An edited version of the speech by Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, Cultural Adviser to the Emir, and Qatar’s candidate for Director-General of Unesco, at the ambassadors’ meeting at Doha Sheraton yesterday:
I am extremely excited to have the privilege of meeting with you at this historic moment, during which I am submitting my candidacy for the Director-General of Unesco.
As you all know I am no stranger to yourselves or to the diplomatic departments, since I am first and foremost a son of the United Nations and of the Unesco. You are all fully aware of my relationship with diplomacy, where I spent many years immersed in the diplomatic field and represented my country in several states, which brought me closer to you and strengthened our relationships because we are all aware of the importance of diplomacy today in bringing about global consensus.
Today, I stand before you and address you as a candidate for Unesco, and proudly offer a reminder that I come from this honourable land where I grew up rooted in its magnificent civilization that gave us enlightened scientists and unique thinkers who have utilized their knowledge in various fields that have truly enhanced the progress of human beings.
This land taught me the meaning of openness to other civilizations, and with this in mind, I travelled through America, Asia, Africa and Europe and breathed the air of all these wonderful cultures.
I truly feel that I am a combination of these diverse civilizations, by embodying service to others and helping to emulate their values, thus achieving Unesco’s noble message, of world peace. You, in your unique capacity, share this vision with me, since we are all on the same united team aiming to achieve rapprochement between people and grant all generations their undeniable human rights to education, culture and science in order to accomplish the global goal of sustainable development.
Advocating for this position has more than one meaning and goal. A diplomat from an Arab country overseeing the stewardship of this organization, for the first time in history, represents a chance for the people of the Arab-Islamic world in particular and the developing countries in general to play a role in its future perceptions and projects in order to lift the situation of these directly affected people.
This is also a unique opportunity for advanced countries and Unesco to confirm the spirit of mutual cooperation and human unity, thus, leading to a stronger formation of a bridge between Arab civilizations and other civilizations of the world.
This candidacy represents a new breakthrough for Unesco guided by the ideals of the founding fathers who established the highly respected code of values and means that formed the driving moral and practical force for world peace initiatives. Today, we urgently need to reestablish this approach which requires innovation at this critical stage of the history of humanity.
Just as the Arab civilization played a strong role and provided humanity with science in the past, I am certain that the symbolic and material goods which humans enjoy are, indeed, the outcome of the participation of all civilizations. Therefore, we must strive to provide each global talent a chance to create scientific and knowledge-based approaches to address the problems of development in all countries through applied technological research.
Unesco should diligently continue its mission to achieve “cultural peace and understanding” through the “code of shared values” for which humanity has struggled to achieve, since cultural respect and understanding is considered our most uniting factor for attaining world peace.
We must more strongly advocate for the necessity to provide equal access to development opportunities, so that we will not marginalise developing countries, but instead, we will give full support to our initiatives in Africa and South America, without neglecting people the Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
We are fully aware that Unesco made significant efforts over the past 70 years for the greater sake of humanity, however, it is still far from having reached the desired popularity it needs to achieve, which is why we continue to branch out in this new technological age and utilize all available advanced digital tools to reach a wider public spectrum allowing for the accomplishment of its important mission and obligations.
I am very happy to be here today, within your presence, not only to witness the announcement of my candidacy for the Unesco, but also to respectfully inform your governments and people of our vibrant determination to achieve a new breakthrough for this noble organization.
My country would not have put forth my nomination if it weren’t for two primary factors; the first is the leadership’s confidence in me and in my ability to carry the torch for this imperative responsibility, due to my skills and cultural and educational potential, which were developed through past experience bearing a number of responsibilities and working for state initialized cultural interaction on all local, Arab and international levels.
The second is my country’s deep- seated readiness to support my candidacy by all means available in order to serve the noble goals of Unesco in fulfilling the commitment to education, science and culture.
I am proud to say that you have worked side by side with me as ambassadors for your countries and sensed closely my belief in working for all of humanity and the life affirming world heritage goals of Unesco.
This relationship provides you with an innate ability to know me quite well and allows me this wonderful opportunity to once again ask you to support my candidacy and urge your governments’ support.
The Peninsula
