Basseterre, St. Kitts - The St. Kitts and Nevis Delegation attending the 181st UNESCO Executive board meeting held 14 to 30 April, 2009, was led by Antonio Maynard, Secretary-General of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Commission for UNESCO. He represented the Hon. Sam Condor, and was accompanied by Mr. David Doyle, Permanent Delegate of St. Kitts-Nevis to UNESCO. The Delegation stressed that increased UNESCO’s efforts and resources were needed to boost the national commissions in the Caribbean region, including in the Federation, to enable them to guarantee that all facets of local society are engaged in meaningfully contributing to UNESCO’s work programme, and overseeing the implementation on the ground, with in the member states.
The St.Kitts and Nevis Delegation also stressed that by strengthening national commissions in the Caribbean region, highly relevant and targeted UNESCO expertise could be brought to the Federation, and its neighbors, in mitigating the effects of climate change and addressing the social implications of unemployed youth, among other initiatives. According to Mr.Maynard “ the implementation of meaningful projects and programmes on the ground, and the highlighted profile of UNESCO, will continue to be slow within our Caribbean sub-region, if the National Commissions are not continuously monitored and strengthened.
Some 58 member States sitting on the UNESCO Executive Board, also heard Mr. Maynard itemized the priority areas where the Federation sought UNESCO’s unique blend of multi-disciplinary expertise in “assisting us in our transformation from a mono-agricultural country to a wide-based economy led by environmental friendly tourism, higher educational attainment and inward investment opportunities”.
Mr. Maynard who was efficiently supported by Dr. David Doyle, Permanent Delegate of St. Kitts-Nevis to UNESCO, set the background by underlining that the financial crisis and increased natural disasters arising from climate change, among other factors, called for prompt remedial measures to address development-related challenges that fall within the framework of UNESCO’s core competencies. “The need to secure tangible results – in areas like mitigating programmes in the field of Climate Change, vocational education – is especially urgent for vulnerable and micro states like ours”. More than ever in this volatile environment, where UNESCO “had the capacity to assist St. Kitts-Nevis in adapting and building the capability to militate against the destructive impact of climate change and disaffected youth”.
Emphasizing the need for UNESCO technical expertise and assistance in the field of education, Mr. Maynard explained that St. Kitts and Nevis continued to pursue a “policy of vigorous transition away from sugar cultivation to a modern services-based and tourism economy”, a factor that was further challenged by “our struggle against gang violence among our young men”.
He urged that UNESCO put education policy development, targeting small island developing states, further up the agenda. “This means that education delivery - in all of its forms and at all levels - stands as the only antidote to allaying these challenges”. He informed a packed UNESCO Executive Board that the government of St. Kitts-Nevis had recently launched a revised education white paper, addressing the need for widening the curriculum at Primary and Secondary school student level, through extra-curricular activities, physical education and sport. The white paper, which dovetailed much of UNESCO’s strategy on education, also spoke “to the need for a renewed thrust in job-related skills development, as well as measures to identify youth at-risk and to position our citizens to take advantage of the new service economy”.
Maynard added that appropriate measures are needed to reduce the incidence of school violence, and reiterated that UNESCO , and its global partners – can play a role in intervening with critical expertise, and wise practice, so paramount in addressing the issues, needs, developments and policies that would benefit students, and, ultimately, the country on a whole”.
The past legacy of St. Kitts and Nevis was also evoked when Mr Maynard praised UNESCO for its revised emphasis on the Slave Trade programme, as a means of raising the awareness of this aspect of the Caribbean history. “The Caribbean dimension of this period of our history should not be neglected, or diminished, as our past, present and future is all intrinsically linked to the slave trade era”. A study is under way with the help of UNESCO to erect a monument in St. Kitts to mark the abolition of slavery, backed with educational and historical promotional material destined for schools and tourists.
During the Paris UNESCO Executive Board, Mr. Maynard and Dr. Doyle met senior UNESCO officials to discuss St. Kitts-Nevis’ participation in several UNESCO projects and programmes currently being implemented, including the Man and Biosphere programme that was just launched in St.Kitts. This programme proposes an interdisciplinary research agenda and capacity building- aiming to improve the relationship of people with their environment. It also uses its World Network of Biosphere Reserves as vehicles for knowledge-sharing, research and monitoring, education and training, and participatory decision-making, as well as economics empowerment for the local community-through tourism and commercial activity.
St. Kitts and Nevis representatives lost no time in lobbying to raise the Federation’s profile on the international landscape with offers to participate in UNESCO-sponsored conferences. The Federation is gearing up to participate in UNESCO events and conferences, financed by developed countries. These includes the UNESCO international Seminar on Climate Change Education in Paris on 27-29 July 2009, and the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education - CONFINTEA VI to be held in Belém do Pará, Brazil in 2009, as well as other important seminars and meetings.
St. Kitts-Nevis also seized the opportunity to lead on another important area of UNESCO policy development: Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The Permanent delegate co-chairs the SIDS Committee of representatives to UNESCO, which held a meeting in the fringes of the 181st UNESCO Executive Board, attended by Ministers, ambassadors and other delegates from the SIDS.
Outside the UNESCO Executive Board meetings, St. Kitts and Nevis has been very active in galvanizing UNESCO expertise for the Federation. For example;
• Consideration is been given to St. Kitts-Nevis applying for membership to the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC), in the context of climate change initiatives at UNESCO. This could be followed by an UNESCO IOC Audit team to visit St. Kitts-Nevis to report on early warning Tsunami and natural disaster systems.
• UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) will be reviewing a project submission from the St. Kitts-Nevis Government Information service in order to provide technical and financing assistance on strengthening professional journalism in SKN, with special emphasis on radio journalism.
• UNESCO’s funded Participation Programme over 2008-2009 saw the approval of multiple submissions for technical funding. Projects approved so far include: A Teacher’s Training Lab; a programme to promote Environmental and Developmental issues for sustainable living, through Education and Public Relation activities (Small Islands Voice Associated); Documentation and Exposition of St. Kitts-Nevis Intangible Cultural Musical Heritage, and a project to assist students with their home work.
• St. Kitts-Nevis signed up to the UNESCO Convention against anti-doping in sports, and is seeking funding assistance from UNESCO to promulgate the message in the Federation on the ground through documentation, lectures etc.
• UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) undertook a pilot Community Media Centre (CMC) over 2008 in St. Kitts-Nevis, aimed at contributing "to improving quality of life through access to information". UNESCO's CMC initiative promotes sustainable local development through community-based facilities that combine traditional media like radio, television and print with new information communication technologies (ICTs) such as computers, the Internet and mobile devices. St. Kitts-Nevis has been chosen as the next conference venue by UNESCO to pursue a policy development stand on CMCs in the Caribbean region.
• Lastly, St. Kitts-Nevis is presently exploring the prospect of signing up to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, as a means of protecting existing underwater heritage and optimising tourism opportunities for St. Kitts-Nevis with the assistance of UNESCO.
