20 November 2021
Official Book for “The World Heritage in the Arab Countries Part II” in the presence of UNESCO’s Director-General, Paris, H.E: The book documents Arab sites registered on World Heritage List and contributes to their safeguard and protection
The Arab Regional Center for World Heritage inaugurated at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the French capital, Paris, on 19, 2021, the second part of the book “The World Heritage in the Arab Countries”. The ceremony was held in the presence of the Director-General of UNESCO, Her Excellency, Ms. Audrey Azoulay, H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, Chairperson of the Center’s Board of Directors, Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of the Arab Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), and Ernesto Renato Ottone Ramirez, Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO, in addition to the presence of high-ranking diplomatic figures, representatives of international organizations and media professionals.
The second part of book was published thanks to a joint effort between the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage and the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science, with the support of “Bahrain Bay” company.
Speaking for the occasion, H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa said: “We gather today at UNESCO headquarters, the most important partner of the Arab countries, in safeguarding and preserving the world heritage for humanity in our Arab countries, to celebrate the official launch for this second edition of this book. In fact, the book documents our cultural and natural landmarks and sites on the World Heritage List. We would like to express thanks to UNESCO, and Her Excellency, the Director-General, Ms. Audrey Azoulay, for the constant and valuable cooperation with regard to safeguard of World Heritage and its preservation worldwide”. H.E added: “During the past decade, the Arab countries have registered many archaeological and natural cultural heritage sites on the World Heritage List, which reinforces the Arab heritage map that reflects the richness of the Arab historical assets and components, endowed with universal, archaeological natural priceless heritage, opening a window to the world to discover our magnificent contributions to the history of human civilization.”
In addition, H.E said that the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage is working, in close partnership with its global and regional partners to protect cultural and natural heritage, enhance the international status of the Arab cultural assets, as well as helping Arab countries to implement the World Heritage Convention of 1972. H.E explained that strenuous efforts and hard work must continue in order to meet the challenges facing Arab World Heritage, threats caused by events and conflicts that occurred in some regions of the Arab world, in addition to the side negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns of archaeological and historical sites.
H.E expressed her hope that the second edition of the book "The World Heritage in the Arab Countries" would complete and carry on the ambitions featured in the first edition, namely promoting heritage and archaeological sites registered on the World Heritage List and documenting them in a single reference manual. This way the Arab and international readers can access and are acquainted with the rich heritage of Arab countries, the cultural treasures that are an essential component of sustainable development, such as historical cities, popular markets, historical houses, iconic ancient mosques, and others, H.E asserted.
H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammad Al-Khalifa, Minister of Culture, expressed her high appreciation and gratitude to “ Bahrain Bay” for their support in publishing the book, extending her thanks to ALECSO for the cooperation that has contributed to the successful documentation and registration of Arab civilizational achievements and disseminating information related to Arab heritage around the world.
ALECSO Director-General, Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, for his part, expressed his happiness for the release of the second edition of the “World Heritage Book in the Arab Countries”, stressing that it contributes to strengthening the status of this type of heritage in Arab countries within its global counterpart despite all challenges and difficulties. He said that the publication of the book reflects the efforts made by Arab countries to protect their heritage and stresses the importance of cooperation between international and Arab institutions, praising the joint work of ALECSO and the Regional Center to achieve this brilliant outcome.
Dr. Omar explained that ALECSO seeks to support the nomination of World Heritage files in the Arab countries world, and is studying initiative aimed at starting a new challenge, namely set up a register of urban and architectural heritage in the Arab countries, through one of the active mechanisms in this field, which is the Architectural and Urban Heritage Observatory in Arab countries. Dr Omar went on to say that, this project would open the doors to increasing cooperation among Arab countries, and contribute to achieve sustainable development goals.
ALECSO Director-General thanked the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage for its efforts in publishing the second edition of the book, extending his thanks to all partners, institutions and individuals who have contributed to support, safeguard and preserve Arab heritage.
On the other hand, Mr. Ernesto Renato Ottone Ramirez started his speech by expressing his thanks to ALECSO and the Regional Center for the fruitful cooperation in publishing the second edition of the World Heritage book in the Arab countries. Mr. Ramirez also highlighted the great achievements resulting from UNESCO’s cooperation with regional partners to safeguard and preserve the cultural heritage in the Arab region. Mr. Ramirez shed light on the content of the book and its role in promoting Arab World Heritage sites in light of the challenges they face, especially the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected the heritage and culture sector in the Arab world and the world and how it led to the closure of many sites.
Moreover, Mr. Ramirez asserted that the publication of the second part of the book, ten years after its first edition, confirms the necessity of documenting, promoting and publicizing World Heritage sites, as they are considered one of the tributaries of economic and social development and best means to better the livelihood of local communities.
The book "The World Heritage in the Arab Countries" in its second edition, published in three languages (Arabic, English and French), aims to present and promote the World Heritage sites in the Arab world and disseminate related information. The book lists heritage, cultural and natural sites found in countries from the Maghreb region to Arab Gulf area and show their varied features. The second part of the book features 86 cultural and natural sites, an increase of 20 sites over the first edition of the book. These new sites were registered on the World Heritage List between 2011 and 2019, and they reflect the richness and beauty of the Arab countries heritage.
Worth to mention that the first part of the book was published in 2012, in cooperation between the Ministry of Culture in Bahrain, UNESCO and ALECSO, with the support of “Bahrain Bay” company. The book has a strong visual language, as it contains remarkable and distinctive photographic scenes, and in minute details of the Arab sites registered on the World Heritage List, as all sites were photographed by the French photographer specializing in world heritage photography, Jean-Jacques Gilbert.
Through the publication of the book "The World Heritage in the Arab Countries", the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage contributes to highlighting the importance of protecting the diversity that characterizes Arab heritage sites, in addition to investing in the registration and protection of these sites under the 1972 Convention in order to achieve sustainable development and improve local communities. The launch of the book at this high level also contributes to focusing on the nature of cooperation between the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage and ALECSO in order to encourage interest in world heritage sites and raise awareness about their importance for present and future generations.
