The 216th meeting of the UNESCO Executive Board started Monday at the UNESCO headquarters. Ambassador Christian Ter-Stepanian, Permanent Delegate of Armenia to UNESCO, delivered an address during the first plenary session held on the same day, the foreign ministry of Armenia informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Referring to the activities being carried out by UNESCO in emergency and war situations, the permanent delegate of Armenia recalled the current situation as a result of the military aggression unleashed by the armed forces of Azerbaijan on the sovereign territory of Armenia on September 13, 2022.

Ter-Stepanian, expressed his conviction that UNESCO bears responsibility for all those people whose right to education is violated. In that context, he recalled the consequences of Azerbaijan's blocking of the Lachin corridor for the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the violation of the right to education of 30,000 children. He reaffirmed the urgency of sending the UN inter-agency fact-finding mission due to the described situation.

Also in his remarks, the permanent delegate of Armenia to UNESCO expressed concern regarding the threats to the Armenian cultural heritage in the Karabakh territories now controlled by Azerbaijan, particularly in the regions of Shushi and Hadrut. In that context, Ambassador Ter-Stepanian reaffirmed the desire to urgently send a UNESCO mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent territories.

In his address, the permanent delegate of Armenia to UNESCO reflected also a number of joint initiatives implemented by UNESCO and Armenia and which are in the current phase.