HAND IN HAND - UNESDOC Databaseunesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001089/108933e.pdf · constraints of Member States, or the ambition to provide the ... Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General,

H A N D I N H A N D

U N E S C O S O U R C E S N o 9 3 S E P T E M B E R 1 9 9 7

UNESCOS

THE NATIONALCOMMISSIONSOf UNESCOs 186 Member States (as of 31 July 1997) 180 haveset up National Commissions Made up of eminent members ofthe intellectual and scientific communities in each country theNACs form the vital link between UNESCO and its Member StatesUnique in this respect within the UN system the NACs organizetheir own activities such as exhibitions and conferences Theyalso disseminate information often through the publication ofbooks and documents in national languages Regional and sub-regional meetings are regularly organized to keep UNESCOinformed of their aspirations and needs Over the comingbiennium new measures will be taken to reinforce their role andparticipation in the elaboration implementation and evaluationof the Organizations programmes These include the establish-ment of a permanent committee made up of the NACssecretaries-general and members of the secretariat a WhosWho style directory of the National Commissions and thepublication of a review covering their activities and futureprojects

THE UNITED NATIONSSYSTEM

While UNESCO is primarily responsible to its own Member States it alsobelongs to the United Nations family sharing the same ideals and

goals and maintaining different forms of cooperative relations with theother specialized agencies

UNESCO participates in the joint machinery for concertation andcoordination within the UN system The Organization works especiallyclosely with sister agencies exchanging information and know-how in

areas such as environment the elimination of poverty and support fordemocratization UNESCO also participates with the other agencies in

cooperative programmes and joint projects or assumes the role of leadagency for others For these diverse projects the organization expects

to receive $250m in extra-budgetary resources for 1998-1999 ofwhich $67m will be provided by the UN system mainly from the UN

Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Population Fund(UNFPA) It is also expecting another $185m from the World Bank as

well as regional development banks

ASSOCIATED SCHOOLS PROJECTAND UNESCO CLUBS

Some 4250 pre-school primary and secondary schools and teacher-training institutions in 137 countries are involved in the Associated SchoolsProject (ASP) This international network set up in 1953 experiments with

and implements ways and means for enhancing the role of education inlearning to live together in a world community

Closely associated with the ASP often in carrying out joint projects in crucialareas such as literacy work and the environment are the 5000 UNESCO

Associations Centres and Clubs spread throughout 116 countries Withmembers of all ages these groups are set up in schools universities with

associations and centres set up for a wider publicThe scope of their activities is virtually unlimited ranging from

reforestation and protection of the worlds cultural and natural heritage tohuman rights education and peace Since 1981 they have been groupedtogether under the umbrella of the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs

Centres and Associations

NON-GOVERNMENTALORGANIZATIONSAND FOUNDATIONSUNESCO maintains consultative associate and operationalrelations with 354 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) andldquoformalrdquo relations with 26 foundations The framework for thepartnership between UNESCO and NGOs was changed in 1996reinforcing and revitalizing the role this sector plays in thepreparation and implementation of the Organizationsprogramme The changes also ldquopromote the emergence of neworganizations that are representative of civil society in thoseregions of the world where such organizations for historicalcultural or geographical reasons are isolated or weakrdquoInternational regional or national NGOs bring together adiverse range of professionals as well as members of socialmovements directly concerned with UNESCOs goals Educatorsscientists authors and others represent organizations as variedas Amnesty International the World Scout Movement and theInternational Council of Scientific Unions

MAJOR PARTNERS

I N S I G H T

PAGE AND SCREEN 4

PEOPLE 5

C O N T E N T S

F O C U S

A l l a r t i c l e s a r e f r e e o f c opy r i gh tres t r i c t ions and can be reproducedi n wh i c h c a s e t h e ed i t o r s wou l dapprec ia te a copy Pho to s ca rr y ingno copyright mark copy may be obtainedb y t h e m e d i a o n d e m a n d

U N E S C O S O U R C E S

Editorial and Distribution ServicesUNESCOSOURCES 7 place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP Tel(+33 1) 45 68 16 73 Fax (+33 1) 45 68 56 54This magazine is destined for use as an infor-mation source and is not an official UNESCOdocument ISSN 1014-6989

Pages 6 to 16

PLANET

Communicationbull LIVE WISE TO SURVIVE 17

Culture of Peacebull A COMMON GOAL 18

Culture of Peacebull ONE STEP AT A TIME 19

Literacybull A STEADY COURSE 20

Environmentbull REVERSING THE TIDES 22

LOOKING AHEAD 24

Cover photocopy The Image BankG Gladstonecopy Panos PicturesHeldur Netocny

Demanding to learnin Namibia

Learning to live together

Cambodia waitingfor the floods

A TURNING POINT

Reneacute L E FORT

The Un i t ed K i ngdom i s ba ck i n UNESCO rsquos f o l d t hu s pa r t l y

c l o s i ng t h e b r ea ch i n t h e O rgan i za t i on rsquos un i v e r s a l i t y

p r ovoked by i t s w i t hd rawa l i n 1985 ( one yea r a f t e r t h e

depa r t u r e o f t h e Un i t ed S t a t e s )

Bu t wha t o f t h e ho l e i n t h e O rgan i za t i on rsquos f i nan ce s c rea t ed

by t he depa r t u r e UNESCO rsquos budge t f e l l b y t h e amoun t o f

t he membe r sh i p due s t h e s e c oun t r i e s pa i d t o UNESCO T he

que s t i on now be i ng deba t ed i s whe the r t h e r e t u rn i ng U K

con t r i bu t i on s hou l d be added ba ck on t o t h e r e s ou r c e s

ava i l ab l e t o t h e O rgan i za t i on ( t h e D i re c t o r -Gene ra l b e l i e ve s

s o ) o r whe the r t h e s e r e s ou r c e s s hou l d r ema in mo re o r l e s s

un changed w i t h t h e o t he r Membe r S t a t e s pay i ng a c c o rd -

i ng l y l e s s T he up com ing Gene ra l C on f e r en c e w i l l d e c i d e t h e

i s s ue who se imp l i c a t i on s go f a r b eyond s imp l e f i nan c i a l

equa t i on s w i l l t h e c on f e r en c e be gu i ded by t h e budge t a r y

con s t r a i n t s o f Membe r S t a t e s o r t h e amb i t i on t o p r ov i de t h e

O r gan i za t i on w i t h t h e mean s i t requ i r e s t o c a r r y ou t t h e

m i s s i on t ho s e s ame Membe r S t a t e s have c ha rged i t w i t h

On a s e c ond f r on t and i n t h e l i gh t o f t h e t r an s f o rma t i on

t ak i ng p l a c e i n i n t e r na t i ona l c oope ra t i on a va s t unde r t ak -

i ng ha s begun t o r ede f i n e t h e ob j e c t i v e s and s t r u c t u r e s o f

one o f i t s e s s en t i a l i n s t r umen t s - t h e Un i t ed Na t i on s a l ong

w i t h i t s f und s l i k e UN ICEF and p r og rammes s u ch a s t h e UN

Deve l opmen t P r og ramme Ko f i Annan t h e UN Se c r e t a r y -

Gene ra l a l s o p r opo se s t h e c r ea t i on o f a s pe c i a l c ommi s s i on

ldquo t o exam ine po s s i b l e need s f o r c hange i n t h e t r ea t i e s

f r om wh i c h t h e s pe c i a l i z ed agen c i e s d e r i v e t h e i r manda t e s rdquo

c l e a r l y i nd i c a t i ng t ha t t h e ove rhau l w i l l s p i l l o ve r t o t h e

en t i r e UN f am i l y i n c l ud i ng UNESCO T he O r gan i za t i on ha s

changed p r o f ound l y o ve r t h e pa s t 10 yea r s S hou l d i t g o

fu r t he r s t i l l And i f s o i n wh i c h d i r e c t i on s

W i t hou t f a l l i n g i n t o j ou rna l i s t i c c l i c h eacute i t wou l d be f a i r t o

s ay t ha t o ve r t h e nex t two yea r s t h e s e two i s s ue s t h e

cau se s and e f f e c t s o f wh i c h a re i n t r i n s i c a l l y i n t e r woven

w i l l undoub t ed l y ma rk a t u rn i ng po i n t i n UNESCO rsquos h i s t o r y

UNESCO 1998-1999

BRIDGINGTHE GREAT DIVIDE

P A G E A N D S C R E E N

The STATISTICAL YEARBOOKpresents the ldquoworld in figuresrdquo oneducation science culture socialsciences and communication

STUDY ABROAD 1998-1999offers nearly 3000 opportuni-ties in 124 countries to continuehigher education abroad andobtain financial assistance The30th edition is also available onCD-ROM

UNESCO publications andperiodicals can be purchased atUNESCO Headquarters andthrough national distributors inmost countries In each MemberState books and periodicals can beconsulted at a UNESCO depositarylibraryFor further information or directorders by mail fax or InternetUNESCO Publishing 7 place de Fon-tenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP (France)tel (+33 1) 01 45 68 43 00 fax(+33 1) O1 45 68 57 41 Interneth t tp wwwUNESCOorgpublishing

With a constitutional mandate to maintain in-crease and diffuse knowledge UNESCO is a pub-lishing house unlike any other With more than10000 titles already to its credit and currently

about 10 magazines and some 50 newsletters pub-lished in a variety of languages the Organizationprovides an abundance of material both writtenand designed for multimedia

PERIODICALS

Amongst UNESCOrsquos majorpublications

The biennial WORLD EDUCA-TION REPORT analyzes majortrends and policy issues ineducation The next reportexpected at the yearrsquos end willfocus on ldquoteachers and teachingin a changing worldrdquo

The WORLD SCIENCE REPORTexamines the state of scienceand technology around theworld looking at relatedindicators research organiza-tions funding sources andrecent advances in basicsciences The next edition isexpected in early 1998

The WORLD SOCIAL SCIENCEREPORT will be released for thefirst time in 1999 It will be inpart descriptive (providingquantitative data where possibleon advances made theirdevelopment in the first decadesof next century) substantive(reviewing the various domainsinvolved) and reflective (consid-ering their place in the world ofknowledge and action)

The first WORLD REPORT ONCULTURE is expected in 1998 Itwill survey recent trends inculture and developmentmonitor events affecting the stateof cultures worldwide andanalyze policy-oriented themeslike ethics and cultural globali-zation urban cultures andgender relations

The second edition of theWORLD COMMUNICATIONREPORT expected at the end of1997 will offer a panorama oftechnological progressanalyzing the transformations ofthe media world and exploringthe links between informationrights power and freedom ofexpression

Recently released the WORLDINFORMATION REPORT provides

a synthesis of the state of the artconcerning library and archivesservices technical infrastructureand major trends emerging withthe information society stakesinvolved with new technologieseconomic intelligence the futureof the book and copyright

RADIO AND VIDEO

CD-ROMs

REPRESENTATIVEWORKS

This collection includes about1000 titles originating in morethan 80 countries and originallywritten in about 100 languagesIt is intended to contribute to abroader international apprecia-tion of the worldrsquos literaryheritage by promoting thetranslation and publication inmain languages notably Englishand French of works written inless widely known ones

Most of UNESCOrsquos periodicalsare published in English Frenchand Spanish Some also appearin Russian Arabic and Chinese

UNESCO produces co-produces and distributes videoand radio programmes on itsactivities Achieving Educationfor All one of the most recentvideos presents in ArabicEnglish French Spanish andRussian several local initiativeswhich illustrate new approachesoffering everyone access tobasic education

UNESCOrsquos data bases interna-tional bibliographic referencesaddresses and telephonenumbers for research andtraining institutes or morespecifically data bases forrenewable energies and WorldHeritage sites are all availableon CD-ROM Upcoming releasesinclude a geological map of theworld and a special kidsrsquo CD-ROM on water

For general information orspecific profiles of UNESCOrsquosactivities or for a list of theinternational network ofbiosphere reserves get on theInternet and type httpwwwunescoorg

ON-LINEINFORMATION

The following represent some ofthe quarterly publications

PROSPECTS keeps its readers upto date on issues innovationsand research in education inmore than 150 countries

NATURE AND RESOURCESexplores multidisciplinaryaspects of the environment inpromoting sustainable develop-ment

The INTERNATIONAL SOCIALSCIENCE JOURNAL constitutes aforum for the exchange of ideasamong specialists on the majorproblems of our time

