PARIS 6-23 Oct 2009 UNESCO holds 35th General Conference

The 35th General Assembly of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization installs a new director-general to take over from Koïchiro Matsuura of Japan, whose second term ends in November. Bulgarian diplomat Irina Bokova became the first woman elected to lead UNESCO, beating out Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosny after five rounds of voting.

Controversy over alleged anti-Semitic remarks cost Hosny, who was leading after early rounds, the job. Other business concerns protecting heritage sites and selecting new ones. Babylon in Iraq has been red-flagged after damage from the United States military.

UNESCO encourages international peace and universal respect by promoting collaboration among nations, according to its self description. Though it concerns itself with education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, communication and information and other themes, it is best known for its efforts to preserve sites of particular cultural or natural value. Its World Heritage list now numbers 890 sites. Sites in danger are a particular concern.

UNESCO says the US military in Iraq inflicted considerable damage to Babylon. More than 4000 years old and some 60 miles south of Baghdad, it is considered one of the world's most important archaeological sites. A UNESCO report released on Jul 9 said damage to the Mesopotamian city was carried out by "digging, cutting, scraping and levelling", when the US military base was there from Apr 2003 to Dec 2004. The agency vows to make Babylon a World Heritage site in order to prevent similar vandalism in future wars.

At its 33rd meeting, in Spain in June, the World Heritage Committee inscribed two new natural sites and 11 cultural sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The Committee also inscribed three sites on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger to help raise international support for their preservation. One was the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System in Belize, the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, which is threatened by mangrove cutting and excessive development. Colombia asked the agency to place its Los Katios National Park, a site of notable biological diversity, on the danger list to help against the illegal deforestation that threatens it. The Historical Monuments of Mtskheta in Georgia were added to the danger list because of unchecked deterioration of the site. UPDATED Sep/09

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http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-42588720090920

UNESCO
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=29008&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html