10 June 2016- The Philippine Deputy Permanent Delegate Jesus Enrique Garcia II co-chaired the first meeting of Sub-Group 1 of the Working Group (WG) on Governance alongside the Norwegian Deputy Permanent Delegate Gry Ulverud at the UNESCO headquarters held on June 02.
The WG’s task is to formulate recommendations to enhance the efficiency and strategic decision-making processes of UNESCO’s governing bodies.
The Philippines was elected Vice President of the WG on governance, procedures and working methods of the governing bodies of UNESCO at the 38th session of the General Conference in November 2015. Other Vice-Presidents include Angola, Bahrain, Hungary, Norway and Venezuela. The President of the General Conference, Mr. Stanley Simataa of Namibia, serves as President of the WG.
The Philippines, together with Norway, were designated to co-chair the two Sub Groups of the WG (Sub-Group 1: General Conference and Executive Board, and Sub-Group 2: intergovernmental bodies and committees) throughout the course of 2016-2017.
The meeting was attended by over a hundred Member States and discussed the structure, composition and methods of work of the UNESCO General Conference. END