Jordania
- Introduction
- Official opening of the Seminar
- Key-note presentation by His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bib Talal
- Objectives of the day
- The Right of People with Disabilities to Participate in Cultural Life
- Arab understanding of the Right to Take part in cultural life
- The Role of Culture in Human Development: An Arab Perspective
Introduction
1. Within the Framework of the Universal Forum of Cultures, Interarts Foundation and Rights and Humanity, International Movement for the Promotion and Realisation of Human Rights and Responsibilities organised a Regional Meeting on the Right to Take Part in Cultural Life as a Pre-Forum of for the International Congress on Cultural Rights and Human Development to be held on 23- 27 August, 2004 in Barcelona. The Meeting, held in Amman on 20-22 April, 2004 aimed at drawing a clearer picture on the common understanding on cultural rights and the role of culture in development. The principal objectives were to prepare the ground for the Congress on Cultural Rights and Human Development within the Universal Forum of Cultures Barcelona 2004 in August 2004, and submit findings to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as its contribution to its work on elaborating the Right to Take Part in Cultural Life.
2. The Congress on Cultural Rights and Human Development is related to a series of ongoing processes, including the drafting and adoption by the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights of a General Comment on the Right to Take Part in Cultural Life, as well as the willingness to define indicators to measure the contribution which culture makes to human development. It has as its basic aims to provoke reflection on culture and development in the 21st century and the need to define a new common ground for social, ethical and creative concerns over the capacities of cultures to regenerate themselves
3. The Seminar programme consisted of three days of presentations and debate on themes concerning cultural rights and specifically the Right to Take Part in Cultural Life. The first day was devoted to the presentations and discussions of the Arab perspective on both the right to take part in cultural life and the role of culture in development. The second and third day concentrated specifically on the core elements of the Right to Take Part in Cultural Life taking into account the specific context where the meeting was held. The meeting was expected to produce some core elements on the right to take part in cultural life, as well as a list of specific regional particularities in relation to the role of culture in development in the Arab context.
4. A set of questions to be addressed during the Seminar were proposed at the beginning of the Seminar such as the need to identify the core elements of Arab values and addressing the problem how the Arab culture is perceived and often misinterpreted from outside.
5. The programme was designed with the idea of encouraging exchange of ideas and giving space to debate. Several regional experts and local observers were invited to take part in the Seminar, and international agencies based in the country, as well as several diplomats.
6. This report presents the main subjects under discussion over the three days of the Seminar.
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