Speech by Mr. TAGUCHI Yasushi, Secretary General of the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO (Full Speech)
Speech by Mr. TAGUCHI Yasushi, Secretary General of the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO
Dear Professor Shahbaz Khan,
On behalf of the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, I would like to send the following collaborative message to the staff of the UNESCO Beijing Office.
Many people in the world are still facing a difficult situation due to COVID-19. Not only are dramatic changes taking place in the socio-economic structure, but it is also likely that there will be many harmful effects in the fields of education, science, and culture most probably having a long-term impact on society. For this reason, we still have many challenges to overcome in order to be able to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
That said, I think that this is precisely why we need to reaffirm UNESCO's mission to construct the "defenses of peace in the minds of men" and to build a sustainable society, and it is important for the world to unite in order to achieve this mission.
This year, Japan celebrated the 70th anniversary of its membership in UNESCO. Taking this opportunity, the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO intends to further revitalize our UNESCO activities, such as developing young people who will be responsible for future UNESCO activities and collaborating with various stakeholders such as private companies and NGOs. In addition, Japan is implementing various activities and projects in the Asia-Pacific region through the Japanese funds-in-trust (JFIT).
For example, in the field of education, we have supported the holding of the Asia-Pacific Meeting on Education 2030 (APMED), an annual meeting for SDG4 coordination in the Asia-Pacific region, through the UNESCO Bangkok Office, a regional bureau for education in the region, and have also been supporting a pilot project for the practices of ESD in classrooms at the UNESCO Associated Schools, which is Japan's top priority.
Moreover, in the field of science, utilizing our wealth of knowledge and experience in that field, we have been supporting the solution of global issues and realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by creating a collection of disaster prevention measures based on water resource data in the Asia-Pacific region and holding training session on ocean pollution based on the "UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development" (2021-2030).
It is my understanding that the Beijing office is also engaged in various sub-regional activities, and we hope that, in collaboration with the UNESCO headquarters and the regional bureaus in the Asia-Pacific region which have the joint aim of working to realize the UNESCO missions, support will be provided to the countries that are in real need of technical advice so that the UNESCO activities in the member states of the region will be further developed.
It is our sincere hope that we will be able to work with the Beijing Office in order to build better relations between the member states in the region.
Sincerely yours,
TAGUCHI Yasushi
Secretary-General
Japanese National Commission for UNESCO
