Showing posts with label Director-General of UNESCO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Director-General of UNESCO. Show all posts

Monday, 4 March 2013

International Women's Day 2013, Message from Irina Bokova


  "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women." is the theme of the International Women's Day 2013

8 March 2013


International Women’s Day 2013 - Message from Irina Bokova, UNESCO by Christina Dian Parmionova
UNESCO Launches "March 8: Women Make the News" Operation for International Women's Day
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Wednesday, 7 September 2011

UNESCO's Priorities for the XXI Century

Women and gender, science, engineering
and technology

"The gender dimension describes the way in which culturally organized differences between men and women interact with historically and socially diverse scientific and technological practices, and their meanings. Scientific and technological cultures and practices shape gendered social relations and, in turn, are shaped by them. Thus the S&T that each culture has are a consequence, in part, of local and global gender relations, and each cultureís gender relations are the effect, in part, of past local and global S&T changes"


World Science Report (UNESCO, 1996)



AFRICA      Back to top





ARAB STATES      Back to top
  • Info-Ethics
    National Symposium, Cairo (Egypt), 27-28 April 1999.
  • The Interaction  of Arab Women  with Science and Technology
    (Abu-Dhabi Declaration)
    Doha (United Arab Emirates), 24-26 April 1999.
    Les relations entre femmes arabes,sciences et technologies
    (Déclaration d'Abu Dhabi)
    Doha (Emirats arabes unis), 24-26 avril 1999.
  • Regional Conference for Arab Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research
    Riyad (Saudi Arabia), 19 April 1999.
  • Water and Desertification in the Arab Region
    First Arab Conference, Cairo (Egypt), 17-18 April 1999.
  • The Present Status of Scientific Research in the Arab Region
    Expert Group Meeting, Beirut (Lebanon), 14-15 March 1999.
  • Science and Technology Policies for the 21st Century
    STEMARN Regional Expert Group Meeting/Workshop,
    Beirut (Lebanon), 10-13 March 1999.
  • Attitudes autour des sciences
    Colloque, Tunis (Tunisie), 27-28 janvier 1998.
  • Third Arab Conference on Modern Biotechnology and Areas of Application in the Arab Countries
    Cairo (Egypt), 14-17 December 1998.
  • Science, Technology and Society
    Conference, Beirut (Lebanon), 26-28 November 1998.
  • The Public Understanding of Science
    International Conference for Scientific Editors,
    Sharm El-Sheikh, Sinai (Egypt) 9 June 1998.
  • Femmes, science et technologie: état des lieux et perspectives
    Colloque international, Tunis (Tunisie), 20-22 November 1997.






ASIA AND PACIFIC     Back to top






EUROPE AND NORTH-AMERICA      Back to top





LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN      Back to top
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Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the International Literacy Day - 8 September 2011

Message from Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the International Literacy Day - 8 September 2011

05.09.2011
This year, International Literacy Day places a special focus on the essential relationship between literacy and peace.
Lasting peace is founded on respect for human rights and social justice. 
Literacy, the foundation of all education and lifelong learning, is one of these rights.
Literacy is a prerequisite for peace because it carries multiple benefits, cutting across the human, cultural, social, political and economic spheres. 
In today’s knowledge driven societies, lack of literacy is more than ever synonymous with exclusion and marginalization.
According to the most recent figures (2009), 793 million adults lack basic literacy skills, the majority are girls and women. A further 67 million children of primary school age are not in primary school and 72 million adolescents of lower secondary school age are also missing out their right to an education, running the risk of creating a new generation of illiterates.
This unacceptable situation is holding back all efforts to reduce poverty and advance human development. 
It is an infringement of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and a threat to peace and security.
Literacy is a development accelerator and a force for peace.
First, literacy empowers individuals, equipping them with the skills and confidence to seek out vital information and to make informed choices that have a direct impact on their families and communities.
Second literacy is a condition for individuals to effectively participate in democratic processes, to claim a voice in community organizations, gain political knowledge and thereby contribute to shaping the quality of public policies.
Third, literacy programs strengthen mutual understanding by enabling people to share ideas and to express, preserve and develop their cultural identity and diversity. 
No country can hope to establish lasting conditions for peace unless it finds ways of building mutual trust between its citizens through inclusive education systems that promote mutual understanding, respect, tolerance and dialogue.
It is crucial to integrate literacy in peace building processes in order to plant the seeds of peace, foster dialogue and reconciliation, and give youth and adults the skills they need to seek decent employment.
The 2011 International Literacy Prizes reward ground-breaking programs that show the central role of literacy in promoting human rights, gender equality, conflict resolution and cultural diversity. All programs highlight that even in the most difficult contexts, good quality literacy programs are working and bringing lasting change into the lives of youth and adults.
Investing in literacy programs is a sensible and essential development choice. Literacy is a key component of strategies to promote sustainable development and peace. It is central to achieving Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals.
The world urgently needs increased political commitment to literacy backed by adequate resources to scale up effective programs. Today I urge governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to make literacy a policy priority, so that every individual can develop their potential, and actively participate in shaping more sustainable, just and peaceful societies.

Source: Official messages from Irina Bokova on the occasion of International Days with which UNESCO is associated
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Sunday, 28 August 2011

Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition - 23 August 2011

Message from
Ms Irina Bokova,
Director-General of UNESCO,
on the occasion of International Day for the
Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
23 August 2011

The transatlantic slave trade is one of the most extreme violations of human rights
in history. The duration, extent and magnitude of this dehumanizing enterprise have
led to its universal condemnation. The International Day for the Remembrance of
the Slave Trade and its Abolition is an opportunity to reflect once again on this
tragedy and to pay tribute to those who struggled for its abolition in the light of the
universal recognition of human rights.

The commemoration carries special importance this year. 2011 marks the 10th
anniversary of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance that was held in Durban, where the slave
trade was acknowledged as a crime against humanity.

2011, is also International Year for People of African Descent. This is a chance to
examine the effects of the slave trade, whose ignominious practice has in part
shaped the face of modern society, across all regions of the world. This history can
also nourish our thinking about our multicultural and multiethnic societies today.
The history of the slave trade provides unique insight also to nearly four centuries of
linkages and exchanges among peoples and cultures. Each of us must be
empowered to learn about this past and to reclaim it, as a necessary step in
building new common ground. Managing cultural diversity and fighting prejudice
and racial discrimination raise high stakes in globalizing world. Ten years after the
adoption of the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, our collective
responsibility is greater than ever before.


UNESCO plays a leading role in fostering understanding and recognition of this
history. Since the establishment of the Slave Route project in 1994, UNESCO has
worked to break the silence on the slave trade and slavery. UNESCO helps States
in supporting research, in enriching their own national history and in facilitating the
sharing of memories.

On this day of remembrance, UNESCO will launch the international competition on
the permanent memorial to the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade
that will be built at United Nations Headquarters in New York. UNESCO is proud to
participate in this initiative launched by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The memorial will symbolise universal recognition of the tragedy as one that befell
not only Africans and people of African descent but humanity as a whole.
On this day, call on all UNESCO partners -- national authorities, international
agencies, civil society, artists and historians -- to carry this message forward and to
join us at the official site of the competition United Nations slavery memorial

Irina Bokova




Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition 23 August 2011

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