The Regional Forum on Governance in Culture was concluded in Sousse, Tunisia, on May 14, 2022. This three-day event, jointly organized by ALECSO and the Tunisian Ministry of Culture, was attended by representatives from eleven Arab countries and representatives of international and regional organizations, along with relevant experts and researchers.
The Forum addressed the issue of governance in the cultural sector in the Arab countries, and its impact on cultural institutions and their ability to meet regional and global developments. It also discussed ways of strengthening the culture of governance in Arab cultural institutions, and showcased a number of relevant Arab experiences.
Participants emphasized that good governance is a key challenge for Arab cultural institutions. They called on all actors in the cultural sector to embrace creativity, innovation, and sharing, to learn from relevant global experiences, and to develop the management systems of cultural institutions in line with the principles of accountability and transparency.
In his address to the Forum, delivered on his behalf by Dr. Ahmado Habibi, expert at the Culture Department, Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, said that the organization of this Forum comes as part of implementing ALECSO’s commitment to promote joint Arab cultural action, especially after reviewing and updating the Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture, as adopted by the 22nd Conference of Arab Culture Ministers, held in Dubai, UAE, in December 2021.
The Forum came out with the following recommendations:
- Calling on ALECSO to work on developing an action plan to strengthen the culture of governance in Arab cultural institutions, and submitting it to the Permanent Committee for Arab Culture;
- Launching the Arab project to measure integrity and transparency in the culture sector, under the supervision of ALECSO, and working to develop and issue a Certificate of Quality, Integrity and Transparency to be granted to Arab cultural institutions that abide by the code of conduct and the principles of transparency, accountability and integrity;
- Establishing the Arab Network for Governance in Culture, with the task of promoting networking and the sharing of relevant expertise, experience and knowledge, and enhancing the role of cultural awareness in implementing programs to build integrity, transparency and accountability in the cultural field.
