Building the Edifice of Peace

        Mr. President, UNESCO was founded in full faith that, since wars begin in the minds of men, it is also in the minds of men that the ramparts of peace must be built.

        As the Philippine delegation’s Carlos P. Romulo, said in 1945, at the founding of the United Nations:  “Let us make this floor the last battlefield.”

        Since then, UNESCO and the United Nations have been building – stone upon stone – the edifice of peace.

Renewed Faith, Greater Optimism

        Today —with pressing challenges ahead—it is time to renew our faith in our common humanity, and to reinvigorate UNESCO’s role in our lives.

        We envision UNESCO as even stronger—and more relevant—in our new era of globalization.

         It is in this optimistic spirit that we congratulate Director- General Koichiro Matsuura for his leadership of the UNESCO Secretariat.

        His nomination to a second term is well- earned and he has the Philippines’ fullest support and cooperation.

        Five principal priorities will distinguish this conference -- education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture and communication and information.
These priorities aim to consolidate UNESCO’s broad-based reform program.

Education for All

        The Philippines supports the proposal of “Education for All” as UNESCO’s flagship program.

        We find merit in the proposal to put three core-initiatives at the center of this Education-for-All program, namely: literacy, teacher training and the global initiative for HIV/AIDS education.

        HIV/AIDS is a major health issue, and if left unchecked more than 30 million people may die of AIDS in the next 5 -10 years.

        We also believe that learning to live together, a pillar in the education program, is central to UNESCO’s mission and recognizes difference and diversity as an opportunity and a valuable resource for the common good.

        We would like to see “Education for All” touch the lives of everyone—particularly those of migrant workers.

        Mr. President, we also ask your support for the Philippines as the Asia Pacific Center for Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development.

        My country’s own programs to bring education to our migrant workers have shown that migrants end up with better options and greater protection for their rights once they learn higher skills.

Natural Sciences, Basics of Life, Disaster Management

        In the natural sciences, UNESCO’s determination to give principal priority to water and associated ecosystems merits our fullest support.  Indeed, water is life itself.

        The World Health Organization and UNICEF report that 1.1 billion people lack access to safe water; and 2.6 billion lack access to basic sanitation.

        These stark realities have set off a silent humanitarian crisis.

        Critical interventions must consequently be made to ensure more people-effective water-resource management.

        Also in the area of natural sciences, UNESCO must give increased attention and resources to disaster management.
 
        While UNESCO does have a disaster prevention and preparedness program the Philippines believes this program needs strengthening to prepare the world community for natural disasters, of the magnitude of the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean and recently Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico.

        We must likewise establish an influenza control program.  WHO has recently warned of a potential influenza outbreak in the scale of the 1918 flu pandemic, where between 20 to 50 million people died.

Science, Technology and Ethics

        In the social and human sciences, the Philippines values UNESCO’s work on the ethics of science and technology.

        In our view, the draft universal declaration on bioethics and human rights adds an ethical and moral dimension to research in science.

        Here, I am pleased to announce that the Philippines will host this December—the International Rotating Conference on Bioethics, to focus on ethics-teaching.

Respect for Cultural Diversity

        With regard to culture, the Philippines welcomes UNESCO’s key role in promoting respect for cultural diversity.

        Cultures and religions may differ in form, shape and expression.

        But they all share a common humanity.

        This we have learned from our own search for peace.

        And this we have shared through our initiatives at building peace, understanding, and tolerance—through interfaith dialogue and cooperation.

        Last month, the common humanity behind our different cultures and religions was reinforced when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo chaired the historic Interfaith Summit at the United Nations.

        That Summit succeeded in uniting world leaders behind the interfaith-dialogue agenda.

        Through their joint Declaration, the leaders recognized that a culture of peace can be enhanced by inter-religious, inter-cultural, and inter-civilizational dialogue and cooperation.

The Transformative Power of Knowledge Societies

        Just as we believe that interfaith dialogue can transform hatred into understanding, and prejudice into tolerance, we in the Philippines recognize—in the area of communication and information— the transformative power of knowledge societies.

        We, therefore, support the information communication technologies for intercultural dialogue and open distance learning as building blocks of social cohesion.

The Resources to Fight Poverty

        While UNESCO is involved in all these areas, its true vocation remains anchored on mankind’s unending quest for peace and progress.

        Peace and progress based on human rights and dignity, democracy and the rule of law; fortified and strengthened through culture, education, science and communications.

        To our minds, however, nothing threatens peace so much as the cycle of poverty within which two-thirds of the world’s population remain trapped, condemning them to a life of unmitigated deprivation and misery.

        The problem of poverty is worsened by the debilitating debt problem not only of the highly indebted poor countries but likewise the middle income countries—debt that deprives billions of people of the blessings of education, science, and cultural development.

        For this reason, funds that go to debt-servicing must be re-channeled to finance vital development programs— to help achieve within the next 10 years the UN’s Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty by 50%.

        This is the essence of the debt-for-equity conversion that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo proposed at the World Leaders Summit last month in New York.

        Converting a portion of these debt-payments to fund crucial projects in education, science, culture and communication—particularly in the least-developed countries—is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and should be second to none in priority.

        Finally, on behalf of our common humanity, let us persevere in building — through education, science, culture, and communications — the armaments of peace in the minds of men.

        Thank you.