A series of events celebrating the 35th anniversary of the flagship UNESCO Silk Roads Programme was held at UNESCO’s Headquarters in Paris on April 6, 2023. The events were jointly organised by UNESCO and the Permanent Delegations of Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Oman to UNESCO.
The celebration included the International Forum on Silk Roads, Diversity, Dialogue, and Peace, the Scientific Symposium on “Silk Road Youth Research Grant”, Masterpieces of the Silk Roads exhibition, the “Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads” photo contest and a concert. The UNESCO Courier magazine has released a special edition titled "Tales of Silken Times" for the celebration.
Ministers and deputy ministers from Kazakhstan, Oman, China, Azerbaijan and Mongolia, and Federico Mayor, Former Director General of UNESCO, attended the forum online and in-person. Around 40 well-known experts and young scholars from countries along the Silk Road made speeches at the forum. Around a thousand guests, including diplomats from permanent delegations of various countries to UNESCO and representatives from institutions in France, participated in the events.
The one-week exhibition Masterpieces of the Silk Roads, was organized by the China Artists Association. Yang Jin, China’s permanent representative to UNESCO, delivered his address at the exhibition’s promotional ceremony on behalf of participating countries such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Oman. He expressed the participating countries’ firm support for the UNESCO Silk Road Programme and called on all parties to jointly champion the Silk Road spirit, foster cultural exchanges and mutual learning, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Source: People's Daily Online