Benin / UNESCO / African National Commissions meet in Cotonou
COTONOU, Benin, July 10, 2008/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The consultative meeting of the African National Commissions on UNESCO’s draft programme and budget for 2010-2011 took place in Cotonou (Benin) from 7 to 9 July.
The meeting was opened by Deputy Director-General for UNESCO Marcio Barbosa, representing the Director-General, with Kogui N’Douro Issifou, Minister of State in Charge of National Defence, representing Dr Boni Yayi, President of the Republic of Benin; Christine Ouinsavi, Minister of Primary Education and chairperson of Benin’s National Commission for UNESCO; and Olabiyi Babalola Joseph Yaï, chairman of UNESCO’s Executive Board. Also present were representatives of diplomatic missions, directors of UNESCO offices in Sub-Saharan Africa and secretary-generals of African National Commissions.
The meeting provided the occasion for launching Benin’s National Centre of the African Virtual Campus, a flagship project of UNESCO’s Consolidated Plan of Action for Science and Technology, adopted by the African Union in Khartoum (Sudan) in 2007. Through distance education, the centre will train visually handicapped people on computer keyboards using sound or Braille.
During the consultation, Olabiyi Babalola Joseph Yaï and Marcio Barbosa were received by the President of the Republic. Reaffirming the importance he gives to his country’s cooperation with UNESCO, he recalled that the Organization has always responded to Benin’s requests, notably regarding educational reform. The current situation, he stressed, makes UNESCO’s support all the more necessary. Rising oil prices and climate change, he said, threaten to reduce the resources allocated to social sectors and to strain efforts deployed in those sectors.
The Deputy Director-General, in the name of the Director-General, assured the President of UNESCO’s support. A working meeting with ministers involved with UNESCO will be scheduled in the near future. It will take stock of present cooperation and areas in need of reinforcement.
SOURCE : United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