Making the public aware notonly of the beauty but of thenecessity of protecting culturaland natural sites is the aim ofthe WORLD HERITAGE REVIEW

MUSEUM INTERNATIONALpresents the latest trends inmuseology

The COPYRIGHT BULLETINfocuses on legislation andaccords concerning literaryartistic and scientific works

Doubtless though the UNESCOCOURIER published monthly isthe best known of the Organiza-tionrsquos publications with editionsin 30 languages and a quarterlyselection in Braille Modifica-tions in content and presentationare in store for 1998

P E O P L E

OMAR AZZIMANEAN ACADEMIC ACTIVIST

ASBJOslashRN EIDE IN SEARCHOF RATIONAL RELATIONS

UNESCO AWARDS PRIZESto individuals and groups whomake an exceptional contribu-tion to the Organizationrsquos idealsand objectives Accordinglyprizes are attributed in the fieldsof literacy science the teaching

The faculty is my professionrdquoIt is also a solid mooring that

has undoubtedly allowed OmarAzzimane a Moroccan humanrights activist to hold steady instormy seas At 49 this profes-sor of private law who has heldthe UNESCO human rights chairat the University of Rabat since1996 boasts a long career as afree spirit

He was one of the co-founders in1979 of the Moroccan HumanRights Association and nineyears later helped set up the Or-ganization But he didnrsquot hesitateto leave either when he foundtheir ldquodegree of independencefrom (political) parties to be in-sufficientrdquo or to throw himselfinto the lionrsquos den from 1993 to1995 by accepting the portfolio ofMinister for Human RightsldquoIweighed the reasons for andagainst My experience spokeagainst it But things change Ilooked toward to the future andsaid yes I have no regretsrdquo In-deed some of this work is nowbearing fruit

ldquoWe contacted UNESCO toobtain the chair at the universitywhich provides us with access toa network and some financial sup-port ($15000 per year)rdquo

Backed up by a team of 20jurists sociologists historiansphilosophers and education spe-cialists Azzimane has a big jobahead to ldquoprovide support fordoctoral students and open a spe-cialized documentation centrerdquoAnd there is no ignoring theneeds of the other faculties ldquoForthose studying medicine for ex-ample we would like the deon-tology course to include teachingon human rights issues such asgenetic manipulation But thebiggest task concerns the legalfaculty where there is no special-ized human rights teachingrdquo

The team is also planningtraining seminars for a broaderpublic including lawyers doctorspeople in positions of authoritypolitical and social activists

Finally they are planning toopen a vast field of research thatwill follow two main directionsThe first will be to examine thecultural and philosophical foun-dations of human rights in theArab World ldquoCertain schools ofthought that would profit fromdismissing these links invoketheir external origins Howeverhistory shows us that although wemay be lagging behind in thisdomain the blockage is politicalrather than culturalrdquo

The second research direc-tion will be the state of law inMorocco ldquoWe want to identify ina rigorous manner the obstaclesholding up the application of re-forms in place since 1990rdquo Thistask has been made possible bythe recent ldquodedramatization ofhuman rights which can now beconsidered more serenely objec-tively and criticallyrdquo

Sophie BOUKHARI

of human rights and peacecommunication the preserva-tion of the environment cultureand the arts including architec-ture music and crafts andmost recently press freedomThe $25000 UNESCO

Guillermo Cano World PressFreedom Prize (commemoratinga Columbian journalist killed 10years ago) was awarded for thefirst time this year on WorldPress Freedom Day (May 3) Theprize will be attributed annually

to a person organization orinstitution that has made anotable contribution to thedefence andor promotion ofpress freedom anywhere in theworld especially if this involvedrisk or punishment

I come from a little (Norwegian)town bombed to pieces by the

occupying force during the Sec-ond World War We were shockedby what happend but also by thatdone to the other side - in Dres-den and Hiroshimardquo

From childhood horrorAsbjoslashrn Eide has forged a questto find ldquorational ways for peopleto relaterdquo Work on UN commis-sions has taken him from therights to conscientious objectionand adequate food to the evils ofcontemporary forms of slaveryBetween Israel and the Caucushersquos been monitoring humanrights abuses with groups likeAmnesty International whilekeeping ldquoa leg in the academicworldrdquo as the director of the Nor-wegian Human Rights Institute

But Eide now finds himself backat his point of departure with thedraft Declaration on the HumanRight to Peace Developed byleading experts at a June meetingin Oslo chaired by Eide it willbe submitted for approval by theGeneral Conference

ldquoEvery human being has theright to peacerdquo proclaims thedeclaration ldquowhich is inherent in

the dignity of the human personrdquoThis right comes complete withthe ldquodutyrdquo to help construct andmaintain peace At the same timeindividuals states peoples andthe international community mustldquooppose by all legitimate meansrdquoacts of aggression and systematichuman rights violations

ldquoAfter the Cold Warrdquo saysEide explaining the rationale be-hind the declarationldquowe found anumber of groups claiming self-determination which resulted inviolence Maybe the ends werejustified but the means were notThe ways the groups pursuedtheir human rights in places likeSri Lanka or Burundi were coun-terproductive to their own goalsrdquo

Rejecting violence gets com-plicated with peace-keeping orenforcing missions Eide admitsthat ldquothere may be situationswhen force is needed to resolvecertain conflict situationsrdquo But asthe declaration reminds ldquowe haveto focus on the underlying cause -social injusticerdquo

Fully aware of the limitednature of any declaration Eide isall the more alarmed by the finan-cial ldquostarvation of the UnitedNationsrdquo owing to the fact that itldquosimply isnrsquot as useful as it wasin the past for some very influen-tial actorsrdquo

While the UN may be riddledby ldquoconflicting interestsrdquo Eidemaintains that few can afford togive up on it ldquoThe kind of glo-balization currently taking placeis in the interest of the most influ-ential actors There can be nonormative resistance to this if theUN framework remains as weakas it appears to berdquo

Amy OTCHET

copy A

THE PLANETrsquoS RESOURCES ARE LIMITEDUNESCO WILL CONTINUE TO SEEK WAYS OFEXPLOITING THEM IN A SUSTAINABLEECONOMICALLY HEALTHY AND CULTURALLYBENEFICIAL WAY(Photo copy Yann Arthus-BertrandlaquoLa Terrevue du Cielraquo)

U N E S C O S 0 U R C E S N o 9 3 S E P T E M B E R 1 9 9 7

F O C U S

UNESCO 1998-1999BRIDGING THE GREAT DIVIDE

T h i s m o n t h rsquos d o s s i e r

How to close the yawning gap between the worldrsquos rich and poor How to share the benefits of thefabulous scientific and technological advances that mark the end of this century The task is dauntingbut the challenge must be met insists UNESCOrsquos Director-General Federico MayorThis monthrsquos dossier examines the ways in which UNESCO will tackle the job over the coming bienniumand work towards the realization of its top priorities a worldwide culture of peace and development

We are no longer surprised by the mira-cles performed by Sojourner on the

surface of Mars The robot instantly obeysorders sent by its masters from hundredsof millions of kilometers away and trans-mits collected data with the regularity of ametronome

At the same time the ghostly shadowsof men women and children continue towander These Rwandan refugees are therare very rare survivors of massacres andan exodus endured for nearly a year in fullview and knowledge of all

If I confront these two situations it isbecause for me they express in almostcaricatural fashion the scandal whichmarks the end of this century on the onehand we see extraordinary scientific andtechnological means and colossal sumsgathered to carry out wildly ambitiousprojects and on the other the total aban-don of entire populations to a destiny wethought humanity had forever exorcisedgenocide

On the one hand an immensity whereall is possible on the other the narrow con-fines of action sometimes prodigious buttoo often limited to the sole promotion ofshort-sighted advantage wherein todayrsquosand tomorrowrsquos general interest resoundslike an anachronism

This gaping chasm cannot endure Hu-manity cannot continue to inhabit the sameEarth now reduced to the dimensions ofthe famed ldquoplanetary villagerdquo and con-comitantly split into two columns - their

backs turned on each other and moving inopposite directions the select few mo-nopolizing an increasing proportion ofpower knowledge goods and riches andthe excluded masses exhausting them-selves in the quest for existence as theywatch all hope of a decent life graduallyfade away

A major conflagration looms on thehorizon Warning signals can be tallied inthe multiplication of conflicts intoleranceexclusion the most abject poverty and eco-logical catastrophies We must open oureyes to the amplitude and imminence ofthe shock and muster all of our intelligenceto dissect the causes and invent new waysto ward off the threat And in all our spiritswe must unite the ldquowerdquo and the ldquoIrdquo

A V I TA L N E W E N D E AV O U RIt is in the very nature and at the heart ofUNESCOrsquos mission to be part of this newendeavour without which the universal es-tablishment of peace human rights andprogress would disappear like a mirageBecause every step in the right direction istaken through the advancement and shar-ing of ideas and knowledge which areUNESCOrsquos main tools

UNESCO however cannot pretend tooffer ready-made solutions Nonethelessin light of the work of the internationalcommunity of scientists educators artistsand communicators for whom UNESCOserves as a meeting point the Organiza-tion can set priorities with the certitude that

they can lead to the new more just and har-monious equilibrium towards which wemust strive I count four main priorities forthe next two years

First of all to make known loudly farand wide especially to decision-makersthe alarm signals these communities sendus with strong conviction reinforced by thefacts data and projections upon which theyare based The second priority stems fromthe first because this knowledge is neces-sarily fragile contested and incompletewe must enlarge and deepen our researchIt is UNESCOrsquos duty to work unfalteringlyand more effectively to bring together allthe talent which can contribute to this proc-ess The Organization must and this is thethird priority move from theory to prac-tice from idea to action even if on a mod-est scale testing and demonstrating thevalidity of the solutions it proposes so thatthey gain wide and general acceptance

These three priorities are inseparablefrom the last to ensure through lifelongeducation that each of us from the mosthumble to the most erudite increases ourunderstanding and therefore our capacityto act Only in this way can the ldquomoral andintellectual solidarity of humanityrdquo ceasebeing just a pious vow inscribed in theOrganizationrsquos Constitution to become theprimary force in UNESCOrsquos march to-wards peace

Federico MAYORDirector-General

F O C U S

D o s s i e r

ETHICS RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMSScientific and technological breakthroughs have generated new risks and posed complex ethicalquestions that must be answered A world commission will take up the challenge

The stakes are so high that a major bat-tle is raging behind the scenes Imple-

mentation of the Convention on ClimateChange adopted at the Earth Summit in1992 is entering its critical phase Aimedat stabilizing and if possible reducing thevolume of greenhouse gas emissions itmust draw up before the end of the year adetailed presentation of objectives andcosts in short lay down the exact distribu-tion of effort required of each country orregion

The negotiators have the data in handas to actual volumes of emissions theirprobable evolution and costs according tovarious scenarios But what criteria - ac-ceptable to all - can we use to ensure thatthis repartition be just Do we have a le-gitimate ldquorightrdquo to authorize Asia to in-crease emissions in order to continuegrowth thus eliminating still existent pock-ets of poverty when we know that even atcurrent rates the continent tomorrow willbe by far the planetrsquos biggest ldquopolluterrdquo

And what about the Americans whocontend that high energy consumption ispart of their way of life Can we simplyreject this argument because on averageUS citizens pollute more than any otherpeople

Can we ldquomorallyrdquo justify the proposi-tion whereby it would be possible to ldquobuyrdquorights to continue polluting at home whilepaying for an equivalent reduction abroadIn a nutshell can the responsibility of each

country be evaluated solely according tothe volume of emissions or must we -and how - consider the issue from thepoint of view of surface number of in-habitants their standard of living lifestyles etc

There are at least 300 transnationalriver basins on the planet and their exploi-tation is becoming all the more crucial asfresh water consumption grows exponen-tially How to distribute this water ldquoequi-tablyrdquo among the countries concernedHow can we evaluate their legitimateneeds In function for instance of theirpopulations Of the necessity for them todraw on this water according to their oc-cupations Or again the perhaps very dif-ferent values which mark the resource intheir respective cultures

It is a platitude to affirm that we haveentered an era wherein the capacity to pro-duce treat and use information is the firstof all assets But - and there are severalkey questions among many - to what ex-tent does the unequal distribution of thiscapacity within a country threaten socialcohesion and the exercise of citizenshipOr on another level does this inequalitybetween countries risk deepening the gapbetween North and South Can we findsolutions by making more effective use orin different ways of the scientific and tech-nological potential in this domain

