Berlin was founded to deconstruct exclusionary narratives and celebrate transcultural
identities, and called on cultural institutions to embrace diverse voices and shift from
explaining identities to exploring them. Finally, they proposed establishing a global network
to challenge the "single story" and promote pluralism through art, museums, and culture.
Ms. Fatma Serag highlighted the importance of preserving the heritage and culture of
Indigenous communities, particularly the Nubians, who have faced historical marginalization.
Nubians, residing between southern Egypt and northern Sudan, possess an ancient civilization
with a rich cultural heritage, including poetry, music, dance, handicrafts, and architecture. She
explained that, despite its significance, Nubian culture is often reduced to stereotypes in Egypt,
and the Nubian language faces decline due to the absence of educational support. Ms. Serag
urged the Egyptian government to recognize minority rights, promote cultural diversity, and
implement international conventions. She concluded by honoring Nubian women for
preserving traditions and expressed hope that the Forum will drive justice and positive change
for guardians of cultural heritage.
Interactive Dialogue
In the interactive dialogue, participants raised numerous concerns related to minority
issues and presented various initiatives.
The issues raised included situations of criminalisation of persons belonging to
minorities who are living according to their culture and traditions. The participants referred
to threats against minority art and culture, incidents of attacks against cultural events and
festivals showcasing the cultural heritage and identity of minorities, the depravation of
traditional skills and knowledge, and assimilationist policies leading to the loss of minorities’
cultures and identities
The participants presented initiatives to ensure that minorities have their own
platforms to share their stories, to encourage the development of festivals and cultural
manifestations where persons belonging to minorities can express themselves and bring
visibility to their culture. They presented projects aimed at reinforcing knowledge
transmission across generations and borders, as well as initiatives involving migrants and
especially migrant children, and applying a decolonial approach.
Good practices were shared by Member States to enhance equality between all
citizens through social and cultural programmes and to allocate sufficient funding for the
development of programmes specifically dedicated to minorities.
Concluding remarks
In his concluding remarks, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues Prof. Nicolas
Levrat acknowledged the smooth functioning of the Forum on minority issues and thanked all
participants for their contributions. While he noted that improvements to the current format
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