Monday, 25 May 2026
Egyptian Culture Minister attends MondiAcult 2025 in Barcelona
Dr. Ahmed Fouad Henno, Egypt’s Minister of Culture, attended the opening session of the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (MondiAcult 2025) held in Barcelona, Spain. The event brought together culture ministers from around the world, along with representatives from international organizations and civil society.
On the sidelines of the session, Minister Henno met with several counterparts to discuss ways to enhance cultural cooperation, exchange expertise, and explore new avenues for international partnerships in the arts and creative sectors.
The opening session addressed the right to culture as a fundamental right for all, encompassing access to, participation in, and enjoyment of culture. It emphasized that cultural rights are recognized as both individual and collective, extending across all cultural domains, from cultural heritage to creative industries, including the digital environment.
Discussions highlighted the critical role of cultural rights in upholding human dignity, fostering self-realization, and promoting social cohesion. The exercise of these rights was noted to contribute to preserving diversity, ensuring equity, and reducing inequalities, making the guarantee of cultural rights a moral, social, and economic imperative.
Participants stressed the importance of establishing legal frameworks and public policies to protect the cultural identity and heritage of peoples and communities.
They also emphasized the need to strengthen the social and economic rights of cultural workers, safeguard intellectual property rights, support artistic freedom, and promote diversity in content and languages. Additionally, they underscored the ongoing need to enhance efforts for the protection, restitution, and repatriation of cultural properties.