NEWS RELEASE T&T tops region at election to UNESCO Executive Board PARIS, UNESCO - Nov. 13, 2013: Trinidad and Tobago received the highest number of votes in the Latin America and Caribbean (GRULAC) UNESCO regional division in the elections of the UNESCO Executive Board held in Paris, France. Of seven candidates contesting six seats in the GRULAC group , the six now on the Executive Board are Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Belize, Argentina and St Kitts/Nevis. They were among the twenty eight new members who were voted in at the elections held at UNESCO Headquarters this week. President of the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO and Minister of Education, Dr Tim Gopeesingh was thrilled at the electoral results. He stated: “Trinidad and Tobago is ready to take its place on the Executive Board as a leader in the GRULAC region and consolidate national and regional activities through UNESCO to benefit our populations, the main agenda-setting organ of UNESCO. Already, we have presented to UNESCO a concept for deepening and broadening the inclusion of special needs children – which amount to about 30 percent of the world’s children –as well as Universal Early Childhood Education, two of our Honourable Prime Minister’s major goals for our Education system. Through our involvement on the Executive Board, we will be working towards the realisation of this, as well as strengthening UNESCO’s work in the region to other aspects of the education sector, as well as heritage and culture, communications and science,” he said, thanking everyone for their support. Trinidad and Tobago’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO, Ambassador John Sandy said the involvement of Trinidad and Tobago in the main decision making organ of UNESCO will certainly help enhance its already very favourable image and profile in the UNESCO world, and presents an opportunity to deepen engagement and expand partnerships with other regions. “Victory came because of great team effort, not only among us on team Trinidad and Tobago, but also in our leadership of negotiations with the rest of the region, CARICOM and individual candidates,” he said. The keenly contested elections, involved intense behind-the-scenes negotiations which resulted in the Caribbean sub-sector presenting a “clean slate” including Trinidad and Tobago, Belize and St Kitts/Nevis to the UNESCO electoral community. “That the highest numbers voted for Trinidad and Tobago in the GRULAC group suggests the tremendous faith and confidence the UNESCO world and the region have in our country and the leadership, vision, programmes and policies we have been presenting to UNESCO,” said national commission chair, Dr Kris Rampersad. “This year our National Commission launched what will be one of its flagship projects – Leading for Literacy – which taps into the entire education system through strengthening leadership skills of principals and teachers towards improving literacy levels, and now the President has asked that we also prioritise further inclusion of special needs children. We look forward to deepening our engagement with UNESCO for the benefit of Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and the wider GRULAC region, working in partnership with our counterparts on the executive board. The congratulations are still coming in and there is a tremendous amount of good will and expectations from among our counterparts about our admission to the board.” Trinidad and Tobago was represented at the elections by Ambassador John Sandy, Permanent Representative to UNESCO based in Geneva; Dr Kris Rampersad, Chair of the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO and Ms Susan Shurland, Secretary General of the National Commission. Minister of Education, Dr Tim Gopeesingh, who led the four member delegation returned to Trinidad on November 12. The Executive Board, which comprises 58 members, is one of the three constitutional organs of UNESCO (others are the General Conference and Secretariat) charged with examining UNESCO’s programme of work and budget estimates submitted to it by the Director-General. It makes recommendations on the admission of new States, for the appointment of the Director General and summons international and non-governmental conferences on education, the sciences and the humanities.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 18:21:37 +0000
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