Arab Latinos, UNESCO’s initiative that highlights links between the Arab and Latin worlds

Promoting the specific intercultural encounter between Latin America and the Arab World

“Arab Latinos!” is an innovative initiative that highlights the specific intercultural encounter between Latin America and the Caribbean and the Arab region. Beyond the usual reductive stereotypes of “Latinos” and “Arabs”, the initiative aims to highlight the richness and complexities of these multicultural groups, and what the fusion between these two groups has brought to the world. 

DYK❓The population of Arab descent in Latin America is estimated between 17 and 20 million.@unesco's #ArabLatinos initiative, supported by @_sbaf_, sheds light on this unique intercultural encounter and its socio-cultural impacts.

🔗 https://t.co/joUJ5q5j1i pic.twitter.com/7NvshIZEUA

— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳😷 (@UNESCO) August 23, 2022

It also aims to strengthen South-South intercultural cooperation between the two regions, in order to fight against stereotypes and discrimination, while contributing to human, social and economic development and to the emergence of a pluralistic culture and heritage.

A first meeting of experts in São Paulo

At the initiative of UNESCO, the first meeting took place on August 23 and 24, 2022 in São Paulo. The kick-off was given by an official ceremony followed by a meeting of experts. The discussions between fifteen experts from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico resulted in a five-year action plan for a potential new path of intercultural dialogue at UNESCO.

UNESCO has launched Arab Latinos Project in Brazil that it seeks to assess contemporary Arab culture in #Brazil, #Argentina, #Mexico, #Chile, and #Colombia . The launch took place Monday (22/8) at the Arab Brazilian Chamber headquarters in São Paulo. pic.twitter.com/O2BgopZfsN

— Eman Abusidu (@EmAbusidu) August 25, 2022

The first of its kind, this initiative, supported by the Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Foundation, builds on the Arab cultural footprint in Latin America and the Caribbean. Indeed, since the end of the 19th century, large migratory flows from Arab countries have arrived in Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, the population of Arab origin in the region is estimated at between 17 and 20 million.