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Brunei Darussalam becomes UNESCO’s 191st Member State

Brunei Darussalam becomes UNESCO’s 191st Member State

Brunei Darussalam today became the 191st member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the specialized agency founded in1945 to serve as a laboratory of ideas, a standard-setter for universal accords on ethical issues and a clearinghouse for sharing information and knowledge.

Brunei Darussalam today became the 191st member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the specialized agency founded in 1945 to serve as a laboratory of ideas, a standard-setter for universal accords on ethical issues and a clearinghouse for sharing information and knowledge.

“Brunei Darussalam brings special strengths to UNESCO’s work through its promotion of sustainable development and cross-cultural dialogue and peace,” the agency’s Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, said in welcoming the small southeast Asian nation of just more than 350,000 inhabitants.

“Indeed, Calak Brunei, Cara Brunei or the Brunei Way of conflict resolution – emphasizing dialogue and compromise – is a contribution to the promotion of peace that the world at large can benefit from,” he added, noting that with today’s accession UNESCO is very close to achieving full universality.

“I look forward to the day when UNESCO will be able to count every single member of the international community in its ranks,” he declared.

The accession to the Paris-based organization was formalized when Brunei Darussalam’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Pengiran Haji Yunus Pengiran Haji Mahmud, signed UNESCO’s constitution.