PRESSURE THE FUTURE? THE INFLUENCE FRONT LINE

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This magazine is destined for use as an information source andis not an official UNESCO document. ISSN 1014-6989.

All articles are free of copyright restrictions and can bereproduced, in which case the editors would appreciate a copy.Photos carrying no copyright mark © may be obtained by themedia on demand.

is a monthly magazine published bythe United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization. English and French editions areproduced at Paris headquarters; theSpanish edition in cooperation withthe UNESCO Centre of Catalonia,Mallorca 285,08037 Barcelona,Spain; the Chinese edition incooperation with the XinhuaNewsagency, 57 XuanwumenXidajie, Beijing, China; and thePortuguese edition in cooperationwith the National Commission forUNESCO, Avenida Infante Santo N° 42 - 5°, 1300 Lisbon Portugal.

Director of Publication : R. Lefort. Editor-in-chief :S. WilliamsAssistant Managing Editor :C. Mouillère Associate Editors : N. Khouri-Dagher, C. L'Homme-Thiollier, A-L. Martin. Spanish edition : L. Garcia (Barcelona), L. Sampedro (Paris). Lay-out : G. Traiano, F. RyanPhotoengraving and printing :UNESCO WorkshopsDistributionUNESCO's specialized services

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TO SUBSCRIBE: Free subscription can be obtainedfor professionals, associations,NGOs, IGOs and other organizationsworking in UNESCO's fields ofcompetence by writing to UNESCO Sources7 Place de Fontenoy,75352 Paris 07 SP.Tel: (+33 01) 45 68 16 72Fax: (+33 01) 45 68 56 54

UNESCO

UNESCO

EDUCATION

Teachers under pressure The 1998 edition of the World EducationReport focuses on teachers' increasinglydifficult working conditions..........................................................4HIGHER EDUCATION

Which way to the future?Universities in the Arab region come underfire at a regional conference in Beirut..........................................................8ENVIRONMENT

Fishing under the influenceA worldwide research programme studies theimpact of climate change on fish stocks.......................................................11IN BRIEFNews from UNESCO's different sectors andregions along with new publications andaudiovisual materials.......................................................14PORTRAIT

A Woman of Character Christina Anyanwu, wins the UNESCOGuillermo Cano Press Freedom prize.......................................................18HUMAN RIGHTS

A Commitment to a GreatAmbition Experts debate the merits of a declaration onthe human right to peace.......................................................19SOCIETIES IN FLUX

Asia's Migrants on the Front LineImmigrant workers bear the brunt of Asia'srecession .......................................................21HERITAGE

A Lifebuoy for a Sinking Queen In Lebanon, UNESCO launches aninternational campaign to safeguard thehistoric city of Tyre.......................................................22

70 to 80 students per classis the norm in manycountries.

411

Where arethey goingand why?

Give peace a chance.19

Unemployed andfacing deportation.21

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● EDUCATIONTEACHERS UNDERPRESSURE

● HIGHEREDUCATION IN THEARAB STATESWHICH WAY TOTHE FUTURE?

● ENVIRONMENTFISHINGUNDER THE INFLUENCE

● SOCIETIES INFLUXASIA'S MIGRANTSON THEFRONT LINE

3No. 100 - April 1998

EDITORIAL

BUILDINGBRIDGES

Nine years ago was born aproject that may have see-med a little odd, or even

vague, at the time: to make UNESCObetter known - not via the usual offi-cial channels or in the stiff, formal jar-gon habitually used by such institu-tions - but through its everyday actions.To simply tell the story of how, workingin the name of this “house of giving andreceiving” (to use ex-Senegalese President,Léopold Sedar Senghor’swords), men and womenthe planet over swappedideas and put togetherprojects whose ultimategoal was to create theconditions wherebyother men and womencould live happier, morejust and fuller lives.The beginnings ofUNESCO Sources weremodest indeed: two lan-guage editions only, inEnglish and French. Butsince then have come the Spanish edi-tion, thanks to the UNESCO Centre ofCatalonia, the Portuguese version pro-duced by the National Commission forUNESCO in Lisbon, and the Chineseedition, published with the help ofChina’s National Commission and theexpertise of the Xinhua news agency;better still, since the beginning of thisyear, this latter version has been inclu-ded integrally into China’s prestigiousmonthly Science and Culture, whichboasts a circulation of 400,000. AnArabic Sources is now in the works

and we are actively seeking a partnerfor a Russian edition, to achieve ourgoal of producing the magazine inUNESCO’s six official languages. Buteven now, it probably has the largestcirculation within the UN system for aperiodical presenting the activities ofone of its agencies.This is quite an achievement, and yetit is still insufficient. In absolute terms,

financial constraintsmean that subscriptionscan only be offered tothose who “relay” infor-mation. This leavesaside vast numbers ofindividual artists, edu-cators, scientists andcommunicatorsUNESCO seeks toinclude in its quest tobuild peace, and broa-den and confirm respectfor human rightsthrough “intellectualcooperation”, i.e., by hel-ping to make their ideas

and actions better seen and heard.UNESCO Sources serves to helpconstruct the bridges being builttowards these people. Continuing inthis sense, and to mark the occasionof its 100th edition, we have revam-ped and updated its presentation.Because those bridges, like those“houses”, do not get builtin a day, or even in nineyears.

Federico Mayor

Director-General of UNESCO

“Making UNESCO

better known - not

via the usual

official channels

or in the stiff,

formal jargon

habitually used by

such institutions

- but through its

everyday action.

”

KEY DATES

●February 1989: the firstissue published inEnglish and French●October 1989: theUNESCO Centre of Porto(Portugal) launches thePortuguese co-edition●February 1991: theSpanish version ispublished with theUNESCO Centre ofCatalonia (Barcelona,Spain), which alsolaunches a Catalanedition●February 1991: Sourcesis revamped●May 1991: the Xinhuanewsagency (China)publishes the Chineseedition●April 1994: thePortuguese NationalCommission for UNESCOtakes over thePortuguese co-edition●January 1998: the firstedition of the Chinesemagazine Science andCulture incorporatingSources appears●April 1998: for its 100thedition, Sources gets abrand new look

4 April 1998 - No. 100

TEACHERSUNDER PRESSUREThe education of the young has never been more in need of our commitment andresources. Our teachers have never been more crucial to our collective future.They merit better than they are currently being dished up, says the 1998 edition ofUNESCO's World Education Report.

EDUCATION

UNESCO Publishing.Available in English andFrench (to be publishedin Spanish, Arabic andRussian), 150 FF.

In a way, they hold the future of over abillion people in their hands. And still,in their majority, they earn survivalwages - a few dozen dollars a month -without benefitting from any special

social prestige in compensation. “They arethe 57 million teachers responsible for theeducation of 1.2 billion primary and secon-dary school students around the world. ”

Because their working conditions arebecoming more and more precarious they areat the centre of the latest edition of UNES-CO’s World Education Report.

The report addresses the factors leadingto the degradation of the condition of tea-chers, visible everywhere, except in a hand-ful of rich countries. Education budgets have,however, not decreased in recent years: inmany countries, the percentage of publicfunds allocated to this sector is even higherthan it was 10 or 15 years ago. And teachers’salaries can represent up to 90% of thesebudgets, topping the list of public expendi-tures.

But, in the South, as a result of boomingdemography, the number of children enrol-led has exploded. In southern Asia forexample, the 6-14 year-old age group increa-sed from 190 to 290 million in only 20 years,from 1975 to 1995. “Education for All” oftenmeans overcrowded classrooms, badly equip-ped schools, poorly trained teachers. Classesof 70 or 80 students are common in Mali orin Niger. According to a study carried out byUNICEF and UNESCO, 90% of schools inBurkina Faso, Benin and Nepal have noelectricity.

Half of the schools in Cape Verde or inMadagascar lack a desk for the teacher. Inrural areas of the least developed countries,the Report points out, “conditions ... are

often such as to permit only minimal formsof educational activity to be carried out.”

In the industrialized countries, the ten-dency is towards stabilization of the numberof teachers - even a slight decrease in theirnumber - as a result of aging populations. Butwith unemployment, increasing poverty and“the breakdown of the family especially ...the student population today has a frequencyof social problems that few teachers whohave been teaching for more than 15 to 20years anticipated when they began theircareers.” Violence and delinquency are partof the daily fare for many.

Between the frying panand the fire

Finally, “their position in a majority ofcountries as the single largest category ofpublic sector employees” has meant thatteachers are the first to suffer from the aus-terity and structural adjustment programmesset up in the 1980s. In real terms, their sala-ries have fallen in many parts of the world,and the Report notes diplomatically that “itis hard to find, for any region... clear evidenceof an overall trend towards the improve-ment in teachers’ economic status.” In theindustrialized countries, teachers, with uni-versity training for the most part, earn lessthan other professionals of similar academiclevel. In many countries of Africa, Asia orEastern Europe, salaries are barely enoughto cover basic living expenses, and forceteachers to have a second job.

Education thus becomes a sector of eco-nomic activity like any other, and must the-refore comply with market criteria of pro-fitability. “It is still unclear how far theconcern for productive efficiency in educationcan be pursued,” remarks the report, which

”“

5No. 100 - April 1998

Teachers today,wearing many hats

Will they all get theattention they need?(Photo © Vu/Bernard Descamps)

These days we have to be surrogatemothers, social workers, lawyers and

doctors all in one,” says Ruth Limerick, ateacher in Antigua-Barbuda, in theCaribbean. A teacher’s job has drasticallychanged over the past few decades. Every-where they are called upon to play allkinds of extra social roles, beyond theircraft of teaching.

