UNESCO opens week-long meeting

UNESCO opens week-long meeting

JAKARTA: Members of the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) started their week-long
meeting on Monday to draft its medium term strategy for the Asia
Pacific region for the next six years.

Executive chairman of the Indonesian National Commission for
UNESCO Arief Rachman said on Monday that the meeting would also
discuss the challenge of reducing poverty through education for
all, applying science toward building a knowledge-based society,
and removing social, cultural and communication barriers.

Other key issues include coping with globalization through
building cultural and education bridges between people, applying
information technology to the benefit not only of the rich but
also those who are excluded, achieving sustainable development
and education on how to prevent the spread of AIDS.

The meeting will also address the root causes of conflict in
order to build a culture of peace through a region that has been
bedeviled by a number of threats to both external and internal
peace, Arief said. --JP