The Saudi representative to UNESCO, Dr. Ziyad Aldreiss, said the world body is prepared to cooperate with the Kingdom to see it achieve the goals of its Saudi Vision 2030.
He said that UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova praised the Saudi document, and that the organisation is ready to cooperate with the Kingdom in the fields pertaining to UNESCO, particularly those related to education, culture and human heritage, in order to help it realize the vision.
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman stressed the importance of having more Kingdom sites on the UNESCO Heritage List; the Kingdom already has four locations on the List of World Heritage Sites.
Aldreiss said the Kingdom will benefit from the partnership with the UNESCO program for education, which is seen as a powerhouse of experience in educational development.
He commended UNESCO for adopting his recommendation to issue a decision on the “culture of respect” that was approved by the executive council of the world body. Such decision is bound to encourage cultural exchange and confront intolerance, negative stereotypes, stigma, discrimination and incitement to violence, and respect the rights of all individuals, irrespective of nationality, race, gender or religion.
He added that cooperation will help build greater understanding based on dialogue, and that education plays a very important role in this endeavor.
Unfortunately, Aldreiss said, tolerance is no longer a term that carries good connotations, as academics and thinkers have thrown it in a negative light.

Source ; Arab News