Teachers are increasingly

seen as professionals, rather

like doctors, whose

responsibility is to tackle the

problems of today's youth

and solve them.

In rich countries, the shrinking job mar-ket means that education no longer guar-antees a place in the workforce. “Motivat-ing young people who know their futuresare uncertain, and restoring their confi-dence and hope, are part of the new roleteachers have had to take on,” explainsElie Jouen, the secretary-general of Educa-tion International, a federation of 280teachers’ unions in 148 countries.

Understanding the problem“A teacher must now be a priest, a cop

and so on ... something more than teachingis called for, and that is the human capaci-ty to understand all the problems. What weneed today are teachers who are involved,”affirms Rachide Benzine, a secondaryschool teacher in Trappes (France).

Teaching immigrant children andwrestling with all the problems of lan-guage, culture and poverty is also a chal-lenge and often calls for action outsideschool. “Our team is never reluctant to visitthe parents at home ... to discuss their chil-drens’ schooling and to demonstrate theinterest we take in them, ” says Lynne Mor-ris, headmistress of a school in Birming-ham (England) with many immigrantpupils.

“Until the 1970s, educational systemsand families contributed harmoniously to achild’s education and training. This cooper-ation between parents and teachers hasdeclined in many areas. Families have lostinterest as they have become preoccupiedwith problems of unemployment, housing,even survival, and no longer have the timeor energy needed to give active support tothe teachers,” says Jouen.

Desperate situationsTeachers are increasingly seen as pro-

fessionals, rather like doctors, whoseresponsibility is to tackle the problems oftoday’s youth and solve them. “We’re beingasked to sort out problems that familiescan’t resolve and by doing so we relieveparents of even more of their responsibili-ties,” complains Jean-Alexis Flouret, ateacher in Paris.

In poor countries, points out theReport, and especially in rural areas, “thedesperate situation” of the physical state ofschools and the availability of teaching and

also poses the question: “Are slow learnersto be regarded as ‘costly’?”

At the same time, the demands on edu-cation have never been so intense: on theone hand, schools are expected to favorizeintegration and the socialization of excludedor marginalized populations, or on the other,to pull villages out of extreme poverty.

Teachers thus find themselves betweenthe frying pan and the fire, between the logicof economics which limits their means, andthe requirement for efficiency which hasnever been such a pressing priority. Thereports sums up the situation thus: “whatsociety expects of teachers in most countriescould be out of proportion to the rewards itis prepared to accord to teachers for theirefforts, the means put at their disposal, thedifficult conditions under which many ofthem work and the present knowledge baseof what makes for effective teaching andlearning.” ●

Nadia Khouri-Dagher

6 April 1998 - No. 100

learning materials, mean that teachers oftenhave to carry out a variety of functions notstrictly to do with teaching. These includepersuading families to send their children toschool in the first place, organizing thebuilding of an extra classroom, seeing thatfood and firewood are provided to cookschool lunches, giving advice to the chil-dren about health, and harassing authoritiesfor supplies of exercise books and pencils.

“I spend all my time trying to find solu-tions to hundreds of problems,” says EmileJean-Noel, a headmistress in Haiti.

“Before, sending a child to school wasconsidered an investment. Now that we areseeing more and more unemployed gradu-ates, parents are saying that their childrenare more useful working in the fields. Thus,apart from our pedagogical role, we mustalso work to raise the awareness of parents

“ The children lookon me as theirfather ”

When Hama Ali Diallowas transferred to theremote hamlet ofPetelkole, near theBurkina Faso border inNiger, he found himselfin charge of a one-roomschool “in an absoluteshambles. ” His first taskwas to build an extraclassroom with thechildren. He then turnedto school enrolment...“The people here don’tsee the usefulness ofeducation,” he says.Hama Ali, husband oftwo wives and father offive, runs his school likean extended family.Many of his pupils livebetween five and eightkilometres away - sothere are dormitories forthem at the school.“ You have to look afterthe children night andday, see to their health,food, often theirclothing, theirinstruction and, aboveall, their upbringing. ”The World FoodProgramme, the UnitedNations food-aidorganization, providesmeals for the pupils, andtheir parents receive dryrations as an incentiveto enrol their daughters.However, Hama Ali’smain preoccupationthese days is water.“ We lack the capacityto bore wells to providethe pupils with a supplyof clean drinkingwater, ” he says. And ifhe had it, he is quick toadd, he would create aschool garden. “ I likebeing with the children,listening to them andsharing in what intereststhem, ” he laughs.“ That’s why I’m fond ofthis job. It’s a vocation. ”

Extract from Portraits inCourage, UNESCO/EducationInternational, 1997.

to make them understand the advantages ofschool,” explains Abdramane Koné, ateacher in northern Côte d'Ivoire.

“Many parents couldn’t care less abouteducation and the kind of instruction weneed to give their children. Many won’t evenbuy them a pencil or an exercise book andso I end up lending them,” says VanphengPhendalit, a teacher in Laos.

Concludes the Report: “While the cen-tral concern of pre-service teacher educa-tion in most countries in the coming yearswill continue to be the preparation of teach-ing as such, other aspects of teachers’ workcould also come more into focus. They havenot been given the attention they merit, inso far as teaching is only one of the chal-lenges facing teachers when they gradu-ate and take up their duties in theschools.” ●

Computers in schools,a virtual revolution ?

figure rose to 47% in 1993 and by 2000, itwill be 60%. As elsewhere, the demands ofthe labour market and the belief that a com-puter can be a major educational tool havebrought computers into teaching fromkindergarten up, and today 98% of Ameri-can schools have them.

Anyone who questions this belief intechnology is frowned upon.

“The nearest thing I can draw a parallelto is a theological discussion,” says WilliamRukeyser, a former top state education offi-cial in California. “There’s so much an ele-ment of faith here that demanding evidenceis almost a sign of heresy.” Rukeyser headsthe Learning in the Real World foundation,which argues against the domination ofschools by computers.

The World Education Report alsodevotes much attention to new technol-

ogy, whose effectiveness in teaching espe-cially in the United States, is starting to bequestioned.

“There is no good evidence that mostuses of computers significantly improveteaching and learning,” concluded the influ-ential US magazine The Atlantic Monthly

last July after a lengthy investigation. Oth-ers in the media agreed. A month before, aconference at the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology (MIT) had debated “whetherthe new technologies offer genuine promisefor improvements in learning or are merely adiversion for the real problems of education.”

In 1983, a quarter of all jobs in the Unit-ed States involved using computers. The

40.234.2

27.4

90.8

51

39.7

99.7

88.3

66.5

92.9

78.9

52.4

94

57.8

47.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Percentage of female teachers by level of education (1995)

%

Pre-primary Primary Secondary

Worldtotal

Developedregions

Countries in transition

Developingregions

Least developedcountries

Source: World Education Report 1998. Infography: A. Darmon.

7No. 100 - April 1998

Surveys among teachers have shownthat computers stimulate pupils, and anMIT study says they “become active partic-ipants” and “gain greater independence.” ASan Francisco teacher, Adela Najarro, saysthat “every single child will do more workfor you and do better work with a comput-er. Just because it’s on a monitor, kids paymore attention. There’s this magic to thescreen.”

But not everyone agrees. One Englishteacher says she can immediately spotessays done on a computer. “They don'tlink ideas. They just write one thing, andthen they write another one, and they don'tseem to see or develop the relationshipsbetween them.”

The screen cannot replace the realworld, say the dissenters. An on-screensimulation of something cannot replace theexperience of the same thing in real life.A computer also limits creativity to thechoices offered by the machine.

Pictures of Michael JordanIn addition, computers increase social

isolation. Teachers note that radio and tele-vision, which were envisaged initially asmagnificent teaching aids, are today mainlysources of entertainment, and have had lit-tle effect on traditional education.

Children’s “most popular stops areInternet sites about cars, sports and theirfavourite movies,” says Los Angelesteacher Alan Warhaftig. “When you look atwhat’s coming out of the inkjet printer, it’sbasically pictures of Michael Jordan.”

But perhaps the most important thingis, as the World Report points out, that “thecore process - face-to-face contact betweenthe teacher and learners in a classroom -has, as yet, hardly been touched” by the useof computers.

There seems in fact to be an anomaly inthe debate: the true impact of computers ineducation. This is because there are other

interests at stake than just the future ofchildren being educated. Many of the sur-veys carried out to date have been paid forby computer and software manufacturers,who are lobbying for the new technology,with the result, says Edward Miller, the for-mer editor of the Harvard Education Let-ter, “that the research is set up in a way tofind benefits that aren’t really there. Fromthe beginning, corporations were able toframe the debate.”

“The interests of the children were notcentral” to it, says Kathryn Montgomery, aparticipant at the MIT conference. Whencompanies offer millions of dollars worthof equipment to schools, say the critics, itis not so much philanthropy as an indirectsales pitch to parents in a fast-expandingmarket: Bill Clinton's national programmeto modernize equipment in all schoolscomes with a price tag of up to $100b.

So the danger is that commercial inter-est is actually changing the nature andaims of education.

As two Harvard researchers, ShirleyVeenema and Howard Gardner, note,“European and Asian countries have bettereducational results than the United Statesnot because they have better technologybut because the business of education istaken more seriously there.” ●

N. K.-D.

AND IN THEDEVELOPINGCOUNTRIES...Computers are notabout to revolutionizeteaching methods in theSouth. The WorldReport points out thatmost of the developingworld’s schools have noelectricity, and thatTokyo alone has moretelephones than all ofAfrica.Then there is the cost.To re-equip California’s8,000 public schools willcost $500 million dollarsover the next four years.Added to this are thebills for maintenance,buying software andtraining teachers tooperate it.In countries wherepupils sometimes stillhave no schoolbooks orpencils, the computerscreen is a long way off.

