ALECSO organizes Second Meeting on the  Updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture

ALECSO organizes Second Meeting on the   Updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture

 

 

The Second Meeting on the Updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture, organized by ALECSO in partnership with the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, kicked off on May 22, 2023.

Participants in this two-day meeting discussed the mechanisms for implementing the updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture, in addition to developing an executive work program to accompany Member States, each according to its needs, in benefiting from the Plan’s outputs, programs, activities and projects.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the League of Arab States, Arab ambassadors accredited to Tunisia, as well as culture experts.  It focused on five key thrusts, namely : identity and heritage; requirements for engagement with modernity; cultural policies and governance; the digital revolution and the development of cultural and creative industries; and the financing of culture.

This meeting aimed at making the updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture, with its goals, programs, implementation mechanisms, activities and projects, widely known among decision-makers and relevant actors in the Arab world. The meeting was targeted essentially at Arab cultural institutions, actors in the cultural field, professional creators and artists, and other relevant institutions.

Addressing the meeting, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, pointed out that this second meeting on the Updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture reflects the forward-looking vision pursued by ALECSO. This vision is based on assessment of what has already been accomplished under the previous plans, while taking into consideration the developments taking place at the Arab and global levels.

The Director-General stressed that the updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture is designed to meet the expectations of the Arab people, especially youth and women, based on the policy directions adopted by Arab countries. He indicated that ALECSO will continue its diligent work, at the Arab, regional and international levels, to enhance the diverse forms of cultural and artistic expression, to provide care and support for Arab artists and creators, as well as to  protect, preserve and valorize tangible and intangible heritage, especially in areas of conflict and tension. ALECSO, he added,  will also continue to support and accompany Member States in designing and implementing their national cultural policies, based on the relevant normative instruments, the references of the Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture, and the Arab Decade for Cultural Rights (2018-2027); the aim being to promote a sustainable development based on a balanced culture that does not exclude anyone and that seeks to meet the aspirations of Arab societies for a better life.

For her part, the Tunisian Culture Minister, H.E. Ms. Hayat Guermazi, who was honored on this occasion by ALECSO, noted that Arab culture is currently facing increasing challenges that require Arab countries to undertake a comprehensive reshaping of the new roles of culture and of the process of updating the Comprehensive Plan for Arab Culture and reforming cultural policies.

The Minister stressed that the Updated Comprehensive Plan for Arab culture contributes to re-defining the role of culture and modernizing its contents, including cultural heritage and cultural and creative industries, with emphasis on the tight correlation between sustainable development goals and economic growth. She indicated that Tunisia’s cultural policy is based on a strategy that gives culture a pivotal role in building a balanced, active, creative, and open society, capable of achieving sustainable and comprehensive development.

This meeting was attended by representatives from the League of Arab States and from the following Arab countries: Tunisia, Jordan, UAE, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Yemen.