It seems evident that if the greatadvances of genetics has led in many

countries to the creation of bioethicalcommittees and at UNESCO the Inter-national Bioethics Committee (IBC) it isnow vital to go even farther We must in-form decision-makers and world opinionof propositions which are at once scien-tifically founded and guarantee that ad-vances in knowledge and techniques areused in such a way as to protect the rightsand fundamental freedoms of all

E N E R G Y WAT E RAND INFORMAT IONThe World Commission on the Ethics ofScientific Knowledge and Technologywhose creation should be ratified at thenext General Conference must thereforebegin by ldquoanalysing the present and fu-ture effects positive as well as negativeof these advances not only in the field ofeconomics but also in everyday life atall levelsrdquo according to Norwegianmathematician Juns Erik Fenstad one ofthe specialists involved in the prepara-tory work

It will first address three sectors wherethe risk of tension and danger appears par-ticularly critical energy water manage-ment and information - the IBC will con-tinue to deal with questions of bioethicsThe Commission will not adopt a top-downapproach which would be tantamount toelaborating a kind of body of universal eth-ics where every problem born of scientificand technological progress might find asolution - because cultural and religiouspluralism cannot be overlooked

On the contrary the Commission willuse concrete situations to propose concretesolutions adaptable to particular circum-stances but around which an ethical con-sensus can be forged To accomplish thisit will build bridges not only between sci-entific communities thus contributing toa more balanced distribution of knowledgebut also between these communities andother social actors

Finally the Commission can helpclarify the issues so that governments andsocieties can make not only the ldquorightrdquo butalso the most ldquoequitablerdquo decision democ-racy has always been at this price

Reneacute LEFORT

Ethical questions are looming ever larger in UNESCOrsquos major scientific pro-grammes In the past the Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB) the Interna-tional Hydrological Programme (IHP) the International Oceanographic Com-mission (IOC) and the International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP)mainly concentrated on lsquohard sciencersquo These days they are increasingly open-ing their doors to the lsquohumanrsquo sciences and their aim has shifted to seekingconcrete and sustainable solutions to peoplesrsquo everyday problems science in theservice of development Such is also the case for the more recently created Projecton Environment and Development in Coastal Regions and in Small Islands andSocial Transformations and Development (MOST)Their total budget incorporating funds from the ldquo regularrdquo budget and ldquoextra-budgetaryrdquo resources is about $60m

SC I ENCE IN THE S ERV IC E OF DEVE LOPMENT

F O C U S

D o s s i e r

VIRTUAL VIRTUEUNESCO seeks a middle path between the savage laissez-faire development of cyberspaceand its over-regulation explains Philippe Queacuteau director of Information and Informatics Division

What are the ethical implications ofcyberspace

Philippe Queacuteau A broad reading of theword lsquoethicalrsquo encompasses the legal po-litical societal and philosophical aspects ofthe use of information We have too oftenconfined ourselves to looking at the seri-ous problems of freedom of expressionsuch as the dissemination of racist ideas orpornography There is more at stakefreedom of access to information andtraining for one respect for privacyand the protection of personal data foranother

The prevailing view is that pri-vatization speeds up the lowering ofprices and thus access to networksfor the poor and is therefore a goodthing Some countries in the Souththough have already expressed res-ervations UNESCO with the back-ing of its member states can help toformulate a different public policyWe would deregulate certain aspectswithout depriving the state of its rolein offering citizens fairer access tothe information for which it is re-sponsible The state must promote in-formation in the public domainwhich is made up of three elementsworks which have fallen into the publicdomain after a certain period of time gov-ernment information the model for thisbeing the United States where all informa-tion produced by the government is exemptfrom rights which is not the case every-where else lastly copyleft which is in-formation with copyright owned by re-searchers whose main concern is not re-muneration but recognition At the mo-ment ironically the author - or his or heruniversity - has to pay to publish in spe-cialist journals In fact it should be possi-ble to set up distribution mechanisms onthe Internet for instance without goingthrough publishing companies UNESCOproposes considering a positive right tocopyleft

That would mean restricting the marketrsquosroom for manœuvre particularly in publish-ingPQ The job of the publishing companiescould be to promote works in the public

domain for example the classics but giv-ing them added value critical notes a spe-cial edition and so on UNESCOrsquos posi-tion is that without hindering that marketaccess to raw information must remain freeWe must build an equivalent of the publiclibrary in cyberspace

Two hundred years ago ThomasJefferson established the idea which is at

the very root of the First Amendment tothe American Constitution freedom of ex-pression can only really be exercised wherethere is freedom of access to information

To reduce inequality in cyberspaceUNESCO is also drawing attention to edu-cation We can see a new virtual civiliza-tion emerging with new more abstractforms of thinking and a lsquomathematicalrsquoapproach to seeing Todayrsquos world is un-der the sway of mathematical models andtools whose effects are terribly real Forexample the transactions of the specula-tors controlling the so-called second-gen-eration financial instruments which areextremely complex can lead to arbitraryredundancies So the North-South dividebetween the info-rich and the info-poor inthe sense of basic education is being fur-ther widened by the gap between thosewhom one could call the lsquoinfo-electrsquo - thehigh priests of the virtual hieroglyphics -and the lsquoinfo-excludedrsquo who suffer its ex-plosive consequences

Bill Clinton has just announced that hewants to make the Internet a free-trade zoneWhat will be the consequencesPQ Accelerated liberalism can have anegative effect on fundamental guaranteesInternational banks and credit companies al-ready use computers based on American ter-ritory to engage in data mining whichmeans the exploitation of personal data for

commercial purposes These datamines are veritable goldmines Theyspearhead the virtual economy by ena-bling detailed consumer profiles to bedrawn up and to disregard the unde-sirables who are insufficiently solventCrude laissez-faire policies thus ac-centuate existing inequalities whilstattacking the very essence of humanidentity That is why the EuropeanCommunity decided to limit the trans-border flow of personal data TheAmericans however consider theselimitations to be non-tariff barriers tofree trade

Clintonrsquos declaration which wasa direct attack on the European direc-tive puts a spoke in the wheel of anyattempt to give the cyberspace mar-ket a moral dimension and ensureconsumer protection UNESCO is

opening up a permanent forum on the ethi-cal and legal dimensions of cyberspacewith a virtual discussion list (httpwwwde3embnetinfoethic) open to any-body interested These discussions willreach a very practical conclusion atINFOETHICS II (Sources No 89) to beheld in Monte Carlo at the end of 1998

Given that the United States dominates thenew technologies sector and that cyber-space is a world without frontiers isnrsquot thebattle lost alreadyPQ To say that cyberspace is a meta-worldis a figure of speech It helps one to see thatone state acting alone is powerless This iswhere UNESCO comes in for a great dealcould be achieved once a global consensusis reached The Americans want to globalizelaissez-faire Yet at UNESCO there seemsto be a move towards some kind of regula-tion worldwide

Interview by SB

M O N E Y O V E R M I N D ( P h o t o copy P I X C S i m o n s )

F O C U S

D o s s i e r

MIXING THE CONCRETEUNESCOrsquos Culture of Peace Programme moves into a new phase with greater emphasis on conflictprevention rather than just reconciliation

S lowly but surely the concept of a cul-ture of peace is gaining ground It has

seeped into the language of the politiciansand diplomats gained formal recognitionby the UN General Assembly is being dis-cussed in military circles promoted bywomen in community radio programmesand taught to children in schools From adifficult-to-define idealistic notion thatemerged from an international congressheld in Yamoussoukro (Cocircte drsquoIvoire) in1989 UNESCO has translated it into con-crete actions present in all of its fields ofactivity from basic education to protect-ing cultural heritage and the environmentto fighting for press freedom

S I L E N T G U N SIt continues to evolve and to be refined Upuntil now for example much of UNESCOrsquosefforts have focused on peace-building af-ter the guns have been silenced Post-con-flict work will of course continue InBosnia and Yugoslavia for exampleUNESCO has already provided muchneeded equipment for radio television andthe print media A next step will look at thetype of programmes and articles being pro-duced and the ways these media can con-tribute to lasting peace there However thenext biennium will see more emphasisgiven to prevention rather than reconcilia-tion and activities undertaken on a muchbroader scale rather than limited to areasof potential or post-conflict Education andcommunication will be the main tools inthis $185m programme (with another$12m expected in extra-budgetary funds)

ldquoBringing about a culture of peacemeans changing value systems attitudesand behaviourrdquo says Leslie Atherley thedirector of the Culture of Peace Pro-gramme ldquoand education is the surest wayof achieving thisrdquo This education musttake many forms he says bringing in asdiverse a range of actors as possible withall of their different perspectives

Priority target groups include parlia-mentarians mayors (UNESCO annuallyawards a Mayorrsquos Prize for Peace) om-budsmen (the Organization helped estab-lish a network of these human rightsdefenders in Latin America and theCaribbean) public service media religious

leaders and the armed forces all of whomcarry weight within their communities andcan encourage reflection dialogue and de-bate on the vital ingredients for a cultureof peace tolerance human rights democ-racy and international understanding

Women will also play a key roleldquoWomen often find themselves caught upin wars they have had no say inrdquo saysIngeborg Breines the director of the Pro-gramme for Women and a Culture of PeaceldquoWe want to change that To that end weare working in three directions support-ing womenrsquos initiatives for peace - train-ing women peace promoters for exampleor encouraging research on womenrsquos tra-ditional conflict resolution and mediatingtechniques and practices - especially inAfrica working with women in decision-making positions especially parliamentar-ians to help open up access for others and

ensure participation in democratic proc-esses and boosting debate on gender-re-lated factors that thwart or inspire a cul-ture of peace - such as the socialization ofboys and men and ideas of what masculin-ity is all aboutrdquo

Neither has the classroom been forgot-ten Through its Associated Schools Project(ASP) which includes more than 4000schools in 137 countries UNESCO has avast pool of eager young minds who will

test a kit containing material - producedby students and teachers who took part inseven regional culture of peace festivals in1995 - to transmit those vital ingredientsmentioned earlier ldquoThe kit will be trialledthroughout the next two years and thendepending on results we will seek partnersto co-produce it in several different languageversionsrdquo says Elizabeth Khawajkie ASPcoordinator

Apart from increasing the number ofplayers the programme is also pushing forchanges to the playing field School cur-ricula and education policies will comeunder the microscope A survey will becarried out on existing national laws poli-cies and strategies in the field of humanrights education at the university level andadvisory services provided to memberstates in this field In Latin America fol-lowing two UNESCO-organized confer-ences history textbooks are being revisedwith a view to valorizing the exchanges be-tween the regionrsquos peoples and their pointsin common rather than glorifying their war-riors and battles

POS I T IVE SP IN -OFFSAlso in Latin America a regional networkis being established among academic insti-tutions and universities to create and renewcurricula on conflict prevention andpeacebuilding This is just one of the posi-tive spin-offs from the chairs on culture ofpeace and on education for human rightsand democracy that UNESCO has estab-lished in universities in more than 25 coun-tries

In Africa the focus will be on the me-dia with a vast $8m programme to be car-ried out in 12 selected countries includingworkshops for journalists on tolerancehuman rights and peace-related issues theproduction and dissemination of pro-grammes on these topics and the provi-sion of equipment

ldquoWe are taking a holistic approachrdquosays Atherley ldquowith the aim of creatingwhat amounts to a social movement thatneeds to encompass everyone everywhereand whose main message is that we mustlearn to live togetherrdquo

Sue WILLIAMS

ldquo L I V I N G T O G E T H E R rdquo F R O M A L E A R N I N GK I T P R E P A R E D B Y A N D F O R K I D S

F O C U S

Svein Osttveit a programme specialistldquoSo they turned to UNESCOrdquo But insteadof relying on a foreign consultant to comeup with the needs-assessment required tolaunch a project members of the NGO willlearn to do their own evaluation and set uptheir own services and find extra fundingldquoHow else can you expect a project to con-tinue in the long-termrdquo asks Osttveit