In the U.S., manufacturersoffered equipment worthmillions of dollars to schoolslike this one in San Francisco(Photo ©Wilson/Liaison/Gamma)

”“There's so much an element

of faith here that demanding

evidence is almost a sign of

heresy...

8 April 1998 - No. 100

WHICH WAYTO THE FUTURE?Universities in the Arab region are inefficient, lack autonomy, rely on outdated tea-ching methods and offer only limited access, said participants at a conference onthe future of higher education in these countries, held in Beirut from March 2-5;the last in a series before UNESCO's World Conference on Higher Educationwhich will take place in Paris next October.

HIGHER EDUCATION

The Arab world needs a revolutionand its universities even more ofone, according to Egyptianhuman development expertNader Fergani.

His warning to the regional confe-rence in Beirut on the future of Arab highereducation on the eve of the 21st centurymight seem shocking and his analysis even“very pessimistic”. But a team of leadingArab university officials invited to report tothe conference came to the same conclu-sion: the present structures cannot guaran-tee that the “fundamental” mission of highereducation - to “ensure overall developmentfor countries, along with peace and unders-tanding between peoples” - will be carriedout.

A long way behindThe increase in the number of Arab uni-

versities from only 10 in 1950 to 175 in 1996is an impressive achievement, but these ins-titutions are now overwhelmed by the hugenumber of secondary school graduates onwhich governments have hitherto centredtheir efforts, and which will double over thenext 15 years.

Fifteen percent of this group have beenaccepted by these universities, which is bet-ter than some Asian and African countries,notes a Jordanian consultant, Subhi al-Qas-sem. “But,” he adds, “this is a long way fromthe 70% figure in developed countries.”

In all, five million youngsters will have toforego higher education, a disproportionatenumber of them girls, even though the num-ber of female students has now risen to 33%of the total.

The region's universities have all been setup in the same mould - the “state university” -

and have the same defects - lack of auto-nomy, inefficient management, out-of-dateteaching methods based on memorizingrather than reasoning, and poor-quality trai-ning which ignores modern subjects likecommerce and computers. These two sub-jects are restricted to the few private uni-versities in the Arab world, except in Leba-non and, more recently, in Jordan.

There is no system of assessment and nochannel to link institutes of higher educationto the world of industry which mightinfluence or adapt courses. Limited accessand low standards are the two big recogni-zed problems in Arab higher education.

“But, how can we ask governments toincrease the number of students and sharpencompetition when there are so fewresources?” asks Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, amember of UNESCO’s Advisory Group onHigher Education and special adviser to the

In a patriarchal society...(Photo © P. Carmichael/Aspect/Cosmos)

9No. 100 - April 1998

Palestinian Authority's Ministry of HigherEducation. There is a gulf between “aspirationsand the current level of achievement,” he says.

The general decline in living standards inArab countries, whose GNP per capita fell by30% between 1980 and 1996, does not holdout much hope, any more than the gallopingpopulation growth (in Iraq, Syria, Jordanand Palestine by between 3.2 and 3.4% ayear). Experts point to the birth rate as theroot of the “crisis” because it cuts into thestate’s resources and its ability to pay foreducation, and even more for higher educa-tion, which comes bottom of the list of edu-cation spending priorities.

Universities should therefore be tho-roughly reformed,made more “open” andmore relevant to social reality, so as to “build”a society which can join the process of worlddevelopment, or at least help it on its way.

“Even if we can’t be more competitive, edu-cation is a bonus for society, since an edu-cated jobless person can ultimately be retrai-ned,” says Prof. Abu Lughod.

The conference marked an irreversibletrend towards private universities and tech-nical colleges, despite the doubts of somecountries such as Syria, Yemen and Sudan.Building such alternative private systemsmust be tied in with means, provided by thestate, to check quality - of courses, trainingand salaries - so as to guarantee studentrights. This means venturing into new ter-ritory for this region, and requires coopera-tion between the different countries andsocial partners. Without this, the necessaryreforms, and through them, a renaissance ofArab culture, will not succeed. ●

Caroline Donati

Beirut

WHAT THE STUDENTS WANT“There is no universitywithout students. Just asthere is no nationwithout a people. ” Thus,the 800 students at thestudents’ forum at theBeirut conference,presented themselves asobligatory partners inthe debate over thefuture development oftheir universities. Theirmain demand: to belistened to, and to beable to participate in thedecision-makingprocess. A "student manifesto"produced by the forumdemanded the freedomfor students to choosetheir ownrepresentatives, thefreedom to choose theirown academic direction,and free access andequality of opportunity -for both sexes.To get the ball rollingthey have sought thehelp of UNESCO andrelevant non-governmentalorganizations to preparea declaration of therights of studentsenrolled in highereducation, which theyplan to present to thisyear’s world conference.

Occupied territoryWe only need to look around at this

conference to see what place womenhave in higher education in the Arab region:two women at the ministerial level for 20countries, and a mere handful of academics!”Hanan Hashrawi, the Palestinian Authori-ty’s education minister, was indignant. Ifaccess to higher education was consideredby all the participants in Beirut as a key pro-blem, it is one that affects women first andforemost, she says.

“Personally, I was lucky enough to havea family that firmly supported me. But, impli-cit discrimination is always present. Policy,and the dominant social values, generallyfavour men, and impose more severe crite-ria for women.

“To succeed, a woman must be surroun-ded by other women, so she will feel less vul-nerable and at the same time learn not to

evaluate her achievements on the basis ofsociety’s patriarchal value.”

The domination of those values is alsokeenly felt on campus, says Rajia Mohamedal-Hussayni, 18, the president of Egypt’sNational Union of Progressive Youth, andfirst year management and internationaltrade student in the French section of Ainal-Chams University in Cairo. “ There are twogirls for every four boys in the students’union at Ain el-Chams, and their opinions arenot taken into account at all. Girls are notallowed to raise student problems, or eventhe problems that concern them in particu-lar. For example, we don’t have the right toprotest against the late hours of certaincourses, even though our society forbidswomen to be out of the house in the evening.Neither do we have the right to organizecultural activities at the university.

...the ball is not exactlyin the girls' court.

(Photo © N. Benchallal/Contact Press Image)

10 April 1998 - No. 100

“I cannot move about freely: I am staredat if I use public transport, and on campus Ihave to cover myself from head to foot. Rela-tions between boys and girls are very diffi-cult...”

“Poverty is another factor that excludesgirls from higher education,” says Hashrawi.“Poor families will send their sons to uni-versity before their daughters, because tra-ditionally, it is the man who is the familybreadwinner.”

To overcome the hurdles, continues theminister, “it is imperative to strengthen thelinks between universities and schools, aswell as the professional milieu, because aftergraduation, many women still come underpressure to go back into the home. We, forexample, have created a technical college forwomen, and a foyer to offer all Palestinianwomen the chance to specialize in areas

usually closed to them. And we have for-med ties with schools and in professionalspheres to ensure jobs for these women aftergraduation. But we must also reinforce femi-nine consciousness within universities toencourage the next generation. It’s there thatthe problem must be raised, and publicdebate generated. ”

Rajia, who was elected at the Beirutconference to represent the region’s studentcommunity at the World Conference onHigher Education agrees. “We must get reco-gnition of our rights to university. Just asthe Palestinian girl struggles against theoccupation of her territory, we must struggleagainst the occupation of our thoughts. ”●

C.D.

with S.W.

Is Arabic the right language for Arab universities?What language to teach in is at the heart

of the higher education debate in theArab world. George Nahas, vice-presidentof Lebanon’s Balamand University, who pre-sented the issue at the Beirut conference,says there are a number of problems withusing Arabic, but their solution does not liein using a foreign language.

“In the 1950s, ‘arabization’ of universityeducation was regarded as a backlash againstcolonialism. But, what is the situation today?In public universities, teaching is mostly inArabic, except in science and medicine,which are usually taught in English or French.Even Egypt’s highly respected Islamic uni-versity of El-Azhar teaches medicine inEnglish.

HAPHAZARD“The first problem with using Arabic is

the lack of appropriate literature. Mucheffort has gone into translation but it is hapha-zard. Translations into Arabic are not donewith either the speed or quality necessary andthe level of teaching suffers accordingly.The vocabulary and flexibility of Arabicenable it to adapt to the development of dif-ferent sciences but there needs to be agree-ment on terminology because spoken Arabicvaries from country to country.

“The inadequate support for researchand the lack of many scientific journals inArabic often lead Arab academics to publishin a foreign language or even to emigrate.Arabic is in effect an intruder in world scien-tific production. We will also have to solve

a number of technical problems before itcan take full part in the Internet, which hasbecome crucial for communication betweenscientists.

“Teaching in Arabic is up against thedemands of the labour market, too. In coun-tries increasingly opening up to internatio-nal trade, and where there is fierce compe-tition for jobs, mastery of a foreign languageis a big advantage. This is why new privateuniversities in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan andthe Gulf States, as well as the many collegesof tourism, technology and computer trainingwhich are springing up in Tunisia andMorocco, offer their courses in English orFrench. But the solution is not to teach stu-dents in a foreign language.

“University education should continueto be in Arabic, while requiring a foreign lan-guage to enable broader training and thebest possible access to the labour market. InTunisia and Syria, for example, despite theirradically different national politics, all stu-dents have to know a foreign language.

