This is in addition to his donation of free time for UNESCO to develop television programmes on his six satellites which cover the globe.
Australian Permanent Delegation to UNESCO
Jane MADDEN, Permanent Delegate
William THORN, Deputy Permanent Delegate
Tracey HAINES, Deputy Permanent Delegate
Anne SIWICKI, Policy Officer
4, rue Jean Rey, 75724 Paris Cedex 15
Tel: (33 1) 40 59 33 44
Fax: (33 1) 40 59 33 53
Email: anne.siwicki@dfat.gov.au
www.france.embassy.gov.au
General Conference at a Glance
Provisional Timetable of Work
30 September - 2 October: Youth Forum
3-12 October: Plenary
3-4 October: Credentials Committee
3, 4, 6, 11, 13, 14, 18 October: Nominations Committee
3, 7, 11, 14, 18 October : Bureau
4-10 October: Administrative Commission
4-6 October: Legal Committee
4-6 October: Commission II - Education
5 October: Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of UNESCO
7-8 October: Round table for ministers of education on "Education for All"
7-12 October: Commission III - Natural Sciences; Social and Human Sciences
11-13 October: Commission V - Communication
11-17 October: Commission I - General Questions & Programme Support e.g. Participation Programme, National Commissions, and the report of the ad hoc working group on the relations between the three organs of UNESCO
13-14 October: Round table for ministers of science on "Basic Sciences"
13-18 October: Commission IV - Culture
14 October: Executive Board Elections
18 October: Elections to the subsidiary bodies
19-21 October: Plenary
Meetings of Pacific Member States during the General Conference
Arrangements are being made for the Pacific Delegations to meet during the General Conference. Tentative dates for these meetings, to be held from 08:30 to 09:45, are 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19 and 21 October. We will advise further when arrangements have been finalised.
Australian Permanent Delegation Newsletter to the Pacific Community of UNESCO
Issue 18 - 1/2005
Part 2/2
Since we last met as a Board, the most devastating event to occur has been the tsunami disaster in Asia. Thank you Mr Matsuura for your actions. Unfortunately UNESCO’s role, notably the important work by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission on early warning systems, was barely mentioned in the Australian and regional media. I know UNESCO is not working for its own glory but surely the Organization needs to raise its profile further. We recently spent a long time debating and approving a communication strategy but it seems to be comprised largely of a series of innocuous press releases each day. Where is our true communication strategy? In so many areas we have a great story to tell but UNESCO is still one of the world’s best kept secrets.
Australia is totally committed to the mandate and ideals of UNECO, but we ask – will there be life after 60?
The answer is – only if this is a biennium of demonstrable achievement. Only then can UNESCO give vision, hope and leadership to the world and truly contribute in practical ways to peace and human development.”
Kenneth Wiltshire AO
GENERAL CONFERENCE
The 33rd session of General Conference of UNESCO will take place at UNESCO Headquarters from 3 to 21 October 2005. We will need to commence our preparations for as well as participation at the General Conference. As well as the practical considerations of flights and hotel bookings, key points to keep in mind as we prepare 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. We will expand further on these in our next issue. A provisional timetable of meetings during the General Conference can be found at the end of this edition. A draft plan for the organization of the work can be found in document 171 EX/23 on the Executive Board website.
World Heritage and Pacific 2009
A ‘World Heritage – Pacific 2009’ Workshop, co-organized by the WHC and the New Zealand Department of Conservation, was held in Tongariro, New Zealand from 14 to 24 October 2004. Over 70 participants attended the workshop which was funded by the Nordic World Heritage Foundation and Italian Funds-in-Trust.
Although the Pacific region covers an immense geographical area and displays vast natural and cultural treasures, it is only represented on the World Heritage List by one property: East Rennel in the Solomon Islands, if we do not take into account the sites of Australia and New Zealand. One of the objectives of the workshop was to discuss ways of increasing inscription of sites from the Pacific region to enhance the protection of the unique natural and cultural heritage located in that region of the world.
