UNESCO Day shows nation heading towards universal prosperity – Mahdzir
RANAU: The celebration of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO) Day at the national level shows the national commitment towards universal prosperity.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, who is also president of the Malaysian National UNESCO Commission said the commitment was reflected through the Malaysia-UNESCO Cooperation Programme (MUCP) and the establishment of the Malaysia-UNESCO Funds-inTrust (MFIT) which became the national platform to share technical expertise with the UNESCO member nations.
“Up to this year, elements of the MUCP-MFIT cooperation, which was signed in 2009, had implemented 19 projects covering the UNESCO competency spectrum namely education, scientific and culture.
“Malaysia believes that the basis for sustainable world peace is derived from the sharing of knowledge,” he said when launching the 2017 Malaysia UNESCO Day in Kundasang, near here yesterday.
Mahdzir said the organisation of the national level celebration since 2011 had raised social awareness on the close cooperation between Malaysia and UNESCO since 1958, particularly in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).
Earlier, Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the declaration of the Kinabalu National Park at the base of Gunung Kinabalu as a UNESCO World Heritage Site demanded the local community to give correct explanation to visitors on the customs at the highest mountain in Malaysia.
He said that the local community knew about the local customs better and should play a role in communicating with the visitors.
"Last year, Sabah received about 3.4 million tourists, with half of them coming to Kinabalu National Park to see Gunung Kinabalu.
“The local community, the majority of whom are from the Dusun ethnic group, can play a role to educate the tourists on the customs, language and environmental conservation efforts around the area,”he said.