L I F E A F T E RThe tables were turned in the Philippineswhere a very experienced NGO wanted tobreak new ground with the traditionaluntouchables - street-kids ldquoERDA hasworked with lsquodifficultrsquo kids before but nowtheyrsquore looking to those without any familyties or support These young people are notready to sit in classesrdquo says Osttveit ldquoTheyneed very comprehensive and flexible sup-port with social workers and social activi-ties Each case will be differentrdquo The planis eventually to offer six-month trainingcourses in practical skills like automotiverepairs ldquoThatrsquos when you run against thetraditional weak point in these programmes- life afterrdquo he says ldquoSo wersquore trying toset up contracts in advance with local en-terprises Itrsquos a way of helping these youngpeople get back into the surrounding com-munityrdquo

The bottom-up approach may soon takenew proportions with plans to mobilize theworld community within the Education forAll (EFA) movement ldquoWe have to go be-yond the intergovernmental discussionsrdquosays Berstecher ldquoWe have to make the manon the street an active partner in the EFAmovement and more importantly show poli-ticians and parliamentarians thatUNESCOrsquos educational goals are sharedby allrdquo Berstecher looks in particular toplans to ldquointernationalizerdquo the Children inNeed campaign launched in Germany in1992 by Ute-Henriette Ohoven SpecialAmbassador for UNESCO She has raisedsome ten million dollars for projects help-ing street children child labourers and oth-ers around the world ldquoThe fund-raisingcomponent is obviously importantrdquo saysBerstecher ldquoBut the real value lies in de-veloping empathy for these children amongthe public at largerdquo

D o s s i e r

GETTING DOWN TO BASICSBasic education heads back to its roots with communities of all kinds taking the lead in shapingnew projects suited to their particular learning goals

I t doesnrsquot make sense Even the WorldBank is extolling the socio-economic vir-

tues of basic education Yet the rate of re-turn rallies little enthusiasm where it shouldmean most namely rural Africa The rea-son the development wizards have forgot-ten a golden rule - demand precedes supply

ldquoInstead of teaching kids practicalthings curriculum is based on the assump-tion that they are going to continue theirstudies which is rarely the case So whenit comes time to buy the school uniformsor do without their kidsrsquo help at home or inthe fields parents feel the costs of educa-tion while the benefits are far from cer-tainrdquo says Aicha Bah Diallo director ofUNESCOrsquos Basic Education DivisionldquoAnd even if the kids do go to school theyusually abandon the manual labour of theirparents and end up leaving the village tolook for work in the cityrdquo

In short the need for education isnrsquotenough to get the job done The lsquoproductrsquohas to meet local demand - which meansno foreign imports With a budget of $13mand an expected $405m in extrabudget-ary sources the next biennium will seeUNESCOrsquos basic education programmeschange gears as local communities call theeducational shots

THREATENEDWomenrsquos education is a case in point Pastschemes often polarize the community Ex-perts lsquosellrsquo women on their need for literacybut leave them to convince their husbandsmany of whom feel threatened by the pros-pect of their wives learning something newldquoFirst there has to be a minimum of sup-portrdquo says Bah Diallo ldquoWomen need toset up a community well and a forest so theydonrsquot have to spend the day finding waterand firewood for their families How elsecan they have the time or interest to studyrdquosays Bah Diallo ldquoWhen theyrsquore ready theyrsquolldecide on how to proceed Separate classesfor men and women They both deciderdquo

The possibilities may be endless butthe point of departure is always the sameindigenous knowledge language and cul-ture So for example a new literacy andskills training package developed in Cen-tral America comes complete with just afew written words Instead picture books

and cassettes offer lessons in pottery orfurniture-making At the community levelldquoliteracy means more than just the abilityto handle symbol systemsrdquo says Jan Visserof the Learning Without Frontiers Coordi-nation Unit ldquoItrsquos about fluency in relating

to your environment We used to think thatthe ability to read and to write was a pre-requisite for learning In fact it can be aconsequencerdquo

Perhaps the most striking illustrationsof how UNESCO is trying to meet basiclearning needs lie with a new series ofyouth projects in places as diverse as HaitiEritrea India and Georgia ldquoItrsquos an explo-sive situationrdquo says Dieter Berstecher di-rector of the Global Action Programme onEducation for All ldquoWe can no longer af-ford to portray conventional school mod-els as a valid response to the educationalneeds of millions of unemployed andmarginalized urban youth Wersquore helpingthese young people to link learning withearning and get a solid foothold in the in-formal economyrdquo

About two years ago a group of youngpeople got together in Aeroporto a slumin Mozambiquersquos capital Maputo ldquoTheyformed an association to organize culturaland educational activities for the kids inthe community but they didnrsquot have themoney or know-how to proceedrdquo says

P I C T U R E S B E F O R E W O R D S W I T HT H E N E W ldquo C R E A T I O N rdquo K I T

RESOURCES AND PERSONNEL 1998-1999

THE ldquoREGULARrdquo BUDGET 77 DIRECTLY TO PROJECTS

F A C T S I N F I G U R E S

From present indications the next General Conference will decide on further cuts to UNESCOsfinances and personnel There remains one wildcard in the pack though will the financial contribution

This graph shows the proposed breakdownof the ldquoregularrdquo budget comprising oblig-atory contributions from Member Statesfor 1998-1999

The lionrsquos share of this 77 will di-rectly finance UNESCOrsquos activities withthe remaining 24 earmarked for ldquogeneralpolicy and directionrdquo (services of the Di-rectorate the General Conference and theExecutive Board) building maintenanceand security and general administration

Of the share allocated to activities - orldquoprogrammerdquo in UNESCOrsquos jargon - 13will be used to support implementationincluding relations with Member Statesand various other organizations The rest(64) will be divided up between the var-ious sectors with priority given to educa-tion then the natural sciences culturecommunication and information and thesocial and human sciences A significantnewcomer on this graph is the Culture ofPeace Programme which commands 34of the total budget

Two types of information are presentedhere both calculated at a constant dollarrate (base year 1971-1972) to account forinflation The black columns show thepercentage increase or decrease ofUNESCOrsquos ldquoregularrdquo budget from onetwo-year budgetary cycle to the next Thered line shows the evolution of the Organ-izationrsquos purchasing power

On this basis the reference budgetthus starts at $91m climbs to $119m in1984-1985 and then plummets after thewithdrawal of the United States the UnitedKingdom and Singapore In 1998-1999and despite continuing debate (see p 3) afurther drop of 16 is plausible In realterms this means that UNESCOrsquos budgetwill round out to $845m - markedly lessthan its budget of 25 years ago

THE ldquoREGULARrdquo BUDGET NEGATIVE GROWTH

THE EVO LUT ION OF THE R EGULAR BUDGE T I N R EA L T ERMS S I NCE 1971 -72

THE PROPOSED BREAKDOWN OF THE R EGULAR BUDGE T FOR 1998 -1999

7172 7374 7576 7778 7980 8183 8485 8687 8889 9091 9293 9495 9697 9899

Millions of $

47 4153 58

Educating for aSustainable Future09

Social amp Human Sciences 45

Gen policy anddirection 71

Maintenance amp Security 62 Diverse 03

Education199

NaturalSciences 119

Culture 8

CommunicationInformation

amp Informatics 57

Transverseactivities 83

(includingParticipation

Programme 46)

Capitalexpenditure 03

Administration 89

Culture of Peace 34

1998-99

Info anddisseminationservices 44

Programme support 102

THE DOWNWARD SLIDE SET TO CONTINUE UNLESS

ldquoEXTRA-BUDGETARYrdquo RESOURCES SHRINKING

PERSONNEL THE CUTS CONTINUE

The above data comes from UNESCOrsquos Bureau ofthe Budget The data for 1998-99 is based onproposals made in April 1997 The Director-General gradually adjusts the figures taking intoaccount the budget debates in the Executive Boardand the General Conference - which must approvethe final documentInfography A Darmon

ldquoEX TRA - BUDGE TARYrdquo R ESOURCES FROM 1971 T O 1999 ( ES T IMAT E )

E VO LUT ION OF THE NUMBER OF POSTS F I NANCED THROUGH THE ldquoR EGULARrdquo BUDGE TAND THE R E L A T I V E WE IGHT OF S T A F F COSTS ( ES T IMAT E )

The evolution of the number of staff posi-tions financed by the ldquoregularrdquo budgetsince 1971-72 (in red) has gone the sameway as the Organizationrsquos budget Thus itwill continue to slide of the 2153 posi-tions in 1996-97 2145 will remain for1998-99

This graph also illustrates the percent-age of staff costs on the total draft budget(ie the ldquoregularrdquo budget plus ldquoextra-budg-etaryrdquo resources) This percentage repre-sents just over a third of this sum

In addition to its ldquoregularrdquo budgetUNESCO relies on ldquoextra-budgetaryrdquo re-sources contributed on a voluntary basisprimarily by the Organizationrsquos major part-ners within the United Nations system andMember States (generally industrializedcountries helping to finance projects in theThird World) These latter supply the bulkof funds for the Special Accounts whichare opened to finance long-term activitiesmanaged by intergovernmental commit-tees as well as Funds-in-Trust designedto finance a specific project to be carriedout over a given period and Self-benefit-ing Funds through which a State can fi-nance a specific project Associated expertsare ldquoloanedrdquo to UNESCO by Member Stateswho also finance their positions

The red line traces the evolution in realterms of extra-budgetary resources since1971-72 The pie chart indicates the pro-posed breakdown for the coming bienni-um As with public development aid theseresources are shrinking

of the newly rejoined United Kingdom be used mainly to boost the Organizations resourcesor to lighten the obligations of the other Member States

1974 1976 1978 1980 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999

1998-99

Number of approved posts

Other costs611

Staff costs389

1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 199940

1401998-99

Special Accounts 20 Self-benefiting Funds 6

Funds-in-Trust36

UNFPA 6

UNDP 16Millions of $

Associate Experts 4

Regional banks 4World Bank 3Other UN sources 5

F O C U S

D o s s i e r

WHEN THE CREATIVE JUICES FLOWItrsquos time to open the floodgates of imagination in sharing up cultural identity and diversityagainst the pummelling tides of globalization

We are shifting the focus to living cul-tures because we need great creativ-

ity to rebuild societies for this new globalagerdquo Achieving this says Lourdes Arizpeanthropologist and UNESCOrsquos assistantdirector-general for culture means usingtraditional culture to create the new Itmeans recognizing the skills and knowledgeof elders and teaching them to young peo-ple who can then move in their own direc-tions It means safeguarding world heritagebut breathing new life and purpose into it

Banking on the two pillars of conser-vation and creativity the culture sectorrsquosoverarching goal is to encourage respectfor cultural diversity through interculturaldialogue within a framework of global val-ues and ethics Globalization will onlyprivilege a cosmopolitan elite says Arizpeunless greater creativity is allowed in gov-ernance in building a new sociality and inredefining the ways different cultures livetogether

C U LT U R A L J I G S AW SldquoPresent economic development modelsdonrsquot reflect cultural diversity - or offerenough choice Too many constraints limitpeoplersquos potential The result is joblessnessand a falling back on old identities whichwere adapted to a different historical situ-ationrdquo Arizpe warns ldquoIndividuals wantto identify through their cultural differencesbut with various groups with their tradi-tional community but also with a micro-re-gion perhaps with an urban neighbour-hood with a nation with a macro-cultureand also with the world as civil societyThe result at present is a wild-west typescramble for new territories creating ahuge jigsaw puzzle of cultural bargainingWhere leaders have deliberately fosteredthe freezing of cultural boundaries as inex-Yugoslavia We need fluid boundariesletting creativity flow

ldquoPromoting such movement is the aimof programmes such as Living HumanTreasures which will help governments setup a scholarship system to enable mastersin arts and crafts whose skills risk dyingout with them to pass their knowledge onto the young who in turn will build uponitrdquo This system originated in Japan in 1950and was then picked up by Korea the

Philippines Thailand and more recentlyRomania and France UNESCO has invitedall of its member states to follow suit andprovided them with guidelines for selec-tion criteria and support mechanisms

The main message to governments isthat culture must be fully integrated intonational development This means adapt-ing economic needs to peoplersquos cultural vi-sions of a good life It also requires policyguidelines legislation and strategies to fos-ter a coordinated approach among nationalinstitutions such as those dealing with artand culture crafts tourism antiquities aswell as educational planning and develop-ment while taking into account the long-term interests of local communities

ldquo Itrsquos a message that UNESCO has beenshaping over the past ten years and whichis now bearing fruitrdquo says MounirBouchenaki director of the division ofphysical heritage ldquoThe big lending insti-tutions are providing substantial backing

particularly for the revitalization of his-toric city centres on which we are nowfocusing the museum-city belongs to thepast the best way to safeguard these placesis to improve conditions there so that resi-dents merchants and artists will stay onand making sure that these people are in-volved in development and conservationrdquo

