Mr. Bah was part of 150 Culture ministers around the world that gathered in Mexico City, Mexico, from the 28th to 30th September 2022.
The MONDIACULT Conference was last held in 1982 – 40 years ago in Mexico City and this made the concluded conference a very important one and worth attending.
The official opening of the ceremony was held at the National Auditorium in Mexico City and presided over by the Mexican Federal Secretary of Culture Alejandra Frausto.
In her speech, she explained the very important role that culture can play in defeating the canker of racism in the world.
Addressing the conference, the director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Madam Audrey Azoulay, reiterated the power of culture to develop communities and economies.
She urged the government and member States of UNESCO to work towards strengthening the cultural policies in their countries so that the population can harvest the benefits of culture economically, forging unity, and giving the population a spirit of unity and cooperation.
She added that through culture, lots of issues currently facing the world can be solved.
The Gambian minister of Tourism and Culture, Hon. Hamat N.K. Bah explained the importance of cultural policies as far as developing the culture sector is concerned.
He noted that soon after he came to office, the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) was supported by UNESCO to inaugurate a new culture policy for The Gambia to replace the 1988 culture policy, “a culture policy that is ready and fully operational supported by other action strategies in the culture sector and also in the tourism sector.”
Minister Bah reiterated some of the achievements made in the culture sector of The Gambia including most recently, the ratification by the National Assembly of the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) and also the recent successful Periodic Reporting of The Gambia (the NCAC of the 1972 UNESCO Convention on World Heritage and also the 2005 Convention on the Promotion of Cultural Diversity).
The Minister noted that the Gambia has successfully reported all these Conventions on all its activities of these Conventions to UNESCO and the reports had been fully accepted. He added by explaining that The Gambia is currently working with NCAC to report successfully on activities towards the 2003 Conventions on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Minister Bah also urged fellow ministers of Culture across the world to redouble, update, and make sure they have gender-friendly inclusive cultural policies that would be a guide to all cultural artisans and activities.
Minister Bah was accompanied by his Permanent Secretary, Madam Kodou Jabang Linguire Senghore, and the Director General for the National Arts and Culture, Mr. Hassoum Ceesay.
