Resident Coordinator's speech at a round table on cultural exchange

Mr President, Dr Dhafer Alumran,

Ms Nancy Khedoury,

Mr Moanes Almardi,

Honourable members of the Rotary Club of Salmaniya,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Rotary Club of Salmaniya and its Board of Directors for their kind invitation. It's a true pleasure to be among you today and participate in this Round Table on Cultural exchange.

People are naturally diverse. Diversity comes in multiple facets—diversity in history, origins, trajectories, preferences, tastes, and opinions, to name a few.

As such, we are called to engage in a variety of exchanges, linguistic, commercial, political, and of course, cultural. From the Phoenicians that brought the first alphabet and the Tyrian purple to the rest of the world, to Arabs who transmitted and enriched ancient philosophy and developed algebra and the very system of numbers we use today, we cannot but exchange our knowledge and culture with others to grow and enrich ourselves as a one human civilization.

We exchange ideas, practices, knowledge and world representations. This imperative to know each other is a blessing:

"يا أيها الناس إنَّا خلقناكم من ذكر وأنثى وجعلناكم شعوبا وقبائل لتعارفوا"

And in today's interconnected world, culture's power to transform societies is evident. Cultural diversity and exchange are indeed driving forces of development, not only for economic growth but also for leading a more fulfilling intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual life.

Unfortunately, many of the world's major conflicts have a cultural dimension. Therefore, exchanging on differences found among cultures, taking the time to learn about and reflect on otherness and diversity, and acquiring certain aspects of other cultures to enrich our own, all contribute to bridging the gap between perceived cultural differences. It is also an urgent and necessary requirement for peace, stability, and development.

Distinguished guests,

Let me tell you about my own exposure with cultural exchange.

As a young Egyptian growing up in Egypt, I very early on developed the love for flying and discovering other cultures. Inevitably, this led me to studying International Relations in the Netherlands, a place far away from home.

But my drive for cultural exchanges did not stop there, and I chose a profession that fulfilled this constant desire for being confronted with diversity. Not only did I join the UN, but I did so with the IOM where I would be engaging with people leaving  their culture, for another- most often unwillingly than voluntarily. This has become my calling and I now focus on ensuring that migrants arriving in Bahrain are benefitting from culturally adapted onboarding into a new country.

In my other capacity as the UN Resident Coordinator in Bahrain, I oversee over 20 other agencies that engage with several aspects of  cultural exchanges, including in education, arts, sciences and technology, with the aim to promote peace and sustainable development.

We, as the UN, also support cultural exchange programmes in the UN with the Kingdom of Bahrain through the UN Volunteers and Junior Professional Officer programmes, where young Bahraini professionals join and benefit from being exposed to a plethora of cultures at once in the large melting pot that is the UN system.

I am also very aware and highly commend the programme put in place by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain that aims to send new and promising young Bahraini talent to universities abroad so that they can acquire skills and gain exposure to different cultures that they bring back home to Bahrain..

Ladies and gentlemen,

Another way to allow for cultures to grow is to allow for cultural exchanges from within, creating bridges between and providing support to the varied groups of amazing people that allow us to grow as a rich community when the needs of all are recognized, valued, and addressed. 

And as I speak to you today, I realise how much the Rotary club has been contributing towards this goal. In particular, I would like to commend you on your outreach and support to children, people with disabilities and the vulnerables.

I look forward to our discussion and hearing more on your incredible work.

Thank you.