Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Gent Cakaj, who is attending the 40th Session of the UNESCO General Conference, had a meeting with the UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay.

This meeting revolved around the importance of  education in doing away with exclusion and extremist behaviours, and the paramount importance of the multicultural dialogue. Willingness to advance cooperation under the  2020 Albanian OSCE Chairmanship, and particularly, to promote the fundamental freedoms, non-discrimination  policies, and open social dialogue, was also expressed in the meeting.

In this meeting, Acting Minister Cakaj also raised the issue of the membership of the  Republic of Kosovo in UNESCO, with this being the right for a country to seek cooperation with UNESCO for the purpose of ensuring more qualified education for Kosovo’s citizens, and protecting their cultural and artistic values, and creating a regional environment conducive to greater cooperation for Kosovo  in these areas, as well.

‘I highlighted the importance of the membership of the  Republic of Kosovo in UNESCO. Presently, Kosovo is an example for the region in the protection of the minority rights, and cultural heritage overall,’ Acting Minister Cakaj wrote in a Facebook post.

Kosovo’s membership of UNESCO, according to Cakaj, will only help strengthen the values this Organisation upholds in areas ranging from education to cultural heritage.