Conference of Parliamentarians for UNESCO

From 03-10-2009 to 04-10-2009 (France) 

Within the framework of establishing a global partnership for development (Millennium Development Goal n°8) and the UNESCO 2008-2013 Medium Term Strategy underlining the necessity to forge a stronger partnership of the Organization
with parliamentarians in associating them more closely with the implementation of its programmes, the UNESCO Sector for External Relations and Cooperation organized a Conference of Parliamentarians for UNESCO on Saturday, 3 October 2009 in room X.

The participants were the Parliamentary Focal Points for UNESCO (107) and the representatives of parliamentary organizations, partners of the Organization (Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino), the Parliamentary Assembly of Francophonie (APF), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU), the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly).

This one-day meeting was an occasion to analyze ways and means of reinforcing cooperation between UNESCO and Parliamentarians to promote the Organization’s objectives via legislations and national budgets adopted in its fields of competence.

The working sessions of the Conference were mostly dedicated to the following topics:

1. Sustain the programme of Education for All,
2. Present the Regional Parliamentary Fora for Education,
3. Ratify international conventions of UNESCO in the field of Culture,
4. Promote freedom of expression and freedom of the press,
5. Contribute to the necessary measures for Action on Climate Change,
6. Promote human rights and democracy,
7. Promote UNESCO normative action.

The Conference ended with the adoption of a Declaration of Parliamentarians for UNESCO, in which the participants reaffirmed their commitment to the work of the Organization and the international instruments that contribute to its intellectual influence and their determination to support its main priorities in all its fields of competence.