Executive Board 207 EX/5.I.C Two hundred and seventh session PARIS, 13 September 2019 Original: English Item 5 of the provisional agenda FOLLOW-UP TO DECISIONS AND RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE EXECUTIVE BOARD AND THE GENERAL CONFERENCE AT THEIR PREVIOUS SESSIONS PART I PROGRAMME ISSUES SUMMARY C. Follow-up of the situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine) This information is presented pursuant to 205 EX/Decision 5 (I.E) on the “Follow-up of the situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine)” – including a review of existing and planned actions in UNESCO’s fields of competence; information provided to the Secretariat on 19 July 2019 by the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to UNESCO; and information provided by UNESCO’s institutional partners, namely the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe; the Representative on Freedom of the Media of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe; the International Council on Monuments and Sites; and Amnesty International. Decision required: paragraph 14. Job: 201911543 207 EX/5.I.C C. Follow-up of the situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine) (Follow-up to 205 EX/Decision 5 (I.E)) I. BACKGROUND 1. This document is presented in line with the 205 EX/Decision 5.I.E on “Follow-up of the situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine)”. In all of its actions, UNESCO has been guided by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution of 27 March 2014, on “Territorial Integrity of Ukraine”, which “affirms its commitment to the sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders,” as well as the Resolutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 19 December 2016, 19 December 2017, and 22 December 2018 on the “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine)”. 2. In line with the 205 EX/Decision 5.I.E, the Secretariat continued to gather information, including from international organizations within and beyond the United Nations system, as well as from non- governmental organizations (NGOs) that have at their disposal relevant updates on the situation in “the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation” (reference in line with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 73/263 of 22 December 2018 on the “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine) -- hereafter “Crimea”) within UNESCO’s fields of competence. 3. Given their relevance to UNESCO’s fields of competence and existing partnership relations with UNESCO, the following organizations were requested to provide relevant updates on the situation in UNESCO’s fields of competence – namely, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe; the Representative on Freedom of the Media of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS); and Amnesty International (Official Partner of UNESCO, with Associate Status). 4. The Secretariat also invited the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to provide information on latest developments in UNESCO’s fields of competence. In addition, it reviewed existing and planned actions within UNESCO’s fields of competence. 5. Since the 205th session of the Executive Board, the Secretariat has undertaken a first programmatic sectorial visit to Kyiv, as part of the “direct monitoring activity” of the situation in UNESCO’s fields of competence. The visit took place from 26 and 27 February 2019 and focused on UNESCO’s mandate in the field of natural sciences. Moreover, regular consultations continued since the 205th session between the Secretariat and the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine, as well as with Member States as regards the “direct monitoring activity” in UNESCO’s fields of competence. A second programmatic sectorial visit is planned to Kyiv prior to the 207th session of the Executive Board, focusing on UNESCO’s mandate in the field of communication and information. 6. Moving forward, the Secretariat will continue to strengthen information-sharing and exchanges with institutional partners of the Organization on a regular basis, in order to ensure regular monitoring of developments in UNESCO’s spheres of competence. To this end, the Secretariat organized an Information Meeting with Member States on developments in the situation in UNESCO’s spheres of competence on 28 March 2019 at UNESCO Headquarters. The next Information Meeting with Member States, with the participation of UNESCO’s institutional partners, will be organized prior to the 207th session of the Executive Board. 207 EX/5.I.C – page 2 II. REVIEW OF EXISTING/PLANNED ACTIONS 7. As reported in 205 EX/5 Part I.E, under Major Programme I, there are four schools and institutions which are part of the UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet) located in Crimea: Gymnasium No. 9 of Simferopol City Council, Simferopol; Secondary school of I-III Degrees No. 14, Simferopol; Alexander Pushkin Secondary School, Gurzuf; and Sevastopol Liceum No.1, Sevastopol. UNESCO has not received recent activity reports through the National Coordinator from these schools and institutions, which have not been active in the Network. 8. Ukraine ratified the 1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education on 19 December 1962. As reported previously, in the context of the Ninth Consultation of Members States (2016- 2017), a national report was submitted by Ukraine in April 2017, providing a general overview of the Ukrainian education system and measures taken during the reporting period for the implementation of the Convention and, more generally, of the right to education in Ukraine. The report provides also extensive information on the challenges encountered in the field of education in relation to Crimea. The results of the Consultation were approved by the General Conference at its 39th session in November 2017. As with other national reports submitted, this report is available online. 9. As reported previously, two National Oceanographic Data Centers (NODCs) were located in Sevastopol, both part of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) programme: (i) the O. O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas (IBSS); and (ii) the Marine Hydrophysical Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The websites of both institutions have been closed. Both institutions are still included in the IODE NODC data centre page: http://www.iode.org/datacentres but have been marked as “closed”. In addition, the IBSS document repository, as well as the Central and Eastern European Marine Repository, previously located in the former YugNIRO in Kerch, both contributors to the IODE OceanDocs project, have been closed. The Government of Ukraine established a new oceanographic data centre (an IODE Associate Data Unit) under the “Ukrainian Scientific Centre of Ecology of the Sea,” in Odessa in 2014. In June 2019, Ukraine informed the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission that this institution has been designated as Ukraine’s National Oceanographic Data Centre. 10. Under Major Programme IV Culture, the Secretariat has continued to monitor the situation with its partners – INTERPOL, the World Customs Organization, the International Committee of the Blue Shield and the International Council of Museums. 11. To recall, the World Heritage Committee examined a state of conservation report on the World Heritage property “Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora”, at its 40th session held in Istanbul in July 2016. The Committee, in its Decision 40 COM 7B.62, urged all parties concerned with the state of conservation of the property to refrain from any action that would cause damages to it and to fulfil their obligations under international law by taking all possible measures to protect the property. The Decision further requested the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/Advisory Bodies Reactive Monitoring Mission to assess the property’s state of conservation. The invitation from the State Party for such a mission had not been received at the time of preparation of this report. While the property is not reported as facing threats to its Outstanding Universal Value, ICOMOS International transmitted to UNESCO an appeal co-signed by 126 individuals concerning the protection of the property. Specific conservation issues had already been identified and assessed when the property was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2013. 12. The Ukrainian authorities informed the Secretariat in May 2019 of the destruction of the ancient columns of the architectural and archaeological complex “Ancient city Panticapaeum” situated in the city of Kerch in Crimea. This complex is included in the Ukrainian State Register of immovable monuments of national significance. 13. Under Major Programme V, the Secretariat has continued to maintain contacts with international governmental organizations, such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in 207 EX/5.I.C – page 3 Europe and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as international non-governmental organizations, relating to issues of freedom of expression and