“But the main problem is the presence ofArabic at the level of the ‘production ofknowledge’. The use of Arabic in highereducation will cease to be an issue whenArab researchers can demonstrate their effi-ciency and that of their language by produ-cing the necessary textbooks in medicine,physics, sociology, history and educationalsciences.” ●

These two opted for theAmerican University inBeirut.(Photo © Kazemi/Safir-Rapho)

11No. 100 - April 1998

FISHING UNDER THE INFLUENCEThe fishing industry is under fire these days from all sides, as fish populationsdisappear or fall radically in many parts of the world. But what if climate changealso influences stocks? The GLOBEC Programme has been set up to find someanswers.

ENVIRONMENT

Who was to blame for thecollapse of the historicalCanadian Newfoundlandcod fishing grounds in1992? The fishermen

came under fire from all sides for over-exploi-ting stocks. They, in-turn, blamed each other,changes in ocean temperatures and eventhe seal population, which was accused ofeating too many young fish. Governmentstook a beating over their inability to manageresources. Scientists were accused of failingto predict the crash.

In fact, the only point of consensus bet-ween the parties finally, was on the needfor more and better knowledge of fish, theocean and how the different elementsinfluence fish populations. The Global OceanEcosystem Dynamics Programme (GLO-BEC, established by the Scientific Commit-tee on Oceanic Research and the Intergo-vernmental Oceanographic Commission inlate 1991), has set out to scientifically exa-mine many of those factors across a wide

time scale. “At present, almost all marinefisheries are managed on the basis of singlespecies, when in fact they should be mana-ged as integrated ecosystems,” says Ian Perryof the GLOBEC Scientific Steering Commit-tee. “Almost all fisheries are managed assu-ming that the next few years will be like thepast few years, i.e. the ocean environment isassumed to be relatively constant.

“However, from work done on Pacificsalmon and other species, it appears thatthere can be considerable variability in thelong-term productive capacity of the oceansfor fish. These have been called different‘regimes’ and it is important to know whe-ther the next few years will be like the past,or whether we may cross into a differentregime which may not be as productive (ormay be more productive) of fish.”

Climate variability may be one of thekeys to understanding these different regimesand predicting long term cycles and shifts,and thus forms the main pillar for GLO-BEC’s research. (Photo © Jozon/Hoa-Qui).

”“It is important

to know whether

the next few

years will be

like the past, or

whether we may

cross into a

different

regime.

12 April 1998 - No. 100

Scientists involved in GLOBEC Canada,for example, are now working on the inter-action between climate-related processesand the production of all-important zoo-plankton, the basic food stuff of many fish.By studying the complex and delicate inter-actions between zooplankton (tiny floatinganimals) and the phytoplankton (micro-scopic floating plants) they feed off and theirresponses to climate change, the GLOBECscientists hope to develop systems to fore-cast fluctuations in fish populations.

Where have all theanchovies gone?

In the United States, GLOBEC resear-chers are interested in the extent to whichthe El Niño phenomenon (see Sources no.96) is responsible for the large-scale distri-bution of marine life. During strong El Ninoyears, tropical and temperate fish like sar-dines and anchovies shift northward andchanges occur in their growth, survival andproduction. In 1972, an El Niño event hit theanchovy industry off the west coast of SouthAmerica when stocks were already low dueto overfishing. More than 20 years on, thereis still little sign of recovery.

Another major research target: salmonproductivity and regime changes in the northPacific over the last 30 years. There is evi-dence to suggest, the scientists say, that pro-ductivity responds to 10-year cycles in atmos-pheric and oceanic conditions. For example,summer zooplankton numbers doubled bet-ween the 1960s and the mid-1970s in the eas-tern subarctic Pacific. While salmon catchesin the north Pacific declined steadily from his-toric highs in the late 1930s to a low in themid-1970s, there was then a striking increasein which salmon catches in the north Paci-fic nearly regained the earlier record levels.GLOBEC’s Climate Change and CarryingCapacity programme aims to study the lin-kage between biological productivity andclimate change in this area.

The ultimate goalGLOBEC is also encouraging the deve-

lopment and use of standard methods to col-lect and process data so that measurementsin different GLOBEC studies are compa-rable. This co-ordination was at the core ofthe UNESCO-hosted GLOBEC Open ScienceMeeting attended by 200 scientists fromMarch 17-20. “The key is to let each natio-nal partner develop their own programmedirected at their own specific needs,”explains Ian Perry, “but with each followinga common framework. The initiative thenalso provides the ‘global integration’ of thesenational studies. This is important becauseone does not expect to observe much ‘glo-bal change’ over a decade. But, if the scalecan be increased in time to 100’s or even1000’s of years into the past, and it can also

Small pelagic fishsuch as the sardineand anchovy accountfor about 30% of theworld fish catch.Many countries arehighly dependent onthese varieties fortheir livelihoods. Forexample, in thePhilippines, (rankedthe 12th largest fishproducer by the Foodand AgricultureOrganization) theamount of fishconsumed per capitais about 36 kg, wellabove the worldaverage. Smallpelagic fish accountfor up to 75% of thetotal commericalcatch there, and atleast half of the localcatch (up to 15 kmoffshore). Smallpelagics (fresh orprocessed) aremostly consumed bythe low incomepopulation and thoseliving below thepoverty line. Theyalso generateimportant exportincome.

The quantity of smallpelagics exportedfrom the Philippinesgrew from 520,872 kgin 1986 to 2,262,002 kgin 1991. Yet, anumber of studiesshow theseresources areoverexploited andneed carefulmanagement.Although smallpelagic fish are foundaround the globe,they show hugeswings in distributionand abundance.Some changes indistribution relate topopulation size andfishing, while othersare directly linked toclimate-driven

variations in habitat.The economicconsequences ofsuch swings areenormous. The needfor more informationin this area was oneof the reasonsGLOBEC decided tocreate the SmallPelagic Fish and

Climate ChangeProgramme (SPACE). Fishing for theMoroccan pilchard (asardine variety)started in the 1930s inthe waters adjacentto the cities of Agadirand Safi on the westcoast. The pilchardmigrated fromsouthern spawninggrounds to feed in thezone off the phyto andzoo plankton pushedto the oceans upperlayers by a movementknown as “upwelling”.Catches in this areaconsistently increaseduntil the mid-1970s,then droppedradically. Catchesremain very low - lessthan 10% of the 1970speak. As a result,fishermen havemoved south wherethere are now largecatches, but all theprocessing facilitiesare still in the north.Many have closed.Those that remain inoperation rely on fishtrucked in from aharbour 300 km south.The question

Morocco now facesis whether theprocessing plantsshould be movedsouth: a betterunderstanding of thecauses and dynamicsof sardinepopulations wouldhelp the authoritiesmake an informeddecision and minimizethe risks inherent insuch an investment.Scientists examiningthe predicamentwithin GLOBEC´sSPACC will start byanalyzing existingdata.

There are years offisheries andhydroacousticinformation(measuring thedistribution of pelagicfish and zooplanktonat different levelsthrough soundwaves) available forMorocco and also forPeru, Mexico, Chileand elsewhere.Researchers believethat by comparinginformation fromdifferent countries incombination withexisting satelliteinformation on oceantemperatures, theycan begin to unravelsome of the mysteriesof sardine migrationsand, in the end,forecast these grandmovements.Ultimately, that iswhat everyone wantsto know.

A.L.M.

Understanding changes in small fish populations couldsave billions of dollars...

(Ph

oto

© M

.Tu

lan

e/R

AP

HO

).

13No. 100 - April 1998

As many as 40,000 jobs were lost earlierthis decade when cod fish stocks off

the Newfoundland coast collapsed. The Cana-dian government declared a moratorium oncod fishing there in 1992, which is still inforce, but the species has shown no signs ofrecovery. Overfishing and environmental fac-tors - such as the cooling of the Labrador cur-rent - are being blamed for the crash of oneof the world’s most famous and historicalfisheries.

Up to a million tonnesa year

The decline appears to have begun afterthe Second World War, with the arrival oftrawler technology. “Russian trawlers movedinto the area from the Grand Banks up toLabrador in the 1950s and 1960s,” explainsDr Brad de Young, an oceanographer at theUniversity of Hawaii and formerly at Memo-rial University of Newfoundland. “Prior tothat time, cod catches were averaging acouple of hundred thousand tonnes a year.But with the introduction of the new, sophis-ticated fishing gear, catches climbed to500,000 tonnes and and even a million tonnesannually.

“Then the 200 non Exclusive EconomicZone came into being and Canada, like a lotof countries thought that if they had controlof the resource then they'd be able to manageit. Fishing then developed in two ways. Localfishermen stayed in-shore and brought inabout 30% of the overall catch. Stern traw-lers (large nets, able to operate in roughseas) operating off-shore, taking the rest,concentrated on spawning aggregations (clus-ters of fish) in winter and spring. During thesame period, the in-shore fishermen beganto notice changes in the cods’ size and weight.They blamed these changes on off-shoretrawling in the spawning aggregrations, andcalled for more restrictions on this type offishing. The stock assessment people noti-

be increased in space so that several eco-systems are being compared simultaneously,then there is a much better opportunity toobserve how marine ecosystems respond toglobal changes, and therefore to model howthey may respond to future changes.”

