UNESCO

World Orchestra for Peace is designated UNESCO Artist for Peace

Thu, 08/05/2010 - 12:06

She continued, “Representing a family of over 40 countries from all regions, you are unto yourself a United Nations with an ideal that could not be more closely attuned to UNESCO’s – to build peace in the minds of people”.

Mr. Kaye expressed the gratitude of all the musicians who acclaimed the designation as the acknowledgement of their ceaseless effort to promote respect for diversity and understanding through music.

In the evening, Irina Bokova attended the BBC Proms concert in the Royal Albert Hall celebrating the Orchestra’s 15th anniversary. The orchestra performed two symphonies composed by Gustav Mahler.

The music played by the orchestra illustrates how it is possible to transcend the differences between people and proves the point of its founder Sir Georg Solti: “We are playing so beautifully, we prove that we can live in peace. I wish that politicians, left and right, could do the same.”

Deeply concerned by the death of Lebanese journalist Assaf Abu Rahal, UNESCO Director-General calls for restraint

Thu, 08/05/2010 - 08:58

    “I am deeply concerned about the circumstances in which Assaf Abu Rahal was killed and his colleague Ali Shoaib injured. I call on all parties involved to make every effort to shed light on the causes of this tragic incident, and to make sure it does not happen again by showing more restraint,” she declared. “I would further underline that freedom of expression, a fundamental human right, implies the possibility of exercising this right in safety. Armed forces are obligated to respect it.”

    According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Assaf Abu Rahal, 55, had been covering southern Lebanon for Al-Akhbar for four years. He and his colleague Ali Shaib were at a Lebanese army roadblock, said Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Three soldiers, one Israeli and two Lebanese, were also killed in the clash.

 

 

UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this purpose the Organization is required to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…”

UNESCO brings the web to disaster-struck Haiti: see videos

Thu, 08/05/2010 - 05:50

Asian-Arab Philosophical Dialogues on Globalization, Democracy and Human Rights [PDF, 1.9 MB]

Wed, 08/04/2010 - 06:01

Asian-Arab Philosophical Dialogues on War and Peace [PDF, 1.1 MB]

Wed, 08/04/2010 - 06:00

Universalism and Ethical Values for the Environment [PDF, 596 KB]

Wed, 08/04/2010 - 05:48

Minister of Culture of the Kingdom of Bahrain nominated new Chairperson of World Heritage Committee

Wed, 08/04/2010 - 01:51

 

The Committee nominated Shaikha Mai bint Mohammad Al Khalifa by acclamation on the last day of their meeting in the Brasilian capital. She will chair the Committee up to and including its next session which will be held in the Kingdom of Bahrain in June 2011.

During the meeting, which began on 25 July, the Committee inscribed 21 new sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including 15 cultural, 5 natural and 1 mixed site. The List now includes a total of 911 sites. Three countries, Kiribati, Marshall islands and Tajikistan, had sites inscribed for the first time. The Committee also approved seven extensions to properties, added four sites to the List of World Heritage in Danger and withdrew one property from this listhttp://www.unesco.org/.

The World Heritage Committee, responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, comprises representatives of 21 countries, elected by the States Parties for four years.  Each year, the Committee adds new sites to the List and examines reports on the State of Conservation of inscribed sites and asks States Parties to take appropriate conservation and preservation measures when necessary. The Committee supervises the World Heritage Fund, which is used, among other purposes, for emergency action, training of experts and encouraging technical cooperation. UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre is the Secretariat of the World Heritage Committee.

Media contact: Sue Williams, tel: +33 (0)6 15 92 93 62; s.williams(at)unesco.org

World Orchestra for Peace to be designated UNESCO Artist for Peace

Tue, 08/03/2010 - 09:04

The World Orchestra for Peace “symbolizes so well the multi-cultural and ethnically diverse world that we live in today,” said Ms Bokova in her letter to the Orchestra announcing the designation. “Each member of your talented Orchestra represents the universal desire to spread cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and a culture of peace. This kind of message is central to UNESCO’s efforts to build durable peace in the world.”

    “This orchestra embodies the ideals of the 2010 International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures,” declared the Director-General. “Made up of musicians from over 70 international orchestras, it comes together on special occasions to promote peace and celebrate reconstruction. It’s an extraordinary way to promote understanding and cooperation through an art that constitutes a universal language and knows no borders.”

    The World Orchestra for Peace is conducted by Valery Gergiev (Russian Federation), himself designated as UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2003. It was founded in 1995 by the late Sir Georg Solti for a special concert in Geneva to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.  Solti believed in “the unique strength of music as an ambassador for peace”.

    UNESCO Artists for Peace are internationally-renowned personalities from the arts who use their influence and prestige to help promote UNESCO’s message and programmes and raise public awareness of the Organization’s action on key issues.

    The World Orchestra for Peace joins a roster that already includes Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil, Canadian singer Celine Dion, Spanish dancer Joaquín Cortés, Cameroon musician Manu Dibango and Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid.

