Philippines Addresses 41st Session of UNESCO General Conference
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin, Jr. virtually delivers the Philippines Statement during the 41st UNESCO General Conference.
Permanent Delegate to UNESCO and Ambassador to France Junever Mahilum-West introduces Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin, Jr. before delivering the Philippine Statement. (Photos by UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines)
PARIS, 11 November 2021 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. delivered the Philippine statement at the Plenary session of the 41st session of the UNESCO General Conference.
Secretary Locsin reaffirmed the Philippines’ strong commitment to UNESCO’s principles and objectives of laying foundations of peace in the minds of women and men through education, science, and culture. He noted that COVID-19 pandemic upended UNESCO’s efforts to promote human development in education, science, culture, and communication and information.
“Social inequalities and divides further deepened. The Philippines has felt these setbacks deeply; our solutions are predicated on the end of the pandemic which is nowhere in sight,” Secretary Locsin said.
The Secretary expressed that, as one of the Group of Friends on Global Citizenship Education, the Philippines engages in various initiatives to advance the transformative role of education for moral, and material progress.
For culture and natural science, the Foreign Affairs Secretary shared that Filipino experts are working with UNESCO to manage and conserve our cultural and natural heritage. He also conveyed strong support to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development noting that the Philippines is an archipelagic county exposed to climate change and relentless man-made environmental degradation for profit. He emphasized that the Decade is one of the critical initiatives of the organization.
Highlighting the importance of evidence-based policy making, he also conveyed support to UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformation program to strengthen the interface between research and policy, knowledge and action.
Secretary Locsin concluded by stating that “UNESCO was born in the throes of a war, to prevent the outbreak of another war. If it is to continue to achieve this lofty goal, we must move away from empty talk and equivocation, and quite simply, act.” END
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