Paris: HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa Chairs Signing of Partnership Agreement between Foundation for Safeguarding of Rabat’s Cultural Heritage, UNESCO
Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, President of the Foundation for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Rabat, chaired, on Tuesday at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris, the signing of a partnership agreement between the two organizations, in the presence of UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay.
The agreement was signed by Ernesto Ottone, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, and Nouzha Alaoui, Secretary General of the Foundation.
This signature follows the meeting between His Royal Highness and the Director-General of UNESCO, which was held on the occasion of the 17th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, organized in November 2022 in Rabat.
This first partnership agreement signed for five years will allow to focus, first of all, on the program of education of young people to the world heritage and UNESCO and to carry out activities with Moroccan and African youth.
The Foundation has adapted to the local context, for the first time in the world, an educational kit designed by UNESCO to help young people discover and understand the heritage of their city.
This kit, entitled “Je découvre mon patrimoine” (I discover my heritage), was deployed for its second edition in December 2022 to 4,700 students from 62 secondary schools in the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra academy.
With the support of their teachers and under the supervision of heritage professionals: archaeologists, architects, site curators and inspectors of historical monuments, they explored the city’s monuments, which are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Awareness and promotion of cultural heritage will then be brought to the general public, like the urban exhibition “Rabat, a heritage of humanity”, inaugurated by His Royal Highness on January 8, on the sidelines of the celebration of the inclusion of the city of Rabat on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
An exhibition that highlights the outstanding universal value of the city of Rabat through informative boards and a series of photographs of the 8 components of the World Heritage property and its buffer zone.
The Foundation and UNESCO are committed to carrying out an action of primary importance to the African continent. This joint action will consist of implementing the World Heritage Convention on the sites listed in Morocco and Africa.
The partnership agreement also provides for capacity building programs for heritage actors who manage and preserve it in Rabat, Morocco or Africa and finally the participation in various national and international events organized by UNESCO.
On this occasion, His Royal Highness had a meeting with the Director-General of UNESCO, in the presence of the Minister of National Education, Preschool and Sports, President of the National Commission of Morocco for UNESCO, Chakib Benmoussa, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohammed Mehdi Bensaid, the Secretary General of the Foundation, Nouzha Alaoui, and the Ambassador-Delegate of the Kingdom to UNESCO, Samir Addahre.
The meeting was also attended by Edouard Matoko, Assistant Director-General for Priority Africa and External Relations at UNESCO, Ernesto Ottone, Assistant Director-General for Culture, Astrid Gillet, Head of the Executive Office of Ms. Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, and Julien Pellaux, Director of Partnerships.
His Royal Highness then attended the reception offered in His Honor at UNESCO House by the Director General of the UN organization, in the presence of the President of the General Conference, the President of the Executive Board, the Presidents of the electoral groups and the Assistant Directors General of UNESCO.
Upon her arrival at UNESCO headquarters, Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa was welcomed by the Director-General Audrey Azoulay, the Assistant Director-General for Priority Africa and External Relations, Edouard Matoko, and the ambassadors of the Arab and African groups to UNESCO, before being greeted by the Minister of National Education, Preschool and Sports, President of the Moroccan National Commission for UNESCO, Chakib Benmoussa, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohammed Mehdi Bensaid, the Ambassador-Delegate of the Kingdom to UNESCO, Samir Addahre, and the Chargé d’Affaires at the Moroccan Embassy in Paris, Saâd Bendourou.
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