UNESCO: LEBANON UPDATE

UNCLAS PARIS 005653 SIPDIS FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNESCO SCUL LE IS SUBJECT: UNESCO: LEBANON UPDATE ¶1. Charge spoke August 23 with Lebanese Charge Salim Baddoura for an update on UNESCO?s involvement with Lebanon. Baddoura said that a UNESCO team arrived in Lebanon on August 22 and has already met with the Minister of Culture and will be meeting shortly with the Ministry of Education. The current team will conduct a broad assessment, including educational and cultural institutions. There will be two more UNESCO teams; one will assess damage to heritage sites and the other will look at mass media, education and sciences. These teams will draw up proposals for UNESCO?s involvement in Lebanon?s reconstruction. Mounir Bouchenaki, who recently stepped down as head of UNESCO?s cultural sector will probably lead the team looking at damage to heritage sites. Bouchenaki, an Algerian, is an internationally recognized expert on the preservation of cultural heritage. (Comment: U.S. Mission enjoyed excellent relations with Bouchenaki when he ran the cultural sector.) ¶2. Baddoura indicated that he hopes that the UNESCO proposals will be included in a broader package of UN system-wide proposals to be presented at the Stockholm donor?s conference, which he said will be held at the end of August. He expressed some skepticism that with various UN agencies competing for funding that UNESCO?s proposals will be deemed important enough to be funded. ¶3. The Lebanese Charge also said that work has not yet begun on drafting the Executive Board resolution on Lebanon. He said they are still waiting to see how the situation evolves and will consult with the U.S. Mission as they move forward. The secretary of the Executive Board has told Charge that the resolution would have to be ready by mid-September in order to be ready for the Board?s first Bureau meeting o/a September 28. (Note: The US is a member of the Bureau that is the steering committee of the Board.) Koss