The resolution – the full text of which is reproduced below – is a logical follow-up to two resolutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly: resolution 60/7 adopted on 1 November 2005 which designated 27 January as the Annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of victims of the Holocaust and established a programme of outreach on the subject of “the Holocaust and the United Nations”; and resolution 61/255 of 26 January 2007 which condemned any denial of the Holocaust.
The UNESCO resolution, after recalling the two above mentioned United Nations resolutions, “requests the Director-General to consult with the United Nations Secretary-General regarding his outreach programme with a view to exploring, in consultation with Member States, what role UNESCO could play in promoting awareness of Holocaust remembrance through education and in combating all forms of Holocaust denial in accordance with the United Nations General Assembly resolutions mentioned above”. The Director-General was requested to report the results of this consultation and his recommendations to the Executive Board of UNESCO at its 180th session in the autumn of 2008 (the Executive Board is a restricted organ, composed of 58 Member States elected by the General Conference, meeting twice a year to examine the implementation of the Organization’s programme).
The resolution was proposed by Australia, Canada, Israel, Russian Federation and the United States of America and co-sponsored by seventy-three other Member States. It was introduced by Ms. Louise V. Oliver, Ambassador of the United States. Although adopted by consensus, it was preceded (as had been the case in the United Nations General Assembly when it adopted the resolutions mentioned above) by a difficult debate spread over several days and followed by a number of restrictive statements. More than forty Member States took the floor. The European speakers, as well as most Latin American ones (though not all – Venezuela being the most notable exception) and a number of Asian countries expressed their support for the draft resolution. On the other hand, a number of Arab states, led by Egypt and Syria, as well as Iran, were opposed to a resolution singling out the Holocaust and were strongly in favour of a resolution referring to all crimes against humanity. The adoption of the resolution by consensus required delicate behind-the-scenes contacts, led by the Ambassador of the United States.
The Ambassador of Israel, Mr. David Kornbluth, thanked Member States which had proposed the item on Holocaust Remembrance and in particular the United States. He said that Israel and the Jewish people made no claim to a monopoly on suffering, but that murder of six million Jews, including women and children, was an unparalleled crime. The very idea of the United Nations came from the recognition of the horrors of what had taken place. It figures in UNESCO’s own Constitution and it is its responsibility to ensure that it never happens again.
At the initiative of B’nai B’rith nine non-governmental organizations in official relations with UNESCO, which in accordance with the usual practice attended the General Conference as observers, submitted a statement in support of the resolution. They stressed the responsibility of UNESCO to promote international understanding, intercultural sensitivity and mutual respect through education, science and culture and expressed their readiness, as well as that of other civil society bodies, to assist UNESCO as active partners in carrying out its educational mission in this field.
The full text of this statement is appended.
Appendix 1 - Resolution on Holocaust Remembrance as adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 1 November 2007:
The General Conference
1. Remembering that the holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one third of the
Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice,
2. Recalling General Assembly resolution 60/7 of 1 November 2005, which condemned any denial of the Holocaust,
3. Noting that 27 January has been designated by the United Nations as the annual
International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust,
4. Noting that the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, adopted in the aftermath of the horrors of the Second World War, states that “the great and terrible war which has now ended was a war made possible by the denial of the democratic principles of dignity, equality and mutual respect of men, and by the propagation, in their place, through ignorance and prejudice, of the doctrine of the inequality of men and races”,
5. Bearing in mind United Nations General Assembly resolution 61/255 of 26 January
2007 and, in particular, its recognition that the Secretary-General has established a programme of outreach on the subject of “the Holocaust and the United Nations”,
6. Requests the Director-General to consult with the United Nations Secretary-General regarding his outreach programme with a view to exploring, in consultation with Member States, what role UNESCO could play in promoting awareness of Holocaust remembrance through education and in combating all forms of Holocaust denial in accordance with the United Nations General Assembly resolutions mentioned above;
7. Further requests the Director-General to report the results of this consultation and his recommendations to the Executive Board at its 180th session.
Appendix 2 - Statement of support for the draft resolution on “Holocaust Remembrance” submitted by nine non-governmental organizations in official relations with UNESCO, upon the initiative of B’nai B’rith
Ms. Chairperson,
I am taking the floor on behalf of B’nai B’rith, the Catholic International Education Office, the Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations, the International Council of Jewish Women, the International Federation of Women in Legal Professions, the World Council of Comparative Education Societies, the World Jewish Congress, and the World O.R.T. in support of the Draft Resolution on Holocaust Remembrance contained in document 34 C/49, submitted by Australia, Canada, Israel, Russian Federation and the United States of America to which many other Member States have also subscribed.
“Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed”. UNESCO’s Constitution gave it the responsibility for the past sixty years to promote international understanding, intercultural sensitivity and mutual respect through education, science and culture. The “Education for All” that UNESCO and other UN agencies have been promoting for nearly twenty years involves both an expansion of educational opportunity and quality teaching and learning. Quality education must involve learning the lessons of history, above all the lessons of events as a result of which our Organization and the United Nations were created.
The draft resolution submitted to the present session of the General Conference is therefore a natural follow-up to resolution 60/7 adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 1 November 2005, reaffirming that “the holocaust which resulted in the murder of one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice.” This resolution decided that the date of 27 January would become every year the International Day of Commemoration of the Holocaust and urged Member States to “develop education programs that will inculcate future generations with the lessons of the Holocaust”. And in order to learn the lessons of history, history must be faced honestly, factually and critically. As a result, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 61/255 of 26 January 2007 also condemns “without any reservation any denial of the Holocaust”.
It is thus of utmost importance that UNESCO assume its educational mission in this respect. We join the sponsors of the draft resolution in inviting the Director-General to consult the Secretary-General of the United Nations so that UNESCO include Holocaust Remembrance in its own Education Sector priorities as an integral part of Education for All. We also encourage the participation of the Associated Schools Programme, of UNESCO Clubs and of UNESCO National Commissions.
Non-governmental organizations such as ours and other civil society bodies are ready to assist UNESCO as active partners in carrying out its educational mission in this field.
We hope very much that this draft resolution will meet with unanimous support.
Thank you, Ms. Chairperson.
By Witold Zyss
