On Monday, January 20, 2025, Dr. Abdullah Hamidaddin, the Assistant Secretary-General for Scientific Affairs at the UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS), and Dr. Moneera Al-Ghadeer, the Director of the UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures at KFCRIS, with the support of the Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission, participated in the Regional Consultations for the ArabStates held in Rabat, Morocco and Online. The Regional Consultations were conducted in preparation for the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development, “MONDIACULT 2025,” which will take place in Spain in September 2025.

During his speech, Dr. Hamidaddin emphasized the commitment of the Center to enrich the cultural scene both locally and internationally by engaging in strategic projects with the Saudi Ministry of Culture. These projects include the cultural status report and the Islamic World Cultural Index project.

Dr. Hamidaddin further discussed the Center’s involvement in promoting the advancement of cultural policies through studies that target the key areas of cultural research and methods to improve it. This aligns with UNESCO’s goal of incorporating culture into sustainable development, as well as the priorities and vision established by the Saudi Ministry of Culture.

Dr. Al-Ghadeer participated in the session titled “Culture as a Stand-alone Goal in the Next United Nations Post 2030 Agenda,” emphasizing that the UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures draws its conceptual framework from the prioritization of culture and supports the inclusion of culture as a stand-alone goal in the post-2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Dr. Al-Ghadeer also outlined the chair's role in establishing an innovative academic framework exemplified by the Translating Cultures Lab, which focuses on developing research policies, training early scholars, and disseminating best academic practices. It is worth noting that cultural rights, culture and digital transformation, economy of culture, and other topics are among the priorities at the MONDIACULT 2025 Conference.