Noor elected president of UNESCO cultural body

Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor has been elected President of the 6th session of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions for two years.

The election took place at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris yesterday, according to a message received here today.

Some 144 signatories to the convention concerning cultural diversity of 2005 and many observer States and NGO representatives attended a conference here ahead of election.

A delegation led by Cultural Minister attended the conference.

Noor thanked the delegations for electing him President and reiterated Bangladesh's abiding commitment to protect cultural diversity with particular emphasis on linguistic diversity, a key element of cultural diversity.

He referred to the sacrifice made by the people of Bangladesh in 1952 for upholding their right to speak their mother tongue Bangla.

He further said Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had taken initiative to establish International Mother Language Institute in Dhaka as a UNESCO Category II Institute dedicated to the protection and promotion of all mother languages of the world.

During the conference, M Shahidul Islam, Ambassador of Bangladesh to France and Permanent Representative to UNESCO announced Bangladesh Government's decision to donate US dollars 10,000 to UNESCO for supporting developing countries to strengthen their cultural and creative industries for sustainable development and poverty reduction.

The other members of the delegation included Surayya Akhtar Jahan, Cultural Adviser, Farhana Ahmed Chowdhury, First Secretary and Saimon Zakaria, Assistant Director of Bangla Academy.

Source: bss