Representatives from all the Pacific Island States, together with experts from Australia and New Zealand, had an opportunity to visit a world Heritage property, examine its conservation and management, and exchange common problems. They also gained an understanding of the World Heritage Convention and its main concepts and mechanisms, as well as the newly adopted Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
An Action Plan for the implementation of this Pacific-wide programme was discussed. The plan highlights clear and prioritized actions that need to be undertaken to achieve concrete objectives and results identified by the Committee in 2003.
As soon as the Plan is finalized and distributed to all the participants, the WHC will commence work on its implementation on a national and regional level. The WHC will also develop some large-scale project proposals under the Plan for selected areas of the Pacific.
World Heritage Newsletter
EXECUTIVE BOARD OF UNESCO 2005-2009
Australia and Vanuatu complete their terms on the Executive Board of UNESCO at the end of the 33rd session of the General Conference of UNESCO in October 2005. It is important that the Pacific voice is heard in UNESCO and we are pleased that the Governments of Fiji and Palau have decided to seek election to its Executive Board. A strong effort will need to be taken by all to ensure their successful election.
Dr Kate Michie, a post-doctorate research fellow and undergraduate tutor in biochemistry in the School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences at the University of Sydney, is a beneficiary of one of the fifteen UNESCO-L’ORÉAL Co-sponsored Fellowships for Young Women in Life Sciences for 2005.
This fellowship will allow her to study the structure and function of a protein complex involved in DNA maintenance at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. Solving the mystery of the way the protein (SMC/kleisin) complex functions will have a significant impact on the future development of new therapies for genetic disorders, infertility and cancer.
UNESCO-L’ORÉAL Co-sponsored Fellowships for Young Women in Life Sciences are designed to identify and reward fifteen deserving, committed and talented young women scientists active in the field of life sciences, and are open to all Member States of UNESCO. Applications for 2006 should be submitted to UNESCO, Fellowships Section, by 15 September 2005. Details were recently sent to all National Commissions. If they have not been received, please contact Rachel Jakubowicz r.jakubowicz@unesco.org
or fax (33 1) 45 68 55 03.
Message from the Australian Representative to the UNESCO Executive Board
The recent Executive Board meeting was a mixed blessing.
On the positive side there are very good programme opportunities looming for the Pacific especially through the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development. This theme lies at the heart of many Pacific needs and if we can develop a strategy for our cluster, building also on the excellent outcomes from the Mauritius meeting on Small Island States, we will be able to take full advantage of the Decade.
I was also delighted to hear of the excellent progress which is occurring on our Pacific Statistics project and I understand that the recent workshops with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics have been valuable for Pacific countries in building up their capacity especially to reach the Education for All targets, and the UN Millennium Development Goals.
On the other hand it seems that some of the reform initiatives in UNESCO are running out of steam. There was a good deal of concern expressed at the Board meeting by most members, including Vanuatu and Australia, that the field offices are not all yet fully functional across all of the programme sectors. This is especially true for the Pacific, UNESCO’s largest cluster.
Uncertainty still exists regarding the financial and administrative support for National Commissions at headquarters, and the Draft Programme and Budget had proposed cuts to the Participation Programme which is the lifeblood for National Commissions in the Pacific. Fortunately the Director-General seems to have noted these concerns. We will need to be vigilant in focussing on these aspects at the coming General Conference.
Also at the General Conference we will be deciding on the 26 Recommendations from the Ad Hoc Working Group on Governance - the three organs of UNESCO - which was set up by the last General Conference. It was my privilege to serve as a member of the Working Group and I commend the reforms it suggests to you, especially the ones which seek to make each General Conference more user friendly and less daunting. We must restore the General Conference to being the true parliament of UNESCO.
Speaking of the General Conference, please take action now to make sure your country’s financial contributions are up to date, and that you have set in train the forwarding of your Credentials to UNESCO. If you need any advice contact the Apia Office or myself.
A big welcome to Visesio Pongi as the new Director of the UNESCO Apia Office. We have heard excellent reports of him and look forward to his leadership.
