The 35th Anniversary of the UNESCO Silk Roads Programme
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The 35th Anniversary of
the UNESCO Silk Roads Programme was celebrated with a daylong series of events
at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 6 April 2023. The events were co-organized
by UNESCO and the Permanent Delegations to UNESCO of Azerbaijan, the People’s
Republic of China, Republic of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Sultanate of Oman. The
celebration has been started with an International Forum on “Silk Roads,
Diversity, Dialogue, and Peace” in the presence of high level representatives
of the five co-organizing countries, renowned international experts and UNESCO
representatives, including among others Doudou Diene (former Chair of UNESCO
Silk Roads Steering Committee 1988-1997, Senegal), Peter Frankopan (UNESCO
Chair of the Silk Roads Studies, King’s College, Cambridge, United
Kingdom), Jacques Legrand (former Member
of UNESCO Silk Roads Steering Committee 1988-1997, former president of INALCO,
France), Shahin Mustafayev (President of the International Turkic Academy,
Azerbaijan), Dmitriy Voyakin (Director of the International Institute for
Central Asian Studies, Kazakhstan). The Forum was aimed to identify and assess
the achievements of the UNESCO Silk Roads Programme in reinforcing
intercultural dialogue and building a culture of peace over the last three
decades. It also aimed to define the Programme’s orientation and objectives to
strengthen capacities for intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity in the
current global context. The Forum was followed by an official presentation of
the “Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads” photo contest alongside an exhibition
of Silk Roads artifacts. “Youth
Eyes on the Silk Roads” exhibition will be displayed on
the fences of the UNESCO Headquarters building in Paris, from March to June
2023, presenting 140 exceptional photographs from the “Youth Eyes on the
Silk Roads” photo contest. The celebration continued with a brief film
screening session on the knowledge and scientific exchanges along the Silk
Roads. A Scientific Symposium on the “Silk Roads Youth Research Grant”, which
took place in the afternoon, gathered the young researchers and grantees of the
first edition of the UNESCO Silk Roads Youth Research Grant to present the
results of their grant winning research. These presentations were followed by a
roundtable discussion of the scientific panel of the grant. The day’s events
were concluded with a concert featuring performances from artists from
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and China. Special edition of the UNESCO Courier,
devoted to the 35th anniversary of the UNESCO Silk Roads Programme,
has been published (https://cloud.mail.ru/public/kLhd/1P2XyNFAL
). It is important to outline that International
Institute for Central Asian Studies was established in Samarkand (Uzbekistan)
in 1995 as direct outcome of the UNESCO Silk Roads Programme.
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