Since its inception in March 2009 by Culture Resource, the regional initiative for surveying and monitoring cultural policies in the Arab world has been constantly developing year after year. The ever evolving action mechanisms and plans of cultural policy groups are now being applied in twelve Arab countries, with the support of Culture Resource.
In July 2014, Cultural Policy in the Arab Region website was launched with the purpose of collecting, archiving and displaying tens of reports and news on activities and developments related to cultural policy in the Arab Region. The website also features a database of cultural activists and organizations interested in cultural policy.
Ettijahat. Independent Culture Organization runs the website and acts as the regional coordinator of the program launched by Culture Resource. Ettijahat is particularly focused on conducting research and publishing reports on matters related to cultural policy, updating exploratory surveys and issuing reports on regional developments in the matter of interest, all done in cooperation with the 12 national groups presently active in their respective countries.
Thus, the website of cultural policies in the Arab Region, which is a fruit of a joint cooperation between Culture Resource and Ettijahat. Independent Culture organization, has become an open platform for individuals and organisations working directly or indirectly to bring about positive change in cultural policy in their own countries and in the region in general.
The Mauritanian Film Director, Cultural Activist and a member of the Arab Group for Cultural Policy Abdulrahman Salem, highlighted the importance of having a specialized database on cultural policies in the Arab region, a region stretched between east of the Mediterranean and the Arab Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. He confirmed that the achievements have significantly increased during the last three years by saying: “The website is like a multiple-entry visa allowing its holder to go in and out of the Arab country/territory. It provides, in a professional and magnificent way, a huge amount of information regarding each country”.
The Arab Group for Cultural Policy brings together representatives from the national groups involved in developing cultural policies in the Arab region. The Arab Group for Cultural Policy was the fruit of an initiative led by Culture Resource in 2011, and its activities involve 12 Arab countries: Jordan, Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Morocco, Yemen, Tunisia, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Mauritania.
Marwa Helmy, Deputy Manager of Culture Resource and Cultural Policy Program Manager, said that Culture Resource has always been concerned with building, maintaining and publishing a database on cultural policies in the Arab region since the inception of the cultural policy program.
“In this respect, we, in collaboration with Ettijahat. Independent Culture, worked on launching a website featuring a regional database on the cultural policy, which is considered the first regional website of its kind. It provides information on researches and reports of the cultural policy in the region, the researchers in the field of cultural policies and cultural management as well as the organizations involved in culture and arts in the Arab region.”
“The website also provides opportunities for networking with cultural organizations and actors in the region. We urge all cultural activists in the Arab Region to stay contacted with this website and send studies and information about themselves and their activities, so that we ensure continuous enrichment of the online content in order to achieve the desired goal.” She added.
