UNESCO Executive Board Chairperson: Protecting Education and Culture, Promoting Dialogue Are Key to Peacebuilding

His Excellency Dr Nasser Bin Hamad Al Hinzab, Chairperson of the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to UNESCO, said protecting education and culture and promoting dialogue are fundamental pillars of peacebuilding and mutual understanding among peoples. He made the remarks while opening the 225th session of UNESCO’s Executive Board. Dr Al Hinzab said peace does not begin only when conflicts end, but is built in schools and educational institutions through culture, knowledge and respect for others.

He called for schools and universities to be protected from attacks, describing them as safe spaces for learning and hope. Attacks on educational institutions, he warned, destroy more than buildings and threaten the future of entire generations. He added that protecting education means protecting peace, while safeguarding culture and heritage defends peoples’ identities, collective memory and right to the future; protecting journalists and freedom of expression also defends truth and the right to knowledge.

Dr Al Hinzab said UNESCO is undergoing important institutional changes that offer an opportunity to strengthen its ability to fulfil its mandate efficiently and effectively. He stressed that the changes must reinforce the organization’s credibility, transparency and responsiveness to the priorities of Member States. The Executive Board, he said, has a particular responsibility to preserve trust and provide effective and accountable guidance, oversight and follow-up as UNESCO works to become more efficient, transparent and results-oriented while retaining the global nature of its mission.

Addressing institutional reform, Dr Al Hinzab highlighted the need to tackle UNESCO’s financial, structural and operational challenges, strengthen confidence in its procedures and decision-making, and act on findings and recommendations from oversight, audit and accountability reports. He said UNESCO had implemented or accepted 79 percent of the relevant recommendations issued by the Joint Inspection Unit, while 64 recommendations remained outstanding, including 36 pending for more than two years.

He described the “UNESCO 80” initiative as an important opportunity to improve the organization’s performance, saying reform must provide the expertise, skills, resources and working methods needed to implement programmes approved by Member States and that the initiative’s success would be measured by UNESCO’s effectiveness and response to their expectations and priorities.

Dr Al Hinzab commended the Director-General’s efforts to advance the reform process. Concluding his address, he said the ongoing reforms marked the beginning of a process requiring courage, perseverance, discipline and commitment from all parties. He also emphasised the importance of transparency, accountability, fairness, effectiveness and respect for UNESCO’s constitutional mandate.

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