President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Audrey Azoulay, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, reports the official website of Uzbek gvernment.

At the meeting, Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted the deep symbolism that the official visit to the French Republic began with a meeting at UNESCO, and that Uzbekistan’s cooperation with this organization is consistently developing.

Audrey Azoulay, sincerely welcoming the President of Uzbekistan, emphasized that cooperation with Uzbekistan and in particular the current meeting is very important for UNESCO.

Uzbekistan was twice elected to the Executive Board of the organization. The parties fruitfully cooperate in the sphere of restoration and in-depth study of rich spiritual heritage of Uzbekistan, implement joint projects in the field of culture, education, science and others. Historical and cultural sites in Khiva, Samarkand, Bukhara and Shakhrisabz are included in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Bukhara city was awarded the prize of the organization “Cities for Peace”.

The Ichan-Kala complex in Khiva, the historical centers of Samarkand, Bukhara and Shakhrisabz, as well as Chatkal State Biosphere Reserve are included in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Baysun cultural heritage “Shoshmaqom”, “Katta ashula”, “Askia”, “Osh”, “Navruz”", atlas and adras production technologies are included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Quran of Othman and the collection of manuscripts of Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies are included in the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.

Uzbekistan’s cooperation with UNESCO also contributes to preservation, development and popularization of classical Uzbek musical heritage. Thus, under the auspices of UNESCO, Sharq Taronalari International Festival is held every two years in Samarkand. In September this year, the first International Maqom Art Forum was held in Shakhrisabz.

In accordance with a recent resolution of the President of Uzbekistan, a Permanent Mission of the Republic of Uzbekistan to UNESCO has been established.

Cooperation in the field of education is promising. Uzbekistan pursues a policy on formation of physically and spiritually developed individuals, based on “Enlightenment against ignorance” principle.

In September 2017, Shavkat Mirziyoyev initiated the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Youth and the General Assembly Resolution on Enlightenment and Religious Tolerance.

The Director-General supported the initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan on creating under the auspices of UNESCO in Samarkand the International Institute named after Mirzo Ulugbek for creating a culture of peace, tolerance and preventing extremism, creating a Regional center for information and communication technologies in education at Tashkent University of Information Technologies, opening the UNESCO department at Silk Road International Tourism University in Samarkand.

An agreement was reached on holding a regional forum of young scientists of Central Asia in Uzbekistan, as well as the Asian Forum “Information technologies in the service of cultural heritage conservation” in 2019 in Tashkent.

UNESCO Director-General highly appreciated the policy of Uzbekistan on preserving cultural and historical heritage of its people, which is the heritage of all mankind.

At the meeting, the Joint Action Plan was adopted for 2018-2021, aimed at bringing relations to a new level, innovative solution of joint tasks and strengthening cooperation in all areas.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev left a note in UNESCO’s Book of Honorary Guests.

"The Qazaq Times"