Ashraf AboArafe
Jeddah, 17 May 2023 – The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held an open-ended intergovernmental expert group meeting on establishing an OIC platform for the protection and preservation of cultural heritage in the Islamic world, at its headquarters in Jeddah, on Tuesday, 16/5/2023.
The OIC has supported international efforts and initiatives aimed at protecting cultural and natural heritage in emergency conditions. It continues to contribute to global efforts in the same context, to enhance action on this extremely important issue.
This came in the statement of H.E. the OIC Secretary-General, Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha, delivered on his behalf by the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian, Cultural and Social Affairs, Ambassador Tariq Ali Bakhit, at the opening session of the meeting.
The statement stressed that Cultural heritage bore testimony to the diverse and rich cultural backgrounds in the OIC geographical space and was indeed a major factor in the process of preserving collective memory and securing historical and civilizational continuity of nations and their peoples.
Ambassador Tariq underlined that the meeting aimed at following up on this process of mandate implementation and to discuss different aspects of this huge, promising and potentially rewarding project. He also said that he was certain that these two-days meeting would be conducive to fruitful discussions on the OIC’s future role in the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage in its Member States.
The Group met within the framework of implementing the OIC CFM resolutions, particularly, Resolution No. 10/49-C, on the protection and preservation of Islamic and world historical and cultural heritage, adopted by the forty-ninth session of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in Nouakchott, Islamic Republic of Mauritania earlier this year.
Experts from OIC Member States, as well as relevant OIC Organs and Institutions participated in the meeting to develop a clear vision and discuss establishing and promoting the platform.
