Rabat: 20/04/2019

ISESCO to take part in official opening ceremony of Celebration of Bissau as African Region’s Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019

The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) will participate in the opening ceremony of the Celebration of Bissau as African Region’s Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019. The event will be held on April 23 in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, under the high patronage of the President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, in the presence of Guinea-Bissau’s Prime Minister, members of his Government and many national, regional and international figures working the fields of in culture, heritage preservation, arts and literature, along with representatives of international organizations and civil society organizations Arab, Islamic and African countries.

The ceremony will be co-organized by the Ministry of Education, Higher Education, Youth, Culture and Sports of the Government of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, in coordination with ISESCO. It aims to promote Islamic culture, renew its content and revitalize its mission, and commemorate the cultural and civilizational glories of Bissau, given its long history in the service of Islamic culture, literature, arts, science and knowledge. It also aims to present the city’s true image to the world as the capital of coexistence through highlighting its cultural content and human values.

On this occasion, the Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau will also be presented with the Celebration’s shield offered by ISESCO’s Director General to H.E. Mr. José Mário Vaz, President of Guinea-Bissau.

ISESCO will be represented in the ceremony by Mr. Najib Rhiati, Director of Culture, who will deliver an address on behalf of ISESCO Director General, Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri.

Implemented by ISESCO in coordination and cooperation with Member States, the Islamic Culture Capitals Programme aims to foster the cultural unity of Muslim communities, consolidate comprehensive cultural cooperation relations among OIC Member States and promote the comprehensive concept of crosscutting Islamic solidarity. The programme also aims to boost the contribution of Islamic civilization and publicize its intellectual, scientific, cultural and creative heritage. The Ninth Islamic Conference of Ministers of Culture (Muscat, November 2015) adopted the new version of the Programme 2015-2025, which includes thirty-five capitals throughout the Muslim world. In 2019, Al-Quds Al-Sharif, State of Palestine; Tunis, Republic of Tunisia; Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam; and Bissau, Republic of Guinea-Bissau, are being celebrated as cultural capitals.