WILLEMSTAD/THE HAGUE — The future developments of Unesco could also be of importance for Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles, according to the strategic vision of the Netherlands on Unesco, which Minister Plasterk presented to the Lower Chamber last Thursday.
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This strategic vision will also be the guideline for the deliberation of the Netherlands’ delegation at the 35th General Conference of Unesco. The main lines of the strategic vision of the Dutch government on the significance of this organization for the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the world are expounded in this document.
"The importance of Unesco in the fields of education, culture, science, and communications is indisputable. For example, the organization has developed several regulating instruments in which the Netherlands also participated." The Netherlands is of the opinion that Unesco does not substantiate their power sufficiently. The reason to come up with this strategic vision right now is the fact that the General Conference of Unesco will be choosing a new director-general this autumn.
"In view of that, it is necessary that the Netherlands formulate their own strategic vision on time with regard to a desired developmental direction from Unesco. This applies more so since the Netherlands together with the other EU-member states labor for a broad perspective evaluation of Unesco."
The Netherlands is of the opinion that Unesco should fulfill a leading role as the platform for the safeguarding of worldwide public goods in its fields of education, culture, and science. "The strength of Unesco also lies in the fact that it is a convening power. The organization brings countries together for dialogue and exchange of knowledge. Unesco is viewed as relatively neutral regarding politics and can therefore bring countries to discuss cultural diplomatic conflicts with one another."
The Netherlands points out that Unesco has become synonymous for the secretariat instead of the cooperation in scientific, educational, and cultural field between the member states. According to the Netherlands, the situation where programs simply continue to exist because they had once been started in the past should be dealt with. "The member states should actively determine the agenda, regarding the targets as well as the contents and the manner."
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