“By working together, valuing different cultures and promoting mutual respect, we will be able to preserve this richness and build a future where diversity is celebrated and global collaboration is the key for sustainable development and peace," stated Addahre, speaking at a ministerial conference organized as part of the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, which runs until May 3 in the Azerbaijani capital.

Culture has, for centuries, been a source of discovery, knowledge, inspiration and creativity, fostering interaction between human groups, he recalled.

Nowadays, in a globalized world, he added, advances in real and virtual emerging technologies, communication and transport, serve as vectors to bring peoples closer together, ensuring that culture evolves through time and space in line with these changes.

As such, he noted, cultural diversity is increasingly present in our daily lives, where different languages, beliefs, traditions and lifestyles coexist, further underlining the importance of the universal human values of coexistence, tolerance and living together.

The Moroccan diplomat, also present at the Forum as Chairman of the UNESCO's Africa Week 2024 Organizing Committee, called for everyone to contribute to collective efforts to preserve and strengthen diversity as an invaluable asset, and to benefit from it.

To meet these challenges, he deems it essential to foster international cooperation, both between States and competent institutions, and through international legal instruments and appropriate mechanisms.

He also noted that international frameworks such as the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions provide an essential platform for constructive collaboration on cultural diversity issues.

Similarly, bilateral and multilateral agreements between governments, particularly those concerning cultural property, represent concrete ways of promoting coordinated action for the preservation of cultural heritage, he added, stressing that initiatives such as the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, whose 9th Forum was held in Morocco in November 2022, offer a valuable space, on a par with that of the Baku Forum.

To foster intercultural dialogue, Addahre has called for constructive collaboration between the various stakeholders, also emphasizing the importance of knowledge-sharing and capacity-building programs, as well as a greater commitment to funding cultural initiatives.

Organized by the Azerbaijani government, in partnership with UNESCO, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the World Tourism Organization and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue brings together nearly 700 personalities from over 100 countries.

Morocco is represented at the three-day forum by - in addition to Addahre - the Kingdom's Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Adil Embarch and the Chairman of the House of Councillors' Commission for Education, Cultural and Social Affairs, Abderrahmane Drissi.