GLOBEC is trying to form a coherent“holistic” picture using elements from seve-ral different sources - that incorporatevarying time periods - including layers offish scales in mud, which can be read liketree-rings. Its research should lead to a sup-

ced declines in abundance data combinedwith other signs of changes in the stock.However, the catch per unit effort data(CPUE - which is the average number of fishcaught per day), did not change until justbefore the collapse of the stock in the early1990s, because aggregation zones producehigh catches. Industrial pressures added tothis confusion. In the 10 years prior to themoratorium, the number of fish plants, boatsand operators just kept increasing while fishstocks actually decreased.” (see graphbelow).

Was it lack of communication betweenscientists and fishermen that led to the codcollapse? Or a failure by fishing manage-ment authorities to stand up to lobby groupswanting more and more fish? One of theCanadian government’s responses to thedisaster was to establish the FisheriesResource Conservation Council. Its missionis to link the scientists, fishermen and publicin a common effort to guide the Atlanticfishing industry, make quota recommenda-tions on groundfish such as cod and offergeneral advice. GLOBEC will supply theFRCC with long-term strategic informationon the ocean environment. ●

A.L.M.

ply of reliable information on major eco-system shifts for policy makers and thefishing industry. The ultimate goal is bettermanagement of a vital and limited resourcethrough more understanding of the oceanecosystem. Our future food security coulddepend on it. ●

Ann-Louise Martin

The cod crash: too little knowledgevs. the lure of big profits

Waiting for the fish to return.(Photo © Vu/Fabrice Picard)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

500

550

600

650

700

750

800

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91

Capacity increased as catch dec lined

No. of Fish Plants Landings, 1,000 T

Year

Source: Dr. Brad de YoungInfography: A. Darmon

14 April 1998 - No. 100

IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF

The traditional music of WestFutuna. UNESCO/AUDVIDIS,1998. 120FF.This CD presents traditionalmusic from the island ofFutuna, which is part of theVanuatu archipelago, west ofFiji. The 20 tracks includepopular, contemporary songsaccompanied by stringinstruments, percussion and"bottle piano", and acousticguitar for kava parties (theisland's traditional beverage). The lyrics parody

the tourist cliches of blueseas and sandy beaches;others speak of diseaseprevention. There are acappella hymnsfor religious services,children's games, dancetunes and memorial songsdedicated to ancestors andpast event. A shortexplanation of the island'shistory, the ways in which itsmusical traditions haveevolved, and the stories

behind each of the tracks is included.

EDUCATION

SOUND AND VISION

THE MUSIC OF VANUATU

Literacy in Africa,from the bottom tothe topAfrican teachers who attendedtwo workshops organized byUNESCO (in Côte d'Ivoire latelast year and in Tanzania earlythis year) have produced radioprogrammes accompanied bytextbooks that take into accountregional realities affecting illi-terate people. These teachingtools use language, customs andsocial norms to treat subjects asdiverse as the sharing of domes-tic duties between men andwomen, birth control, parasitic

infections, or the fight againstsuperstitions. The books shouldbe translated into national lan-guages by the end of the year.●●● To find out moreBasic Education Division.

ZIMBABWE REFORMSThe government of Zimbabwehas created a PresidentialCommission for Education andTraining to reform the educationsystem. While Zimbabwe consecrates40% of its budget to educationand training, the government can-not take on the reform and finan-cing single-handed. In the framework of the System-Wide United Nations SpecialIniative on Africa, a round tablewas held at UNESCO on March9-10 with the ministers anddonors concerned. This first stepserved to address the issues andto inform donors of the “strategicchanges” proposed by theCommission. The Special Iniativeon Africa is seeking to ensureaccess to basic education for allAfrican children within the next10 years.

Children's HealthThe link between children'shealth and their school perfor-mance is the focus of the latestedition of the EFA 2000 bulletin(No. 30). “In many countries,” itreports, “temporary hunger, chro-nic malnutrition or mineral andvitamin deficiencies cause chil-dren to miss school altogether. Sodo basic vision and hearing pro-blems. Parasitic worms, most pre-valent among school-age chil-dren, affect growth and cognitivedevelopment.” The damage,points out Prof. Dr. HusseinKamel Bahaaa El-Din, Egypt'sminister of education and a lea-ding pediatrician, can be “irre-versible, destroying the creati-vity and thinking skills ofchildren.”

BRAZIL: TOWARDS 100%Thanks to the campaign “Wakeup Brazil, It´s Time to go toSchool”, 92% of young Braziliansbetween 7 and 14 are now atten-ding educational institutions. A$500m programme launched lastFebruary,“All Children in School”aims to achieve 100% enrolmentby reaching the remaining 2.7million children. In parallel, thestate of Brasila has launched anintiative to help poor families byallocating $120 for every childenrolled in primary or secondaryschool.

Cuba: a lack of musicalinstrumentsMusic is part of life in Cubaand of educational instruction.But admissions to the AmadeoRoldan Conservatory in Havanahave been halved due to a lackof instruments. With UNESCO,Cuba has launched an appealto obtain pianos, violins,guitars, oboes, clarinets, windinstruments, synthesizers andaudiovisual material. The training of instrumentmakers and other specialists isalso planned to ensure repairs.●●●To find out moreUNESCO’s Havana Office.

PHILIPPINES: SKILLS IN THESTREETSome 100,000 young Philippinostry to survive in Manila’s streets.To help, UNESCO has financed aprogramme which, every year,will allow 100 street childrenfrom 15 to 18 to acquire skills andfind a job. The project coversphotography for example, car andcomputer maintenance andrepair. Local businesses providethe training.

IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF

15No. 100 - April 1998

Qu

ote,

un

q

“I'm horrified by theseinhumane and bloody

spectacles regularlystaged by the Taleban inthe stadiums of Kabul.This travesty of justicflouts Islam, a religionbased on love,” protestedthe Director-GeneralFederico Mayorconcerning mutiliationsand other show-casepunishments carried out inpublic in Afghanistan.“This is yet anotherexample of intolerableactions which shouldunleash immediate andglobal protestation.” MrMayor has pleaded fortotal diplomatic isolationof a barbaric power thathumiliates anddiscriminates againstwomen “to the extent ofwitholding education fromgirls.” He added: “wemust speak out - loud andclear - against those whoviolate human rights soflagrantly.”

"If it is necessary tostand between twoparties that oppose eachother, I'll do it," declaredMstislav Rostropovich, therenowned cellist andconductor, and nowUNESCO GoodwillAmbassador for Peace.At a ceremony held atHeadquarters on March 9to mark the nomination,Director-General FedericoMayor praisedRostropovich as "one ofthe greatest musicians ofour times and also adefender of humanrights," and added: "We allretain images of youwhich are associated withpeace, freedom, joy (and)fraternity."His unceasing defence ofhuman rights and artisticfreedom led to his forceddeparture from the SovietUnion in 1974. He returnedto a triumphant welcomein 1990.

CooperatingA cooperation agreement wassigned under UNESCO's auspicesbetween Israel and the PalestinianAuthority on education, cultureand science, at Ramallah onFebruary 26. Uri Bar-Ner of Israel'sforeign ministry and the PalestinianAuthority's Deputy Minister forDevelopment and International Co-operation Anis Al Qaq, signed theagreement, named "Granada 11"after the 1993 meeting there bet-ween Palestinian and Israeli intel-lectuals. It includes projects on thedevelopment of objective, mutualunderstanding, the sharing of waterand energy resources and the safe-guard of common heritage sites.

CHILDREN'S SUMMITFour children, from South Africa,Israel, France and the UnitedStates, joined UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor andFrench sailor Olivier de Kersausonfor a press conference in Paris onMarch 18 announcing the nextChildren's Summit from May 4 -8. Linked through videoconfe-rence, the four children who hadtaken part in the 1997 Summitexpressed a strong commitmentfor peace and internationalunderstanding as they took stockof the event. Matthew Soerens(14) of the US said “the basic ideawas peace. We all want peace.”Disney, UNESCO's partner in thesummit, has announced it willset up a fund to finance children'sprojects starting with the MaySummit.

To mark International Women'sDay, UNESCO opened its doorsMarch 9 to associationsworking around theworld for equalitybetween thesexes. Apartfrom hostingdebates andexhibitions, theOrganization dis-tributed 10,000“passports for equa-lity” containing the 30articles of the 1979 Conventionfor the elimination of discrimi-nation against women, adoptedby the United Nations in 1979 andratified by 161 states. The “passport”

PEOPLE

the first leg between Paris andHanoi in Viet Nam, he was side-swiped by a car as he headedtowards Rio-de-Janeiro. He diedin hospital on March 14. Director-General Federico Mayor, salutedPouly's “open spirit, his enthu-siasm and energy that made hima model for young people.” InFebruary this year, the Director-General had commendedMathieu for his active contribu-tion to efforts fostering a cultureof peace."

(Photo UNESCO/Inez Forbes)

PEACE

provides the full text of theconvention. The prize-winning

logo from the “Women and aCulture of Peace” com-

petition wasannounced thesame day. Theinternational jurydefined 22-yearold Mexican

Laura BailonVillareal's entry as

representative of “twohands - one might be femi-

nine, the other masculine, onelight, the other dark, one young,the other less so, - meet arounda space that forms a bird, the birdof a peace to build and protect.”

