hello again oh welcome to spotlight the interview show on r.t. are no longer enough and today my guest in the studio is it in the box. since she became the director general of the u.s. go shares been promoting the concept of new human is how successful is she and has the world become more humanistic and that you know when you talk about it the director general of unesco is our guest in the studio today. to read a book is a daughter of a prominent bulgarian communist activist in your google town after graduating from the most prestigious university of foreign relations just started her political

career in the bulgarian foreign ministry when the socialist bloc to sold in bulgaria launched democratic reforms here in temporarily withdrew from bulgarian politics nine hundred ninety five as the deputy foreign minister a year later the arena was appointed the foreign minister but was forced to resign with the rest of the cabinet a few months later. irina actively promotes european values in bulgaria by other european political poor i'm sure created she is currently in jail for your time as director general of unesco. hello and welcome to the show thank you very much for being with thank you for inviting me first of all welcome to moscow welcome to russia today and i want to ask you about this world conference on early childhood care and education that there that's held in moscow well why the attention to the. problem and why is the

culture so it must go well this is our first such conference on early childhood care and education because we. consider as the leader of the second millennium development goal which is education for all and we do consider that to early childhood care in education have an extremely important role in the life of every human being afterwards as the recent scientific research also shows for one dollar invested in preschool education in child care it means that we can save eight dollars for the run during the education process and i am happy that we have this conference here in moscow moscow has offered it so hospitality and the russian government of course and we could also share experience we have discussions also among sixty eight ministers of education from all over the world

and also with the delegations of more than one hundred twenty countries i would say that this is a conference which is the last of a whole series of important conferences on education that unesco has organized in the last two years. you know probably to all to well that education is so one of our priorities it's within our mandate we are the only united nations agency which looks at age occasion from a holistic point of view we follow education starting from the preschool being the primary school the secondary high education also. we can see that this is an important. finalising of the whole process of thinking what is education what does it occasionally represent in in our base world how we respond to the challenges. we talk about quality education we talk also about the technical

implication of training we talk about their values so within age occasion we talk about education for human rights for sustainable development so it's really an extremely important moment in the life of our organization the russians like to say the preschool education system is exemplary is a true by you know school standards and what makes it unique if it is i discussed yesterday with the minister for saying the challenges also which definitely are in in all of the countries in the world to both developed and developing countries and and i have talked commend russia that russia pays a lot of attention on the priest calling although as the minister himself has said there's still a lot there needs to be done of course our message is taking the example for

different countries where they have good systems. on one hand to make the advocacy for peace corps link and on the other hand also to have a link between priest calling and primary school i think this is also very important you know well. there's so talk about the higher higher education there is a widespread perception in russia that these days the quality of highly highly occasion is decreasing dramatically well at least in russia but also in other countries what does you know school have to say on those disrespect you know i just come from the second congress unesco chair. within the russian federation we do have here fifty eight to misquote chairs. from all different regions. really a vast country and we did disk. yes also the question of the quality of education i

would say that it's it's a challenge. in many countries. the dynamism of the contemporary development in the world the requirements of a quick technological innovation then. a quick adaptation also and a quick i would say the very closely in between economic activity and education between the social agenda in the economic agenda of different countries is very demanding so i understand perfectly well that there is always a need for a higher quality of education i discussed this issue with the such a prominent the russian academician intellectual i would say. that emission the sergei kopete so we discussed exactly the question of for the quality of education and i and those who believe here is decreasing well a high do they see what is the person so not to look at delhi i think no i think

he's it's not the method of optimism or of pessimism i think it's a matter of for how certain system and how certain the i would say way of intellectual thinking inscribes within the overall world thinking because i do believe that nowadays not no country is isolated nobody is isolated in this world and especially in the condemning terence and especially in scientific terms and i was quite ahead be told to hear such a prominent thinker a member of their own club also i believe expressing once again the believe there too in a school could lead to these international search for for high quality and also promote closer cooperation among scientists around among different circles because all the the challenges are common in the responses also should be common well does the ball one year by. one year promises guarantee the quality of education because

in russia it's a matter of great controversy especially for for example the the unified state examination it's a it's a it's a subject of very heated discussions in the press in the society what are the advantages of the bologna process from your point of view i think that to belong to sets criteria blonder sets of standards. a ball on your also the fact that so many academic institutions follow this process and also that may not serve the russian well high schools. economic institution also followed this by this creates the possibility of a a cause of cooperation and some kind of a common common the descending and common sense i think this is important i wouldn't pass judgments and say this is the perfect one i don't believe that there is a perfect when but but still it's setting high standards and following this that i