In this sense the Laotian city of LuangPrabang serves as a model of its kindWithits 33 temples and elegant but dilapidatedwooden homes and buildings that togetherrepresent a remarkable example of

vernacular architecture the royal city wasinscribed on UNESCOrsquos World HeritageList in December 1995 It pulls 30 of in-ternational visitors whose numbersclimbed from 14400 in 1990 to 403000in 1996 To help safeguard the city andensure its urban and economic develop-ment UNESCO has set up a lsquocitizenrsquos ad-visory centrersquo known as Heritage House

ldquoItrsquos run by the Local Heritage Com-mittee with support from the national gov-ernment and funding from several interna-tional governmental and non-governmen-tal organizationsrdquo explains Mingja Yangof UNESCOrsquos World Heritage Centre ldquoItprovides financial aid and architecturaladvice training for tradespeople to revivethe use of traditional building materialsand advice to potential investors in thetourism sector on how to develop withoutdestroying Itrsquos a hands-on holistic approachthat draws in all actors and is geared to thesitersquos sustainable developmentrdquo

The sector has a budget of $433m mil-lion dollars for the coming biennium andis expecting another $325m in extra-budg-etary funds But as Arizpe insistsldquoit is lo-cal forces that can and must shape the glo-bal ones in a way that empowers peopleand stops the polarization we are now see-ing between rich and poor and allows cul-tures to flow as they have always doneCreativity and a myriad of lsquocultural trans-actionsrsquo are the keysrdquo

ldquo L I V I N GH U M A NT R E A S U R E rdquoF R O M J A P A N( P h o t o copyF r a n c i sG i o c o b e t t i P L A N E T )

F O C U S

D o s s i e r

WHEN THE WELL RUNS DRYWith a water crisis looming the International Hydrological Programme launches a two-prongedattack conservation and negotiation

About 70 of the earth is covered inwater and yet the lsquoblue planet lsquomay

be a mirage Of the earthrsquos total water massjust 23 is freshwater And most of that islocked deep and frozen in Antarctica andGreenland leaving a meagre 0007 of thetotal to meet the soaring demand whichgrew at twice the rate of population growthin the past century Expect a crisis in thenext 50 years if living standards improveand more people in the developing worldopt for the lifestyle so highly prized in in-dustrialized countries

ldquoWe cannot hope to evade the law ofdiminishing returns simply by the applica-tion of more technologyrdquo said UNESCOrsquosDirector-General Federico Mayor at theWorld Water Forum held last March inMarrakech (Morocco) ldquoThe challengeposed by the water crisis is ultimately oneof values We need to promote a new atti-tude to water - I would go so far as to speakof a new water ethicrdquo

POLLUTERS PAYSuch an ethic would mean getting peopleto value the resource so often squanderedClearly this involves policy changes so thata fair price is paid for quantities used whilealso applying the Polluter Pays PrincipleBut the purse-strings can only go so farGetting at the heart of the matter requireseducation which is why the floodlights areon UNESCOrsquos International HydrologicalProgramme (IHP) the only science andeducation programme in the UN systemdevoted to freshwater problems The IHPhas a budget of $283m for the comingbienniumrsquos activities which will focus no-tably on three themes groundwater degra-dation management strategies for arid andsemi-arid zones in addition to those foremergencies and conflicts

One third of the worldrsquos population de-pends upon groundwater Yet aquifers arebeing pumped out faster than they can bereplenished by rain and melting snow Pol-lution complicates matters as groundwatersare particularly difficult to clean up becauseof their generally slow flow and renewalrates While industrial chemical com-pounds seep into aquifers agriculturalpractices provide a steady stream of inor-ganic constituents like nitrate sulphate and

selenium High nitrate levels in drinkingwater can be particularly dangerous forinfants by decreasing the oxygen-carryingcapacity of haemoglobin in blood Accord-ing to a recent UN study it will likely beone of the decadersquos most pressing waterquality problems in Europe and NorthAmerica while seriously affecting coun-tries like India and Brazil

IHP national committees are meetingin workshops and seminars to harmonizetheir methodologies in formulating re-gional inventories of groundwater contami-nation The pressure is also on to set up anearly warning system with more than fivemillion people dying each year from wa-ter-related diseases according to the WorldHealth Organization

Water - a source of life death - andwhy not cooperation ldquoHere we see how ascience programme can make politicsrdquosays Janos Bogardi IHP education officerTo begin with efficient management wouldconsiderably reduce tension particularly inarid and semi-arid zones where limitedwater resources and generally high popu-lation growth rates make for an explosivecombination Crop yields are already lowerthan they might be because of soilsalinization caused by inadequate drainagesystems While seeking to better under-stand the hydrological process in thesezones the IHP will concentrate on conser-vation techniques with technical reportsregional cooperative arrangements and apublic awareness campaign

The IHP is also charting new politicalwaters with flagships like the Water andCivilization project The aim is to ldquofire upthe imaginationrdquo says Bogardi in recog-nizing that conflicts usually have a strongcultural component stemming from the dif-ferent perceptions of the value of waterWorkshops case-studies and even compu-ter programmes will focus on negotiations

and water management in the Middle EastSouth East Asia and the Danube region

Itrsquos all part of a plan for an internationalwater convention - an ambitious goal con-sidering that some countries refuse to evenexchange hydrological data in the name ofnational security With bilateral agreementsalready so difficult to broker why take onthe hornetrsquos nest of a multilateral conven-tion Quite simply ldquowater flows donrsquot re-spect bilateral boundariesrdquo explainsAdnan Badran UNESCOrsquos Deputy Direc-tor-General ldquoAccess to water is a humanright So we need a convention to providefor the basic principle of cooperation toensure equitable sharingrdquo Badran foreseesa treaty laying down foundations for rec-onciling water conflicts with an interna-tional tribunal ultimately having the lastsay ldquoItrsquos only an idea at this pointrdquo saysBadran ldquoBut hopefully the IHP can be aspearhead in this direction by closely col-laborating with other organizations TheLaw of the Sea was far more difficult tonegotiate and yet we saw it throughrdquo

S Q U A N D E R E D I NS O M E C O U N -T R I E S S C R I M P E D A N DS AV E D I NO T H E R S( P h o t o copyH O A Q U I Z i m b a r d o )

F O C U S

D o s s i e r

COASTING TO HOLISMBy linking up culture with the natural and social sciences researchers and local communitiescan help find a sustainable equilibrium for coastal cities

Coastal regions and small islands are ex-traordinarily complex centres of all

kinds of activity These mosaics of human-ity are home to 60 of the planetrsquos popu-lation if you define coastal as extending60 km inland This will probably grow to75 by the year 2005 due to a combina-tion of population growth migration andurbanization Sixteen of the worldrsquos 23cities with more than 25 million inhabit-ants are by the shore as is a large part ofthe most varied and productive ecosystemsvital to feeding the Earthrsquos people

ldquo Everything overlapsrdquo says AliceAureacuteli of the Division of water sciencesldquoproblems like water management and pol-lution fishing coastal erosion tourismpreservation of old buildings and survivalof local craftsrdquo

For example if people dump rubbishand dirty water into the sea the fish dieand stocks fall Fishers then have to bemuch more aggressive towards the envi-ronment like using dynamite This in turndestroys coral reefs and thus their abilityto serve as breakers against the waveswhich then reach the shore with full forceand cause erosion

Traditional housing and seashore ho-tels get damaged and a town loses its abil-ity to pull tourists and thus part of its re-sources As a result it has even less moneythan before to invest in waste disposal andwater treatment

Such interlocking problems clearlycannot be tackled by one-off or purely tech-nical solutions So experts from diversefields - hydrologists geologists biologists

ecologists sociologists and architects - arestarting to learn to do what they are leastgood at - working together

ldquoTherersquos no tradition in internationalorganizations or universities of linking upnatural and social sciences and culturerdquoadmits Dirk Troost who coordinates theinitiative entitled Environment and Devel-opment in Coastal Regions and in SmallIslands (CSI)

As French university teacher Mary-vonne Bodiguel explains ldquoitrsquos the mosttricky thing to bring about as so many

disciplines are shut off in their own meth-ods terminology and images when it comesto making decisions But the effort shouldbe made to break out of this when multi-sectoral management is called forrdquo

This is being done at UNESCO whichsince last year has been promoting inte-grated coastal management ldquoScientificknowledge is predominately a Western con-structrdquo explains Kenneth Ruddle profes-sor at Kwansei Gakuin University in Ja-pan It is ldquobased on often narrow divisionsamong disciplines in contrast to other greattraditions based on holismrdquo Ruddle saysthose taking part in the CSI should not justwork together but also open up to the skillsand experience of local people in their questfor this vision ldquoAmong fishers in coastal-marine societies for example such knowl-edge combines empirical information onfish behaviour marine physical environ-ments and fish habitats and the inter-actions among the components of ecosys-tems to ensure regular catches and oftenlong-term resource sustainmentrdquo

This ldquointegratedrdquo approach will be ap-plied first to four areas - freshwater man-agement support for coastal communitieswho depend on preservation of biologicaldiversity migration to towns and qualityof the environment and the social effectsof coastal erosion and rise in sea-levels In1998-99 the programme has budgeted$175 million for field projects trainingactivities and above all to strengthen linksbetween groups of researchers and userspoliticians and donors After a period ofreview and consultation the next bienniumwill be a test for the CSI ldquoeven if it takesthree or four years before we see mean-ingful resultsrdquo says Troost The aim willbe to show the viability of the idea througha series of pilot projects so as to increasethe number of participants and find furtherfunding

Things seem to be working out well at thefirst target of the programme - the medina(old quarter) of the Moroccan town ofEssaouira The townrsquos 80000 inhabitantsmake it the countryrsquos third biggest fishingport The threat to the medina comes fromoverburdening water resources by exces-sive use and pollution seepage of salt wa-ter into the water table through over-pump-ing as well as coastal erosion and a crum-bling and inadequate infrastructure ldquoItrsquos abit of a test caserdquo says Aureacuteli ldquoWersquorechecking out the general and multi-sectorallevel of participation but also partnershipbetween towns in rich and poor countriesbased on present cultural links

ldquoAfter a request for UNESCO interven-tion from the mayor of Essaouira we wentto St Malo in France because the twotowns are similar Essaouira was built bya disciple of the architect Vauban whobuilt St Malo They have the same prob-lems of erosion of the city walls and pres-sure from tourists on the water supply

ldquoMunicipalities can no longer expectthe government or international organiza-tions to solve all their problems so theyhave to draw on their own resources ButUNESCO doesnrsquot want to be their mothertelling them how to run the show We justwant to serve as a liaisonrdquo

A T E S T C A S E

S E T T I N G O F FO N A N E W

T R A C K I NE S S A O U I R A( P h o t o copyA l l R i g h t s

R e s e r v e d )

P L A N E T

C o m m u n i c a t i o n

LIVE WISE TO SURVIVECommunity radio makes waves deep in Surinamersquos jungle

ldquoUn weki no Dan fa un weki dan Wekitaangaa taangaardquo This is good morningin the Saramacan language ldquoAnd how didyou wake uprdquo And then ldquoI woke upstrong-strongrdquo This exchange can be heardall morning throughout Gunsi a villagedeep in Surinamersquos jungle with 350 inhab-itants

Most of the women are off to grow cas-sava sweet potatoes yams and bananasPlanting maintenance harvesting is alldone by the women who carry the heavybundles they reap on their heads back tothe village where electricity and telephonesare but a pipe-dream They also look aftertheir children and domestic chores Themen hunt and fish

Increasingly dissatisfied with their lotthe women want tasks shared more equallyand their rights - to contraception for ex-ample - respected The men accuse themof violating traditions

Banking on their solidarity the womenset up an association called Koni ku Libi(ldquo live wise to surviverdquo) via which they aremaking steady headway

ldquoWomen are the heart of the interiorrdquosays Trees Majana 28 the associationrsquoschairperson whose top priority is empow-erment for which ldquoaccess to informationis crucialrdquo Thus one of their first goalswas to seek UNESCOrsquos help (with fund-ing from Germany) to launch a commu-nity radio station After a long struggleRadio Muye (ldquowomanrdquo) went on the airin March 1997 Located in a wooden shedits one room houses a few self madebenches a shelf to put cassette tapes a ta-ble and batteries linked to the solar panelswhich provide the stationrsquos energy