Professor Kenneth Wiltshire AO
Tel: (61 7) 33652733, Fax: (61 7) 33656988,
e-mail: k.wiltshire@business.uq.edu.au
Vacancies in UNESCO
Following are some of the posts currently under recruitment. The job descriptions for these, and other, posts can be obtained at the following address: http://recrutweb.unesco.org
Director (D-2), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), Montreal, Canada, post INN/ST/CAN/UIS/0001
Chief of Library Unit (P-4), Division of Information Systems and Telecommunications, Sector for Administration, post ADM-164
Programme Specialist (Water Sciences) (P-3), Sustainable Water Resources Management Section, Division of Natural Sciences, post SC-395
Some Forthcoming Events
(unless otherwise indicated, in UNESCO Headquarters, Paris)
25 May-3 June - Third session of the Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts on the preliminary draft convention on the protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions
20-24 June - Second session Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on the Preliminary Draft Declaration on Universal Norms on Bioethics
21-30 June - Twenty-third session of the Assembly of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)
22-24 June - Intergovernmental Committee of the Universal Copyright Convention
27-29 June - Bureau of the International Coordinating Council of the Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB)
10-17 July – 29th session of the World Heritage Committee, Durban, South Africa
13-29 October - 172nd session of the Executive Board
3-21 October - 33rd session of the General Conference
24 October - 173rd session of the Executive Board
PARTICIPATION PROGRAMME
There are still some Pacific countries that have not met the acquittal requirements for previous Participation Programme (PP) grants. Payments will not be made for any PP requests that have been approved until all the previous ones have been acquitted.
The third session of the Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts (IME) on the Preliminary Draft Convention on the Protection of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expression will be held at UNESCO Headquarters from 25 May to 4 June 2005. The objective is to further develop the draft convention with an aim to having it submitted to the 33rd session of the General Conference for adoption. Details on the outcome of the third IME in our next issue.
Inter-religious and Intercultural Understanding
At the recent Executive Board meeting, Arief Rachmann and Kenneth Wiltshire, co-chairs of the Asia-Pacific Conference in Adelaide on inter-religious and intercultural understanding, presented Mary Joy Pigozzi, Director of Quality Education, with the Conference “Call to Action” which outlines the resolutions passed at the Conference.
The Venerable Master Dr Chin Kung President of the Amitabha Buddhist Association and the Pure Land Learning College, is to meet with the Director General to make a donation towards UNESCO’s continuing work in values education, especially continuation of the Adelaide initiative on developing curriculum for education in inter-religious understanding. This is in addition to his donation of free time for UNESCO to develop television programmes on his six satellites which cover the globe.
Australian Permanent Delegation to UNESCO
Jane MADDEN, Permanent Delegate
William THORN, Deputy Permanent Delegate
Tracey HAINES, Deputy Permanent Delegate
Anne SIWICKI, Policy Officer
4, rue Jean Rey, 75724 Paris Cedex 15
Tel: (33 1) 40 59 33 44
Fax: (33 1) 40 59 33 53
Email: anne.siwicki@dfat.gov.au
www.france.embassy.gov.au
General Conference at a Glance
Provisional Timetable of Work
30 September - 2 October: Youth Forum
3-12 October: Plenary
3-4 October: Credentials Committee
3, 4, 6, 11, 13, 14, 18 October: Nominations Committee
3, 7, 11, 14, 18 October : Bureau
4-10 October: Administrative Commission
4-6 October: Legal Committee
4-6 October: Commission II - Education
5 October: Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of UNESCO
7-8 October: Round table for ministers of education on "Education for All"
7-12 October: Commission III - Natural Sciences; Social and Human Sciences
11-13 October: Commission V - Communication
11-17 October: Commission I - General Questions & Programme Support e.g. Participation Programme, National Commissions, and the report of the ad hoc working group on the relations between the three organs of UNESCO
13-14 October: Round table for ministers of science on "Basic Sciences"
13-18 October: Commission IV - Culture
14 October: Executive Board Elections
18 October: Elections to the subsidiary bodies
19-21 October: Plenary
Meetings of Pacific Member States during the General Conference
Arrangements are being made for the Pacific Delegations to meet during the General Conference. Tentative dates for these meetings, to be held from 08:30 to 09:45, are 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19 and 21 October. We will advise further when arrangements have been finalised.