Luxembourg participated in the 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference, which was held from Tuesday 7 to Wednesday 22 November 2023 at the institution's headquarters in Paris, in the presence of delegates and representatives of the 194 members and associate members.

The permanent representation of Luxembourg to UNESCO (Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Development, Cooperation and Foreign Trade) ensured the participation of the Grand Duchy, as well as by the President and the office of the general secretariat of the Luxembourg Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO (Luxembourg’s Ministry of Culture). The general conference meets every two years and determines the organisation’s orientation and general course of action.

“We must build peace in a sustainable way by implementing a multilateralism of results,” highlighted Nadia Ernzer, ambassador and permanent representative of Luxembourg to UNESCO and the OECD, on Thursday 9 November 2023, during her intervention within the general policy debate of the 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference.

During her speech, the ambassador pointed out that multilateralism is the top priority of Luxembourg's foreign policy. She also welcomed the return of the United States to the institution. The representative announced that, 20 years after serving for the first time on the Executive Board, Luxembourg is presenting its candidacy to sit on the Executive Board of UNESCO from 2025 to 2029. The Executive Board is made up of 58 Member States elected for a period of four years.

Furthermore, Luxembourg was elected to the following subsidiary bodies of UNESCO for the period 2023-2027:

  • the Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC);
  • the Intergovernmental Council of the Programme for the Management of Social Transformations (MOST);
  • the Inter-Agency Committee on Bioethics (ICGB).

Luxembourg also participated, among delegates from more than 40 countries, in the revision of the “Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms” with a view to examining the revised text. This draft revision was adopted by consensus stipulating that member states must ensure the right to education for all.

Luxembourg was represented at the thirteenth UNESCO Youth Forum, organised on the sidelines of the general conference by Mahmoud Hashoush, former intern with the Minett UNESCO Biosphere.

Finally, during this general conference, UNESCO retained on its list of “Proposals from Member States relating to the celebration of anniversaries with which UNESCO could be associated in 2024-2025”, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Aline Mayrisch de Saint Hubert (1874-1947), woman of letters and philanthropist, committed to women's rights.