Prof. Achilles C. Emilianides, advocate, Dean of the School of Law of the University of Nicosia, and General-Secretary of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts, was elected as a member of the Conciliation and Good Offices Commission (‘Commission’) by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (‘UNESCO’) during its 41st session. The election was officially announced in March 2022.
The Commission was established in 1970 pursuant to the Protocol instituting a Conciliation and Good Offices Commission to be responsible for seeking a settlement of any disputes which may arise between States Parties to the Convention against Discrimination in Education (‘Protocol’). The Convention against Discrimination in Education (‘Convention’) was adopted in Paris in 14 December 1960 and has so far been ratified by 106 States, whereas the Protocol was adopted on 10 December 1962, and entered into force on 24 October 1968. The Republic of Cyprus ratified the Convention and the Protocol with Law 18/1970.
Pursuant to the Protocol, the Commission seeks the amicable settlement of disputes between States Parties to the Convention. It consists of eleven members who should be persons of high moral standing and acknowledged impartiality, with recognized competence in the field of education and judicial experience or legal experience particularly of an international character. Members of the Commission are elected for a term of six years.
Dean Emilianides has expressed his gratitude to the General Conference of UNESCO for the honour of having been elected to the Commission, particularly noting that this is a prestigious election for Cyprus academia, education, and the law profession. This is just the second time that a member from Cyprus has been elected as member of the Commission (former Minister and Ambassador Andreas Mavrommatis served as a member between 1989-1995). He particularly thanked the four Cypriot UNESCO Chairs (UNESCO Chair on Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue for a Culture of Peace, University of Nicosia; UNESCO Chair in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, University of Cyprus; UNESCO Chair on Digital Cultural Heritage, Technological University of Cyprus; and UNESCO Chair on Life Long Learning and Adult Education, Frederick University) for the honour of unanimously nominating him as a candidate, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports, for approving his candidacy to be submitted to the UNESCO Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs, and, through that, to the Executive Board, and eventually the General Conference of UNESCO.