think it's an important stage. in this process of international cooperation really like to know does so the standard but since most of the russians are saying that once we join the blah new process the quality of russian education is becoming low does that mean that the russians were higher than the bar just that it had an order to fit well it's going down i it's difficult. to pass judgments i know that you were educated you yourself were educated russian yes. yes and i can say that the institute where i studied the moscow state he said that of international relations. said it had been extremely high quality of education. very qualified professors i would say a world class high class quality of education and. why recollection of what i

mostly valued was that they were provoking and encouraging analysis and thinking which was not very easy those times but i do believe that if if we look at from this from this point of view i think that. in russian universities. standards are high but i would not like to pass judgment whether it's lower or high i think it's a. it's a it's a very good them bishan to have a high quality of education in the wording and but i do believe also that. nobody's isolated there should be a common approach and they should because a corporation and i would say your personal i mean your personal opinion since you have personal judgments on the longer process what's more important to teach kids students school students high school students to think to analyze or to do to make them fit into certain standards to go further in life to high school high school

university postgraduate then i think the two don't contradict any such as there because i mean you can go from from a stage turn out there in the same time you can think it's a matter of how your what your approach is and where you you what method where where you put your priority in doing this. i don't believe that they contradict each other so is it in the book of a director general of you know ask our spotlight will be back shortly right after the break so stay with us don't know.

i. think that every month we give you the future we help you understand how to get there and what tomorrow brings the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world. knowledge update on our jeep. welcome back to spotlight i'll now than just a reminder that my guest here in the studio is it in the back of our director general of unesco it is just before the break you said an interesting thing that that you think that speak of education we can do both in harmony you can we can teach children young people to think. to analyze and at the same

time make them fit into certain standards to be ready to live in a modern technological society but as far as i understand these things do contradict each other because they're like in the army you have to fit into started this is the name of the game the less you think the better your career goes in the army but on the other hand in it in science mr perelman doesn't fit in any standards at all but he is a great thinker so so you still believe that these things can be harmonized well you're very convincing they way you express it but i really do believe that when we talk about quality education especially. in higher education there should be really some stand there it's the way you reach the standards and of course you may overpass this ten that's you may i think out of the box you may. be very creative

and on the very many examples we know that they can see that some point even to be almost mentally retarded because he didn't excel in schools we have such such cases but but my in my point is that if we want to really have a competitive to give the possibility of very many students from from all over the world i would say and from from different countries in different institutes. to be competitive friend. we still have to follow some kind of a a common part otherwise we won't have a specific rate teria for evaluating them but in any case i still believe all by your very convincing i can win the center i still believe that thinking and the ising of trying to find your own way can be encouraged also in high school or should be encouraged ok. you know sco is one of the main u.n.

organizations and all you and organizations are pursuing the so-called millon human development goals used to states that i quote if we want to make development sustainable we have to invest in education in which part of the world do you think the situation the situation with education is the most deplorable you know the millennium development goals i believe were the most ambitious and the same at the same time the most humane agenda that the united nations and the international community have set up in the recent in the recent decades and that's why i would say there is so much even patient around the implementation of these goals i was just here in new york a week ago i participated in the debate summit of the united nations and of course mostly engaged with the education because this is our priority and in we have the leaders there. our assessment is that. the there is certain progress in any case

there is a lot of firm movement forward there is a lot of progress in the primary education in the roman t. in the very many parts of the world. in countries where for example. taxes for primary education were abolished we have first seen in rome and doubled in countries such as tanzania been in senegal in many countries but also we see that in many countries it will be impossible to reach the millennium development goals in general and in concrete in education and there are probably some twenty countries in sub-saharan africa which are confronting enormous difficulties and we believe that we have to focus and help them but let me make another point talking about education i do believe that all of course the eight million development goals

are closely interlinked poverty eradication of poverty or gender equality or pandemic such as ha ve in aids. in education of course closely interlinked but still i believe that education underlies the implementation of all the other a million and development goals the secretary general mr ban ki moon said a new priority in the rightfully so i would say concerning maternal health and child mortality where progress has been probably the least. analyzed and good preached. and now by discuss that also with the world health organization with the director general mr mcnamee says margaret a child and with unicef a coordinator and with mr bunky one himself last week i do believe that. without education what. every investment we make in maternal health and child

mortality to take just one example which is so much important we won't reach results on a sustainable basis we may reach some results on the on the concrete basie's on a temporary basis we may do things but if we want to really to have something on a sustainable basis i think that education is so much important than all the recent developments schol that if a mother researcher katy primary education the all the data about mortality and child care in everything improve dramatically in if a woman a mother receives secondary education then this improves in times so once again my edward because he is that education so be it should be the priority of the priorities when we talk about the implementation of the millennium development

