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PRESS RELEASE

Paris, ​Tuesday ​ 13 June 2017

Bangladesh Cultural Minister Asaduzzaman Noor has been elected President of the 6th session of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions for two years.  The election took place ​ ​​today  at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. 144 signatories to the convention concerning cultural diversity ​of 2005 ​ and many observer States and NGOs are attending the conference. 

​ ​While thanking the delegations for electing him President, the Bangladesh Cultural Minister reiterated Bangladesh's abiding commitment to cultural diversity with particular emphasis on linguistic diversity, a key element of cultural diversity.  ​He also referred to the sacrifice made by the people of Bangladesh in 1952 for upholding their right to speak their mother tongue Bangla, and the initiative of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to establish International Mother Language Institute in Dhaka as a UNESCO Category II Institute dedicated to the protection and promotion of all mother languages of the world. ​

During the conference, M Shahidul Islam, Ambassador of Bangladesh to France and ​ ​Permanent Representative to UNESCO announced Bangladesh Government's decision to donate US dollars 10,000 to UNESCO for supporting developing countries to strengthen  ​their ​cultural and creative industries for sustainable development and poverty reduction. ​ ​The other members of the Bangladesh delegation  included Surayya Akhtar Jahan, C​ultural A​dviser; Farhana Ahmed Chowdhury, First Secretary; and Saimon Zakaria, Assistant Director of Bangla Academy.