Message from Mr Koїchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, to the International Conference on " Interuniversity Cooperation for the Progress of Civil Society in Palestine"

Bethlehem, 25-27 February 2005

It gives me great pleasure to send warm greetings to the participants in the International Conference on "Interuniversity Cooperation for the Progress of Civil Society in Palestine" and to wish you every success in your deliberations.

The timing of your ineeting comes at a propitious moment when a real opportunity exists for the resumption of the peace process in the Middle East. within the framework of the Road Map. The meeting between the Palestinian and Israeli leaders on 8 Februarv at Sharm el-Shelkh, Egypt, has created a new situation and subsequent steps being taken by both sides are helping to build confidence and a new spirit of cooperation. Let us hope that this opportunitv will be seized so that a just. lasting and comprehensive peace can be achieved in the period ahead.

It is within this new context that your meeting acquires additional meaning and significance. Progress towards peace. dialogue, development and reconciliation must always be vectored through the institutions and processes of civil society. The possibility of peace is cultivated in and through civil societv and certain institutions have important responsibilities in this regard.

The deliberations of vour meeting are focused on the role of interuniversitv cooperation in promoting the development of Palestinian civil societ-'. It is evident that Palestinian universities are a major educational. scientific and cultural force available to those living in the Palestinian Territor\_ For the Palestinian people. who lack other means to improve then- lives. higher education plays a key role in generating the high-level human resources so necessarv for development in all its dimensions. At the same time, universities are a dvnamic factor within civil societv. Indeed. thev are kev institutions for building a vibrant, prosperous and democratic Palestinian societv.

It is for this reason that U-NESCO. acting in conformity with the resolutions adopted by its General Conference and Executive Board, has consistently sought to promote and protect Palestinian educational. scientific and cultural institutions. including universities. when extending its assistance to the Palestinian people in its fields of competence. In particular, UNESCO has encouraged the intellectual. scientific and cultural communities worldwide to create and maintain special ties with then- Palestinian counterparts. It is in this context that UNESCO has extended its enduring support to the Palestinian European Academic Cooperation in Education (PEACE) Network ever since its creation in 1991.

The Sixth Joint U-NESCO/Palestinian Authority Committee, which met oil 15 and 16 July 2004. adopted the -UNESCO Programme of Assistance for Rehabilitation and Development in the Palestinian Territory 2004-2007". Many recommendations contained in this Programme concern higher education and research, including several flagship proJects such as the setting up of a Global University and Research Network in support of institutions of higher education i . n the Palestinian Territor~,, and the creation of a UNESCO Chair oil Teacher Education to be hosted in one Palestinian universitv or in several higher education institutions.

Such initiatives open up new possibilities for cooperation between the appropriate units in UNESCO and the PEACE Programme. I encourage you to bear these matters in mind when adopting your future Plan of Action at the 6th Session of the General Assembly of the PEACE Programme. scheduled to take place immediately after this international conference.

Allow me. therefore. once again to wish that you have a most successful conference and to assure you of UNESCO's continued support for your activities with Palestinian universities. I look forward to learning of the outcomes of your meeting. especially in terms of further opportunities for promoting academic cooperation with Palestinian universities and institutions of higher education.

Koїchiro Matsuura