He was 31 years old. His project“Transhumances” should havetaken him across all five conti-nents on a bicycle to make a pho-tographic and written record ofWorld Heritage sites. His mission:“I was attempting to answer thequestion: ‘what value can lifehave?’ My answer is that life is anunbelievable opportunity ope-ning the way to every possibility.”Barely a month after Matthieubegan his Latin-American tour,and five years after completing

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

In memoriam: Matthieu Pouly

IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF

17No. 100 - April 1998

Funding BoostThe Government of Flanders(Kingdom of Belgium) will pro-vide some $860,000 over the nextthree years to fund two bigUNESCO projects aimed at capa-city building and improvedresources management.The first, which is due to start thismonth, will be carried out withthe Water Research Centre of theAl-Azhar University of Gaza inthe Palestinian AutonomousTerritories, and will focus on trai-ning and the promotion of regio-nal and international coopera-tion to ensure the long-termconservation of the Territories'water supplies.The second will establish anOceanographic Data and Infor-mation Network, to develophuman and infrastructural capac-ity to process marine scientificdata and information in Eastern,Southern and Western Africa inview of improving the region'socean management.

GOING DIGITALA two-million dollar, three yearproject gets underway in Egyptthis month to produce digitalmaps and data bases of geologi-cal and geochemical informa-tion that will be used for nationalsustainable development pro-jects in the South Valley andSinai.The Egyptian government ispaying the lion's share of $1.2m,with the UNDP contributing$750,000 and UNESCO $50,000 aswell as technical assistance.

New Centrefor ByblosLebanon's Foreign AffairsMinister, Fares Boueiz andUNESCO's Director-Generalsigned an accord March 4 for thecreation of an InternationalCentre for Human Sciences atByblos. The multidisciplinarycentre will focus on cultures ofthe Mediterranean.

SCIENCE

The first agreement concerningthe environment betweenUNESCO and a private companywas signed on March 17 by theDirector-General and DanielCaille, President of the Frenchgroup, Générale des Eaux. The

accord initiates actions aimedat improving water managementin the Asia-Pacific's tropicalregions. Générale des Eaux isproviding a dozen researchersand finance of 500,000FFannuallyover three years.

UNESCO/GÉNÉRALE DES EAUX

PERIODICALS

World HeritageReviewThe latest edition (No. 6) pre-sents: the historic centre ofSalzburg (Austria), the water-falls of Iguazu on the border ofArgentina and Brazil, the islandof Mozambique from which thecountry derives its name and itsarchitecture reflecting traditio-nal, Portuguese, Arab and Indianinfluences, “islands” - as livinglaboratories of evolution -Lapland and the Saami people.The issue also covers the inclu-sion last December of 46 newsites on the World Heritage List.

UNESCO COURIERUnder the title “The Art ofBeginnings”, the April issue isdevoted to rock paintings andengravings: this “immense reser-voir of information on humanity’sintellectual debut” is testimonyto a “surprising symbolic diver-sity according to culture andepoque.” Defined in stone and inthe wild, this art is in danger. Anumber of specialists are wor-king on the problem. The issue concludes with aninterview of the Bosniac poetIzet Sarajlic.

MuseumInternationalWith this issue (number 197),Museum International cele-

brates its fiftieth anniversary.Authors including the journal’sfirst editor Raymonde Frin, andcultural heritage specialistHiroshi Daifuku, trace it’s earlydays. The chairman of the WestAfrican Museums Programme,Emmanuel Nnakenyi Arinze, takesstock of the museum situationin Africa and shares his views onfuture directions. The publica-tion's evolution runs parallel tothe development of UNESCO’smuseums and monuments pro-gramme. Key moments such asthe 20-year Nubia campaign tosave sites from the Aswan Damproject to the Organization’s rolein restoring damaged artreturned by Iraq to Kuweit in1991 are examined. There is alsoan overview of the concerns andideas of the internationalmusuem community over the past50 years.

●●●To find out moreUNESCO publications andperiodicals can be purchasedat UNESCO Headquarters andthrough national distributors inmost countries.For further information ordirect orders by mail, fax orInternet: UNESCO Publishing, 7place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris07 SP (France), tel.: (+33 1) 0145 68 43 00; fax: (+33 1) 01 45 6857 41; Internet:http://www.UNESCO.org/publishing.Photo UNESCO/Dominique Roger

“IN BRIEF” compiled by:

Christine Mouillère

18 April 1998 - No. 100

A WOMAN OFCHARACTER

PROFILE This year's winner of the

UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World

Press Freedom Prize is jailed

Nigerian journalist Christina

Anyanwu.

When she arrived thatmorning at the

offices of Nigerian weekly,The Sunday Magazine

(TSM), of which she waseditor-in-chief, ChristinaAnyanwu didn’t notice thePeugeot 504 or the Kombiparked just outside. Neitherwas she particularly appre-hensive when three SSSmen (State Security Services)came into the editorial roomand arrested her alongwith her colleague BayoOnanuga. The date wasMarch 15, 1995. Like manyother publications, TSMhad reported on theattempted coup d’étatagainst the NigerianGovernment, under head-

lines which read: “CoupScare: mass arrests shakethe military”. And then,“Coup Update: bloodbathsoon”.

Released from prison aweek after her arrest,Chris still didn’t feelthreatened, in spite of herindictment on April 29 for“circulating false informa-tion”. She continued work-ing, without any thoughtof fleeing the country.Indeed, she was very busypreparing for publicationof her book, Power

Sharing in Nigeria. In thebook, Chris defended thethesis that the countrywas not equitably repre-sented in the political

closed doors on July 4,1995, by a military tri-bunal, along with severaldozen Nigerian officers andcivilians, on charges of being"accessories after the factto treason”.

According to the non-governmental organizations,World Press Freedom Com-mittee and Reporters SansFrontières, the trial wasmarked by numerous irregu-larities. Anyanwu was,notably, denied the right toappeal.

The sentences wereheavy: life, which was latercommuted to 15 years.They served as referencesfor General Abacha (inpower since June 23, 1993,the date on which heannulled the presidentialelections won by MoshoodAbiol) when he decided tolegalize repression andcensorship of the inde-pendent media; to thepoint that today, saysClaude Moisy, President ofUNESCO’s Advisory Groupof Press Freedom, “anindependent press andfreedom of informationhave almost disappeared.”

A Media Commissionwas created to limit thefield of investigation ofjournalists, and violationsof press laws are now judgedby a special court. TSM isno longer published.

Fifteen years behindbars will be hard to bearfor Chris Anyanwu, “a

power structure, that theMoslems in the North heldan exaggerated number ofministerial posts, highpositions in the adminis-tration and in the army.

This is a very sensitivetheme. “She made it as achallenge, but also as acontribution to the develop-ment of Nigeria,” explaineda friend. The book wasbanned.

On June 1, 1995, twomonths and a week afterbeing freed, the securityservices came back toarrest her again. Elegant,as usual, she got into theircar “with no visible sign offear or anxiety,” accordingto witnesses. Four dayslater, Chris was seen at theDirectorate of MilitaryIntelligence, before beingtransferred from one prisonto another until she arrivedat Kaduna jail, in the north,where she has been con-fined since.

TSM had published thenames of 19 people arrest-ed following the attemptedcoup. For this, Chris, whohad not signed the incrimi-nating article, was suspect-ed of involvement withnetworks of the militaryhierarchy hostile to theregime. She and three col-leagues - Kunle Ajibade ofthe weekly The News,

George Mbab of the maga-zine Tell and Ben CharlesObi of Week-End Classic -were judged behind

DEFENDING FREEDOM●●● The “UNESCO/ Guillermo Cano WorldPress Freedom Prize” honours a person,organization or institution that has made anotable contribution to the defence and/orpromotion of press freedom anywhere in theworld, especially if this involves risk. The$25,000 prize, is attributed each year by anindependent jury of 14 news professionals fromall regions, chaired by Claude Moisy (France).Normally awarded on May 3 (World PressFreedom Day), this year the ceremony will takeplace in London on April 30. The Prize bears thename of the late Guillermo Cano, Colombianjournalist, director and editorialist of the daily“El Espectador”. Assassinated on December 17,1986 by drug traffickers, he has become asymbol of the struggle for press freedomaround the world.

(Pho

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19No. 100 - April 1998

woman of character,courage and intelligence,”according to her brother,Patrick Uka, who lives inthe United States. At 45,mother of two (a daughter,27, and a son, 16), she is“well-known for her tal-ents as an investigative jour-nalist,” according to a col-league in the foreign press.

Professionally trainedin the U.S., she earned aB.A. in journalism inMissouri and a Masters incommunication in Florida.Back in Nigeria, she beganher career with NationalTelevision (NTA) whereshe specialized in energyissues before moving intopolitical reporting at theSenate and the NationalAssembly.

DARING TO DOFor a year, in 1989, she

was the Commissioner forInformation and Culture inImo State, where she wasborn, then launched intocreating her own publica-tion, TSM, in 1990. Nigeriaseemed at that time to beheading towards a form ofcivilian government. “TSM

was a very successful gen-eral information magazine,”said Anyanwu’s brother,adding that Chris was “oneof the first Nigerian womento have dared produce a jour-nal with an investigativestyle.”

This is one of the rea-sons why she received thePrize for Courage of the Inter-national Women’s MediaFoundation (November 1995),the Reporters SansFrontières Fondation deFrance Prize (December1995), the Prize of theCommittee for the Protec-tion of Journalists (October1997) and the UNESCOGuillermo Cano World PressFreedom Prize.

These distinctions, likesymbols, seem to respondto the last words she saidto her team at the time ofher trial: “The TSM dreamlives on.” ●

Christina

L’Homme-Thiollier

Behind the mild words,firm positions. The

meeting of experts on thepossible drawing up of a“Declaration on theHuman Right to Peace”(see box, p. 20) contrastedwith two earlier meetingson the subject, in LasPalmas (Canary Islands,Spain) and in Oslo(Norway). The representa-tives of 120 UNESCOMember States were “moredirect, less discreet” asone international lawyerput it, and as a result, also“more constructive.”

