UNESCO contribution to Gaza reconstruction and development – Director-General’s report – UNESCO decision

DECISIONS ADOPTED

BY THE EXECUTIVE BOARD AT ITS 190th SESSION

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RELATIONS WITH MEMBER STATES, INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

AND INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL PARTNERS

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39 Report by the Director-General on the reconstruction and development of Gaza: implementation of 189 EX/Decision 20

(190 EX/39; 190 EX/54 Part II Rev.)

The Executive Board decided, upon the recommendation⁵ of the Programme and External Relations Commission, that the debate on this item be adjourned to its 191st session, and that the draft decision contained in document 190 EX/PX/DR.9 be annexed to the present decision.

(190 EX/SR.8) 

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⁵ After a roll-call vote of 28 votes in favour, 23 votes against and 4 abstentions,

the following States having voted for the adjournment of the debate: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Grenada, Haiti, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Slovakia, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uzbekistan and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).

the following States having voted against: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Congo, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Ecuador, France, Gambia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe.

Abstentions: Angola, Gabon, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Absent: Barbados, Ethiopia and Papua New Guinea. 

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PROGRAMME AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS COMMISSION (PX)

The Executive Board,

1. Recalling the provisions of the four Geneva Conventions (1949) and their additional Protocols, the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954) and its additional Protocols, and the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972), and the relevant recommendations, resolutions and decisions of UNESCO on the protection of cultural heritage and on the right of children to education,

2. Also recalling 185 EX/Decision 37,

3. Having examined document 190 EX/39,

4. Noting with deep concern the slow progress in the reconstruction of schools and other cultural heritage sites in the Gaza Strip that was damaged during the 2008-2009 war on Gaza,

5. Deplores the continuous Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip which harmfully affects the free and sustained movement of personnel and humanitarian relief items for the successful implementation of UNESCO reconstruction projects; as well as the children injured, the attacks on schools and the denial of access to education that were reported by the Protection Cluster’s Working Group on grave violations against children, of which UNESCO is a member, during the period covered by document 190 EX/39;

6. Affirms in this regard that schools, universities and cultural heritage sites should not be involved in military conflicts;

7. Thanks Member States and donors for their generous financial contributions to the UNESCO projects retained in the United Nations Flash Appeal for Gaza, and invites Member States, international governmental and non-governmental organizations and relevant international and national institutions, as well as private institutions, to further assist in this regard through extrabudgetary funding;

8. Thanks the Director-General for initiatives that have already been implemented in the field of education, and for the safety of media professionals, and calls upon her to continue her participation actively in the integrated United Nations response to the Gaza Early Recovery and Reconstruction Plan developed by Palestinian Government, by focusing on UNESCO’s contribution to its educational and cultural heritage protection components;

9. Requests the Director-General to organize an information meeting to provide Member States with an update on the outcome of the projects conducted in the Gaza Strip;

10. Decides to include this item in the agenda of the Executive Board at its 191st session, and invites the Director-General to submit to it a progress report thereon.

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