AIMS OF UNESCO

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25179, 9 May 1947, Page 6

AIMS OF UNESCO

ADDRESS BY DR. R. A. FALLA CONTRIBUTION OF MEMBER COUNTRIES i “However disunited the United Nations may seem at the political level, [ it is encouraging to find that its specialised agencies are making a good ; start Adth both feet on the ground,” , said Dr. R. A. Falla, Director of the Canterbury Museum, in the degreeday address to students at Canterbury University College and Canterbury • Agricultural College yesterday afternoon. History would show that a per- . manent contribution had been made i by the specialised agencies of the old League of Nation*, said Dr. Falla. , He mentioned the Work of the United t Nations’ food and agriculture, world health, and relief and rehabilitation . organisations. They had been faced With the immediate task of reconsttuction, he said, and with the same idea those who drew up the charter of the > United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation agreed that the problems of education in the ’ broadest sense must be tackled slmul-. thneously to “contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration ; among the nations through education, r science, and culture.” l Much had been written about the . first conference of the organisation in i Paris which he had attended recently, r said Dr. Falla. He would emphasise : only that the short-term aim was re- ; habilitation and reconstruction with a long-term plan to provide for freer i interchange, at all levels, of people i and ideas. “That there is a danger of > the whole thing bogging down, hot so ; much in dissension as in a froth of ■ spoken and printed words, has been ; Clearly recognised even by • those who believe in it,” said Dr. Falla. He had. however, been impressed by the attitude of delegates and the sense that there was a body of constructive public opinion behind them, also by thfc desire to put precept into prac- • tice. He described various exhibitions and cultural activities held in association with the conference where the interchange of ideas had had a profound effect. “What has all this to do with Can--1 terbury College and graduation day?** s he continued. “This mainly: that for i some years to come UNESCO and simib lar organisations will require the i best in personal contribution that the - member nations can supply, not only 1 in its secretariat and its delegations, 1 but in educational, scientific, and Cultural work at the national level to J which we all, in various ways, are r able to contribute. ’ “If the year 1947 presents us with ’ new problems like atomic energy and » new opportunities like UNESCO, It j reaffirms some old values tod,” he r said. Early this year he had seen , Britain undergoing possibly worse j hardships than during the war; but vitality and enterprise were not nof ticeably flagging. “I think that sound i tradition has a lot to do with it, or : (if you don’t like the word tradi* i tioh) a sense of continuity with the 5 best things of the past,” Dr. Falla ob--5 served. At a dinner of the Antarctic i Club he had met veterans of expedii tione of south polar exploration ex1 tending over 50 years. It was a neat 2 illustration of the continuity of tradi- - tion, for while scientific explorers to- - day used different equipment and, J technique, they were not adrift from r the spirit of their predecessors. “Can--1 terbury College has a tradition too, and one which, through ydu, has a “ contribution to make even in an ! atomic age,” concluded Dr. Falla.