The 23rd session of the Conference of Arab Culture Ministers kicked off on December 7, 2022, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Conference is organized by ALECSO jointly with the Saudi Ministry of Culture, under the theme of “Culture and Green Future.”
The opening session took place under the auspices of H.H. Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture and President of the Saudi National Commission for Education, Culture and Science. It was attended by ministers and officials from 20 Arab States, along with representatives from the League of Arab States, and from relevant international and regional organizations.
In his opening remarks, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, expressed his sincere thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for the generous hosting of the Conference.
“We meet today in this blessed land,” he said, “after humanity has almost overcome one of the greatest ordeals faced by our contemporary world, which is the COVID-19 pandemic; and we hope that humanity will be able to return to full action and activity without restrictions.” “Thanks to your continued support”, he added, “ALECSO has managed to meet the challenge and maintain the continuity of coordination of joint Arab cultural action, while leveraging its capacities and expertise to respond to the needs of Arab countries. The crisis has indeed prompted us to develop our working mechanisms so that we can keep pace with new global developments and transformations.”
The Conference discussed a number of joint cultural action projects, designed to further enhance cultural integration among Arab States.
The Conference approved the recommendations of the Permanent Committee for Arab Culture, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 5, 2022. It also listened to follow-up reports on the implementation of the resolutions issued by the 22nd Conference of Arab Culture Ministers, held in the UAE in December 2021.
At the initiative of Saudi Arabia, the Conference reviewed the “Culture and Green Future” project, which constitutes a significant Arab contribution to renewed global thinking about the functions of culture. The project seeks to leverage the power of culture to increase awareness of the challenges posed by climate change to all humanity, develop a sense of collective action to save the Planet, address the negative impacts of contemporary global challenges, and face the multifaceted crises caused by global warming, loss of biodiversity, urban sprawl, and non-sustainable development.
The Conference discussed ways and mechanisms to strengthen Arab cultural unity and ensure its sustainability, to build inclusive knowledge societies, and to promote the Arab culture’s openness to and relations with other cultures of the world.
