Islamic Conference convenes in Algiers

Culture ministers will gather in Algiers on the 18th and 19th december for the annual Islamic conference.  The conference is gathering under the theme International Year for the Rapprochement of cultures and promoting the role of youth in building a culture of peace and dialogue. According to a press release for "ISESCO" sent to Arabstoday the conference will bring together the  Organization of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), and the Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic cooperation and coordination with the Algerian Ministry of Culture. A  ministerial round table  will be held on the theme: "the cultural roles of civil society to promote dialogue and peace." And put to the discussed in this Seventh Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, three reports submitted by the Director-General of the Islamic Organization for Education, Science and Culture, Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, on the implementation of the Cultural Strategy for the Islamic world, and on ISESCO's efforts in implementing the strategy for Islamic Cultural Action outside the Islamic world, and ISESCO's efforts in pursuing the strategy of developing information and communication technologies in the Islamic world. The conference will discuss four projects prepared by ISESCO, on the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for dialogue among followers of religions and cultures: achievements and future prospects, and on the cultural roles of civil society to promote dialogue and peace. It will also focus on the indigenous cultures of  Member States and will address the negative stereotypes about Islampromoted by some media in a bid to address and challenge them. This is the seventh Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers following the first one held in Dakar (1989), and the second in Rabat (1998), and the third in Doha (2001), and fourth in Algeria (2004), and the fifth in Tripoli (2007), and sixth in Baku (2009 .)