UNESCO

That this House endorses with satisfaction the determination with which Dr Federico Mayor, the UNESCO Director-General, has, through a continuing process of dialogue and partnership with the Executive Board, put the Organisation on course to achieve further administrative reforms, including substantial reductions in staff appointments, about which there were considerable doubts last year when the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office reviewed the situation; recognises that the other issues of concern at that time (namely, programme concentration, duplication with the activities of other UN agencies and decentralisation) have been addressed and are now being largely resolved; warmly appreciates that under Dr Mayor's three-year leadership, UNESCO has accomplished a major shift in programme policy, thus alleviating criticism expressed by the United Kingdom and other member states during the early 1980s; and considering that, in today's rapidly changing world, UNESCO has a most important mission within the UN system, calls on Her Majesty's Government to declare its intention to return to membership of the Organisation without further delay, thus enabling the United Kingdom to add the full weight of its influence within the Organisation and enriching the momentum of UNESCO's programmes.