Messages from the Director-General of UNESCO

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Message from the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of World Science Day for Peace and Development (10 November 2003) - () 12-11-2003 - The greatest challenge of our time is to create a world where all citizens live in dignity and peace in a hospitable environment that they have learnt to care for. More

Message by the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, 17 October 2003 - () 17-10-2003 - Poverty, as the Secretary-General of the United Nations recalled only a year ago, presents a threat to world security that affects each and every one of us. More

Message from the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of International Literacy Day, 8 September 2003 - (Office of the Spokeswoman) 09-09-2003 - It is both good and necessary that we celebrate International Literacy Day each year. For some of us, it is a timely reminder that we should not take literacy for granted or underestimate its importance. For others, newly empowered by the acquisition of literacy skills, it is a moment to celebrate access to opportunities once beyond reach. It is an occasion, furthermore, to applaud the work of literacy tutors, extension workers and volunteers whose patient and persistent efforts make such a difference to people’s lives. However, it is for those excluded from the world of writing and written communication that International Literacy Day is most significant, for it symbolizes our collective commitment to address their literacy needs now and in the future. . More

Message of the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the International Youth Day - (Office of the Spokeswoman) 12-08-2003 - Following its proclamation by the UN General Assembly on 17 December 1999 (resolution 54/120), International Youth Day has been celebrated annually as an occasion for focusing attention on the needs of youth everywhere. Young people - defined by the United Nations to mean those aged between 15 and 24 – make up one-fifth of the world population. In the current configuration of culture and society, youth is a group with distinctive needs, problems and concerns which require concerted action. We ignore the needs of youth at our peril. More

Message of the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People - (Office of the Spokeswoman) 08-08-2003 - At the second session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, held in New York from 12 to 23 May 2003, UNESCO reminded the almost 2,000 participants that its Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity is one of the most important international texts for indigenous peoples. More

Message from the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the celebration of 21 May, “World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development” - (Office of the Spokeswoman) 20-05-2003 - On 20 December 2002, in resolution 57/249 on “Culture and development”, the United Nations General Assembly decided to proclaim 21 May the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development and invited all Member States, intergovernmental bodies, organizations of the United Nations system and relevant non-governmental organizations, inter alia, to raise public awareness of the wealth of cultural diversity and, in particular, to encourage, through education and the media, knowledge of the value of cultural diversity. More

Message of the Director-General of UNESCO for World Press Freedom Day 3 May 2003 - (Office of the Spokeswoman) 29-04-2003 - Each year on World Press Freedom Day, attention is drawn to the importance of press freedom as a prerequisite of a healthy, functioning democracy in which people are free to speak their minds. Let us recall Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”. Without free, independent and pluralistic media, how can the public make informed electoral choices, review the public decision-making process, or have effective input into public affairs? Consequently, journalists play a vital role in the democratic process, but it is a role that may attract certain risks. More

Message of the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, to the second meeting of international experts to save Iraq’s museums and cultural property - (Office of the Spokeswoman) 29-04-2003 - The second meeting of international experts to save Iraq’s museums and cultural property is being held in London on April 29, at the initiative of the British Museum and UNESCO. Please find here below the message of the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, read by the Organization’s Assistant Director-General for Culture, Mounir Bouchenaki, who is co-chairing the meeting with Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum. More

Message of the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of World Book and Copyright Day - 23 April 2003 - (Office of the Spokeswoman) 09-04-2003 - The future of books and copyright is a question that concerns us all. It is not something that just can be left to specialists, political and economic decision-makers, authors, publishers and educators. It concerns all those who dream of a world in which knowledge is shared and the values of tolerance, solidarity and dialogue can flourish. More

Message of the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination - 21 March 2003 - (Office of the Spokeswoman) 21-03-2003 - The twenty-first of March, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, is one of the oldest international days observed by the United Nations. It was proclaimed in 1966 following a tragic event which profoundly shocked the world’s conscience: the massacre by the South African racist regime of schoolchildren demonstrating against the laws of apartheid, an abject system which institutionalized racism and discrimination in outright defiance of all the moral and ethical progress achieved by humanity. More

Message by the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of World Poetry Day - 21 March 2003 - (Office of the Spokeswoman) 21-03-2003 - “Poetry is human language reduced to its essential rhythm”, said Mallarmé. Poetry is indeed a language that delves deep into the human soul and expresses the mysterious meaning of existence. As the highest expression of a language, it should occupy a special place in our lives. More

Message from the Director-General on the occasion of International Women’s Day 8 March 2003 - (Office of the Spokesperson) 08-03-2003 - (restricted until delivery on 8 March 2003 in Ouagadougou) “Gender equality and the Millennium Development Goals” is the theme chosen by the entire United Nations system for the celebration of International Women’s Day 2003. More

Message from the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of International Mother Language Day (21 February 2003) - (Office of the Spokesperson) 20-02-2003 - This year we are celebrating International Mother Language Day for the fourth time. Our aim in celebrating this Day is to encourage all forms of promotion, development and teaching of the mother language. More

Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) at the opening of the 167th session of the Executive Board - by In recent remarks and in his Report to the UN General Assembly on ‘Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration’, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been frank in expressing his profound concerns about the UN system which, he says, is at “a critical juncture”. The deep divisions within the international community over the situation in Iraq, coupled with the brutal attack last month on the UN Headquarters in Baghdad where Sergio Vieira de Mello and over twenty other persons lost their lives, appear to have shaken the very foundations of the global architecture of multilateral cooperation built up since 1945.More