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 | Press Release
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| The Bahamas a beneficiary of UNESCO’s grants, says Minister |
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| By Linda Major
Bahamas Information Services
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| 05/20/2004
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(BIS photo: Raymond Bethel)
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NASSAU, The Bahamas – Attorney-General and Minister of Education and Culture the Hon. Alfred Sears, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service the Hon. Fred Mitchell and Ambassador to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Japan, His Excellency Sir Sidney Poitier, met His Excellency Koichiro Matsuura, director-general of UNESCO, on Wednesday upon his arrival for a three-day official visit to The Bahamas. From left are Sir Sidney, Mr. Matsuura, Minister Sears and Minister Mitchell.
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| NASSAU, The Bahamas – His Excellency Koichiro Matsuura, Director-general of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) arrived in Nassau Wednesday, May 19, for a three-day official visit to The Bahamas. Mr. Matsuura addressed a press conference at the VIP Lounge of Nassau International Airport. From left are Creswell Sturrup, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education; Heloise Newbold, Communications Director, Ministry of Education; Dr. Davidson Hepburn, Chairman UNESCO Bahamas; Katerina Stenou, Director, Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue, UNESCO; His Excellency Sir Sidney Poitier, The Bahamas’ Ambassador to UNESCO and Japan; director-general Matsuura; Attorney-General and Minister of Education the Hon. Alfred Sears; the hon. Fred Mitchell Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service; Helen-Marie Gosselin, Director, UNESCO’s Office for the Caribbean; Krista Pikkat, Executive Assistant., Office of UNESCO; Victor Sologarstoa, UNESCO’s chief for Latin America and the Caribbean. | 
(BIS photo: Raymond Bethel) |
NASSAU, The Bahamas – The Bahamas has gained immensely from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) assistance, Attorney General and Minister of Education the Hon. Alfred Sears said Wednesday, May 19.
Mr. Sears spoke at a joint press conference at Nassau International Airport with His Excellency Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, at the start of his three-day visit to The Bahamas.Minister Sears said The Bahamas has been the beneficiary of several grants from UNESCO and the agency has assisted the country in achieving some of its educational goals.
“The grants include funding the refurbishing of the Science Technology Resource Centre, the seminar in Careers for Women in Science and Technology, the Science and Technology Exhibition; the Career Expo for Young Professionals in Science and Technology, the Children’s Environmental Summit, Building Media Capacity for Environmental Stewardship, Disaster Preparedness and Youth Focus Bahamas,” said Minister Sears.The Bahamas is also involved in many of UNESCO’s initiatives, including the Associated Schools Project, UNESCO Clubs, the Caribbean Sea Project, the Sand Watch Project, Focus on the Caribbean, Disaster Preparedness, Education for All, The Slave Route Project, and the Small Island Voice Initiative.“We are working to create a culture of excellence through a world class educational system that embraces innovation, creativity, critical thinking and communication, and that promotes the core values of equity, inclusiveness, and excellence,” said the Minister.
The government and the Ministry of Education, he said, look forward to greater collaboration with UNESCO in the areas of Early Childhood Education, Special Education, Teacher Professional Development Training, Environmental Education, and Cultural Development and Appreciation.“We will also work diligently towards enhancing cooperation between UNESCO and The Bahamas and strengthening collaboration between the Bahamas and other member states of the UN, especially those in our Caribbean region. We pledge to continue to work together with UNESCO on the development of coordinated strategies that mobilize all sectors of society and promotes synergy of efforts of all stake holders,” said Minister Sears
UNESCO was founded in 1946 “to advance international peace and the common welfare of humankind by deepening mutual understanding through the exchange of education, science, technology, and culture among the peoples of the world.”
Minister Sears commended UNESCO for promoting international exchange of knowledge and ideas, for assisting governments in improving literacy, the development of education, the focus being given to science and technical education, the sponsoring of research in diverse fields, and for promoting gender equality and poverty alleviation.
The Bahamas, he said, recognizes the integral role of the Director-General of UNESCO in assisting the United Nations in the development of regional and global mechanisms that promote health, economic and social development, environmental sustainability, and world peace.
Activities planned for Mr. Matsuura include visits to Fox Hill and Gambier -- communities which are places of memory and of great significance to the heritage of The Bahamas; the Centre for the Deaf, the Stapledon School and the PACE programme for teenage mothers, which will be reintroduced into the school system.
Mr. Matsuura, who has headed UNESCO for over four years, said his main focus is on the reform process in the United Nations, particularly in the areas of management and programmes.
“I have been trying to establish a more streamlined, more reliable management, and at the same time trying to have more concentration of UNESCO activities in priority areas with complete and visible achievement in those areas,” he said.
His main purpose for being in The Bahamas, Mr. Matsuura said, is to strengthen UNESCO’s cooperation with The Bahamas in all areas of its mandate, but mainly in education, culture, science and communications.The Director-General said another reason for his visit to The Bahamas is to launch the International Year of the Fight Against Slavery and its Abolition.
“UNESCO has been implementing the Slave Route Project in the last ten years As a result of the expertise and experience we have accumulated in the last ten years we are organizing a series of meetings and events in Africa as well as in the Caribbean,” said Mr. Matsuura.The Director-General said he will also invite about 20 prominent personalities from The Bahamas and other Caribbean countries, “to assess what impact the tragic history of slavery gave to humanity and what lesson we should learn looking toward the future.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Fred Mitchell, and His Excellency Sir Sidney Poitier, The Bahamas’ Ambassador to UNESCO and Japan, were also at the airport to welcome Mr. Matsuura.
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