Ritha Linga is one of the womentrained to present the daily two hours of

programmes ldquoThe transmitter was kept fora year in the capital Paramaribo becausethe government was afraid we would com-mit politics during the election period Af-ter the elections part of our equipment wasstolenrdquo But the women of Gunsi were notso easily defeated and negotiated to replacethe stolen elements get funding to trainfinish construction and put the station onair Broadcasts are in Saramacan - the lan-guage of their tribe of the same name

ldquoNot all of us can readrdquo explains an-other trainee boatsman Waldy Ajaiso ldquosothe trainer drew signs we use during thebroadcast One mouth means keep talk-ing Two mouths ask a question A musicnote stop talking and play musicrdquo

ldquoWe interview old people who tell usondro-feni tori stories from the old timesthat you can learn fromrdquo says Ritha ldquoWeread from the Bible we sing songs we haveprogrammes for children We give news

about other villages if we hear about it andif we get newspapers we speak of whattakes place in Paramaribordquo

ldquoThe radio provides the means to tellpeople about their own situation and thatin the rest of the countryrdquo says NadiaRaveles Koni ku Libirsquos vice-chairpersonldquoThrough it we can provide health andenvironmental education or talk aboutwomenrsquos domestic problems and their chil-drenrsquos schooling We can inform them aboutall kinds of choices they have in their livesrdquo

Success has been such that alreadyplans are afoot to construct a higher mastto increase the transmission range from thepresent eight kilometre radius and spreadRadio Muyersquos message further afield

Chandra van BINNENDIJKGunsi

The p r omo t i on o f a f r e e i n dependen tand p l u r a l i s t med i a and t he de f en c e o ff r e edom o f exp r e s s i on f o rm t he ba s i s o fUNESCO rsquos a c t i on i n t h e f i e l d o f i n f o r ma -t i on and c ommun i c a t i on UNESCO r e l i e sno t ab l y on t h r ee p r og rammes The INT ERNAT IONAL PROGRAMMEFOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF COM-MUNICAT ION ( I PDC ) s uppo r t s p ro j e c t ss t reng then ing the capac i t i e s and in f ra -s t ru c tu re in deve lop ing coun t r i e s Over thenex t b ienn ium i t w i l l g i ve p r io r i t y tola rge - s ca le p ro je c t s tha t have an impac ton r eg iona l and in te r- reg iona l l eve l s T he G ENERAL INFORMAT ION PRO-GRAMME ( PG I ) ha s been ex t ended t or e spond t o t h e e t h i c a l j u d i c i a l andso c i e t a l c ha l l e nge s po s ed by t h e i n f o rma -t i on h i ghway s i n a b i d t o b r oaden a c c e s st o i n f o r m a t i o n s o u r c e s T he INT ERGOVERNMENTALINFORMAT ICS PROGRAMME ( I I P )he l p s d eve l op i ng c oun t r i e s s e t up t h e i rown i n f o rma t i c s s y s t ems and a c c e s s t h eg l oba l i n f o rma t i on f l ow s t h r oughi n f o rma t i on h i ghway s Empha s i s i s p l a c edon t r a i n i ng and t he e s t ab l i s hmen t o fc ompu t e r ne two rk s l i nk i ng s c i en t i f i c e du ca t i ona l and c u l t u r a l i n s t i t u t i on s a swe l l a s hook i ng t hem up t o t h e I n t e rne t Fund i ng f o r t h e t r a i n i ng o f s pe c i a l i s t sunde r t h e s e t h r ee p r og rammes ha s beeni n c r e a s e d b y a l m o s t 4 0

A R A D I O B R E A KD U R I N G T H EH A R V E S T( P h o t o copyR R o m e n y )

UNESCO gives financial and moralsupport to the INTERNATIONALFREEDOM OF EXPRESSION EXCHANGENETWORK (IFEX) a cooperativeinitiative of several NGOs Opera-tional since September 1992 IFEX has260 subscribers (individuals andorganizations) of which 161 are fromdeveloping countries or those intransition Acting as an ldquoaction alertnetworkrdquo in the event of violations offreedom of expression and attacks onjournalists or the media it also offersa comprehensive electronic clearing-house on related issues availablethrough the Internet Lastly IFEX helpsto create regional organizationsdefending press freedom

A l l a r t i c l e s a r e f r e e o f c o p y r i g h tr e s t r i c t i o n s a n d c a n b e r e p r o d u c e d

P L A N E T

C u l t u r e o f P e a c e

A COMMON GOALMillions of Mozambiquersquos refugees are returning homewhere they must learn to live together

The PARTICIPATION PROGRAMMEwith a planned budget of almost$25m for 1998-99 is intended topromote activities of a nationalsubregional regional or interregionalcharacter It provides small grants toMember States for a range of activi-ties initiated by them such as emer-gency aid fellowships and studygrants publications equipmentconferences and meetings

Of f e r i ng hea l t h c a r e i n f o rma t i on andd rug p r even t i on edu ca t i on t o mo the r sand t he i r c h i l d r en l i v i ng i n t h eshan t y t own s o f S an t a F e (A rgen t i na ) equ i pp i ng p s y cho l og i c a l s uppo r t c en t r e sf o r c h i l d r en v i c t im i z ed by t h e wa r i nTuz l a (Bo sn i a -He r zegov i na ) c on s t r u c t i nga r ehab i l i t a t i on c en t r e f o r men ta l l yhand i c apped c h i l d r en i n I nd i a o r ap r ima ry s c hoo l i n a i n Tanzan i an v i l l a ge t h e s e a r e j u s t s ome o f t h e m in i - p r o j e c t s( abou t 80 pe r y ea r ) wh i c h t h e CO-A C T I O N P R O G R A M M E a s s i s t s f i n a n -c i a l l y by l aun ch i ng pub l i c appea l s C on t r i bu t i on s go d i r e c t l y t o t h e p r o j e c t sw i t h a l l a dm in i s t r a t i v e c o s t s bo rne byt he O rgan i za t i on

A f r i c a women you th and t he l e a s tdeve l oped c oun t r i e s ( LDC ) a r e c on s i d e r edP R I O R I T Y G R O U P S f o r w h i c h t h e r ea r e s pe c i a l p r o j e c t s T he s e i n c l ude ldquoA r i dand s em i - a r i d l and managemen t i nA f r i c a rdquo t o c omba t d e s e r t i f i c a t i on and t oimp rove ag r i c u l t u r a l p r odu c t i v i t y ldquoWomen s peak i ng t o womenrdquo t o deve l opcommun i t y r ad i o s t a t i on s d e s i gned andrun by women ldquo Enhan cemen t o f l e a rn i ngoppo r t un i t i e s f o r ma rg i na l i z ed you thrdquo t oo f f e r a s e c ond c han ce t o a c qu i r e ba s i cedu ca t i on and s k i l l s t r a i n i ng ldquo Edu ca t i onpo l i c y r e f o rm i n t h e LDC s rdquo t o f i gh taga i n s t pove r t y and ex c l u s i on w i t h i n t h edeve l opmen t p r o c e s s

Some countries are doomed by historyMozambique was colonized by force andblood economically exploited and was thenthe site of Africarsquos fiercest war of libera-tion Next hundreds of thousands died in acivil war and millions more fled into exileabroad or inside the country itself

Mozambique one of the two or threepoorest countries on earth has not just beensucked dry the wounds of some 30 yearsof war are still gaping

The far northwestern town of Chiputois one example of many The rains cut itoff from the rest of the country for six

months of the year Half of its 15000 in-habitants nearly all peasants fled ldquoWe leftpoor and empty-handed and we returnedeven poorer than beforerdquo says one of themAlvaro Joseacute

In Zambia these refugees often gottraining in cattle-raising and agriculture andwere taught to read in English (Mozam-biquersquos official language is Portuguese) InMalawi and Zimbabwe they languished incamps and lived off international charity

The internally-displaced people livingin areas controlled by one or other of thewarring factions were most affectedldquoThey lost everythingrdquo says NoelChicuecue a member of UNESCOrsquos Cul-ture of Peace team in Mozambique Theyalso ldquosee the refugees abroad as privilegedpeoplerdquo because of the emergency reset-tlement help they received from the UNHigh Commissioner for Refugees

UNESCO took over in Chiputo in 1995as well as in three other towns It wants to

bring about ldquolasting reintegrationrdquo or away of living side by side which is sociallyharmonious economically viable and eco-logically clean ldquoDifferent paths can beenriching if all efforts are directed to thesame goal but divisive if each group em-phasizes their differencesrdquo saysChicuecue

This common aim is slowly takingshape Two teachers try to educate 652 chil-dren in one primary school The supervi-sors of the future adult literacy campaignare already trained A sports ground a com-munity development centre a secondary

school - to avoid the crippling costs of go-ing to school in the provincial capital250 km away - are planned

A community radio with a range of sixkms is also envisaged because says VernizGimo locally in charge of the projectldquolack of communication has always beenthe main source of misunderstanding be-tween peoplerdquo

That is the invisible key These educa-tional development and communicationsmeasures are not an end in themselvesThey are also a means according toUNESCOrsquos representative in MozambiqueLuis Tiburcio of ldquorepairing a badly tornsocial fabric by going to the roots of thedivision and discord

ldquoThese community-run projects unitedaround basic values such as equity soli-darity and tolerance help people gain theself-confidence without which nothing last-ing can be builtrdquo

P A C K I N G B A G SF O R T H EJ O U R N E YH O M E( P h o t oU N H C R L T a y l o r )

P L A N E T

The s u c c e s s o f t h e S i l k Road s p r o j e c t ha sl e d U N E S C O t o o p e n n e w s p a c e s o fd i a l ogue be tween c u l t u r e s and c i v i l i z a -t i on s w i t h t h e S LAVE ROUTE amu l t i d i s c i p l i n a r y s t udy o f t h e h i s t o r y o f

t h i s n e f a r i ou s t r ade t o imp rove know l -edge o f i t s c u l t u r a l s o c i a l and r e l i g i ou simpa c t and t o p r omo te t h e c ommonhe r i t age be tween t he peop l e s o f A f r i c aand La t i n Amer i c a and t he Ca r i bbeanno t ab l y t h r ough t he Go reacutee Memor i a lp r o j e c t i n S enega l and by r e s t o r i ng andp romo t i ng o t he r museums l i nk i ng t heROUTES OF FA I TH and t ho s e o f AL -ANDALUS t h e p r o j e c t ldquo Sp i r i t ua lc onve rgen ce and i n t e r c u l t u r a l d i a l oguerdquow i l l h i gh l i gh t t h e c omp l ex p r o c e s s o fi n t e r a c t i on be tween Juda i sm Ch r i s t i an i t yand I s l am a s we l l a s t ha t b e tween t hepeop l e s o f Eu r ope t h e A rab Wo r l d andsub - Saha ran A f r i c a t h e I RON ROADw i l l p r omo te a be t t e r unde r s t and i ng o ft he r o l e o f i r on i n t h e s t r u c t u r e o ft r ad i t i ona l and mode rn A f r i c an s o c i e t i e s

G O R Eacute E S L AV E H O U S E( P h o t o U N E S C O B o i s s o n n e t )

The UNISPAR programme aims toreinforce the partnership betweenuniversities and industry In 1998-1999 the emphasis will be oncreating UNESCO chairs in engineer-ing at universities in developingcountries with sponsorship and partialfinancing provided by the privatesector of industrialized countriesJapanese companies like MitsubishiHeavy Industries Ltd and Toyota MotorCorporation have already agreed toparticipate in setting up five chairseach notably in China Viet NamThailand and Indonesia

ONE STEP AT A TIMEA Culture of Peace centre in Burundi creates new opportunitiesfor dialogueThe many-windowed UNESCO building onAvenue Luxembourg in the heart of theBurundian capital Bujumbura looks mod-est Even more modest is the team of fivepeople working - seemingly against theodds - to promote UNESCOrsquos Culture ofPeace programme in a country where somany have so tragically died

Yet three years after it was built in thewake of the killings set off by the October1993 assassination of democratically-elected President Melchior Ndadaye theUNESCO centre is still there ldquoItrsquos also ameeting place for youth organizationsUNESCO clubs journalists and leadingpersonalities of different political persua-sionsrdquo says Edouard Matoko of theUNESCO team ldquoBut what it does most ofall is promote educationrdquo

