29 October. At the 17th Session of the Conference of the Ministers of Culture in the Arab States, held by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) in Doha, Qatar on 27 and 28 October 2010, the Council of Ministers arrived at a consensus decision in support of ICCROM's ATHAR programme.

The final conference document states that the Ministers of Culture "call on the Arab States to offer their financial and moral support to the ATHAR Programme at ICCROM to ensure its continuity in the implementation of its objectives and capacity building projects in the field of conservation and management of cultural heritage, serving all the Arab States, in collaboration with ALECSO."

This decision followed a presentation made on the achievements of the programme, notably in partnership with the government of Sharjah, UAE. This was addressed to the Ministers of Culture by Dr Mounir Bouchenaki, Director-General, ICCROM, with the participation of Dr Zaki Aslan, ATHAR Programme Manager.

updated on: 4 November, 2010