13 November 2015 – The Philippines has been elected as one of the Vice-Presidents of the 38th session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) General Conference currently taking place in Paris, France.
As Vice-President, Philippine Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO Maria Theresa P. Lazaro was requested by the President of the Conference, Mr. Stanley Mutumba Simataa, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Technology of the Republic of Namibia, to chair a segment of the General Policy Debate.
On November 07, Ambassador Lazaro, in her capacity as Chair of the Group of 77 (G77) and China in UNESCO presented the G77 Paris Chapter’s Declaration on the 70th anniversary of UNESCO entitled “Building Peace and Promoting Sustainable Development for a Better World.”
The Declaration affirms that UNESCO has an “indispensible role” to play in promoting peace through international cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture and communication – “without which there can be no sustainable development.” The G77 underscore that UNESCO must proactively implement the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and seek to make lasting differences in the lives of the most vulnerable, especially in developing countries. END