Sharjah participates in the meeting of the World Book Capitals Network in France

Strasbourg – France on April 17 / WAM / The Emirate of Sharjah represented by “Sharjah Office is a global book of book” at the sixth meeting of the World Book Capitals Network, which was held yesterday in the French city of Strasbourg, the International Book Capital for the year 2024 with the wide participation of representatives UNESCO for one of the cities of the world that offers the best program throughout the whole year with the aim of promoting a culture of reading and promoting books.

The participation of Sharjah in this meeting, which was attended by Jana Parcene, mayor of Strasbourg, along with representatives of the international cities that won the title under the directives of Sheikha Badour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority, Chairman of the Consultative Committee of Sharjah, the global capital of the book, and a continuation of its leadership role in supporting the global capitals network of the Book and contributing to promoting the culture of reading worldwide, through Transfer her experience in converting the title into a sustainable cultural project that extends for many years.

The meeting is the closing station that precedes the end of the celebration of the title in Strasbourg, where the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro is scheduled to hand over the 2025 global capital of the book, while Rabat is preparing to hold the title in 2026 to be the first Moroccan city to obtain this global honor.

Marwa Al -Aqroubi, director of the “Sharjah International Book for Book 2019” project, and the executive director of the House of Wisdom, confirmed that Sharjah looks at its membership in the network as a moral and cultural responsibility through which she is committed to supporting other cities and sharing the experiences that it accumulated during its implementation of the Sharjah program is the global capital of the book 2019, which was based on the values ​​of cultural diversity and the availability of knowledge of all and the establishment of the book tool for development Community.

She said that from the moment that Sharjah was chosen as the international capital of the book, we pledged that this coronation should not be just a passing celebration moment, but rather a deep shift in the cultural structure of the city and today, six years after the coronation, the initiatives that were launched at the time grow and expand with the spirit of Sharjah and its cultural message to readers around the world.

She added: Participation in the World Capitals Network gave us an opportunity to learn from other cities experiences and interact with their challenges and exchange experiences with them and provide solutions based on actual practice as we found in the meetings that the network organizes space to exchange visions about the role of reading in building societies, especially in light of the rapid technological and social changes and based on our belief that the book is not only a means of knowledge but a tool for dialogue and peace and here We continue our full commitment to supporting cities that are preparing to hold the title and work alongside UNESCO and all partners in the network to turn reading into daily practice and lifestyle.

The meeting, which included a number of representatives of the previous, current and future capitals for the book, dealt with the new events organized by international cities after winning the title, as Marwa Al -Aqroubi focused on celebrating the centenary of Sharjah libraries, the Sharjah Festival of Arts and the Sharjah Festival for African Literature and other cultural events.

The meeting also focused on ways to support and encourage other cities in providing nomination files for the international book of the book, and helping them in preparing these files. The meeting also discussed some projects that deserve support in light of Sharjah’s participation in the committee responsible for partnerships and support for international capitals projects.

The global capitals network of the book is one of the most important cultural initiatives launched by UNESCO with the aim of supporting the winning cities in the title and enabling them to exchange experiences and knowledge and cooperation in implementing qualitative programs that rise to the role of reading at the local and regional level and the network provides a sustainable dialogue space between cities and works to document successful experiences and generalize them in a way that contributes to reaching a global cultural environment that looks at the book as a basic pillar of development and innovation And human building.

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