Passionate speeches, fervent performances by renowned artists, and the presence of special envoys such as actor Forest Whitaker marked a significant milestone for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The agency’s
director-general Audrey Azoulay was re-elected at the start of the Conference
on Nov 9 for a second four-year term – a re-election that officials said had
the “overwhelming backing” of UNESCO’s 193 Member States; Azoulay obtained “155
votes out of a total of 169 ballots cast”.
“I see this
result as a sign of regained unity within our organization,” Azoulay stated
after the vote. “Over the last four years, we have been able to restore
confidence in UNESCO, and in some respects, this has also been about restoring
UNESCO’s confidence in itself.”
With the
re-election out of the way, the organization followed up on Nov. 12 with an
anniversary ceremony attended by some 25 heads of state and government, as well
as ministers from about 50 countries. The festivities were accompanied by the beaming
of the UNESCO logo onto Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower, and the organization even
asked the public to share images of this lighting-up “as a symbol of hope for the
creation of a more peaceful world”.
In her speech
for the anniversary, Azoulay referred to this history and highlighted UNESCO’s
record in working for the advancement of science, culture and education. She
said that for 75 years, the organization “has led the fight for education,
focusing first on literacy campaigns with major campaigns starting in the late
1940s”.
When Azoulay
began her first term in 2017 (after the United States and Israel had withdrawn
from UNESCO following Palestine’s membership), she called for unity and
humanism. She said then that the world’s inability to prevent “tragedies” such
as the “massive degradation of the environment, obscurantism, terrorism,
deliberate attacks on cultural diversity, the oppression of women, massive
displacements of populations” could be explained by a common blindness: “the
lack of knowledge, the denial of universal values, and the absence of a global
and humanist response.”
This week, she
reiterated her appeal for solidarity and for increased work by governments to
respect the dignity and freedom of citizens - the freedom to think, to learn,
to speak and to access education.
Photos - from top to bottom: UNESCO's director director (second from left) with actor Forest Whitaker and other dignitaries at the 75th anniversary ceremony; a group photo of officials attending the ceremony. Pictures courtesy of UNESCO / C. Alix.
