NCCAL chief urges scholars, bodies to safeguard tradition

KUWAIT, April 20 (KUNA) -- Protecting and documenting human tradition is a shared responsibility that should be shouldered by scholars and cultural institutions, a senior cultural official said here on Sunday.
Addressing a human heritage symposium held at Kuwait National Library, Secretary-General of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) Ali Al-Yuha said all researchers and participants should seek to notch up the aspired goals of protecting human heritage and passing it on from generation to generation.
He said the event is part of the NCCAL's efforts to safeguard human tradition in face of sweeping waves of globalization, westernization and modernization.
Since its inception four decades ago, the NCCAL has been doing several tasks, primarily the protection and documentation of popular and Arab tradition, the NCCAL chief pointed out.
On his part, Secretary-General of the Kuwait National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Abdulatif Al-Baijan said people all over the world are interested in manuscripts which reflect history, science and language.
The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) set a priority to cultural manuscripts, he said.
He hailed the ALECSO's effective role in the protection of cultural and traditional manuscripts out of its strong belief in the necessity of safeguarding traditional and cultural identity.
This role has been translated into reality by means of hammering out relevant agreements with manuscript protection centers, providing experts and organizing training courses and workshops, Al-Bijan added. (end) has.tab.mt