The main target is young people Likethe rest of the society they too are rivenby the ethnic hatreds which have smashedBurundi into a thousand districts and hillsSo it is urgent to restore opportunities fordialogue In September 1996 and April

1997 two festivals for peace brought to-gether Hutu Tutsi and Twa children ldquoChil-dren from different surroundings and re-gions found out what it was like to live to-getherrdquo says Matoko ldquoOur staff who havealready been ambushed twice cannot workin the far north the south or the westrdquo

ldquoAfter 1993 the pupils brought the vio-lence in their neighbourhoods into theclassroomrdquo says Matoko of the secondaryschools - few of which escaped theldquobalkanizationrdquo of the country So it wasdecided to visit schools in Bujumbura

gather the pupils together and ask them toexpress their feelings about the violencethey were experiencing or perpetrating and totry to think about what might be causing it

But since the fighting has meant con-siderable loss of schooling in a countrywhere secondary school attendance wasonly seven percent in 1992 efforts to pro-vide education must reach beyond the class-room To reach the children - some of themin militia groups - the UNESCO team fo-cuses on community leaders A hundred andtwenty of them met in May 1996 for train-ing in reconstruction methods

The UNESCO centre is also workingwith the Burundian authorities to reviseschool programmes ldquoThis is taking placeamidst a spirited debate about the countryrsquoshistoryrdquo explains Matoko ldquoThe curriculahide all kinds of things like the reasons forone tribe dominating another and wholesections of the colonial period The notionsof tolerance and human rights donrsquot makeit into the classroom doorrdquo The new manualexpected at the end of 1998 will be used in

civic education Up until recently ldquochildrendidnrsquot learn much more than what the na-tional flag was and how to sing the nationalanthem and the partyrsquos official songrdquo

All these measures which together area like a piece of delicate fabric woven threadby thread have been carried out but theireffect is still hard to judge ldquoWersquove noticeda sharp fall in violence in schools this yearrdquoMatoko says ldquobut have we been responsi-ble for that Itrsquos difficult to say becausethe political situation has stabilized some-whatrdquo

A T A F E S T I V A LK I D S S E E F O RT H E M S E LV E ST H A T T H E Y C A NL I V E T O G E T H E R( P h o t o copyA l l R i g h t sR e s e r v e d )

P L A N E T

L i t e r a c y

A STEADY COURSEIn Namibia literacy for adults is seen as a key to surmountingthe legacy of apartheid

I naugu ra t ed i n Mo s cow i n ea r l y 1997 onan expe r imen ta l ba s i s t h e I n s t i t u t e f o rIN FORMAT ION T ECHNOLOG I ES INEDUCAT ION s hou l d beg i n ope ra t i ng i n1 9 9 8 Ma j o r a c t i v i t i e s i n c l ude p r omo t i ng t h eco l l e c t i on ana l y s i s d i s s em ina t i on andex change o f i n f o rma t i on i n t h i s f i e l da round t he wo r l d and o rgan i z i ng p r eand i n - s e r v i c e t r a i n i ng i n c l ud i ng openand d i s t an c e edu ca t i on pa r t i c u l a r l y f o rt ea ch i ng pe r s onne l i n d eve l op i ngcoun t r i e s and t ho s e i n t r an s i t i o n The I n s t i t u t e i s expe c t ed t o r e c e i v e ana l l o c a t i on o f one m i l l i o n do l l a r s f o r i t sf i r s t two yea r s o f f un c t i on i ng

A World Linguistic Atlas will be drawnup in 1998-1999 through theLINGUAPAX project promotinglinguistic diversity and plurilingualismin educational curricula (teaching ofmother tongues and of national andforeign languages)The atlas will present a panorama ofour linguistic wealth before examiningthe conflicts and problems affectingendangered languages It will also

( P h o t o U N E S C O D o m i n i q u e R o g e r )

At lunch time every Monday the front pewsin the chapel at Windhoekrsquos Katutura Hos-pital are the preserve of a group of middle-aged women Clad in pink they could passfor a Christian fraternity at prayer for thesick In fact they are hospital cleaners dedi-cated to improving their educational lot

The 20 odd women and one man jointhe ranks of about 75000 adults who haveenrolled in the National Literacy Pro-gramme in Namibia (NLPN) since itrsquos startin 1992 Before independence in 1990 thefew literacy courses available in the coun-try were run by the churches Today lit-eracy is a national priority with two to threepercent of the annual education budget in-vested in relevant courses and adult edu-cation

Experienced in running programmes in ex-ile ldquothe new (SWAPO) leadership was con-vinced that without near-universal literacyit would be impossible for the people ofNamibia to reform the economic social andpolitical structures that constituted thelegacy of apartheidrdquo says Prof H S Bholaa UNESCO consultant who evaluated theNLPN in 1995 President Sam Nujoma him-self inaugurated the programme ldquoI will notdeny that many things can be done by peo-ple who are not literaterdquo he said ldquoBut al-most anything can be done better by peo-ple who are literaterdquo

With little reliable data available theNLPN started on the assumption that theliteracy rate was between 40 and 30explains Julia Namene a senior educationofficer Adjustments were in store how-ever when results of the National Censusof 1990-1991 put the rate at 65 of thoseaged 15 and above Now the goal is toreach 80 by the year 2000

With international assistance primarilyprovided by Sweden the Netherlands andUNICEF the core programme consists ofthree year-long stages The first focuses onthe ldquolearnersrsquordquo mother tongue and basicnumeracy while the second reinforcesthese skills before moving into the laststage in English

In the last five years enrolment has al-most tripled with 75000 of the countryrsquos290000 illiterates taking part Every year

a vigorous recruitment campaign takes offduring National Literacy Week September1 to 8 With life relatively calm after theharvests rural areas are the main targetwith posters and media announcementstrumpeting the benefits of education

Enthusiasm usually starts high withlarge numbers flocking to classes The statepays the teachersrsquo salaries while also pro-viding students with exercise and text-books pencils and erasers The initial en-ergy tends to ebb as farm work picks upbut the average drop-out rate is relativelylow at 30 according to Canner Kalimbathe Director of Basic Education Moreover55 of the learners pass their final exams

At the Katutura Hospital class answersto the teacherrsquos questions are brisk if notentirely correct Mariam Ndameshime a 54year-old mother of eight and hospitalcleaner is particularly earnest She speaksfluent English and writes out her nameflawlessly ldquoI want to go deeper into Eng-lishrdquo she says when asked why she both-ered to take the literacy classes ldquoI see thatI have improvedrdquo

While the courses will certainly add toher social standing Mariam has more ambi-tious plans convinced that English will helpher learn a skill for self-employment whenshe retires She has already bought a knittingmachine to try and make some money athome The problem is that she cannot fullyunderstand the English instruction manual

Confidence-building plays a key role in thecourses with many adults feeling shy orembarrassed at the idea of beginning theirstudies at this stage in life Teachers are alsocareful not to treat their students like school-children But Kalimba points to a morestriking problem the gender imbalance Sheestimates that more than 70 of the stu-dents are women while some believe therate could be higher

In informal surveys women in ruralareas repeatedly insist that the men whohave not left to work in the cities are eithertoo proud to sit in the same class as womenor are simply not interested in improvingtheir lot A deeper look reveals somethingmore ldquoWe found that our materials were gen-der-biasedrdquo admits Kalimba suggesting that

propose teaching tools for theirsafekeepingThe project aims to further promotelanguage teaching for disadvantagedgroups in plurilingual countries inAfrica Asia Latin and CentralAmerica

D O I N G I T B E T T E R

B U T W H E R E A R E T H E M E N

P L A N E T

L i t e r a c y

I n edu ca t i ona l a rea s UNESCO rsquos wo rk i sunde rp i nned by t h r ee i n s t i t u t e s wo rk i ngi n t h e f i e l d

T he INT ERNAT IONAL BUREAU OFEDUCAT ION ( I B E ) i n Geneva ( Sw i t z e r-l and ) s e r ve s a s an ob s e r va t o r y o fs t r u c t u r e s c on t en t s and me thod s o fedu ca t i on I t i s i n t h e p r o c e s s o fr eo r i en t i ng i t s p r i o r i t i e s t o b e come ani n t e rna t i ona l r e f e r en c e c en t r e p r ov i d i ngcompa ra t i v e i n f o rma t i on on t he e vo l u t i ono f edu ca t i on s y s t ems and po l i c yPa r t i c u l a r empha s i s w i l l b e p l a c ed onc i v i c e du ca t i on v a l ue s edu ca t i on andedu ca t i on f o r p ea c e human r i gh t s anddemoc ra cy

The UNESCO INT ERNAT IONAL INST I -TUTE FOR EDUCAT IONAL P LANN ING( I I EP ) i n Pa r i s p r ov i de s t r a i n i ng f o redu ca t i on p l anne r s and adm in i s t r a t o r s a ttwo s e s s i on s ea ch yea r and o r gan i z e ss h o r t r e g i o n a l a n d s u b r e g i o n a l c o u r s e sf o r e d u c a t o r s i n d e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e sa s w e l l a s t r a i n i n g s e m i n a r s f o rr e s e a r c h e r s

T he UNESCO INST I TUTE FOR EDUCA-T ION (U I E ) i n Hambu rg (Ge rmany ) i sa r e s ea r ch c en t r e s pe c i a l i z i ng i n l i f e l ongedu ca t i on I t i s r e s pon s i b l e f o r f o l l ow -upt o t h e I n t e rna t i ona l C on f e r en c e on Adu l tE du ca t i on h e l d i n J u l y 1997

The 63 UNESCO FIELD UNITS werecreated to better link the Organizationto its Member States They make up avital information and liaison networkserve to advise Member States andcoordinate activities between interna-tional organizations and NGOsThey are increasingly called upon toimplement multisectoral activitiesHence the proposal that 332 of theOrganizationrsquos budget for programmeexecution be decentralized to thissector in order to further improvetheir response to the most pressingneeds of Member States and theregion they serve

subjects like home economics may discour-age men who are generally raised to be-lieve these are womenrsquos concerns Theopposite is true for women who value theclasses all the more

With a special workshop organized inlate 1996 the staff are working to makethe materials more responsive to menrsquosinterests But that is not enough Men andwomen have special and sometimes con-flicting needs according to the officialsresponsible for the Draft Policy Guidelinesfor the NLPNrsquos Second Phase (1996-2000)They recommend that ldquowhen possible andappropriate separate classes and differ-ent timetables for women and men shouldbe arranged considering the concerns ofeach group Special classes for young men

between 15 and 20 with supplementarythemes or materials of interest to them maybe a way of helping them overcome theirshynessrdquo

Skills training may be another way ofkeeping everyone interested The govern-ment has tried before to link the literacycampaign to income generating projectslike learning to run a communal bakeryDespite good intentions the effort was onthe whole a failure The projects went un-der while the government handouts to getthem started were whittled away The mainproblem was a lack of basic managementskills ldquoMost of these people could not eventell the difference between profit and theirworking capitalrdquo says one official in-volved with the scheme

With the benefit of hindsight two pi-lot projects are now underway the first inthe countryrsquos most populated region

Oshana located in the wooded-savannahof the north and the other in the extremesouth where the thinly peopled Karas re-gion is characterized mainly by desert Dis-trict Literacy Organisers employed by gov-ernment first find potential entrepreneursamong the learners - who must have at least200 Namibian dollars in the bank whichis supposed to reflect their financial disci-pline The two sides then work out a small-scale business proposal which is sent tothe Directorate of Adult Basic EducationIf approved the non-governmental FirstNational Bank offers a state-guaranteedloan ranging from N$500 ($109) toN$4000 ($870) To avoid past mistakesthe Italian non-governmental organizationCISP (the International Committee for

Peoplersquos Development) works closely withthe entrepreneurs to ensure they grasp the fun-damentals of business management as wellas the borrowing and repayment process

A series of plans and proposals areunderway to expand the income-skillsprojects while possibly adding anotherthree stages to the literacy course ldquoDras-tic changes are unnecessaryrdquo according toBhola But he does warn if ldquoit continueswith business as usual the NLPN couldeasily become routinized andbureaucratized - doing less and less whileconsuming more and more resources Butif the NLPN goes through a self-conscioussystematic effort of re-examination re-in-vention and renewal it could attain its ob-jectives with real efficiencyrdquo

