USUNESCO: UKRANIAN PRESIDENT AND FRENCH FM

UNCLAS PARIS 007915

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SENSITIVE

FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL SCUL ETRD UP FR UNESCO
SUBJECT: USUNESCO: UKRANIAN PRESIDENT AND FRENCH FM
PRAISE CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION AT UNESCO 60TH
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION



1. Summary. In a ceremony at Unesco headquarters on
November 16, Unesco marked its 60th anniversary.
Featured speakers included Ukranian president
Yushchenko, French Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy and
former directors general Amdaou-Mahtar M'Bow and
Federico Mayor. A recurring theme in all the addresses
was the importance of the recently passed cultural
diversity convention. The French Foreign Minister also
hinted about future normative instruments on the ethics
of science. End summary.


2. On November 16, Unesco repeated the 60th
anniversary commemoration held a month earlier during
the General Conference. The speech by the keynote
speaker, Ukranian president Viktor Yuschchenko, called
for Unesco to have greater influence on decisions about
the future of humanity in order to promote more
effective social and economic justice. Yuschchenko
also praised the passage of the cultural diversity
convention at the General Conference. (comment: his
praise of the convention stands in contrast to the
diplomatic note received by Embassy Kiev that had
promised to support the US position.)


3. French Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy's speech was
also full of praise for the cultural diversity
convention. Besides the expected platitudes about
action to protect culture in the face of
standardization (note: code language for
Americanization),Douste-Blazy also promised that
France will ratify the convention soon and would be
working "to promote viable cultural policies throughout
the world." (note and comment: Since the passage of
the convention in late October, Unesco, the EU and the
Francophonie have already held a conference in Viet Nam
on developing cultural policy. We can only assume that
the cultural policies being discussed relate to more
state control of culture.)


4. Douste-Blazy's comments about the ethics of science
were also noteworthy. In noting France's role in the
elaboration of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics
and Human Rights passed at the last General Conference,
he said, "France, which actively supported the
development of this normative instrument, will continue
to push for the progressive establishment of a true
universal code of ethics."


5. (SBU) According to sources in the Unesco
secretariat, Douste-Blazy was a last-minute replacement

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for President Chirac who was not feeling well enough to
attend. Chirac in the past has made frequent use of
speeches at Unesco to push French foreign policy
initiatives.


6. (SBU) Unesco tradition is to include all living
former Director's General at decennial commemorations.
Sources in the secretariat indicated that the
reappearance of M'Bow and Mayor, neither of whom are
seen as having covered themselves in glory, was a
source of discontent among many staff members.


7. Comment: The supporters of the cultural diversity
convention are clearly in a self-congratulatory mode.
Unesco's push to implement the convention and get more
involved in helping countries develop ill-defined
cultural policies will need to be monitored. While
France agreed during the General Conference to a halt
in normative instruments in this biennium, the Foreign
Minister seemed to be indicating a desire for further
normative instruments on the ethics of science in the
future.

KOSS