DUSHANBE, November 8, 2013, Asia-Plus -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is expected to consider the issue of inscribing celebrations of the 3,000th anniversary of Hisor (ancient town in Tajikistan), the 700th birthday of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (a poet and a prominent Muslim scholar), and the 600th birthday of Abdurrahman Jami (a prominent Tajik-Persian poet) on the UNSECO Memorable Dates Calendar List.

According to the Tajik MFA information department, a Tajik delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister, Ms. Ruqiya Qurbonova, is participating in the 37th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in Paris, France.

The delegation members include Mr. Mirzoshorukh Asrori, the Minister of Culture of Tajikistan Ms. Shahlo Abdurahimova, the Executive Secretary of Tajikistan’s National Commission for UNESCO and Ambassador Rustamjon Soliyev, the Permanent Representative of Tajikistan to UNESCO.

Ms. Qurbonova is expected to deliver a statement at the 37th session of UNESCO’s General Conference that kicked off on November 5 and last until November 20, the MFA information department said.

On the sidelines of the session, the Tajik delegation members will hold talks with Ms. Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNSECO and other senior representatives of this Organization.

The 37th session of UNESCO’s General Conference, which has brought together all of the Organization’s Member States, hosted a new edition of the Leaders’ Forum on the theme “UNESCO Mobilizing for and Contributing to the Post-2015 Agenda through Education, the Sciences, Culture and Communication and Information”.

The purpose of the Forum was to reenergize the international community’s commitment to promote concrete development goals, as we approach the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted in 2000.

On November 5, ministers from all parts of the world shared their views on how to attain lasting peace and sustainable development in an uncertain world whose challenges transcend national borders.

All agreed on the need to follow the trail set by the MDGs but there was widespread consensus about the need to recognize the central role of culture in the next set of development goals.  They also voiced strong support for the UNESCO-led Education For All (EFA) drive, emphasizing the need for quality education, not just access to school.

Although the MDGs helped achieve considerable progress in the fight against poverty, disease, ignorance and inequality, all agreed that much remains to be done as many millions of women and men, girls and boys remain trapped in inhuman conditions.

Speakers agreed that they face a collective responsibility to invent new approaches to address the needs of people living in poverty or on the fringes of society.  One lesson drawn from efforts to implement the MDGs is that sustainable and equitable development cannot rest solely on economic policies.  It calls for approaches that focus on people and enable individuals and communities to acquire the tools that they need to develop their own potential.

Creating synergies and new connections was a recurring theme in the discussion which highlighted the need to build bridges between development and culture, education and democracy, employment and creativity, sustainability and shared knowledge.  What emerged of the Forum is a vision that tackles poverty and exclusion through actions that foster dignity and equality for all, notably women, youth and minorities.  The major points and suggestions made at the Leaders'' Forum will impact further debates at the General Conference and beyond, to inform the work of governments and intergovernmental organizations on the post 2015 global development agenda.