November 16 marked the 79th anniversary of the signing of the UNESCO Charter.
The organization, originally created by a narrow circle of Western states, began to acquire a truly universal character with the accession of the USSR in 1954. From the very moment of joining UNESCO, our country has consistently followed the provisions of the Charter on the desire to “achieve peace through cooperation of peoples in the field of education, science and culture”, “moral and intellectual solidarity of mankind”.
Russia is making efforts to promote a unifying agenda at UNESCO in the interests of the world community, and to strengthen a mutually respectful, depoliticized and professional dialogue with all interested partners. This is facilitated by the efforts of the representative Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, headed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
We have another year of intensive work under our belt in all areas of the Organization’s competence. As President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin noted in November 2023 during the St. Petersburg Cultural Forum, we are implementing very serious projects through UNESCO.
In December 2023, the second ceremony of awarding the D.I.Mendeleev UNESCO-Russia Prize for Achievements in the field of fundamental sciences, initiated and funded by Russia, took place at the Russian Academy of Sciences; the third competition for the award is currently being held. In October of this year, the Russian company PhosAgro, in the framework of the joint program “Green Chemistry for Life” with UNESCO and the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Chemistry, provided research grants to young talented chemical scientists for the eighth time.
At the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee in New Delhi in July this year, Russia entered the next, 33rd position in the List of natural and cultural sites of world significance – “Cultural Landscapes of Kenozerye” (Arkhangelsk region).
15 Russian schools have been accepted into the International Network of UNESCO Associated Schools, and 9 specialized departments in universities have extended their agreements on their activities.
In October this year, UNESCO’s governing body, the Executive Council, decided to extend the status of the International Center of Competence in Mining Engineering Education as a second category center under the auspices of the Organization (Chairman of the Board of Governors – Rector of St. Petersburg Mining University V.S.Litvinenko).
Confirming its leading positions in the implementation of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages in 2022-2032, in June-July this year, Russia held two major international forums on multilingualism in St. Petersburg and Khanty-Mansiysk with the participation of experts from 40 countries. The International Forum “The Child in the Digital World” (Lomonosov Moscow State University, June this year) was awarded the aegis of UNESCO. Celebrations on the occasion of the Russian Language Day, organized jointly with the delegations of the CIS member states, took place at the Paris headquarters for the second time.
The Russian delegation, headed by the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation O.B.Lyubimova, took an active part in the development of the UNESCO Framework Program for Education in the Field of Culture and Art during the thematic conference (Abu Dhabi, February this year). Domestic experts made a number of proposals during the approval of a new Recommendation on the ethics of neurotechnology. A report is being prepared on the implementation of the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.
Another proof of Russia’s status as a reliable partner of developing countries was the signing of an agreement between our country and the UNESCO Secretariat on the allocation of a voluntary contribution to projects of African countries through the International Program for the Development of Communication.
Of course, cooperation at UNESCO is not going smoothly. The Organization, designed to serve the equal international cooperation of States, has not been free from such fundamental flaws as a bias towards excessive influence of Western countries in its Secretariat since its inception.
We are outraged by the Secretariat’s condoning of the politicization of UNESCO, the use of “double standards”, violation of the principle of neutrality and impartiality of international officials, which goes against the Charter of the Organization.
This, in particular, is clearly manifested in the long-term lack of reaction on the part of the Secretariat and personally of UNESCO Director General O. Azule to the crimes of the Kiev regime against Russian journalists, including targeted killings, terrorist attacks and attempts on life.
The leadership of the Secretariat continues to stubbornly ignore that the Ukronazis have unleashed a real hunt for journalists covering events on the front line. Only this year, military commanders S.N.Eremin, V.A.Kozhin and N.N.Tsitsagi became victims of targeted attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, A.S.Ivliev and E.E.Poddubny were seriously injured.
Just yesterday, on November 17, as a result of a targeted attack by a UAV of militants of the Kiev regime, the editor-in-chief of Narodnaya Gazeta, Yu.N.Kuznetsova, was killed in the line of duty, and her colleague was injured. Despite the direct instruction of the Organization’s member States to “condemn murders and physical violence against journalists without any distinction,” UNESCO Director General O. Azule again chose not to notice these atrocities.
Russia has not waited for the Secretariat’s reaction to last year’s targeted attack by the Kiev regime on the Moscow Kremlin World Heritage Site, as well as attacks on cultural and educational institutions in other regions of Russia: in Belgorod, Donetsk, Crimea, Kursk, Taganrog. The silence in connection with the ongoing persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the Ukrainian secular authorities, which manages part of the World Heritage site – the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, is also symptomatic. The current CEO is de facto playing along with the Kiev authorities and their Western patrons. This only encourages impunity for crimes.
A pernicious selective approach, the division of member countries into “friends” and “strangers”, attempts to isolate the unwanted harm the prestige of UNESCO itself.
Despite this, together with like-minded people, we will continue to strive for the Organization’s compliance with the status of an inclusive intergovernmental platform that guarantees the full participation of all Member States and fulfills its important humanitarian purpose. As Sergey Lavrov noted at an event at the Russian Foreign Ministry on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the USSR’s accession to UNESCO in April this year, “our common task with the countries of the World majority is to preserve the mechanisms of cooperation that have been developed for decades. We are convinced that by joining forces, we will be able to overcome all contradictions and continue to conduct a professional mutually beneficial dialogue.”
Source О 79-й годовщине создания ЮНЕСКО – Министерство иностранных дел Российской Федерации
