Page 109 - MINISTRY OF CULTURE PR REPORT - FEBRUARY 2025

restore crucial historical sites that talk about intercultural dialogue, and has helped bring life back
to Mosul’s streets.

Multilateralism
After the UAE supported UNESCO’s plans to reignite life in Mosul after Daesh took over the city in
2014, destroying many cultural and historical sites, other countries followed suit. “Once the UAE
committed to this, we saw a ripple effect of the EU and the other 13 countries that joined this
initiative,” said the UAE’s minister of Culture and Youth, Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi. He also
reiterated that he has faith in multilateralism, but that there needs to be “more action and less talk.”
Mosul in history

The 5000-year-old city, Mosul, which means “the linking point” in Arabic, has been home to diverse
communities throughout history. It was in Mesopotamia where many things of our modern
civilization were born: The idea of a city and the notion of a pluralist society, amongst other things.

Al Qassimi said that the ancient Iraqi city reflects the spirit of the UAE, where for thousands of
years, it had shared values of coexistence, tolerance, and peace; before it was affected by
extremist groups.

“These are the values of the UAE and our late father,” he said. “The UAE’s efforts are about reviving
the multi-faith identity, and with the help of UNESCO, we were able to do that.”

Azoulay said that the project is “nearly completed, with just one more thing to do.” The ‘Revive the
Spirit of Mosul’ project was launched with a budget of $115 million. The culture and youth minister
said that initially, their team “had the KPI of training 1,500 [locals from Mosul] into this project and
thanks to the efforts of UNESCO, we exceeded that number to over 3,000.”

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iraqi-city-of-mosul-unesco?_refresh=true