Director of the “Yabous” Cultural Center in Al Quds, Rania Elias, on Tuesday commended the efforts made by Bayt Mal Al Quds Acharif Agency and its continued support to Maqdissi establishments in the sectors of health, education, culture and women’s empowerment, adding that the agency attaches particular importance to youth and children, in accordance with the instructions of HM King Mohammed VI, Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee.
In a statement issued by the Agency, Ms. Elias said, during a videoconference meeting with the director in charge of the management of the Bayt Mal Al Quds Agency, Mohamed Salem Cherkaoui, who outlined the means to support Palestinian artistic and cultural programming in Al Quds for the year 2022, she is “proud” to cooperate, on a personal and institutional basis, with the Agency which was the main supporter of the Yabous Center with one million US dollar between 2009 and 2011.
The confidence of the Centre’s partner institutions allows it to pursue its cultural and artistic events with some 400 activities per year under normal circumstances, in addition to 200 events hosted by the Center for the benefit of educational, artistic and sporting institutions, she pointed out. For his part, Cherkaoui underlined the important role of intellectual and cultural institutions in Al Quds, in particular the “Yabous” Center which contributes to the development of young generations and reinforce their openness.
He also expressed the Agency’s readiness to strengthen cooperation with the Center for the opening of the Moroccan Cultural Center in the old town of Al Quds, which will be an important vector for strengthening the long standing relations that bind Moroccans to Al Quds. The new orientation of the Agency’s action in Al Quds is based on the precise definition of priorities in social action on the basis of constantly updated indicators to ensure support to people in need, after having identified the sectors that need them most, given the limited funds available to the Agency in connection with this component, he said.
The cultural sector has become an important vector of development, he explained, which is why the Agency housed in its headquarters in Morocco the “Bayt Al-Maqdis” Research and Study Center, which is in charge of supervising research funded at Al-Quds University on subjects of interest to the city’s present, its history, its religious and cultural heritage, as well as the relationship of Moroccans with this city. Cherkaoui also recalled the Agency’s will to create the “Rabat” Observatory for observation, monitoring and evaluation in Al Quds, which will carry out studies and publishing reports relating to the monitoring of the social and economic situation in the holy city, issue indicators for the evaluation of policies in support of Al Quds, perform documentation and information work and give advice to improve the institution’s action in Al Quds.
