By Rania Khallaf Mrs Suzanne Mubarak presided in Paris on Monday over an international panel of judges evaluating around 300 books authored by children from 42 countries in a literary contest organised by UNESCO. The theme of the contest, which is held once every two years, is the promotion of a culture of tolerance among people. The panel is to choose 20 books authored by children below the age of 12, as well as 12 other books submitted by teenagers in the 13-18 age bracket. Each winner will receive $8,000. UNESCO Secretary-General Federico Mayor praised Mrs Mubarak's efforts in promoting the "Reading for All" programme, in launching the Alexandria library project and in disseminating a culture of tolerance among children. "As we head towards the end of this century, we should affirm the values of tolerance," Mayor said in a meeting with Mrs Mubarak at his office. Mayor told Mrs Mubarak that the "Reading for All" programme is presently being emulated in Latin America, East Africa and Europe. Following the meeting, Ali Maher, the Egyptian ambassador in Paris, announced that Mayor has decided to apply the same working plan of the "Reading for All" programme as one of UNESCO's annual programmes. Mrs Mubarak had presided over a similar panel of judges in 1996 and she was chosen by UNESCO for the second time this year in a show of esteem for her role in promoting culture and education, especially among children. For her part, Mrs Mubarak said she was happy to act as the panel's chairwoman for the second time in three years. "We are in dire need, more than at any time before, to educate our youth and help them acquire an international vision that would allow them to evaluate the great diversity of the world's cultures and to live in peace with this diversity," Mrs Mubarak said. "Sustained support from all communities -- families, schools, religious, social and political organisations -- as well as information agencies and governments, is needed if we are to succeed in establishing the culture of tolerance." Mrs Mubarak affirmed that children need to understand that the civilised way of settling disputes should be through negotiations. They also need to learn how to help those who are less educated, she said. Declaring that the nations of the world are interdependent, Mrs Mubarak said: "This only means that we need to educate the youngsters on the qualities of their culture, while helping them at the same time to acquire a comprehensive vision that would enable them to go beyond the concept of an individual society and traditional cultural patterns and accept other living styles and consider them new ones which are worthy of the same respect." The projection of other cultures as evil is a threat to world peace, she said. "In the course of the century, we have witnessed the dangers of provoking one race against another, one religion against another or one social class against another," Mrs Mubarak said. "In a world dominated increasingly by inter-related cultures, regardless of how diverse they are, we need to educate our children that our diversity is the secret behind our strength. They should be aware that without promoting knowledge and exchanging scientific discoveries, as well as the interaction between various cultural patterns, the world would not have reached what it has reached today. There is a lot to be achieved by governments and international organisations. We should not despair because of the events that indicate a proliferation of discrimination as a feature of our world. However, I believe that each one of us can make a change."
