The Director-General participated in the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Russia's membership in UNESCO, held in Moscow and organised by the National Commission for UNESCO.

The ceremony was opened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia and President of Commission of the Russian Federation to UNESCO, Sergey Lavrov, and included parliamentarians, along with many members of the National Commission, from all spheres of activity.

In his keynote speech, Foreign Minister Lavrov underlined the importance of humanitarian cooperation in a "world undergoing deep changes," led by UNESCO as the "intellectual leader of the United Nations."
On this occasion, the Director General spoke of the importance of cooperation between UNESCO and the Russian Federation.
“In times of uncertainty, I believe we must make the most of our greatest renewable energy for innovation, for peace – this is human ingenuity. This is why UNESCO's work for education, the sciences, culture, communication and information is so essential and why our partnership with Russia is vital.”
During the ceremony, Irina Bokova awarded the UNESCO Medal of the Five Continents to the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mr Zurab Tsereteli, in recognition of his artistic achievements for dialogue and cooperation, and also to Mr Alexander Dzasokhov, Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, in recognition of his work to strengthen cooperation between the Russian Federation and UNESCO.
On the same day, the Director-General met with the President of Sakha (Yakutia), HE Mr Yegor Borisov, with whom she signed a Joint Communique to renew cooperation.
In their discussion, they reviewed the results of cooperation thus far and underlined their intention to continue joint work across all spheres of UNESCO’s competence -- including in deepening education quality, safeguarding cultural heritage, protecting biodiversity and advancing scientific cooperation as well as supporting media development.
During the visit, the Director-General met with the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Medinsky. Their meeting provided an opportunity to review cooperation in safeguarding world heritage sites and to discuss UNESCO's advocacy for culture and sustainable development in the post-2015 development agenda.
Irina Bokova met also with the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences and member of the Scientific Advisory Board, led by UNESCO for the UN Secretary-General, Mr Vladimir Fortov, with whom she discussed cooperation across the sciences and prospects for deeper partnership, notably in the framework of the Scientific Advisory Board.

Unesco.org press