His Excellency Koichiro Matsuura and the members of his delegation;
Honorable Cabinet Secretaries of Education, Environment and Natural Resources, Science and  Technology and Health;
The Chairpersons of the Commission of Higher Education, National Commission of Culture and the Arts; and Commission on Information and Communications Technology;
UNESCO National Commission Secretary General Preciosa Soliven;
Committee Chairs of the UNESCO National Commission;
Distinguished Guests:

We are honored and privileged to have this rare opportunity for UNESCO and the Philippines to meet at the cabinet level to take stock of our collaborative work and to chart our future directions.

We meet at a time of great challenge for both UNESCO and the Philippines.

Global peace and progress is being held back by intolerance and lack of understanding.

Science and technology is boldly revolutionizing the face of the world, yet grinding poverty persists.

A clear spirit of unity and determination must prevail if we are to overcome today’s challenges.

Brotherhood, as Carlos P. Romulo said decades ago, is indeed the price and condition of man’s survival.

It is in this spirit that we meet today with Dr. Matsuura, whose presence demonstrates his commitment to building unity through enduring, strong and vibrant partnerships.

His able stewardship of UNESCO, marked by reform and decentralization, continues to a tradition of partnership between the Philippines and UNESCO that dates back to 1946.

UNESCO through changing times

By its nature and purpose, UNESCO is tasked to bring nations and peoples together, to build an ethos of peace, security and stability despite and through changing times.

It is an agent of change, tasked to pioneer world action, to build peace in the minds of men.

With Ambassador Soliven, I first met Dr. Matsuura at the UNESCO General Assembly last October in Paris.   We presented to him two important initiatives from the Philippines, both of which UNESCO decided to support.

I refer to the Interfaith Dialogue, which President Arroyo herself convened at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly during its 60th Anniversary.   The other initiative we proposed is the Debt-for-Development Conversion, debt-for-education, debt-for-environment and culture to better implement the Millennium Development Goals.

With its wealth of expertise and experience in culture and the arts, sciences, the environment and the nature of emerging knowledge societies, UNESCO is a valuable partner in pursuing our Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

UNESCO Participation Programme

Our partnership with UNESCO finds expression through our hardworking National Commission.  Through UNESCO’s Participation Program and other programs, they play an important part in the implementation of UNESCO’s agenda.  Our National Commission always works within the context of our country’s visions, goals, and priorities.

Under UNESCO’s Participation Program, the Philippines received a total funding of US$165,000 from 2004 to 2005.  Funding was also provided for two additional projects beyond this allotment and we are very grateful to Dr. Matsuura for approving this funding.

From 2005 to 2006, the National Commission selected a set of projects linking UNESCO’s priority programs to our own national priorities focused on achieving our Millennium Development Goals.

These national priorities are highlighted in President Arroyo’s ten-point development agenda as articulated in the Philippine Medium Term Philippine Development Plan for 2004-2010.

This development plan consists of strategies on the promotion of livelihood, strengthening of education, attainment of fiscal stability, decentralizing development and arriving at sustained national harmony.  Notably, the 2010 targets in the plan are aligned and consistent with the 2015 targets of the Millennium Development Goal.

Our projects promote our country’s thrusts in the areas of interfaith dialogue, education for sustainable development, preserving our cultural heritage, improving governance and enhancing human capital through broader and more effective delivery of services.  They are consistent with the following goals set under UNESCO’s own Medium Term Strategy:

1. Improving the quality of education through the diversification of contents and methods;
2. Enhancing the linkages between culture and development through capacity building and sharing of knowledge;
3. Protecting cultural diversity and encouraging dialogue between cultures and civilizations;
4. Promoting the expression of pluralism and cultural diversity in the media and world information networks; and,
5. Improving human security by better management of the environment and social change.

We live in a changing world made up of dynamic societies.  In preparing our programs, we made sure that these would allow to innovative actions from all levels and sectors of our own society.

In doing so, we hope to make our partnership more effective and more meaningful.

Today we carry on with a tradition started six decades ago – a living legacy of partnership in building unity, peace and progress, through knowledge and understanding.

Thank you. END