They were talking aboutan increasingly rare com-modity around the world:peace, without which, saidone of the delegates fromCôte d’Ivoire, “the exerciseof certain rights is purelyhypothetical.” At a timewhen almost every nation isplagued with ethnic hatred,

see no interest in such adeclaration, while coun-tries in the South placegreat expectations in theproject.

AN ASPIRATIONThe debate opened on

the title of the proposeddeclaration, which formost European, NorthAmerican countries andJapan, is unclear. Sweden,the United Kingdom,Austria, and Germany,among others, categorical-ly refuse the creation of anew “right” because itrisks “weakening theUnited Nations Charterand other existing humanrights instruments.” MerjaPentikäinen from Finland,suggested that, in any case,“the right to peace is morean aspiration than a right.”

In contrast, a messagefrom UN Secretary-General,

xenophobia and separatism,the project for such a decla-ration, proposed byUNESCO Director-GeneralFederico Mayor, and hailedby a majority of delegatesas an “excellent initiative”,aims at responding to thisstate of affairs. His intent:“to fight the roots of conflict,at their source, as a pre-ventive measure” viaUNESCO, “one of the prin-cipal organizations respon-sible for the maintenance ofpeace and collaborationamong nations.”

The discussions veryrapidly brought to lightradical differences be-tween countries, bothtowards the principle andthe form, which may put inquestion the very exis-tence of the project. Ingeneral, the Europeansand most of the industrial-ized countries of the North

Conference participants agree that

the human right to peace is a crucial issue for

humanity, but...

A COMMITMENT TOA GREAT AMBITIONHUMAN RIGHTS

Some of the tens of thousands of refugees cast out of their homes during the conflict inBosnia Herzegovina (Photo © Nadia Benchallal/Contact Press Images).

20 April 1998 - No. 100

Kofi Annan, assured dele-gates that “the emergenceof a right to peace is, forthe UN, a noble objective...There is no higher goal, nodeeper commitment andno greater ambition thanpreventing armed con-flict.”

Some countries, likeFrance, are not convincedthat “UNESCO is the rightplace to discuss the princi-ple”, and emphasize, alongwith Switzerland, that theUnited Nations is “moresuitable”. UNESCO should,in other words, confineitself to “education whichleads to the same cultureof peace” and which “cor-responds more closelywith its mandate and fieldsof competence.” On thecontrary, most of the LatinAmerican countries con-sidered that, by virtue ofits Constitution, UNESCOwas indeed the “rightplace” for such a discus-sion.

“CLAWS AND FANGS...”

Another concern wasthe scope of the document.Should it become aninstrument of internationallaw? Or simply a moral andethical statement? Theidea of a legal instrumentwas reassuring to no one,because it poses the ques-tion of a supranationalresponsibility and eventual

intervention in the internalaffairs of a State, which isstill unthinkable for thevast majority of participat-ing countries. But even amoral act, said NoureiniTidjani-Serpos from Benin,could have “claws andfangs”.

Inveterate defenders ofthe project nonethelessinsisted on the necessityfor a declaration whichwould “make it possiblefor the Universal Decla-ration of Human Rights toadapt to new challengesaround the world.”

Indeed, the LatinAmerican countries, butalso many others in Africaand Asia, would like socialviolence linked with pover-ty to be looked upon ascontrary to human rights.

The Arabs, led by Iraq,would like to see the threatof intervention, of embar-go, or of the occupation ofterritory by force listedamong violations of theright to peace. Delegatesfrom Benin and Colombiaexpressed hope that thedocument would make itpossible to limit arms saleswhich are at the “heart ofmajor conflicts around theglobe.”

The meeting concludedon a loose agreementrather than a real consen-sus, with regard to the sub-ject of a text, considered“too diluted” by some, and

THE HUMAN RIGHT TO PEACE●●● Government experts from 120 MemberStates, non-governmental organizations and UNrepresentatives met at UNESCO headquartersfrom March 5-9 to re-examine a proposition fora Declaration on the Human Right to Peace,launched by UNESCO Director-General, FedericoMayor, in January 1997.His objective : “to inscribe the struggle forrecognition of (this right) in UNESCO’s ethicalmission.”In December 1997, the UN General Assemblyproclaimed the year 2000 as International Yearfor a Culture of Peace.

“not responding to thediversity of expectations”by others.

U N E S C O D i r e c t o r-General Federico Mayoraffirmed: “what is impor-tant is that we have com-mitted ourselves to peace...An intellectual organization(like UNESCO) must dowhat we have just done,talk together, open thedoors and windows of thishouse to the world.”

Certainly, the partici-pating countries agreed onthe fact that peace was auniversal aspiration, one ofthe conditions for humanexistence. And there was adeep, rather stunned silencein the vast meeting hallwhen the representative ofUruguay, Hector Gros-Espiell said provocatively:“Who can possibly beagainst the right of everyhuman being to live inpeace?” In the same way,

How to build peace in theminds of our children? (Photo UNICEF/RogerLemoyne).

the “indissoluble” links,stressed by the rapporteur,Asdrubal Aguiar ofVenezuela, “betweenhuman rights and peace”seemed perfectly obvious,implacable. “Peace is impos-sible if there is no respectfor the principles of humanrights - and human rightsleads to peace.”

Still most of the juristsattending the meetingexpected something “moreconcrete”. After four daysof discussions, they werenonetheless happy to havesucceeded in “exchangingpoints of view above andbeyond their differences ofopinion”, as the delegateAlejandra Liriamo, fromthe Dominican Republicremarked. But they werejust as conscious of thefact that the declarationstill had to be discussedand revised, and that thiswould necessarily retardan agreement on its con-tent and scope.

On the agenda of thismonth’s session ofUNESCO’s ExecutiveBoard, it may have a longway to go before it becomeswhat Egyptian law profes-sor, Dr. Mustafa Salama,hopes will be “an act for thefuture”.

C.L.T.

21No. 100 - April 1998

The economic conse-quences of the finan-

cial crisis in East andSoutheast Asia dominatedworld headlines for severalmonths as stock marketsand currencies crashed, asbanks, security houses andbusinesses - large and small- went bust, and predictionsof economic growth plum-meted.

Little attention has beenpaid, up until now, to thesocial consequences onthe poor and more disad-vantaged sectors of thepopulation. But the impactfor these people is likely tobe felt for a long time, asjobs are lost through eco-nomic restructuring and asprices increase.

Migrant workers areparticularly vulnerable. Theirplight was the focus of ameeting of the Asia-PacificMigration Research Network(APMRN, which includessocial scientists from 11countries and is part ofUNESCO’s Management ofSocial Transformations Pro-gramme - see Sources No.97), held in Hong Kongfrom February 23-25.

By the mid-1990s, threemillion migrant workerswere legally employedwithin Asia and anotherthree million worked inother regions, especiallythe Gulf oil states andNorth America.

“For migrant-receivingcountries such as Singapore,Malaysia and Korea, for-eign workers provide thecheap, manual labour forthe ‘ 3-D ’ jobs - dirty, dan-gerous and difficult - infactories, construction andon plantations,” explains

Professor Stephen Castles,the coordinator of theAPMRN. “For migrant-sending countries such asIndonesia, the Philippinesand Bangladesh, out-migra-tion relieves unemploy-ment, and provides areturn of hard cash andgoods as the overseasworkers send back part oftheir earnings. Such remit-tances were estimated tocover some 30% of thecosts of imports to Pakistanand 15% for India in thelate 1980s.”

These millions of peo-ple make an importantcontribution to Asia's devel-opment. They also provide aconvenient scapegoat forsocial problems.

Most governments inthe region for examplehave begun expelling theirforeign workers.

Will they be welcomedback and easily reab-sorbed into their owncountries, which in turnare struggling to stayafloat? Even if they staywhere they are, how willsuch migrants fare whenfaced with the growingfrustration of local peoplewhose living standards arein free-fall? Indonesia hasalready witnessed a violentbacklash against its moreaffluent Chinese merchantpopulation. And in Malaysia,nine people were killed andscores injured in lateMarch, when migrantsbeing forcibly deported,rebelled.

Professor Castles com-pares the situation to thatin Europe after the OPECoil crisis of 1973. “In Germanyfor example, returning thelarge community of Turkish

GOVERNMENTS SAYGO AWAY!●●●Unemployment is bitingfor the first time in many yearsthroughout Asia. In Indonesia,where the situation is mostacute, analysts are predicting ajobless rate of 11% this year, andin Korea, up to 10%.Governments are answering thiswith mass deportation. The Thaigovernment says it will expel upto one million foreign workersbefore the end of 1999. Koreaplans to return 146,000 andMalaysia wants to expatriate900,000. The government inKuala Lumpur has also closedborders, set up internmentcamps and launched OperationNyah - or “Go Away” - with navalvessels and police turning backmainly Indonesian refugees.

Rising unemployment and prices

are fuelling anger against millions of migrant workers

in the wake of Asia's financial crash.

MIGRANT WORKERSIN THE FIRING LINESOCIETIES IN FLUX

Migrant workers protest their situation in Seoul (Republic of Korea). (Photo © AFP/Choo Youn-Kong)

22 April 1998 - No. 100

guestworkers was seen asthe obvious answer to alle-viating unemploymentcaused by the recession.But they didn’t wish to goback since their own coun-try was even harder hit. Infact most of them broughttheir families to Germany.By 1980 it was clear thatthe guestworkers hadturned into settlers andwere rapidly becoming anew ethnic minority, anexperience that was re-peated throughout Europe.

