World Leaders to mark UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary standing for human rights and against violent extremism

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© UNESCO

In the coming two days, 10 world leaders, including President François Hollande of France, will participate in the Organization’s Leaders’ Forum, marking UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary, taking a stand for human rights and human dignity and against violent extremism in the wake of the Paris attacks.

The Leaders’ Forum, a part of the  38th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, will be introduced by General Conference President Stanley Mutumba Simataa and Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, at the start of the morning session at 10 am on 16 November.
 
Barring last minute changes, the following leaders will take the floor between 10 am to 1 pm:

• H.E. Mr Rosen Plevneliev, President of the Republic of Bulgaria
• H.E. Mr Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon
• H.E. Mr Gjorge Ivanov, President of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
• H.E. Mr Agila Saleh Essa Gwaider, Acting Head of State of Libya
• H.E. Mr Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania
• Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister of Human Resource Development of the Republic of India.

In the afternoon, three former Director-Generals of UNESCO, Mr. Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, Mr. Federico Mayor and Mr. Kochiro Matsuura, will address the plenary and reflect on the significance of the 70th anniversary of UNESCO.

The evening commemoration will begin at 7 pm in Room I with a short performance by the World Orchestra for Peace. Musicians representing 19 nationalities will play works by Samuel Barber and Tchaikovsky – and their performance will be dedicated to the families and to the memory of those killed in the terrorist attacks on Friday.

A live architectural projection on the facades of UNESCO’s Headquarters, entitled "Mosaic of Change," will be unveiled at 8:15 pm.

On 17 November, the following leaders are expected to take the floor between 3pm and 5pm:

• Mr Miroslav Lajčák, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic
• H.E. Mr Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
• H.E. Ms Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of the Republic of Malta
• H.E. Mr François Hollande, President of the French Republic.

The day and evening program will be webcast.
 
Journalists wishing to attend the Leaders’ Forum should register online.

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