Bissau: 23/04/2019

Under the high patronage of President of Republic of Guinea Bissau: Launch of the Celebration of Bissau as African region’s Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019

Today the Celebration of Bissau as African region’s Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019 was launched at an official ceremony held in Bissau, capital of the Republic of Guinea Bissau, under the high patronage of the President of the Republic. The ceremony was presided by the Minister of Education, Higher Education, Culture and Sports of Guinea Bissau, Dr Camilo Simoes Pereira, in the presence of the Secretary of State for Youth, Culture and Sports, Mr Fernando Dias; Mayor of the city of Bissau, Mr Luis Silva Melo; ISESCO national correspondent, member of ISESCO Executive Council, Mr Pate Jalo.

In attendance were also Mr Najib Rhiati, Director of Culture, representative of ISESCO Director General, Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, and a number of national, regional and international figures working in the field of culture, heritage conservation, arts and letters, along with representatives of many international organizations and civil society institutions from Arab, Islamic and African countries.

On this occasion, ISESCO’s representative handed the Celebration’s shield to Guinea Bissau Minister of Education, Higher Education, Culture and Sports which ISESCO Director General presented to Guinea Bissau President, Mr José Mário Vaz. He also read out Dr Altwaijri’s address to participants in the ceremony.

For the record, the Ministry of Education, Higher Education, Youth, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Guinea Bissau and ISESCO co-supervised the organization of the ceremony. The objectives of the celebration include the commemoration of the cultural and civilizational glories of the city of Bissau considering its contributions over ages to serve the Islamic culture, arts, letters, sciences and knowledge, and showcassing of the real image of Bissau, capital of coexistence through highlighting its cultural contents and human values.

It is worth mentioning that the programme of the Celebration of the Islamic Capitals of Culture, supervised by ISESCO in coordination and cooperation with the Member States, seeks to promote the Islamic unity of Muslim populations, strengthen the cooperation relations among the OIC Member States, deepen the comprehensive understanding of Islamic solidarity in various fields, and aims to renew the yield of the Islamic civilization and publicize its intellectual, scientific, cultural and creative heritage. The 9^th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers (Muscat, November 2015) adopted the new version of the programme of the Celebration of the Islamic Capitals of Culture (2015-2025), which includes thirty five capitals across the Islamic world. In 2019, the programme will celebrate the following Islamic capitals: Al-Quds Al-Sharif, State of Palestine; Tunis, Republic of Tunisia; Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam; and Bissau, Republic of Guinea Bissau.