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No.172ー1
The Fiftieth Anniversary of Japan Joining UNESCO / Challenges for the 21st Century
REIKO KATO President of the Meguro UNESCO Association
With the arrival of the 21st century, the "International Year of
Culture forPeace" has been replaced by the "International Decade
of Peace and Non-violence for Children in the World".
Keeping this in mind, the organization, PTA (Parent Teachers Association),
originated in 1895, when an idea struck an American woman, Mrs. Alice Birney,while
looking affectionately at her child's sleeping face. She thought that,first
of all, mothers should be a shield to protect children. She stood up and
took action to nurture a lot of precious lives to grow up healthy in a
society full of evils and unfairness. Two years later, she successfully
realized her plan by establishing the National Congress of Mothers. However,
Mrs.Alice understood that there was a limitation to a mother's power to
build her children's character. She addressed this issue with deep discernment
and modest actions, which led up to the establishment of PTA with the hope
that not only mothers, but also fathers and teachers would be good parents
and good teachers.
Thanks to co-operation from the PTA federation and the board of education
of the Meguro ward, we started the "Campaign for Unused Postcard Contribution"for
the "UNESCO World Terakoya Movement" again this year. Leaflets
were distributed to school children in the ward. This time, on one side
of the appeal leaflet is printed a calendar entitled "UNESCO Movement
2001 for Peace Building". The pretty picture in the calendar was painted
by Ms. Chifo Katsuyama, a painter whose theme is environmental conservation.
The calendar was designed by a graphic designer, Mr. Shigeo Katsuoka, who
placed the picture beside " My Peace Declaration" in the center.
They are both members of the Association. I hope this calendar will be
pinned on the wall of every house for twelve months. School education is
important, but home education is the most important foundation for children.
Warmness at home, parents' attitude to life, philosophy, and ethics exert
a great influence on their children's future.
As home education is fundamental to children, so the very phrase "the
spirit spoken by UNESCO" is to peace building. Most of the purposes
of various organizations like UNICEF, local international exchange organizations,
and nongovernmental international relations organizations of all sizes
can be traced back to "the spirit spoken by UNESCO" .The spirit
of UNESCO is everyone's as the Constitution of the UNESCO stipulates. However,
the recognition and the correct understanding of it have not been shared
by many Japanese even now, 50 years after gaining membership to UNESCO.
The decade of "Peace and Non-violence for Children in the World"
has just started. The children themselves are the treasure of the 21st
century. The adults in society now should not spare effort, so that children
are able to lead happy and brilliant lives. I think the promotional campaign
of UNESCO spirit is one of the means and challenges for the 21st century.
Let us make an effort with a fresh determination, learning from the mistakes
we made in the 20th century.
(Refer to page 1 of "UNESCO 2001. 1" published by the National
Federation of UNESCO Association in Japan.)