The high-level meeting on the updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture kicked off on November 21, 2022 in Rabat, Morocco. This two-day meeting was held at the initiative of ALECSO and the Moroccan Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication.
In his statement on this occasion, Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, stressed that the updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture constitutes a comprehensive guiding document that can help implement cultural development commitments in the Arab countries, support an integrated process for drawing up social integration and sustainable development policies that draw on the power and influence of culture, and develop culture-based plans to promote well-being and social peace in the Arab region. This document, he added, comes to enrich the Arab contribution to the renewed global thinking about cultural policies, and to highlight and enhance the significant role of Arab culture in shaping the future of human culture. It also stresses the importance of strengthening cultural policies in Arab countries, and linking them to key issues and concerns, including peace, security and development.
The Director-General noted that the process of preparing the Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture, which lasted a full year, offered an opportunity for ALECSO and the team of experts to engage Arab countries in a process of renewed thinking about cultural policies and about the ways of addressing relevant challenges, identifying urgent and future priorities, and developing a stronger and more effective Arab cultural sector. He pointed out, in this regard, that the Plan has sought to expand the scope of cultural policies to cover the issues that most affect people’s lives, in accordance with an approach that is fully based on public policies and sustainable development prospects, and is aligned with ALECSO’s plan to promote the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, boost cooperation between Arab countries, and leverage the power of culture to meet common challenges.
For his part, H.E. Mr. Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, Moroccan Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, indicated, in a statement read out on his behalf during the opening of the meeting, that Morocco has made significant strides in placing culture among the priorities of comprehensive development, and in consolidating the linguistic and cultural diversity of the Moroccan identity. Morocco, he added, has been keen to incorporate culture as a key component within the country’s new development paradigm.
The Minister expressed his appreciation of the reference document prepared by ALECSO on the review of the Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture, based on high-level Arab expertise, noting that the document intersects with the efforts made by Morocco under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.
This high-level meeting is designed to publicize the updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture, which was adopted at the Conference of Arab Culture Ministers held in the UAE on December 19-20, 2021.
The meeting program included four working sessions that discussed, among other topics, the “key focus areas and goals of the updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture”, “the governance of cultural policies in light of current challenges”, “the digital revolution and creative industries”, “identity, heritage, and the requirements for engaging in the path of modernity”, and “the financing of cultural works.”
The meeting was also an opportunity to present the projects proposed as part of the updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture, and to discuss scientific partnerships among Arab countries.
