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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

36th Unesco general conference in Paris, France-Minister Mondon calls for stronger engagement with Sids |29 October 2011

36th Unesco general conference in Paris, France-Minister Mondon calls for stronger engagement with Sids

Mrs Mondon made the call while delivering Seychelles’ national statement at the general Minister Mondon delivering her speech at the conferenceconference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) taking place in Paris, France.

She also renewed Seychelles’ commitment towards the ideals of the Unesco which have been exemplified by the various programmes and policies Seychelles has set up over the last three decades.

Among those is the Seychelles national framework for Early Childhood Care and Education recently launched under the theme Winning for Children – A shared commitment.

According to Minister Mondon, this “framework embodies our country’s commitment to young children. It lays down our beliefs and values about children and early childhood and our common vision for a winning start in life for all Seychellois children.”

Minister Mondon is accompanied by the secretary-general of the Seychelles national commission for Unesco Marie-Reine Hoareau and Michelle Murray, director of International Relations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Highlighting the major priorities of the education reform in Seychelles, Mrs Mondon underscored the importance of technical, vocational education and training (TVET) as “a key component in the preparation of our young people for the world of work.”

She also called on the Unesco to work towards a better delivery of programmes in Africa.

Minister Mondon also presented Unesco’s assistant director general for education with a copy of Seychelles’ Early Childhood Care and Education framework.

Bilateral talks were also held with representatives of the different sectors to take stock of the support given to Seychelles over the years and trace the way forward.

Prior to the conference, the minister chaired the Sacmeq (Southern and eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality) managing committee meeting and took part in the Sacmeq assembly of ministers.

She also attended a two-day leaders’ forum held under the theme ‘How does Unesco contribute to building a culture of peace and to sustainable development’. The leaders’ forum, attended by several heads of state and of government, was organised to brainstorm on the programmatic activities of the organisations in the future.

During the general conference, the Unesco welcomed Curaçao and Sint Maarten as Unesco’s seventh and eighth associate members.

These two Caribbean territories were part of the Netherlands Antilles until October 2010 when they became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The 36th session of the general conference was preceded by the Unesco youth forum and Seychelles was represented by two young Seychellois from the youth assembly.

The Seychelles delegation at the conference: (from l to r) Minister Mondon, Mrs Hoareau and Ms Murray

In her address before delegates of some 193 countries, Unesco’s director general Irina Bokova – the first woman to head the organisation for the past two years – highlighted the achievements of the organisation in its various fields of competence.

She also underscored some of the major challenges the organisation is facing and the path of action it needs to take in order to overcome these challenges.

Mrs Bokova emphasised that in this era of globalisation “it is not enough to connect, we must share” and that “the stakes of peace and sustainable development today, lie precisely in education, the sciences, culture, and knowledge of sharing. All of this calls for more and a better Unesco”.

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