DUSHANBE, July 4, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- The Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Mr. Koichiro Matsuura will visit Tajikistan on July 13-16, 2008.

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the head of the Tajik MFA information department Davlat Nazriyev said that the aim of UNSECO head’s visit to Tajikistan is to attend a conference to discuss preservation of cultural relics in Tajikistan.  The conference is staged by the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan. 

During his stay in Tajikistan, Mr. Matsuura is also scheduled to hold talks with President Emomali Rahmon, Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi, and chairman of Tajikistan’s National Commission for UNSECO Affairs Karomatullo Olimov.  

It is supposed that a major topic of Mr. Matsuura’s discussions with high-ranking Tajik state official will be inclusion of a number of Tajik cultural and natural relics into the UNESCO catalogue as internationally preserved relics, the MFA spokesman said.  

He further added that it cannot be ruled that the UNSECO director-general will also visit a number of cultural and historical relics of Tajikistan.  

UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded on 16 November 1945. For this specialized United Nations agency, it is not enough to build classrooms in devastated countries or to publish scientific breakthroughs. Education, Social and Natural Science, Culture and Communication are the means to a far more ambitious goal : to build peace in the minds of men.

Today, UNESCO functions as a laboratory of ideas and a standard-setter to forge universal agreements on emerging ethical issues. The Organization also serves as a clearinghouse – for the dissemination and sharing of information and knowledge – while helping Member States to build their human and institutional capacities in diverse fields. In short, UNESCO promotes international co-operation among its 193 Member States and six Associate Members in the fields of education, science, culture and communication.