Presentation Ceremony of the UNESCO “Convention on the Preservation and Promotion of Cultural Self Expression Diversity” dedicated to Cultural Diversity Day for International Dialogue and Development

Assembly Hall
Time: 11:00 AM
Organizer: Department of international relations of Ministry of Culture and Tourism

On 20 May 2010 the presentation ceremony of “Convention on the Preservation and Promotion of Cultural Self Expression Diversity” by UNESCO, dedicated to Cultural Diversity Day for International Dialogue and Development was held with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in the Assembly Hall of the Museum Centre. The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Abulfaz Garayev, delivered a speech at the ceremony and gave brief information about the Convention to participants: “Azerbaijan has been holding this convention for several years now. Unfortunately, the United Nations Organization (UN) disrespects this convention, adopted by four countries. If one looks closely at this convention, one will see that Azerbaijan has always attached great significance to the other nationalities living here. But unfortunately we cannot protect our historic monuments today as much as we would have liked to”. The minister also said that the Convention is of great significance for Azerbaijan. At the same time, he informed the guests that for April 2011, as a continuation to the “Baku Process on Intercultural Dialogue” the government of Azerbaijan has raised the initiative of holding the “International Intercultural Dialogue Forum” in Azerbaijan and that Baku is expected to be announced the “International Dialogue Capital” within the framework of the forum.
Later, Jorome Ponson, head of the Political, Economic, Press and Information Department in the Baku representation of the European Union, delivered a speech and said that the convention was highly significant in expanding cultural relations between Azerbaijan and Europe. He also noted that, by joining this convention, Azerbaijan has obtained opportunities to join the cultural projects of the European Union.
Afterwards, a letter of congratulation from Irina Bokova, representative of the National Commission for UNESCO, Republic of Azerbaijan and the General Director of UNESCO was read to participants. Then, a representative of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism presented the “Convention on Preservation and Promotion of Cultural Self Expression Diversity” of UNESCO.
We would like to note that, the UN has declared 21 May the International Day for “Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development”, as UNESCO adopted the Universal Resolution of Cultural Diversity in 2001.