THE PRESS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1987. A new U.N.E.S.C.O. head

Press, 20 October 1987, Page 12

THE PRESS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1987. A new U.N.E.S.C.O. head

The troubles within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation will not end immediately because Mr Amadou Mahtar M’Bow will be replaced as Director-General; but they seem likely to be fewer. Had he stayed, the troubles would have compounded. Even worse than the ideological quarrelling which characterised his term has been the fact that the organisation has accomplished little in recent years. When there is so much Illiteracy in the world and so much of mankind’s heritage needs saving, the international organisation specifically designed to address these questions should not be bogged down "in internal disputes. Theseftave represented a gross waste and have lost precious time. More than a year ago, Mr M’Bow said that he would not stand for a third term as Director-General. However, it did not require very much pressure to persuade him to stand again and he has been competing in the ballots of the executive board of U.N.E.S.C.O. His main competitor at the beginning was Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Mr Sahabzada Yaqub Khan; but that candidacy was viewed without a great deal of enthusiasm, partly because Mr Yaqub Khan’s main qualifications were military, rather than academic or cultural. This seemed to square badly with the ideals of peace and understanding which it is part of U.N.E.S.C.O.’s brief to spread. Mr Yaqub Khan had his Asian origin in his favour and says that his withdrawal from the race was in the interests of African-Asian solidarity. Mr M’Bow is from Senegal. In the end it was a European, Mr Frederico Mayor, a former deputy Director-General of U.N.E.5.C.0., who entered the race late, stayed the course, and won. The full U.N.E.S.C.O. conference will vote on Mr

Mayor’s candidacy during November. As Mr Yaqub Khan and Mr M’Bow have both withdrawn, Mr Mayor will probably become Director-General. During Mr M’Bow’s tenure of the position, the United States, Britain, and Singapore withdrew from the organisation. U.N.E.S.CO. had the reputation of becoming increasingly anti-Western in its outlook and profligate in its expenses. A New World Information Order,' seen by many in the West as limiting media, freedom, was promoted during Mr M’Bow’s time. The organisation was reported - to be spending about 85 per cent of its budget on administration. U.N.E.S.C.O. was considered to be aft M’Bow fiefdom. It was spending so much oft itself as an organisation that it had next tq nothing left to do the work it was supposed to be doing. Mr M’Bow was believed to practise cronyism extensively. Mr Mayor will inherit a lot of Mr M’Bow’s appointees. He will also inherit the organisation’s deficit. There is no guarantee that the United States, which contributed substantially to U.N.E.S.C.O.*s budget, will rejointhe organisation; nor is there wy certainty about the backing which will we given to Mr Mayor by other countries. The Africans and the Asians are disappointed that another European has gained the top post in U.N.E.S.C.O. Rich countries, such as Japan, West Germany, the Netherlands, and some other European countries which hoped to reforin U.N.E.S.C.O. from the inside, will be heartened by Mr M’Bow’s departure. Had he stayed, they too might have left the organisation. They are still on the inside to help Mr Mayor with the many reforms he will need to make. So U.N.E.S.C.O. at least has the chance to survive.