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| | Fifth meeting of UNESCO’s Intersectoral Task Force on Iraq
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07-04-2004 - Following the 2004 First Regular Session of the UN Chief Executives Board for Coordination (Vienna, 2-3 April) and in preparation for the 169th Session of UNESCO’s Executive Board, the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, convened the fifth meeting of the Intersectoral Task Force on Iraq on Monday 5 April 2004. |
The meeting took stock of UNESCO’s activities in education, science, culture and communication in the recovery and reconstruction of Iraq and examined the way forward for UNESCO’s action in the country.
The Director-General praised the efforts made by UNESCO, despite the deterioration of the security situation in Iraq following the tragic events of 19 August 2003. The Organization’s activities for the reconstruction of Iraq, mainly focussing on education and culture, have primarily been carried out by national staff in Iraq and by international staff in the neighbouring countries. In this regard, Mr Matsuura emphasized the important role of the newly established UNESCO Office for Iraq, temporary based in Amman until the full return of the UN to Iraq.
During the meeting, Mr Wolfgang Reuther, Director a.i. of UNESCO’s Office for Iraq, made a presentation on UNESCO’s cooperation with the Amman-based UN Country Team for Iraq. The presentation primarily concerned UNESCO’s presence and role in the Thematic Clusters and plans to mobilize extrabudgetary funds, as well as the role of the Office in managing projects and activities in Iraq and in providing guidance and backstopping to UNESCO’s national staff in the country.
Stressing that UNESCO is to play a key role in education and culture, the Director-General detailed a series of measures to strengthen cooperation with UNESCO national staff in Baghdad, reinforce human resources in Amman, and make full use of the capacities available in UNESCO’s offices in Beirut and Cairo. “The security situation does not yet permit the return of the United Nations to Iraq. In the meantime UNESCO must continue to strengthen its offices in the region. We should increase our involvement in the UN integrated approach and continue to mobilize extra-budgetary resources,” added Mr Matsuura.
He requested each programme sector to provide detailed reports on the activities they are carrying out in Iraq, despite adverse circumstances, and to explain their plans for strengthening cooperation during the interim period with a view to Iraq’s recovery and reconstruction.
In the field of education, UNESCO’s project to revise and print 5 million sciences and mathematics textbooks surpassed expectations leading to the delivery of 8 million textbooks to Iraqi children. The ongoing progress of the Qatar Foundation project to rebuild higher education institutions in Iraq was also emphasized as successful and encouraging.
Concerning culture, actions taken to safeguard and rehabilitate both tangible and intangible cultural heritage were highlighted. Focusing on strengthening security at archaeological sites and museums and training of Iraqi specialists, these efforts have notably paved the way for drawing up a safeguarding plan for Ashur, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Danger; reinforcing cooperation and coordination with international police to prevent the illicit traffic of cultural properties, and the establishment of a database of Iraqi cultural property. A follow-up action plan for the “Iraqi Maqam and Baghdad Challeghi”, proclaimed as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in November 2003, is well under way and UNESCO will assist Iraqi authorities with the preparation of new candidatures.
Concerning future activities, a progress report was also presented on preparations for the first meeting of the International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Iraq (ICC) on 24-25 May 2004 at UNESCO Headquarters. It will be opened by the Iraqi Minister of Culture and the Director-General and experts from 25 countries are expected to participate. Immediately after the Committee meeting, Iraqi intellectuals and international specialists on cultural policy are due to meet with the aim of elaborating a Culture Charter for Iraq. The Director-General stressed the importance of these meetings’ results adding that “culture must become a priority in post conflict reconstruction efforts, it is the one area that provides instant hope to people.”
UNESCO activities in Iraq also focus on the sciences, with priority given to water and the environment, as well as science and technology capacity-building. In this area, UNESCO will sponsor a technical preparatory meeting in Trieste, Italy, in May/June 2004.
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Flash Info 053-2004
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