36th Session of UNESCO General Conference opens
The 36th Session of UNESCO’s General Conference, the organisation’s highest decision making body, opened on Tuesday 25 October. The biennial conference is made up of delegations of all 193 UNESCO Member States.
In her opening address the Director-General, Irina Bokova, highlighted the many challenges UNESCO faces and the renewed path the organisation must take to address them. ”The stakes of peace and sustainable development today lie precisely in the education, the sciences, culture and knowledge sharing. All of this calls for more and better UNESCO.”
The new President of the General Conference, Katalina Bogyay of Hungary, was elected for a two year term of office, succeeding Davidson Hepburn of the Bahamas.
Other highlights of the opening included the unanimous admission of Curacao and Sint Maartens as the 7th and 8th Associate Members of UNESCO. These two Caribbean territories were part of the Netherlands Antilles until October 2010, when they became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The UK National Commission for UNESCO will be attending the General Conference to help position and develop UNESCO’s programme of work for the next two years and to help advance the mission of the UK. Priorities for the UK include election to key programme and decision-making bodies including the UNESCO Executive Board, and the strengthening and reform of UNESCO.
Written: 30/10/2011 , last modified: 30/10/2011
© UNESCO / S.Cadel - Katalin Bogyay, Hungary, elected 36th President of UNESCO General Conference