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Message by Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations, New York, NY, December 16, 2003
In 2002-2003, Ukraine is commemorating the seventieth anniversary of one of
the most terrible and tragic events in Ukrainian history - the Great Famine
of 1932-1933 (Holodomor). This catastrophe saw millions of people lose
their lives, mostly Ukrainians but also Russians, Kazakhs and
representatives of other nationalities who died ob starvation in the Volga
River region, the Northern Caucasus, Kazakhstan and other parts of the
former Soviet Union.
The Great Famine came about through the cruel actions and callous policies
of the totalitarian regime, through forced collectivization and through
civil war. Holodomor, which took away the lives of one-fifth of the rural
population of Ukraine, became a national catastrophe for the Ukrainian
people that generated many adverse demographic, social, economic and
cultural consequences and left deep scars in the consciousness of future
generations.
On behalf of UNESCO, I hereby express my enduring compassion for everyone
who died of and suffered from hunger in those merciless times. We fully
support the to the international community, contained in the "Joint
Statement by the delegations of 25 Member States on the seventieth
anniversary of the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine (Holodomor)" that
was disseminated at the 58th session of the General Assembly of the United
Nations and was subsequently signed by another 15 countries, to raise
world-wide public awareness of this tragedy.
We must preserve the memory of past injustice, not for the sake of revenge
or recrimination but to honour those who suffered, to respect their right to
human dignity and to re-commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice for all.
UNESCO recognizes the importance of research into and analysis of such
tragic events so that the lessons of the past may help us to avoid similar
catastrophes in the future and to strengthen common efforts aimed at
building a world in which human rights and fundamental freedoms are fully
respected. UNESCO's work is dedicated to the principles enshrined in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which proclaims that our
shared goal is a world in which all human beings, without discrimination of
any kind, "shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear
and want".
The efforts of the Government of Ukraine aimed at revealing the truth about
Holodomor, its causes and consequences deserve the international community's
full support so that the Ukrainian people may reinforce their national an
cultural identity as well as share the values of solidarity, respect for
cultural diversity, mutual understanding, dialogue, tolerance and respect
for human dignity with other people of the world.
16 December, 2003
(signed)
Koichiro Matsuura
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