The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (Culture Department) held, on June 29, 2021, a special online meeting of the Standing Committee for Arab Culture.
The meeting was chaired by Dr. Hayat Guermazi, Director of the Culture Department, and attended by the Chairman and members of the Committee from 17 Arab States, namely Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Comoros, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritania. It was mainly devoted to discussing the first draft of the project of “Updating and Developing the Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture”.
At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Guermazi conveyed the greetings of H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, to all participants and his apology for not being able to inaugurate himself this meeting.
Mr. Raouf El Basti, General Coordinator of the project, and other involved experts presented the five thematic areas of the plan, its preparation methodology, the problems it raises, and the solutions it provides.
Following this presentation, the members of the Committee raised a number of questions and observations on key relevant issues including heritage, cultural tourism, culture-related policies, financing of culture, and inter-Arab cooperation in the cultural field. It was agreed that these observations will be submitted to the Culture Department and will then be incorporated into the final version of the plan, which will later be submitted to the next Conference of Arab Culture Ministers.
At the end of the meeting, Dr. Guermazi informed the participants of two proposals from Saudi Arabia : the first concerns the designation of the city of Dariya as Capital of Arab Culture for 2030; the second concerns the hosting by Saudi Arabia of the 23rd Conference of Arab Culture Ministers at the end of 2022. The two proposals were highly appreciated by the members of the Committee who thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for these initiatives and wished full success for its cultural programs.
