Tripoli is set to take on the title of Arab Capital of Culture in 2024. Musicians and cultural organizations hope this will help establish the city as a hub for culture in Lebanon.
The World Heritage Committee meeting in an extraordinary session decided on Thursday to inscribe the Rachid Karameh International Fair of Tripoli (Lebanon) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Located in northern Lebanon, the Rachid Karameh International Fair of Tripoli was designed in 1962 by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer on a 70-hectare site located between the historic centre of Tripoli and the Al Mina port. The main building of the fair consists of a huge covered hall in the shape of a boomerang of 750 metres by 70 metres, a flexible space for countries to install exhibitions.
The fair was the flagship project of Lebanon’s modernization policy in the 1960s. The close collaboration between Oscar Niemeyer, the architect of the project, and Lebanese engineers gave rise to a remarkable example of exchange between different continents. In terms of scale and wealth of formal expression, it is one of the major representative works of 20th century modern architecture in the Arab Near East.
The World Heritage Committee used an emergency procedure to inscribe the site, due to its alarming state of conservation, the lack of financial resources for its maintenance, and the latent risk of development proposals that could affect the integrity of the complex.
The site was therefore inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, which opens access to enhanced international assistance both technical and financial.
WASHINGTON – Today, President Joseph R. Biden announced the appointment of Sara Minkara to be the U.S. Special Advisor on International Disability Rights – a role critical to ensuring that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of persons with disabilities around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and political unrest disproportionately impact persons with disabilities, making the appointment of Sara Minkara more necessary than ever. Discrimination against persons with disabilities hinders economic development, limits democracy, and erodes societies. With Sara’s leadership, the United States can play an important role in meeting these challenges and mitigating their harmful impacts on persons with disabilities globally.
As the senior-level disability human rights position at the State Department, the Special Advisor leads the U.S. comprehensive strategy to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities internationally and across the Department.
This announcement comes today, during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, as we celebrate the progress made toward economic empowerment of persons with disabilities and refocus our efforts on the work yet to come.
Sara Minkara, United States Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, Department of State
Sara Minkara is an advocate, expert, and facilitator in the fields of disability, inclusion, authentic leadership, and social entrepreneurship. She is the founder and a Board Member of Empowerment Through Integration (ETI), a nonprofit organization she established while still an undergraduate student. ETI’s mission is to disrupt the narrative surrounding disability through both empowering youth with disabilities individually and accelerating authentic inclusion globally. More than a decade later, ETI and the programs Sara designed are still active in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region, providing social and life skills development for refugees and other children with disabilities. As an internationally recognized champion for disability inclusion, leadership, individual empowerment and social enterprise, Sara promotes adaptive approaches to social and workplace challenges.
Sara is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Harvard Kennedy School. She advises numerous academic, government, and policy groups on issues related to disability, gender, interpersonal dynamics, inclusion, and entrepreneurship, including the United Nations and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Education program. She has been recognized for her many contributions through appointments and awards, including Forbes 30 Under 30, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology IDEAS Global Challenge, and the Vital Voices “100 Women Using Their Power to Empower” program.
BEIRUT, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) — Lebanon’s participation in the upcoming 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) will benefit bilateral services trade, Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Qian Minjian said Tuesday.
“This will allow Lebanese companies to introduce themselves in the Chinese market and promote the growth of services trade between the two sides,” the ambassador said.
“We aim at encouraging Chinese companies to strengthen coordination with their Lebanese counterparts and advance practical cooperation,” Qian added.
Qian’s remarks came during a press conference held at Beirut’s Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture to launch an initiative by the Lebanese Chinese Business Association (LCBA).
The initiative supports Lebanese companies’ participation in the CIFTIS, which is scheduled for Sept. 2-7 in Beijing.
“China will continue focusing on cooperation, not confrontation, and openness rather than closure, while adhering to mutual benefit and win-win approaches,” Qian said.
Meanwhile, Ali El Abdallah, president of the LCBA, said his association’s initiative will provide Lebanese businesses with a great opportunity to showcase their products especially as the fair covers such areas as transport, travel, construction, insurance, financial services, telecommunications, cultural and entertainment services and others.
Lebanon’s Caretaker Economy Minister Raoul Nehme said that Lebanon and China have various opportunities to boost their economic cooperation, adding more efforts should be made to this end.
Caretaker Industry Minister Imad Hoballah said that Lebanon enjoys a high quality of production in different sectors, adding he is “certain that Lebanese products will find great success in China.”
BEIRUT – One of the primary objectives of the Inter Campus project, aside from restoring the right to play to children living in adverse social situations, is to create stable, trusted relationships with parents and families.
This is a fundamental part of the educational side of our mission – to allow young people to grow and develop through play while sharing sporting values.
Thanks to these strong relationships with parents, the coaches at Inter Campus Lebanon were able to organise a wonderful day for girls from the Shatila refugee camp, who took part in the second edition of the Tripoli women’s tournament – wearing the black and blue of Inter, of course.
The event was not just an opportunity for the girls to have some fun – but it was also a rare chance to leave the Shatila camp for Palestinian refugees behind and get away from a place where no child should ever have to reside.
BEIRUT, July 7 (Xinhua) — Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Qian Minjian said on Wednesday that China will work together with the Lebanese side in establishing a Chinese cultural center in the country, a statement by the Chinese Embassy in Lebanon said.
Qian’s remarks came during his meeting with caretaker Lebanese Culture and Agriculture Minister Abbas Mortada.
China and Lebanon, both ancient civilizations with a long history, maintain good exchanges in cultural fields, Qian said, recalling that in 2020, the two sides signed an agreement on the establishment of cultural centers in both countries, and China started building the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music.
For his part, Mortada said Lebanon is keen to strengthen cultural cooperation with China and enhance understanding between the two peoples.
Voicing his ministry’s willingness to provide convenience for the building of the Chinese cultural center in Lebanon, Mortada said the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music will become the best emblem of the two countries’ friendship. Enditem