▾

External sources (not reviewed)

In that connection, the Legal Counsel has informed me that, after the established deadline for nominating candidates, the following additional submissions were received from several national groups, all of which relate to the candidates already nominated by other national groups appearing in documents A/66/182, A/66/183 and A/66/184: Tsvetana Kamenova (Bulgaria) has been nominated also by the national group of Malta; Abdul G. Koroma (Sierra Leone) has been nominated also by the national group of Malta; Mr. Hisashi Owada (Japan) has been nominated also by the national groups of Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, India, Liechtenstein, Malta and Romania; Julia Sebutinde (Uganda) has been nominated also by the national group Romania; Peter Tomka (Slovakia) has been nominated also by the national groups of Liechtenstein and Romania; and Xue Hanqin (China) has been nominated also by the national groups of India, Liechtenstein and Romania.

With regard to the rights of gays, lesbians and transsexuals, and the legislation that recognized the rights of couples cohabiting and couples of the same sex, Uruguay reported on the new law on adoption guaranteeing this right for these couples and on the bill on gender identity.

I have the honour to transmit herewith relevant documents along with letters written by 45 prominent Palestinians from Jerusalem and Israel, including Christian and Muslim figures, politicians, businesspeople and civil society activists, addressed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, and the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, urging that they take action to stop the continued destruction of Ma’man Allah Cemetery in Jerusalem by the Israeli Government (see annex).

Taking into account current global challenges, Ms Bokova emphasized that despite changing realities, the need for UNESCO still remains – to mobilize international solidarity, to secure inclusive quality lifelong learning for all, to promote open access and dialogue within sciences to ensure that sciences serve the development of humanity, to establish culture at the heart of development, and to promote freedom of expression to ensure diversity.

[...] [...] ensure that girls, boys, women and men have equal access [...] [...]

It also noted with appreciation the measures taken by Costa Rica to reduce poverty, improve the status of disadvantaged groups, promote the status of women and gender equality, as well as the implementation of the right to education of all to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and the extension of that right to cover the children of irregular migrants.

He welcomed the delegates, noting in his address that major changes of leadership have occurred at several levels within UNESCO and congratulated Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, and Ms Gretchen Kalonji, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, on their appointments and called for their support to the vision and expectations of the water community of UNESCO.