 

• More information on Artists for Peace

World Heritage Committee inscribes a total of 21 new sites on UNESCO World Heritage List

Mon, 08/02/2010 - 16:05

Meeting under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Culture of Brazil, João Luiz da Silva Ferreira, the Committee inscribed 21 new sites, including 15 cultural, 5 natural and 1 mixed properties, making a total of 911 sites inscribed on the List. Three countries, Kiribati, Marshall Islands and Tajikistan, had sites added for the first time. One existing natural site was also recognized for its cultural values and thus becomes a mixed site.

 

The World Heritage Committee also added four sites to the List of World Heritage in Danger and removed the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) from this List.

 

The new sites on the World Heritage List of Sites in Danger are (in alphabetical order):

·        Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery (Georgia)]

·        Rainforests of Atsinanana (Madagascar)

·        Tombs of  Buganda Kings (Uganda)

·         Everglades National Park  (United States of America)

 

The new mixed site is:

·        Papahānaumokuākea (United States of America)

 

The new cultural sites are:

·        Australian Convict Sites (Australia)

·        São Francisco Square in the Town of São Cristovão (Brazil)

·        Historic Monuments of Dengfeng, in the “Centre of Heaven and Earth” (China)

·        Episcopal City of Albi (France)

·        Jantar Mantar (India)

·        Sheikh Safi al-Din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble in Ardabil (Islamic Republic of Iran)

·        Tabriz Historical Bazaar Complex (Islamic Republic of Iran)

·        Bikini Atoll, Nuclear Test Site (Marshall Islands)

·        Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Mexico)

·        Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca (Mexico)

·        Seventeenth-century Canal Ring Area inside the Singelgracht, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

·        Historic Villages of Korea: Hahoe and Yangdong (Republic of Korea)

·        At Turaif District in ad-Dir’iyah (Saudi Arabia)

·        Proto-Urban site of Sarazm (Tajikistan)

·        Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi (Viet Nam)

 

 

 

The new natural sites are:

·        China Danxia (China)

·        Pitons, Cirques and Remparts of Reunion Island (France)

·        Phoenix Islands Protected Area (Kiribati)

·        Putorana Plateau (Russian Federation)

·        Central Highlands of Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka)

                                                                                             

 

World Heritage sites that have been extended are:

·        City of Graz – Historic Centre and Schloss Eggenberg (Austria)

·        Pirin National Park (Bulgaria)

·        Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water management System

·        Røros Mining Town and the Circumference (Norway)

·         Churches  of Moldavia

·        Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites in the Côa Valley and in Siega Verde (Portugal))

·        Monte San Giorgio (Italy)

 

The Committee also recognised the cultural values of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania), which was inscribed in 1978 as a natural site. This property now becomes a mixed site

 

The 34th session of the World Heritage Committee opened on 25 July and will close on 3 August. The next session will be held in June 2011 in Bahrain.

 

Media contact in Brasilia

Sue Williams, tel: +33 (0)6 15 92 93 62; s.williams(at)unesco.org

World Heritage Committee inscribes Russian site on World Heritage List and approves extension to Swiss site

Mon, 08/02/2010 - 11:24

     The two sites concerned (in order of inscription):

     Monte San Giorgio (Italy) (Extension of «Monte San Giorgio », Switzerland)

     Monte San Giorgio is a pyramid-shaped, wooded mountain that rises to an altitude of 1096 m above sea level and which lies to the south of Lake Lugano, in the canton of Ticino (Switzerland). The site is regarded as the best fossil record of marine life from the Triassic Period (245–230 million years ago). It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2003. The extension is contiguous with the existing site, on the Italian side of the border. The value of this extension lies in the exceptional importance and variety of its Triassic marine fossil record.

     Putorana Plateau (Russian Federation)

     This site coincides with the area of the Putoransky State Nature Reserve, and is located in the central part of the Putorana Plateau in northern Central Siberia. It is situated about 100 km north of the Arctic Circle. The part of the plateau inscribed on the World Heritage List harbours a complete set of subarctic and arctic ecosystems in an isolated mountain range, including pristine taiga, forest tundra, tundra and arctic desert systems, as well as untouched cold-water lake and river systems. A major reindeer migration route crosses the property, which represents an exceptional, large-scale and increasingly rare natural phenomenon.     

     These sites are in addition to 27 other natural, cultural and mixed sites inscribed or extended during the current session of the Committee in Sri Lanka, the United States of America, the United Republic of Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Australia, India, Iran (2), Marshall Islands, Republic of Korea, Viet Nam, China (2), Tajikistan, France (2), Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Austria, Romania, Spain, Mexico (2), Brazil, Kiribati, Bulgaria.

     The 34th session of the World Heritage Committee is being held under the chairmanship of the Minister of Culture from Brazil, João Luiz da Silva Ferreira. The meeting opened on 25 July and will continue through to 3 August. A total of 38 sites have been considered for inscription on the World Heritage List.

          Media contact in Brasilia

Sue Williams, tel: +33 (0)6 15 92 93 62; s.williams(at)unesco.org