Landsstýrismaðurin setti UNESCO-fund í Mikladali

Landsstýrismaðurin setti UNESCO-fund í Mikladali

Mikudagin 17. september setti Eirikur í Jákupsstovu, landsstýrismaðurin í almanna- og mentamálum, norðurlendska UNESCO-fundin, sum hendan dagin varð hildin í Mikladali.

Norðurlendsku UNESCO-nevndirnar og fastanevndirnar hjá norðurlendsku londunum í Paris, sum er høvuðssæti hjá UNESCO, hittast árliga í einum av norðurlendsku londunum at umrøða UNESCO-mál og fyrireika aðalfund og fundir í stýrisráðnum hjá UNESCO, sum er ST-felagsskapur fyri útbúgving, vísindi og mentan. Í ár var fundurin í Føroyum í døgunum 15.- 18. september.

Á fundinum í ár vórðu eitt nú UNESCO-sáttmálarnir um at verja mentanarminni í krígsstøðu og um tiltøk at banna og forða ólógligum inn- og útflutningi og ognarskifti av mentanarminnum umrøddir.

Landsstýrismaðurin kom í síni røðu inn á týdningin, ið mentan hevur fyri eitt haldført samfelag.

segði Eirikur í Jákupsstovu, landsstýrismaður í almanna- og mentamálum, millum annað.

Her er røðan hjá landsstýrismanninum:

Dear Nordic guests, dear friends,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to Mikladalur for this plenary session of the Nordic Meeting of National Commissions and Permanent Delegations for UNESCO.

We are gathered here in Mikladalur - "the big valley" - a place where people have lived for at least six to seven hundred years. The village is mentioned in Hundabrævið - the Letter of Dogs - written in 1350, regulating the number of dogs allowed in each area of the Faroe Islands.

It is hard for us today to fully comprehend the degree of hardship it must have taken to sustain life here, in this isolated and often harsh environment. And yet, despite storms, steep cliffs, and the heavy surf that made travel by boat difficult, people not only survived, but created a flourishing community.

Life in Mikladalur was shaped by access to the uplands, the bird cliffs, and the fishing grounds. The conditions were often tough, especially in winter, but the village endured and grew. Mikladalur became known for its skilled boatbuilders and craftsmen. In the 19th century, a vibrant community of boatbuilders and blacksmiths developed here.

The Faroese boat itself is a telling example of resilience. Shaped over centuries by necessity and circumstance, it was built light and strong, so it could be pulled ashore quickly beneath steep cliff coasts like those of Mikladalur. Its design reflects both the dangers of the North Atlantic and the ingenuity of those who depended on it for their very survival.

Next door, the smithy Nornástovusmiðjan is preserved as cultural heritage - a reminder of this tradition of resilience, creativity, and craftsmanship.

The island of Kalsoy, with its dramatic 13 mountain peaks and 12 valleys, was long shaped by isolation. Even in the 20th century the four villages on the island were connected only by the post boat - and in winter, heavy surf could cut them off for weeks at a time. Only with the construction of four tunnels in the 1980s were the villages connected by road.

This meeting is held in the house of Mikladals Temperance Society. The Temperance Society was founded in 1883, part of a wider movement across the islands. Some 20 years later, in 1907, the Faroese Prohibition Act was passed, banning the import and sale of alcohol. The referendum on this law was historically significant, because it was the first time women were granted the right to vote within the Danish Kingdom - although only in this special case.

It is also in Mikladalur that the seal woman lived - a legendt that will be told to us later today.

All of this history speaks to our theme today: resilient societies. Resilience is not only about surviving crises, but about sustaining community, nurturing creativity, and passing on knowledge and traditions even under the hardest of circumstances.

Dear friends, Mikladalur is a fitting setting for our discussions. It reminds us that even in remote valleys, resilience lives not only in survival, but in memory, imagination, and culture.

Thank you.