(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar National Library and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) yesterday hosted a regional conference 'Supporting Documentary Heritage Preservation in the Arab Region.
The two-day event is being held at Qatar National Library, and participants representing more than 25 countries are attending the event.
The conference brings together international and regional experts and practitioners to share experiences in regard to the status, issues and challenges currently being faced in the field of documentary heritage preservation in the Arab region.
The conference, a continuation of the partnership between the Library and Unesco, presents the main findings of their joint project launched in September 2018. It will be an opportunity to shed light on different awareness and capacity-building activities that are taking place within the framework of this agreement.
'Today, we have quite an international audience and an excellent roster of speakers from more than 25 countries and officials from professionals and international organisations, said Dr. Sohair Wastawy, Executive Director of the Library.
She also said at the outset of the conference that this conference is considered the closing of the first phase of the QNL-Unesco project which aims at preserving documentary heritage in the Arab region.
'Both the Unesco project and this conference are part of the IFLA Preservation and Conservation center for Arab and Middle Eastern countries, a role QNL has been selected for since 2015. Thanks to IFLA for the trust placed on our expertise and their support of the activities we are developing, Dr. Wastawy said.
For her part, Dr. Anna Paolini, Unesco representative to the Gulf States and Yemen, pointed out: 'We should redouble our efforts to protect documentary heritage (human treasures) from different risks whether related to terrorist attacks, natural disasters or smuggling.
She also appreciated the organisation of this regional conference in partnership with Qatar National Library, expressing her delight that this conference provides a much-needed forum for specialists to exchange experiences and benefit from each other in this area. Experts discussed the status of documentary heritage preservation in the Arab region, and focused on disaster risk preparedness and combating illicit trafficking.
Five sessions discussed a number of topics, among them 'Disaster Risk Prevention and Response: Focus on Countries in Conflict; 'Combating Illicit Trafficking of Documentary Heritage; and 'Documentary Heritage Fostering the SDGs: advocating for access to information.
The conference today will concentrate on the initiatives around the region, best practices in the area of conservation and preservation, awareness-raising and advocacy, and synergies between regional and international initiatives and national counterparts.
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