On September 14-16, 2021, the Republic of Uzbekistan under the auspices of UNESCO will host the International Cultural Forum “Central Asia at the crossroads of civilizations” in Khiva. This landmark initiative was put forward by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in his address to 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September, 2020.
UNESCO welcomed President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s initiative aimed at gathering the countries of the region to further unlock new prospects of cooperation in the areas of culture, social and humanitarian sciences. Director General of UNESCO Ms. Audrey Azoulay in the interview about this forum reiterated that “upcoming forum would be another good occasion to dive into the fascinating Central Asian shared culture and universal legacy, which has played an essential role in shaping civilizations in the region and beyond”. “The region can play a role of dialogue and mediation in current geopolitical tensions, in line with its history as a crossroads of civilizations and its current vitality” – she added.
UNESCO will be represented at the Forum by the delegation led by Ms. Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director General for Social and Human Sciences. Numerous high-level ministerial delegations from all countries of Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Hungary, as well as international and regional Organizations confirmed the participation in the event. Along with that around 150 renowned experts in culture and sciences from all over the world will contribute to the Forum through making valuable inputs during four parallel thematic sessions.
Throughout decades UNESCO has been mobilizing substantial investments to study and promote Central Asian common history and cultural heritage, in particular in the framework of Silk Roads Programme. Some years ago within this project UNESCO published multivolume book “The History of Civilizations in Central Asia”. From this standpoint, the upcoming Forum would be another good opportunity to reassess the contributions of commercial, scientific, and cultural exchanges to the development of Central Asian heritage, as well as the modern sciences/social and human sciences. Beyond that the Forum will allow to seek new horizons to utilize Cultural Heritage of Central Asia as a solid basis for dialogue and collaboration in the region and collaboration and exchanges through social and human sciences – a factor to counter the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sustainable development of Central Asia.
At the same time the Forum will contribute to the efforts of countries of Central Asia and wider region, including Uzbekistan, put into expanding intraregional cooperation in all key areas that has reached unprecedented levels during the last couple of years. In particular, it will help consolidate the agreements reached at the high-level International Conference “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities”, which took place on 15-16 July 2021 at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. During this event more than 600 participants from all over the world have explored the new ways to further enhance cooperation between the two regions in all major aspects, including in the culture sphere.
The chosen venue for the Forum is also very symbolic. Being one of the most ancient cities, Khiva has not only been the largest centre of enlightenment, education, science and culture but also served as the cradle of big empires spanning millennia. This city truly embodies the real power of culture and inspiration to unite the people even today. Because of its beauty and majesty Ichan Kala – inner city of the ancient oasis of Khiva was inscribed on the World Heritage List in far 1990.
UNESCO looks forward to widely celebrating upcoming event as one of the important platforms to promote is agenda both regionally and globally.