goals i also understand that there is a problem in europe too for example let's say let's take the problem with gypsy children which is a pretty popular subject these days. as far as i understand there are a lot of efforts made to improve the situation with education but less than fifty percent of gypsy children complete even primary education if this is if this is really the case is there a program to do this problem it is a problem and countries where there are good relations with the. majority of the wrong population is. mainly list in europe but not only in eastern europe also in some other countries syrian countries recognize this this problem they have for asked us also for some assistance and some advice and we are working with the council of europe on that matter we will participate tenth of october also in. in

a meeting with the council of europe on the education the for the roma children and we are putting also our first such program in all the talk especially in the area of education because there are other problems not of problems but education he says basic in other to solve also all the rest that by the way this is a an excellent thing sample also for the developing countries that without education they cannot have the problems of poverty or for exclusion which is so important so yes we will be involved. we will try to contribute to the planting of the proper responses for this problem well more of this now from spotlights. in the august fronts explode about two thousand drew back to their home countries over many and vogue area they returned mostly to poverty a little chance of employment the decision by the french president was controversial and like to protests across europe it brought the so-called room

issue to the international spotlight an estimated ten million members of the roma community in europe like access to health care education employment and housing put in to a unesco report half of the room with children failed to complete prime rib you cation extra costs of schooling a huge problem for many families sometimes do not have warm clothes and prefer to have thank you home in cold weather for example in bulgaria which is home to one of the largest room communities in europe twenty percent the crude children never go to school. in many countries such kids even if sent to school and up will cost especially created for children with mental disability said we gave only contributes to the exclusion of the roma the unesco report true sponsibility on governments and calls on them to think of fiscal. social implement pulis's which

would lead to children get in offense start in life. since you since you became director general of nascar you have been promoting the concept of new humanism. what is it did do you want to say that the contemporary world is losing its humanistic values one. well. modestly i would say that. all that is within your nesquik unesco's agenda. is very closely linked. i would say two to two human values. took human rights to the dignity of. for human beings it sits inscribed in our constitution that. straw education culture science and communication we should build peace in the minds of people in the sugar

for the human dignity end and i believe that probably. this believe that we have to reconsider unesco's a trend which is still extremely valid to an assault not also our agenda but the overall approach of the united nations and international community to solving their problems i call the kind of when you knew him when ism and for me for example you communism definitely is the millennium development goals agenda which is one of the most humanistic agenda that the international community has said set up or after the establishment the creation of the united nations for me and you can we need them is the way we look to the climate change. the protection of our environment i would say that also knew who needs the means the quest also in the bishan to preserve for biodiversity we do need to have a different look from you probably also when you can when he's amused the

protection of cultural diversity and the promotion of cultural diversity of protection of languages languages who are in danger in danger of promoting mother tongue education promoting also with a new i would say conviction and a new stronger political will gender equality i believe all these seats. new very humanistic agenda and as long as i am now director general for this great organization i would call your next call i believe that we could contribute more to this new search of for humanistic verus and how we implemented them i believe that the economic and social crisis and the environmental crisis also to some extent also accelerates and should make as more convinced that we have to bear once and make society smaller in course if and more coherent

thank you thank you very much for being with us in just a reminder that my guest today was even a director general of unicef and that's it for their from all of us here if you want to have your say on spotlight and have someone in mind to you think i should interview next time just drop me a line we'll be back with more first hand comment on the what's going on in and outside russia until then stay on party and take care thank you thank you very much .

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a full seasons hotel the sultan who took. their outrage after israel a point so for my interrogator to the torture of arabs in charge of policing their community. taking fight to the russian living rooms as police tackle abuses cooking up their own drug fix it. and it's the last hour of voting in cash strapped latvia with a pro russian party poised to make the game the most the country. hello this is r t it's eight pm saturday night here in moscow thanks for being with

us this hour with the top story and reports of torture by israel and its reluctance to investigate them causing frustration among palestinian campaigners tonight i'm running now see further treatment getting even further away with the appointment of a police chief who's admitted using harsh interrogation methods against arabs. talking to those who claim they suffered at the hands of the notorious commander. i was kidnapped by an israeli commando on the twenty first of may nine hundred ninety four they came to my country to my land to my house and arrested me before the eyes of my children. most afraid of romney spent the next eighteen years in a secret prison later dubbed israel's upper grade and his interrogator a name that still sends chills down the spines of prisoners. i have to remember captain george he personally participated in the top and abuse of prisoners the torture and abuses in abu ghraib.