Culture a driver for development and the achievement for the eight Millenium Development Goals says UNESCO Director-General
Culture has a key role to play in reaching the development goals, concluded participants at a roundtable discussion opened by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova at the Millenium Summit in New York on Tuesday 21 September 2010.
The event was co-chaired by African Union Chairman Jean Ping and Commissioner for Development of the European Commission Andris Piebalgs, who announced a one million euro strategic EU/UNESCO partnership to improve the system of governance for culture in developing countries.
Keynote addresses were delivered by the two chairmen, as well as President Wade of Senegal and Bosnian President Silajdzic. They were followed by a lively discussion with the audience composed of high level representatives of intergovernmental institutions from the World Bank, UNDP, ADB and the UNF and of Member States and Parliamentarians, as well as the media.
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Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. 23 August 2010
...In this International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures, remembrance of the slave trade and slavery, one of the worst tragedies in the history of humanity, prompts us to reflect on possible ways of alleviating and overcoming such painful memories.
Since its establishment in 1998, the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition has afforded us the opportunity every year to pay tribute to the struggle led by the slaves themselves to recover their dignity and freedom. The uprising that took place on the island of Santo Domingo in the night of 22 to 23 August 1791 led to Haiti’s independence – the first victory of slaves over their oppressors. This revolution had worldwide repercussions and a considerable impact on liberation struggles in the Latin American and Caribbean countries, some of which are celebrating the bicentenary of their independence this year...
More information: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001890/189020e.pdf

Message from Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People; 9 August 2010
... The world’s 350 million indigenous people are unique custodians of our planet’s biological and cultural diversity, irreplaceable guardians of traditional knowledge systems and ways of life developed over centuries in coexistence with nature. Sustainable development is indeed what best characterizes indigenous peoples’ relationship to their environment, from the natural to the cultural and spiritual.
Despite significant advances in recognizing their rights and heritage, indigenous peoples are still not the real designers and drivers of their own development initiatives. Earlier this year in New York, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples’ issues highlighted the disconnect that still exists between dominant development models and indigenous peoples’ cultures and worldviews...
More information: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001888/188820e.pdf