H.E. Dr. Seyed Mohammad HOSSEINI

Transcription

1 Statement of H.E. Dr. Seyed Mohammad HOSSEINI Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the occasion of the 36 th session of the General Conference of UNESCO UNESCO Headquarters, Paris 27 October

2 In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful In the name of the Lord, Of both soul and mind To nothing sublime Can thought be applied. President of the General Conference, Chair of the Executive Board, Director-General of UNESCO, Heads of Delegations of Member States, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Madam Katalin Bogyay, at the outset, allow me to extend my congratulations to you on your election as President of the 36 th session of the General Conference. I would also like to express heartfelt congratulations on my own part and on that of my nation on the great victories attained by the people of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, which have taken place in the light of the Islamic awakening. And I hope that the peoples of these countries will take firm steps towards establishing a new pattern of democracy on the basis of their beliefs and free from the intervention of external powers 2

3 I am honoured to be here among this pleasant gathering of you, my esteemed friends and colleagues, from the ancient cultural land of Iran. In this short while I would like to draw your attention to a few points of importance. UNESCO was expected to act as a platform for the strengthening of collaboration and establishing and facilitating coordination among diverse traditions and cultures; because it has been a place for the promotion of empathy and sympathy between nations, owing all this to its elevated culture-oriented approach, leading the Organisation to its significant achievements in the path to promoting humanity. With the passage of over six decades from its conception, the opportunity is now ripe for a reconsideration of its points of weakness and strength in favour of improving the means for strengthening and further qualifying this international organisation of significant importance. Culture may serve as a platform for transforming evil, hatred and separation into beauty, purity and harmony. In the wake of their several-thousand-year-old culture and on the basis of the divinely inspired teachings, Iranians have always attached priority to culture and wisdom, the outcome of which is well reflected in their relations with the various Western and Eastern civilizations. In this 3 rd millennium, the human mind and body, weary of war and deceit, reach out to the holy temple of culture for peace and prosperity. We are deeply of the belief that culture cannot be enchained by unilateral and self-centred readings of it. We strongly believe that a 3

4 world of cultural beauty, diversity and plurality is a better place for our children to live and to thrive in. In this view, I sincerely ask UNESCO, the lead organisation for establishing a culture of peace and promoting sustainable development in our world, to avoid a single reading or a single voicing of culture and to prevent the dominance of a single culture over others, by means of its valuable programmes, and to stand up to any invasion of the world of culture by politics, while providing the means for the promotion of justice and avoiding any ignorance of this important request for the preservation of all cultures. Madam President, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, Education is accepted and considered by all as the key to the prosperity of humanity and the progress of societies, as well as a valuable asset for the realisation of peace, social justice and human development. This all is brought about through the free flow of knowledge, devoid of all discrimination, enabling equal access by the international community to the scientific and educational material of the world in order to attain higher levels of knowledge and development. 4

5 In this regard, while expressing my sincere support of UNESCO s activities in promoting Education for All, I hereby announce that I will support any effective measure that may prove successful in preventing scientific discrimination and apartheid in accessing science in all its forms. Madam President, Ladies and Gentlemen, We are all well aware that the increasing problem of instability of identities in our contemporary world, accompanied by a semantic and spiritual vacuum, are intertwined with human life, moving humankind toward severe confusion and depression caused by the pushing aside of divine religions and religious beliefs. The outcome of such severe storms is manifested in ethical complexities in an era in which humanity has become a rare and widely sought-after commodity. The poisonous claws of irreligious beliefs and ignorance of spirituality have thus inflicted irreparable damage on the mind and the soul of modern man. However, the Islamic Republic of Iran resorted to the valuable teachings of Islam and adhered to the directions of the wise leader of the Islamic Revolution, the late Ayatollah Khomeini, who has sown the seeds of this global awakening decades ago, as a result of which we are now witness to the blossoming of those seeds in the world of Islam and other regions of our globe. What is most significant in this trend is the political awakening of nations and their confrontation with 5

6 domineering systems and policies. This trend of Muslim awakening is rapidly and undeniably moving from North Africa and West Asia towards Europe and the US. Madam President, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am now addressing you in your capacities as the wise and well-informed promoters of world culture. Since nations have high expectations of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, we should be vigilant to maintain this sense of respect and to avoid any act that may distort this view, which is mainly from the standpoint and the perspective of culture. Beware that the bloated nature of the world of politics does not blur and distort the transparency and the clearness of culture. Knowledgeable thinking is required to avoid the elevated cultural spirit of nations being wounded by the blunt machinations of politics. It is based on a deep understanding of these elevated teachings that the Islamic Republic of Iran has always supported and continues to support the rights of the oppressed and deprived nations of the world, especially the oppressed people of Palestine and the sacred ideals of this land during recent decades. My country requests all international institutions and organizations, especially UNESCO, as the world house of culture, to do their utmost towards demanding the true and full rights of the Palestinian nation. 6

7 To conclude, I express my wish for the structural changes in UNESCO, whether at Headquarters or at the Organisation s related offices, to be in line with the elevated objectives of the Organisation, further facilitating the achievement of UNESCO s goals and ideals. I hope that through the blessings of Almighty God, the elevated ideals and the prosperity of humanity may be realized. And finally a word from Hafiz, the renowned Iranian poet: Achieving that elevated goal is not possible, unless you lend us a hand in pure sincerity. Thank you for your attention. 7