Delegates at this year’s Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDNet) 6th General Assembly held in Doha, Qatar recently, resolved among others to use culture as a major instrument for maintaining peace among countries, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.
Nigeria’s cultural diplomacy received a big boost at this year’s Annual General Meeting of Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDNetwork) held in Doha, Qatar. Nigeria’s Youth Cultural Club proposal presented at the sixth AGM got overwhelming support and approval. The proposal, seeking for the Network to establish an online Youth Cultural Club, was borne out of Nigeria’s commitment to catching them young and laying a solid cultural foundation for children as future leaders.
The three-day meeting held at the Katara Cultural Village, Doha, Qatar had in attendance delegates from Nigeria, Singapore, Turkey, South Korea, Philippines, Hungary, Mozambique, Mexico, Qatar and Taiwan.
Others were from South Africa, Kenya, Serbia, Cuba, Georgia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Malaysia.
Making a presentation at the forum was Chioma Duru of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), who described the proposal as a pointer to the institute’s conviction that a re-orientation of the youth through deliberate and strategic online interactive forum can go a long way in combating some of the worrisome and dysfunctional traits among the youth.
According to Duru, recent global activities have made young adults target audience. Among these activities, she said, are Young Leadership programmes; India Global Youth programme; Nestle Global Youth Initiative; International Youth Conferences and Dubai EXPO 2020.
“The concerted attention on these young adults hinge on the fact that they are the hope of the future and will ensure continuity and growth of any society. They also occupy the strategic position of being tools for positive change. A properly oriented youth can make significant contributions to world development while one without character is a danger both to himself and society. Bearing these in mind, neglecting their wholesome development and orientation can lead to social degeneration, which poses dire consequences for national development and world peace,” she added.
Continuing, she said: “They would be motivated to expend their boundless energies on productive ventures, especially with regard to their addiction to social media activities. GPDNet would go a notch higher by scouting for young talents and giving support to youths in various areas like business ideas, entrepreneurship, agriculture, vocational skills, ICT, literary skills, acting and movie production, textile and fashion designing etc.” Also approved by the Network was an international education fair EDUCA by Mozambique’s Academic Community for Development (CADE) as a major event scheduled for May this year.
South Africa and four other countries- Cuba, Georgia, Ukraine and Malaysia – got admitted into Global Public Diplomacy Network as full members while three others – Kenya, Serbia and Bosnia – got associate membership of the Network. With these intakes, the Network’s membership rose to 22.
Secretary-General, GPD Network, Darwish S. Ahmed Al Shebani who described Nigeria’s proposal as excellent, urged all members, especially new members, to contribute to the growth of the network, saying ‘’we must create our own literature by conducting lectures and giving maximum exposure to our events.’’ He tasked members to always share knowledge and experience, thereby empowering the people. “We must organise workshops, discover talents, explore innovative tools, promote and inspire all. We need to leave a legacy for generations to come,” he said.
He advised each member to select two experts that will contribute literature to the network on their country and region. He disclosed that the Network is working on the proposal to transform from its current status to an organisation for effectiveness. He announced February 20 to 22, 2021 as the Network’s next general assembly in Doha.
On the successful hosting of the event, he expressed happiness with the positive results achieved during Qatar’s presidency of the sixth general assembly, saying that Qatar succeeded in attracting eight new countries after eight months of its Presidency of the Network. He assured that Katara will work to move the Network towards achieving its goals and aspirations, noting that culture is the best instrument for spreading peace between nations.
He stressed that Katara will strive during the coming period under its presidency of the GDP Network to expand partnerships between member states and promote its concept from the cultural and geographical framework to humanity.
Al Shebani said: “After receiving the leadership of the Network, Katara pursues a distinguished strategy in the electronic side by establishing an electronic portal linking the members of the network and providing many common services to them in a safer and more developed way.
“The electronic portal of the network also contains news of recent events that are held in each institution of member states and an archive of previous news. It also provides a fast and flexible search engine, facilitating the process of browsing and accessing information, news or topics related to the cultural activities and events of the member countries.”
President GPD Network Dr. Khaled bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti said that by joining the Global Public Diplomacy Network and chairing the General Assembly, Katara wanted to develop cultural relations and cooperation. This, he said, is to open new horizons in exchanging information, technical proficiency and strategic experiences. “We can identify the available capabilities for establishing joint cultural projects and achieve the targeted goals of the Network,” he added.
He stressed that cultural diplomacy has established a new approach in international relations, which is to serve political and economic relations because it relies on the soft power of culture, arts and literature. “Thus it has become a gateway for cooperation and exchange of knowledge, a bridge for dialogue and a platform for making friendship among nations as well as promoting understanding between peoples.
“It is based on values and ideas, and to adopt purposeful cultural projects to promote common interests by peaceful means,” he said.
Secretary General Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi observed that public international diplomacy is advancing today and is fast becoming a bridge for communication between nations, adding that it is an instrument for change towards the best in mutual relations. “Qatar has a distinguished and leading experience in adopting public international diplomacy, as Qatar has succeeded in enhancing its position and active presence in public international diplomacy by achieving a set of projects in the fields of culture, sports, education, economics and media, which are considered as soft power sources.”
He noted that the soft power that relies on balanced and calm diplomacy has become the most prominent means of contributing to expanding understanding, rapprochement, communication and dialogue between peoples and societies, and to promote peace across the world. The AGM also featured conferences, workshops, ratification of new members and launch of the Network’s website.
Scholars and diplomats drawn from different countries presented papers and shared experiences on topics such as public diplomacy as an organisation, cultural diplomacy as a soft power, public diplomatic communication and sports as an essential tool in public diplomacy. They included Dr. Melih Barut, Dr. Bisera Turkovic, Dr. Taehwan Kim, Mr. Salah Ben Rejeb, Mr. Peter Polak, Dr. Mazher Al-Zoubi, Dr. Hamat Hamidou, Dr. Mohammed Kirat, Dr. Mahfoud Amara and Dr. Irene Theodoropoulou.
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