Very important conference

Since Monday May 19, 2008 up to today, May 23, 2008, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) National Commissions of countries in the Asia-Pacific Region have been meeting in EDSA-Plaza for their 14th Quadrennial Conference and for the UNESCO Director General’s Consultation.

UNESCO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that contributes to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.

There are 47 countries in the Asia-Pacific region that have put up their own UNESCO National Commissions. The main functions of the National Commissions are to intermediate between non-governmental organizations and national governments by facilitating and coordinating the interaction among UNESCO, the national governments and civil society in the fields of education, science, culture, communication and information, and to supplement the country-level resources of UNESCO in the country level planning and implementation.

Thus in performing its functions, the UNESCO National Commissions in every country have five committees: the Education Commission, the Natural Science Commission, the Social and Human Sciences Commission, the Cultural Commission and the Communication and Information Commission.

National Commissions are national bodies accountable to governments. The UN rules and regulations, individual UN agencies’ and the joint UN System’s reporting mechanisms do not apply to them. They cannot therefore be assimilated to the UN even in countries where UNESCO has no office.

In the Philippines, the National Commissioners are appointed by the President for a term of three years although they may be reappointed for more than one term. They receive no salaries and are paid nominal per diems for attendance at committee meetings. The incumbent chairperson of the UNESCO National Commission in the Philippines is Ambassador Preciosa S. Soliven.

In the context of country-level planning and implementation, the National Commissions can provide information to UNESCO on development issues and advise UNESCO Field Offices on setting meaningful priorities for UNESCO in their countries as well as assist these Offices in organizing consultations with Government Ministries or Agencies working in the field of UNESCO’s competence.

Recently, UNESCO has approved a Medium Term Strategy for 2008-2013 with five overarching objectives, namely: (1) Attaining quality education for all and lifelong learning; (2) Mobilizing science knowledge and policy for sustainable development; (3) Addressing emerging social and ethical challenges; (4) Fostering cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and a culture of peace; and (5) Building inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication.

In her keynote speech on the first day of the Conference, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo proudly pointed out how the government’s own programs “dovetail with UNESCO’s overarching objectives and specified areas “where we can work together”.

Thus with regards to the first objective, she cited “our own Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan for 2004-2010 that gives high priority to education for all” as shown by the vast improvement of education services to the poor though “we have a long way to go”. She also cited the issuance of the Executive Order establishing a Center for Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development of the Philippines.

On the second objective, the President reported the billions of investment in Science and Technology Research and Development and the start of the Green Philippines program which is a blue print for mapping our environment and economic policies allowing for sustainable development that “doesn’t fall on the backs of the poor or erode our environment”. She also thanked UNESCO for re-nominating the expanded Tubbataha Reef Marine Park and encouraging the nomination of Mt. Apo National Park to be inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The President also noted the support of UNESCO in the country’s effort to lift the poor up as part of achieving the third overarching objective even as the government’s improved fiscal position allowed it to invest in job creation, better health care and more educational opportunities as well as to work out the safe and responsible use of modern biotechnology to achieve and sustain food security.

On the fourth overarching objective the President mentioned the government’s adoption of the inter-faith dialogue as an official policy in restoring peace in Southern Philippines which the country would like to share with the world through UNESCO.

Of course on the fifth overarching objective the President proudly pointed out our deep commitment to press freedom ad its role in building “inclusive societies”, as well as our advantage in the outsourcing space because our “information structure is cost competitive and we have a highly trainable English Proficient IT-enabled management and manpower”.

One area however where our National Commission should advise UNESCO about meaningful priorities in the country is on that portion of the UN’s “Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for maternal and reproductive health services to control the alleged rapid population growth. Here the UNESCO and the other UN agencies particularly the UN Development Fund (UNDAP) is pressuring our government to adopt their population control methods like child sex education and the use of contraceptives such as pills, condoms and injectibles that prevent pregnancy. As I have repeatedly mentioned before, these methods violate the sanctity of family life and the couples’ constitutional right to found a family in accordance with their religious belief and the demands of responsible parenthood. They are promoting maternal and reproductive harm not health. This is one area where the government’s program does not dovetail with the UNESCO objectives.