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November 18, 2015
French President Francois Hollande invokes the unity of all cultures at UNESCO’s Leaders’ Forum
Photo: Mr Francois Hollande, President of France, participates in UNESCO’s Leaders’ Forum. Paris, France. November 17, 2015. © UNESCO/Nora Houguenade.
Photo: Opening of the 38th session of the General Conference of UNESCO. Paris, France. November 16, 2015. © UNESCO/N. Houguenade.
Photo: Japanese Tea Ceremony celebrating the 70th Anniversary of UNESCO. Paris, France. November 13, 2015. © UNESCO/P. Chiang-Joo.
Photo: Japanese Tea Ceremony celebrating the 70th Anniversary of UNESCO. Paris, France. November 13, 2015. © UNESCO/P. Chiang-Joo.
Photo: Leaders’ Forum, marking UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary. A short performance by the World Orchestra for Peace. Musicians representing 19 nationalities play works by Samuel Barber and Tchaikovsky. Paris, France. November 16, 2015. © UNESCO/Nora Houguenade.
Photo: Ms. Smriti Irani, India’s Minister of Human Resource Development, attends Leaders’ Forum marking UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary. Paris, France. November 16, 2015. © UNESCO/Nora Houguenade.
Paris, France — November 18, 2015 — The President of France, Francois Hollande, declared his commitment to “freedom, human creativity and intercultural dialogue” in his address at the Leaders’ Forum, which on 16 and 17 November brought together Heads of State and Government from all over the world in the context of the 38th session of UNESCO’s General Conference.
The afternoon session of the Leaders’ Forum, organized on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of UNESCO, also featured addresses by the President of the Republic of Malta, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.
The French President, welcomed to UNESCO by the Organization’s Director-General, Irina Bokova, was accompanied by the French Minister for the Economy and Finance, Michel Sapin, the Minister for Culture, Fleur Pellerin, and the Secretary of State in Charge of Development and the Francophonie, Annick Girardin. The French President declared: “I wished to be present at the General Conference because you stand for the unity of all cultures of the world. […] And what better place to affirm the need to hold fast than here, at UNESCO, an institution which was born of a Utopia to unite the whole of humanity through science, education and culture and which found a welcoming home in Paris.”
President Hollande paid tribute to UNESCO’s crucial role in protecting cultural heritage and cultural diversity. “Yes, UNESCO is the moral conscience of humanity. What underpinned its foundation was the promotion of the diversity of cultures, a diversity based on the idea that culture links people to their history and to their territory; a diversity anchored in the recognition of the equal dignity of cultures, as every people has a special message to bring to the world.”
Earlier in the afternoon, in a message read by United States Ambassador Crystal Nix-Hines, Permanent Delegate of the U.S. to UNESCO, U.S. President Barack Obama thanked UNESCO for its “unwavering commitment to building peace and tolerance around the world.” He encouraged the Organization to pursue its mandate in global citizenship education.
Echoing this declaration, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan invited the international community to bolster its support for the Organization. “More time and resources should be invested into the spread of a culture of peace. UNESCO has the appropriate mandate, genuine experience, and rich assets such as education, culture, sport, communication and science to serve as one of the most effective and shortest ways to prevent conflicts.”
|GlobalGiants.Com|
“I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.”
— Socrates.
“My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.”
— Thomas Paine.
“Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — The whole world is one single family.”
— Maha Upanishad.
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 4:29 AM | Link to this Post
