Philippine Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, H.E. Junever M. Mahilum-West in her statement during the plenary session of the 221st session of the UNESCO Executive Board reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and advancing ocean science, ethics of AI and gender equality through support of the following UNESCO programmes: the Flagship Programme on Education for Peace to strengthen the implementation of the 2023 Recommendation on Education for Peace and Human Rights, International Understanding, Cooperation, Fundamental Freedoms, Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development; the AI Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) following the adoption of UNESCO’s global standard on the Ethics of AI; the UNESCO Framework for Culture and Arts Education and the upcoming MONDIACULT 2025 in Spain which underscore the role of culture as a global public good and as a stand-alone goal in the post-2030 development agenda and; UNESCO initiatives aimed at advancing gender equality in AI development and ensuring the safety, dignity, and rights of women and girls.
Ambassador Mahilum-West also highlighted the Philippines’ successful hosting of the Regional Conference on Education Planning in Asia-Pacific which brought together education ministries to address urgent challenges such as the climate crisis and the digital divide and looked forward to working with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) in the upcoming 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France and in the 12th WESTPAC International Marine Science Conference in 2027 in Manila, Philippines. END