Dan SIBONGOWindhoek

A L M O S T T H R E EQ U A R T E R S O FN A M I B I A rsquo SA D U LT L I T E R A C YS T U D E N T S A R EW O M E N( P h o t o copy S I P AP R E S S F r i l e t )

P L A N E T

E n v i r o n m e n t

REVERSING THE TIDESA massive development plan awaits the Tonle Sap - CambodiarsquosGreat Lake and reversing river - if the political waters settleFor me the most idyllic location in Cam-bodia is at the southern end of the Tonle Sapwhere the countryrsquos Great Lake empties intothe Tonle Sap river At dusk you hear thebirds of the wetlands and the gentle chug-ging of long-boats as local fishermen mo-tor past The Tonle Sap is both a lake andriver - perhaps the only river in the worldthat reverses its course For most of the yearit flows out of the lake - except during themonsoon season when it flows in whichmeans that from month to month the waterlevel is changing like a slow tide Comeback in three months and your favourite treewill be under water tributary mouths willhave silted up and the village you were inmay have moved

On the western shore where the lake be-comes a river is Chnouk Tru a fishing vil-lage with a difference - it floats When thelake is full the houses shops restaurantsbrothels barbers and timber yards lie alongthe shore As the level of the lake falls thevillage repositions itself - the floating build-ings shuffle and jostle until the main streetlies perpendicular to the shore

Opposite the village is the mouth of oneof Cambodiarsquos longest rivers the Senwhich starts a few kilometres from the Thaiborder in northern Cambodia carves anarch through Kompong Thom Provinceand reaches the Tonle Sap at the lakersquossouthernmost point Taking a small boatup the Sen you enter uncharted territoryThe river snakes through thick scrub asbirds suddenly take off squawking fromtree tops Itrsquos an eerie but captivatingplace Curiosity pulls you around the nextbend

The Tonle Sap and its watershed coverone-third of Cambodia - taking in much ofthe centre and northwest of the country TheTonle Sap river links the Great Lake thelargest freshwater lake in Southeast Asiawith the Mekong the regionrsquos longest riverCambodiarsquos capital is built at the conflu-ence of these famous rivers which join to-gether for a kilometre then separate againand head towards southern Viet Namwhere they form part of the Nine Dragonsof the Mekong Delta then empty into theSouth China Sea

At the peak of the wet season (JuneJuly) the flood waters of the mightyMekong force their way up the Tonle Sapriver into the lake which acts as a reser-voir At this time the Great Lake swellsmore than five and a half times from itsdry season low of 270000 hectares to1500000 hectares As the Mekong waterssubside the Tonle Sap river reverses itcourse and once again flows out of the lakeThe ldquoturning of the watersrdquo is a highlightof the Cambodian cultural calendar and iscelebrated with three days of festivals in-cluding colourful boat races which end atthe steps of the Royal Palace in PhnomPenh and are usually presided over by theroyal family

ldquoThe Tonle Sap is also an area of vitaleconomic importance to Cambodia as wellas one of considerable and threatenedbiodiversity valuerdquo reminds EnvironmentMinister Dr Mok Mareth The yearly surgesbring about 100000 tons of fish compris-ing an estimated 70 of Cambodiarsquos pro-tein There are more than 200 species inthe lake of which 70 are commerciallyimportant The floods also leave fertileand irrigated plains for growing wet sea-son rice and vegetables In addition thewhole area has considerable potential foreco-tourism

However ldquothe threats to this unique reser-voir of biodiversity come not only from in-creasing pressure of people on resources butalso from deforestation and mining activi-ties in the watershedrdquo warns BrunoLefevre UNESCOrsquos representative in Cam-bodia Covering 71 million hectares thelake and watershed are home to more than4 million people almost half the countryrsquospopulation even the most undisturbed natu-ral areas of inundated forest have 1000 in-habitants Aerial survey maps reveal a 15growth in settled area and an 18 decreasein woodland between 1992 and 1996 alonga northwestern section of the lake Fertilizerand pesticide contamination gem-miningand logging are all leading to sedimenta-tion of the Blue River one of the maintributaries This in turn causes increaseddeposition on the floor of the naturallyshallow lake

F L O AT I N G B A R B E R S

D A N G E R

The l e ad i ng agen cy f o r s t a t i s t i c s onedu ca t i on s c i en c e c u l t u r e and c ommun i -c a t i on UNESCO c o l l e c t s and r epo r t s da t aon app rox ima t e l y 200 c oun t r i e s W i t hi n c r ea s i ng r eque s t s f o r d i v e r s i f i e d andr e l i a b l e s t a t i s t i c s and ana l y s e s ap ropo sa l i s unde r way t o c r ea t e a UNESCOI N T E R N AT I O N A L I N S T I T U T E F O RSTAT I S T I CS W i t h s u f f i c i e n t f l ex i b i l i t y i twou l d be t t e r r e s pond t o u s e r s rsquo d emand swh i l e mob i l i z i ng new pa r t ne r s h i p s

To preserve humanityrsquos documentaryheritage UNESCO launched theMEMORY OF THE WORLD programmein 1992 Thanks to the newest tech-nologies originals can be restoredand preserved in the best possibleconditions and digital copies dissemi-nated on CD-ROMs This growingelectronic library includes raremanuscripts and books from PragueSofia Sanaa and Istanbul early LatinAmerican newspapers and a collectionof some 300 African postcards from

the colonial period Proposals includethe restoration and preservation ofsome 7000 recorded hours of popularChinese music Indian and Laotianmanuscripts and Vietnamese film

T H E R A D Z I V I L C H R O N I C L E O F S A I N T P E T E R S B U R GA L S O H A S I T S P L A C E I N T H E W O R L D rsquo S M E M O R Y( P h o t o copy M D u n n )

P L A N E T

UNESCO SOURCES is a monthly magazine publishedby the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cul-tural Organization [tel (+33 1) 45 68 16 73 fax(+33 1) 45 68 56 54] English and French editionsare produced at Paris Headquarters the Spanish edi-tion in cooperation with the UNESCO Centre of Catalo-nia Mallorca 285 08037 Barcelona Spain the Chi-nese edition in cooperation with the Xinhua NewsAgency 57 Xuanwumen Xidajie Beijing China thePortuguese edition in cooperation with the PortugueseNational Commission for UNESCO Avenida InfanteSanto No 42-5deg 1300 Lisbon Portugal

Editor-in-Chief R Lefort Associate editorsS Williams S Boukhari A Otchet Assistant Man-aging Editor C Mouillegravere Spanish editionE Kouamou (Barcelona) L Sampedro (Paris) Lay-out G Traiano F Ryan Circulation and Secre-tariat D Maarek

Photoengraving and printing in UNESCO Work-shops Distribution by UNESCOs specialized services

Major threats may also emerge on theregional horizon from proposed hydroelec-tric dams on the upper Mekong tributariesin China Laos and Cambodia If built thedams would release the same amount ofwater but at a constant rate for most of theyear thus reducing the duration and extentof the Mekong floods and thereby reduc-ing the height and duration in which theTonle Sap wetlands are inundated

With the aim of offering a tool for plan-ning and managing the area including somelegal protection for certain areas UNESCO

and the government have submitted pro-posals to set up a biosphere reserve aroundthe lake They are also involved in nomi-nating selected areas as natural sites on theWorld Heritage List However ldquoquick fixrdquosolutions that rely on imported ideas donrsquotwork warns Christine Alfsen Norodom di-rector of UNESCOrsquos Environment Unit inPhnom Penh ldquoLocal governors should bebrought into the picturerdquo

Her unit has helped set up the Techni-cal Co-ordination Unit at the Ministry ofEnvironment to bring together all the rel-evant actors with the aim of adopting andapplying conservation action plans andsustainable development strategies whichUNESCO and several other UN and non-governmental agencies have developedwith the government At the same time nu-merous studies are underway on botanybirds fisheries geology sedimentologyhydrology topography geomorphologydemography and socio-economic condi-tions The move is also on to get the localcommunities involved with a series of work-shops information and education campaignson issues like groundwater contamination andpesticide use As with any biosphere reserve

the active consultation with and participationof the people living there must play a key role

Turning to the international sceneUNESCO is also planning a conference onthe Tonle Sap so that donors can coordinatetheir assistance Indeed the site has attractedthe interest of diverse organizations The Eu-ropean Union for example is providingtechnical and research training while theWorld Conservation Union helps withbiodiversity planning and Wetlands Interna-tional assists with a National Wetlands Ac-tion Plan among other initiatives While each

agency focuses on its particular area of ex-pertise they also work as partners with theCambodian authorities to identify priorityconservation sites assess biodiversity andheritage values establish baseline data andraise public awareness At the same timeincome-generating projects credit schemesirrigation and fish-farming projects areunderway with the assistance of develop-ment agencies like the United Nations De-velopment Programme the Japan Interna-tional Co-operation Agency the Food andAgriculture Organization and other agencies

In total more than $13m has beenpledged to Tonle Sap and related activitiescarried out by 13 agencies in collaborationwith four government ministries They rec-ognize that the Tonle Sap is a valuable com-plex and intriguing area where conservationand resource use have to work hand in handto survive However these agencies are alsofully aware that Tonle Saprsquos future dependson not just calming but resolving Cambo-diarsquos troubled political waters - somethingwhich must come from within the country

Sue DOWNIETonle Sap

To p romo te UNESCO rsquos i d ea l s and a c t i v i t i e sa r ound t he wo r l d t h e O rgan i za t i on c oun t son t he s uppo r t and pa r t i c i p a t i on o f abou t20 GOODWIL L AMBASSADORSappo i n t ed by t h e D i r e c t o r-Gene ra l T he i r r ank s i n c l ude l e ad i ng f i gu r e s a sd i v e r s e a s R i gobe r t a Men chu Tum andMs t i s l a v Ro s t r opov i t c h P e l eacute and P i e r r eCa rd i n a s we l l a s I kuo H i r ayama andMon t s e r r a t Caba l l e

The elaboration adoption andratification of NORMATIVE INTERNA-TIONAL INSTRUMENTS are also part ofUNESCOrsquos tasks To date 33 suchinstruments have been adopted underthe Organizationrsquos auspices The bestknown of these are the UniversalCopyright Convention (1952) protect-ing intellectual property signified bythe copy sign and the World HeritageConvention (1972) protecting selectedcultural and natural sites which willcelebrate its 25th anniversary thisyear The most recent is the Conventionon the Recognition of QualificationsConcerning Higher Education in theEuropean Region adopted in April1997

P R E P A R I N G F I S HA T C H N O U K T R U

( P h o t o copyH O A Q U I I C O N E

G e l l i e )

L O O K I N G A H E A D

SOURCESU N E S C O

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE OCEAN will be celebrated in 1998 to raise aware-

ness particularly among young people of the crucial role played by oceans coastal zones and their re-

sources 1998 is also the 50th birthday of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HU-

MAN RIGHTS which UNESCO will commemorate

Each year UNESCO organizes some 30 conferences for the representatives of its Member States in addition to

about 60 seminars and meetings of experts from all corners of the world Also on the programme are a

number of training sessions and workshops in which several thousand people will take part Aside from the

INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEES AND COUNCILS of the Organiza-

tionrsquos various international programmes the following MAJOR MEETINGS have been scheduled

for 1998-1999 the Seventh CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF EDUCATION of

African Member States to discuss basic education (to be held in an African country during the first quarter of

1998) the WORLD CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION (Headquarters

September 28-October 2 1998) the third ministerial review meeting on education for all in the NINE

HIGH POPULATION COUNTRIES (Headquarters 1999) the Second International Con-

gress on TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION (Seoul Republic of Korea

1999) the Panafrican Conference on SUSTAINABLE INTEGRATED COASTAL ZONE

MANAGEMENT (Mozambique 1998) The WORLD CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE

FOR THE 21ST CENTURY focusing on research development and the contribution of science

to the progress of societies (1999) the Intergovernmental CONFERENCE ON CULTURAL

POLICIES debating policy development and funding with a view to promoting cultural diversity and

artistic creation (Stockholm Sweden March 30 - April 2 1998)

The EXECUTIVE BOARD will hold two annual sessions and the 30th session of the GENERAL

CONFERENCE will be held in the last quarter of 1999

Contents