Page 114 - UAE Ministry of Culture PR REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2025

9/17/25, 11:06 AM DCT Abu Dhabi leads global efforts to safeguard heritage
and shaping resilient, equitable societies. Furthermore, the initiative’s launch is anchored in the
belief that everyone, individually and collectively, owns the right to benefit from and contribute to
the enrichment of cultural heritage.

Based on the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Right (1966), the programme
aims to activate living heritage places where access to culture is integral to exercising cultural

rights. It also serves as a catalyst for inclusive, sustainable socio-economic and environmental
development. Moreover, the programme affirms that in a world of increasingly complex

challenges, cultural heritage - tangible, intangible, and natural - remains essential to social unity,
economic opportunity, and historical continuity through its intrinsic meanings, identities, and

values.

DCT Abu Dhabi continues to play a leading role in championing policies and initiatives that
ensure cultural heritage is safeguarded for future generations, while simultaneously enabling

communities to engage with and benefit from it today.

The initiative is built as an integrated approach to heritage protection and promotion. The
programme consists of four thematic modules. Module one, Protection of Cultural and Natural
Heritage Sites, introduces heritage as a shared responsibility and a catalyst for sustainable
development. It explores legal, institutional, and practical approaches to protecting heritage

sites, from UNESCO frameworks to national and local actions.

Module two, Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (Cultural
Industries), dissects cultural diversity as a foundation for innovation, inclusion, and resilience. It
navigates how legal frameworks, cultural industries, education, and civil society contribute to
protecting diverse cultural voices, particularly in times of rapid change or crises.

Module three, Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, addresses submerged heritage such

as coastal archaeological sites.

Lastly, module four, Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, focuses on traditions,
knowledge systems, practices, oral expressions, and performing arts.

WAM

https://www.gulftoday.ae/news/2025/09/16/dct-abu-dhabi-leads-global-efforts-to-safeguard-heritage 4/4