§ Mr. DowdTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what informal or formal representatives from his Department attended the round table meeting held by UNESCO on 23 February in Paris to bring together artists, writers, journalists and ex-politicians from all sides of the ethnic divide in former Yugoslavia; and what assessment he has made of the effect of an application by the United Kingdom to rejoin UNESCO on such peacemaking and peacebuilding initiatives.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe round table was not attended by any United Kingdom representatives. We welcome Senor Mayor's initiative in organising the meeting. We have made no decision on a resumption of UNESCO membership. The work of UNESCO in this and other fields will obviously be taken into account in reaching any decision.