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Building peace in the minds of men and women

39th Session of the General Conference

Thursday, 2 November

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Highlights

  • The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO and the Government of Norway hosted a side event with in the presence of UNESCO Director-General, Mr Peter Thomson, the United Nations Secretary-General's first-ever Special Envoy for the Ocean, and Mr. Björn Haugstad, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Education and Research of Norway.

    They called jointly for a United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030): The Ocean We Need for the Future We Want. Peter Thomson argued that now more than never, "we need good science to make good decisions" to protect our ocean.

    The side event promoted this major effort by the IOC of UNESCO and many other stakeholders to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14 on the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources. Ms. Bokova emphasized that "scientific cooperation and diplomacy are essential" to creating the collective framework needed to achieve SDG14 by 2030.

  • The UNESCO Director-General hosted the Ministerial Breakfast meeting of the Capacity Development for Education (CapED) Programme. It brought together the Prime Minister of Madagascar and some 20 Ministers, including the education Ministers of the 3 donor countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden), to discuss the operationalization of SDG4 and the role of capacity development in education to make progress towards the education 2030 agenda.