| The Meguro UNESCO Association, having its 50th anniversary in 2004, will have the 50th General Assembly this year. I would like to express my heart-felt gratitude towards those people inside and outside of the Association who have supported it for so many years, while many similar UNESCO Associations in other cities were created and eventually disappeared. With a new independent office, we are to step forward with a big advancement this year in an environment where our members can freely offer wisdom and strength. I cannot be thankful enough for having been given this opportunity. It is the members' responsibility to take advantage of this environment. By the next fiscal year, we are expected to come up with a plan for our activities, foreseeing the coming 50 years in perspective, holding our ideals high, and yet keeping our goals workable. We must also select appropriate methods to put our plan into practice. Times changed. For example, although it was not written in our Founding Mission Statement of 1954, we are now engaged in international cooperation and assistance activities. Perhaps it is quite natural as we were then on the receiving side of assistance. The 20th century was the "century of wars." The 21st century, which we all hope to be the "century of peace and culture," has sadly been experiencing wars already. Assuming that a war is not only fought with weapons but in people's minds, I am renewing my determination that we must find a way for 'peace,' and double our efforts to move forward, although sometimes I feel impatient with eliminating 'war' from people's minds. The Meguro UNESCO Association is located in a small area in Japan, in Asia, and in the world. But we always want to keep the world in our sight and move step by step. Fortunately, thanks to the Associations' activities extending over half a century and the members' constant contribution, there are people from different parts of the world who sympathize with our movement and keep in contact with us in various ways. Let us join our common wisdom and effort together in sending a message from this area to the world, working together with people living overseas, and performing activities for the youth so that we can move a step forward. I would like to take this opportunity to solicit respectfully those who are concerned for their further guidance of the UNESCO activities in the private sector. |