The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (Culture Department) held, on October 22-23, 2022, in Nouakchott, Mauritania, a workshop on “Cultural Rights”.
Promoting cultural rights is at the core of global cultural concerns, and is among the key priorities set out in ALECSO action plan for the future. ALECSO believes that achieving true progress and protecting cultural identity require providing full opportunity for the individual to enjoy freedom, dignity, and human rights, including the right to health, education and culture, and to be productive, creative, and innovative.
The “Cultural Rights” workshop is addressed to cultural actors in Mauritania and in all other Arab countries, and is designed to further make known the “Arab Decade for Cultural Right” (2018-2027), as a framework for joint Arab action to enhance human rights through culture and to leverage culture and creative industries for the promotion of development and economic growth in the Arab countries
The workshop aims to achieve a number of goals, most notably:
- Highlighting the goals of the “Arab Decade for Cultural Right”, and the way local cultural actors can benefit therefrom;
- Enhancing the place of cultural rights in national legislation;
- Strengthening the role of civil society institutions in providing cultural services;
- Promoting the free flow of ideas, freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to practice all types of art.
The workshop focused on a number of key themes, including :
- Arab and international references related to cultural rights;
- The place of cultural rights in local, Arab and international legislation, and ways to enhance citizen participation in cultural life;
- The role of civil society institutions in providing cultural services;
The workshop was held in partnership with the Mauritanian Ministry of Culture, Youth, Sports and Relations with Parliament, and in cooperation with the Mauritania National Commission for Education, Science and Culture.
The main beneficiaries of the workshop were culture experts, heads of cultural institutions, and independent cultural actors.