BIG DIFFERENCES“Similarly in Asia,

migrant workers will wantto stay where employmentprospects are healthiest.”However, he warns, thereare also big differences.“The European countrieshad social security sys-tems in place which miti-gated the effects of reces-sion. They also had hadlegal systems which pro-tected migrants’ basicsocial rights, and in theend, made it impossible toprevent family reunion.Many Asian countries donot have such traditions orsystems, and may yet dealwith migrants more harsh-ly, now that their labour isnot so necessary.”

The APRMN confer-ence in Hong Kong decid-ed to give the issueresearch priority, to pro-vide policy-makers, inter-national agencies and non-governmental organiza-tions with the informationthey need to respondappropriately to an explo-sive situation: where vastnumbers of people dis-persed throughout theregion and, say the experts,determined for the mostpart to stay put, find them-selves at the mercy of bothinsecure foreign capitaland increasingly hostilelocal populations. ●

Patrick Brownlee

in Hong Kong

with S.W.

Tyre is sometimescalled “the Queen of

the Seas” or “the City ofEight Cultures”. It wasbuilt by the Phoenicianson an island and has beencontrolled in its time bythe Assyrians, the Greeks,the Romans, the Byzantines,the Arabs, the Crusadersand the Ottomans.

It has taken somethingfrom each of these cul-tures, tangibly and intangi-bly through legends. Thegreat historians mentionthe city, which the Arabscalled Sour. It crops up inthe letters of Tell el-Amarna, in the tablets ofOugaritt and the writingsof the Greek Herodotus,which date its foundationto 2750 B.C.

As an independent city,it grew to be an economicpower and the richestMediterranean tradingport of ancient times. Itwas a great centre oflearning: Cadmus invented

the alphabet there. And acity which gave rise to leg-ends: Europa (after whomthe continent is named),the daughter of KingAgenor, was kidnappedfrom there by Zeus, whowas disguised as a bull. Itwas also renowned for itspurple fabrics and thatcolour, made from thedecomposition of a shell-fish, the murex, became aworld-wide symbol of roy-alty.

A TARGETTyre was also the city

of cedars, which are todaythe symbol of Lebanon. Itis said that King Hiram ofTyre (which in the 10thcentury B.C. was calledSurru) used cedar wood tobuild the palace of KingDavid and the Temple inJerusalem for his son, KingSolomon.

Being a trading powerand having so much wealthalso had its disadvantages.

The city fell to invadersfrom Babylon in the sixth cen-tury B.C. Nebuchadnezzar, anotably ruthless king, laidsiege to it for 13 years(585-573 B.C.) before tak-ing it. After that came thePersians, led by Darius theGreat, and later Alexanderthe Great, who attacked thePersian armies in 332 B.C.and besieged the city forseven months. Alexandercommandeered all thearea’s able-bodied men thefollowing year to build adike of stones, earth andtrees, several hundredyards long, linking the cityto the mainland. He thenused it to conquer the city.

Tyre was burned downbut the dike remained andwas described by the poetAchillus Tacius of Alexandriaseveral centuries later:“Although anchored in thesea, it is still connected tothe land” becoming “a cityin the sea and an island onland.”

A LIFEBUOY FOR A SINKING QUEEN

Ruins of a cathedral built by the crusaders (12th Century) (Photo © Kaleidos/T.Charara).

Time, war, and now galloping

urbanization are laying waste to the fabulous

remains of Tyre. UNESCO launches an

international campaign to save the city.

HERITAGE

23No. 100 - April 1998

The metropolis had ahard time recovering fromso many conquerors. It wasannexed by the Romans in64 B.C., but retained someautonomy, became a stopon the Silk Route and wasreputed for its glass-mak-ing. As Christianity spreadquickly in the region in thefourth century A.D., it evenbecame the seat of aByzantine bishopric, beforeits conquest by the Arabsin 632, then by the cru-saders, ending with theestablishment of Muslimdomination in 1291.

HIDDEN TREASUREFirst demolished then

fortified, stripped bare thenbuilt up again and partlyrestored in the 18th centu-ry, Tyre never regained itspast glory. However, it haskept traces of the civiliza-tions which have passedthrough it, treasures ityields sparingly and whichlie dormant within it.Treasures like the discov-ery in August 1997 ofPhoenician tombs and cre-matoria in the centre ofthe city and, two years ear-lier, a Byzantine basilica,the first large urbanchurch found in Lebanon.Experts reckon there arepriceless archaeologicalrelics to be found over anarea of five million squaremetres. This is not count-ing offshore, where thereare many wrecks and trea-sures, as well as part of thecity, dating from 551 A.D.,

which was destroyed byan earthquake. Divershave so far inspected asection of roads and mar-ble columns, walls andcorner stones belonging tocommercial buildingswhich used to stand on theshore.

STILL SUFFERINGWhat is left today of

the historical riches of thecity which held in thrallthe greatest conquerors ofour time? The wind andthe sand, along with mod-ern-day events, threaten towear it down and destroyit.

Tyre, close to theLebanese border with Israel,has suffered the wounds ofmodern warfare, and theRoman amphitheatre andthe old parts of the cityhave been badly damagedby bombs and militaryoccupation. Looting forthe black market and theunauthorized opening oftombs, along with theactivity of bulldozers andearth-moving equipmentused for these “excava-tions”, have added to thedamage. The most notori-ous of these thefts was of anumber of sarcophagiwhose marble carvingswere removed and dyna-mited in order to hide theevidence.

Tyre is also threatenedby an uncontrolled proper-ty boom. With no planningregulations, tall build-ings have sprouted like

mushrooms and their deepfoundations have destroyedmany archaeological remains.The Public Directorate ofAntiquities has fortunatelymanaged to designate 30buildings in the old quarterfor restoration. It has alsoblocked construction of ashopping centre andforced diversion of thesouthern motorway, pro-jects which threatenedtwo historic sites - theRoman aqueduct and theRimali cemetery. Sandextraction has been halt-ed, and a decree will beissued soon making Tyre'ssouthern shore a naturereserve.

Despite all theseefforts, Tyre seems slowlybut surely crumbling, andLebanon has made anurgent appeal to the inter-national community forhelp. UNESCO put the cityon its World Heritage Listin 1984 and, last March 3,launched an internationalcampaign to save the mainarchaeological sites (seebox); a decision, it ishoped, that will help savethe Queen of the Seas fromshipwreck. ●

May Abi Aql in Tyre

with C. L.-T.

Detail from the base of a column at the “city-site” (Photo UNESCO/V.Dauge).

THE CAMPAIGN●●●UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor,launched an international cam-paign to save Tyre at thePhoenician city’s Roman hippo-drome on March 3 this year. Theceremony drew a big crowdwhich included local and foreigndignitaries as well as manyschool children. “Today, Tyre is indanger. Like all ancient sites, itis threatened by modernizationwhich pays little heed to thevestiges of history,” declared MrMayor. The campaign should“enable this city to become,once again, a beacon on ourshores,” said Lebanon's Ministerof Culture and Higher Education,Faouzi Houbeiche.Mr Mayor announced that a spe-cial bank account for the cam-paign, containing an initial$75,000 from UNESCO’s regularbudget and $25,000 from theWorld Monuments Fund, wouldbe opened and made availableto the Lebanese culture ministry,which has the difficult task ofpreserving the archaeologicalsite of Tyre and its environment.This money is expected to beboosted by private contributorsresponding to the UNESCOappeal.The steps to be taken during thecampaign will be proposed overa period of at least 10 years byan international committee ofexperts from every scientific andcultural field. Its most urgentpriority is to start digging at thethreatened sites and to draw upan archaeological inventory ofthe city. The next task will be topreserve the remains discoveredat the “city-site” and at theancient Christian basilicaunearthed in 1995.The opening soon of a museumand an information and refer-ence centre on Tyre’s history willhelp develop the city’s heritage,especially if storage conditionsare improved as planned.

on UNESCO's calendar

next month's issue :CULTURE AND GLOBALIZATION PAYING FOR WATERSAFEGUARDING CHINA'S HISTORIC CITIES

from 17 to 22 May ANDEAN LANDSCAPE AND HERITAGEIn Arequipa, Peru, a Thematic Meeting on Andean Cultural Landscapes: experts evaluate sites with a view to World Heritage nomination.

from 25 to 27 May MULTIMEDIA AND UNIVERSITY SCIENCEIn Aden, Yemen, a multimedia training seminar for physics and chemistry professors, part of the “Upgrading Science and Education in Arab Universities” programme.

from 26 to 28 May PACIFIC OCEANIn Paris, an International Conference on Tsunamis (Pacific Ocean tidal waves provokedmainly by earthquakes) run by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

from 27 to 29 May PHYSICS AND THE MODERN WORLDIn Paris, at the Niels Bohr and the Evolution of Physics in the 20th Century symposium (after the Danish physician), scientists will consider the relationship of physics to the modern world.

from 3 to 6 June WATER RESOURCESIn Paris, government representatives and experts meet for an international conference organized by the International Hydrology Programme under the banner “Water: a Looming Crisis?”.

June 5 MIGRATIONIn Paris, social science experts will study the Image of the Immigrant in the Mediterranean.

from 8 to 18 June ILLEGAL TRAFFICIn Beijing, a seminar to inform museum administrators and customs agents in China on the illegal trade in cultural objects.

from 10 to 14 June MARINE POLLUTIONIn Hong Kong, the Intergovenmental Oceanographic Commissions's second International Conference on Marine Pollution and Ecotoxicology.