Irina Bokova

Mr. President,
Mr. Director General,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to commend you, Mr. President on your wonderful introduction. I would also like to welcome the Director General for his contribution to the proceedings of this session. Ms. Colonna already spoke about the overall position of the European Union on key agenda items, therefore, allow me to focus on several important aspects of the activities in our Organization.

A question that is being raised and causes concern to us, is the following: Will UNESCO live up to the requirements of the dynamic times we live in, in terms of the Millennium Development Goals. I just came back from New York, where I attended the session of the UN General Assembly, which pointed out that a new political, economic and social geography is on the rise around the world and that we need to give consideration to this fact.

I believe we would be able to answer this question if we made two types of analysis: one is an analysis of the viability of our Organization’s original values and objectives. I would like to quote the first Director General of UNESCO, Sir Julian Huxley, whose words back in 1946 are still valid: “UNESCO’s main concern is with peace and security and with human welfare … based on humanism… treating all peoples and… all individuals … in terms of human dignity, mutual respect and educational opportunity. It must be an evolutionary as opposed to a static or ideal humanism. It is essential for UNESCO to adopt an evolutionary approach. If it does not do so, its philosophy will be a false one, its humanism at best partial, at worst, misleading”.

The second type of analysis is related to the new challenges and the need to adjust our Organization accordingly. Next year we will celebrate 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. At the time, some philosophers foresaw the end of history. Today, 20 years later, I would dare say that this was the beginning of history, the beginning of a shared aspiration not only in Eastern Europe but in the whole wide world. This was an aspiration for democracy, prosperity, and better life. Globalization gave a universal dimension to that aspiration and helped millions of people overcome poverty and misery. However, certain forms of inequality were exacerbated and here I mean mostly Africa and the absolute need to rethink and include Africa as a priority in all our actions.

Mr. President,

Peace and development are the answer to those concerns. The twentieth century gave us a unique and powerful tool to achieve those two goals: multilateralism. I would rather have more time to pronounce a eulogy on multilateralism because in my view it is the best response to selfishness, nationalism and intolerance. Today’s multilateralism is the epitome of humanism mentioned in Mr. Huxley’s speech.

The reform in the United Nations creates an opportunity for UNESCO to find its proper place as a leader in the areas of its expertise.It is evident that decentralization should continue and UNESCO should be brought down to earth and come closer to the real problems, thus generating the paramount need for rotation.

UNESCO should take reform seriously and by UNESCO I mean not just the Director General but all of us: member states, national commissions, the three bodies of the organization. All of us make UNESCO and we need to take responsibility. In this sense, I would like to welcome the important initiative taken up by the President of the General Conference, Ambassador Georges Anastassopoulos.

Mr. Chairman, UNESCO is not a development agency, but with the formulation of policies, benchmarks and good practices it can make a concrete practical and real impact on the lives of millions of people. We have to rethink our policies and refocus our efforts for the better use of resources and of all the instrumentarium at our disposal.

The debate on the next biannual budget is a good opportunity to start such a reflection taking a realistic and at the same time an ambitious stand. Realistic, because we know that in the present circumstances we can hardly go beyond the zero growth budget, although many of us would like to see it differently. Ambitious, because on one hand, we have to aspire to a better use of our resources, limited as they are, by decreasing the administrative costs, and on the other, to insist that the international donor community, lives up to the promises for higher aid transfers to the developing countries.

There are new donors emerging, Bulgaria being among them, and I am pleased to announce that my government has decided to establish a trust fund with Africa as a priority. At the same time, the constant changing of the ratio between the regular budget and the extrabudgetary resources leads to new challenges and potential problems which should be examined with all the necessary seriousness.

In terms of the instrumentarium, UNESCO should aspire for a better use of the interdisciplinary approach, the result-based management, the need for transparency and accountability which should evolve into an overall management culture.

It is my firm belief that UNESCO’s involvement in so many dispersed initiatives, projects and programmes dilutes the core programmes and the essential messages. Setting the right priorities is of essence, which means that programme concentration is unavoidable. UNESCO should therefore embark on a sustained effort of focussing on a reduced number of top priorities of which its competence is universally acknowledged making it an uncontested lead agency. This implies consultation of relevant stakeholders, partners, constituencies and established lobbies – a complex and arduous task that requires courage, resolve and patience. It goes without saying that in the first instance, Member States must be involved.

Such an approach will also improve UNESCO’s image. In addition a more targeted communication strategy is of crucial importance, not because of a sheer ambition of being visible, but because this visibility will serve us better promote our noble ideas and objectives. A priority may possibly be dealt with by a committee set up especially for that purpose.

There is one issue, Mr. Chairman, that should permeate all our endeavors and that issue is called gender equality. I had the privilege to participate in three out of four international conferences within the UN Decade for Women and its follow-up – Copenhagen, Nairobi and Beijing. Now 33 years after the launching of the UN decade, I still consider that the goals are way ahead of us.

Mr. Chairman, one last note which I consider extremely important. We have to regain our confidence in the importance and relevance of UNESCO. We should not be afraid of the change. The DG has started important reforms and we should encourage him to continue while rendering to him all our support till the very last minute of his mandate. We, at UNESCO, more than any other UN agency, have a mission – to give an intellectual and humanistic response to globalization.