The Alexandria Statement in the First Session of the Arab Reform Conference
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Alexandria—The Sixth Arab Reform Conference, entitled “The Arab World: the Present and the Future”, was inaugurated on Sunday, 1 March 2009 at the BA with the participation of eminent thinkers, intellectuals and public figures from Egypt and the Arab world.
In his opening speech, Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, stated that this year the Conference is celebrating five years from issuing the Alexandria Statement, which is the final statement of the First Arab Reform Conference, held in March 2004. He pointed out that although the global economic crisis has affected the whole world, it does however have some positive aspects: it has brought to light the real role of the state, of the private sector and of censorship. He also spoke of the conflict between cultures as a challenge facing the world today, and said that although the “alliance of civilizations” has made direct and significant efforts to counteract this threat, there are still those who attempt to promote the notion and use it to create hostility between the Arab and Islamic world on one side and the West on the other.
Dr. Serageldin asserted that the Arab Reform Conference will always be a platform for open dialogue with no boundaries. He expressed his pleasure at the increasing number of participants, a sign of the success of the efforts targeting Arab reform. The speech was followed by a film prepared and produced by the BA Media Department about the Fifth Arab Reform Conference, entitled “Media, Democracy and Social Responsibility”.
In a session titled “The Alexandria Statement - Five Years On”, Dr. Hossam Badrawi, Dr. Ossama El-Ghazali Harb, and Ms. Dina Shehta from Egypt; Dr. Abdel Karim El-Eryani from Yemen; Dr. Fahmeia Sharfeldin from Lebanon; and Mr. Abdel Rahman El-Mosadasi from Tunisia, discussed the Statement, its achievements and what is yet to be achieved. The opening session of the Conference was concluded with a speech by Rana Abu Amara, representative of the youth participating in the Fourth Arab Youth Forum, that was held at the BA from 26 to 28 February 2009 under the title “Arab Youth Culture and Identity in the Era of Globalization”, in which she presented recommendations agreed on by the young people participating in the Forum.