RP GAINS SEATS IN KEY UNESCO ORGANS 

6 November 2007—Philippine Embassy in Paris reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that after winning a four-year seat in the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Philippines was elected yesterday by UNESCO Member States to serve in key intergovernmental and subsidiary organs of the world body. 

Philippine Permanent Delegate to UNESCO Ambassador Jose Abeto Zaide reported to Foreign Secretary Alberto Romuio that RP was elected to four-year terms in UNESCO's Legal Committee, Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee, and the Conciliation and Good Offices Commission of the Convention against Discrimination in Education. 

The Philippines will also share with Indonesia another seat in the International Hydrological Programme, with Indonesia taking first turn before giving way to RP for the 2009-2011 biennium. 

Election to these important bodies indicates the international community's confidence in RP's experience and competence in key UNESCO issues. 

The Asia-Pacific group arrived at a clean slate foliowing several months of intense negotiations, thus avoiding the need for secret ballot for election to the said bodies. 

The Legal Committee advises the UNESCO General Conference - the organization's highest policymaking body - on any legal question referred by the latter, including the amendment of the UNESCO Constitution, rules of procedure, and appeals on draft resolutions submitted to the General Conference by member states that have been considered inadmissible by the UNESCO Director-General. It also considers initial reports relating to any UNESCO convention or recommendation transmitted by member states. 

The intergovernmental Bioethics Committee was created by UNESCO in 1998 to promote ethical principles and benchmarks to guide scientific progress in the rapidly developing field of biomedical ethics. RP hosted in December 2005 UNESCO's International Rotating Conference on Bioethics, which focused on ethics teaching. 

The Conciliation and Good Offices Commission of UNESCO's Convention against Discrimination in Education seeks to settle any dispute arising between States Parties in the application and interpretation of the convention, by ascertaining relevant facts and making available its good offices and conciliating functions including possible recommendations to the states concerned, with a view to an amicable solution. 

The International Hydrological Programme deals with water-related issues including scientific research, resource management, agricultural demand, energy requirements, population growth, water-related disasters, and capacity building.

/Gary