Mobilizing International Action

Extracts from an address to the Development Assistance Committee, OECD, Paris, 2 October 2000

UNESCO has a key role to play in poverty alleviation and in translating into reality the goal of halving extreme poverty by 2015. UNESCO's fields of competence -- education, science, culture, and communication -- are critical for empowerment, for creating an enabling environment for people to participate actively in individual and social development through education, respect for human rights, cultural and historical sensitivity in policy design, environmental sustainability, and access to information for all.

It is vital to foster the development of an integrated concept of education, one that enables individuals to adapt to a rapidly changing social, economic, and cultural environment and to continue to learn throughout life. It is no longer enough to learn how to read, write, and count. Education must also result in improved social conditions for the poor.

The financial contribution by the world community to poverty reduction, education for all and health is a "make or break" factor. The responsibility for resource provision rests mainly with national governments in the South. A mutually reinforcing relationship must be developed between macro-economic stability and structural reform on the one hand, and growth and reduction of poverty and inequality on the other.

The international community must now mobilize itself, rethink the provision and modalities of aid, identify new financial resources and mechanisms and show that it is capable of practising what it preaches. A development process oriented towards poverty alleviation, education, and health should involve increasing both domestic resource mobilization in the South and private international capital flows. The international community should assist in the design of strategies that will help to increase savings, attract private investments, improve the efficiency of local financial systems, manage and reduce debt, improve public financial management and make the best use of official development assistance.

Koichiro Matsuura
Director-General
UNESCO