Building on the enduring cultural and historical connections between the Arab world and Latin America and the Caribbean, UNESCO organized the event “Arab Latinos! Shared Roots, Shared Horizons” at the United Nations House in Doha. The gathering highlighted the need to foster sustainable South–South solidarity and mutual support in the face of today’s global challenges, while also showcasing how literature, archives, and cinema can advance inclusive narratives, promote intercultural dialogue, and contribute to peacebuilding.
The event brought together representatives of more than 32 embassies alongside academics and cultural leaders, underscoring broad international support for the Arab Latinos! initiative and its role in strengthening cultural cooperation between regions.
''Arab Latinos! is not only a celebration of this legacy, but also a strategic platform for South-South cooperation, echoing the spirit of the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation. Through education, culture, the sciences, and communication, this initiative seeks to foster inclusive dialogue, collaborative knowledge production, and solidarity across regions of the South. Through this event, we are proud to contribute to the Qatar–Argentina–Chile 2025 Year of Culture,’’ noted Mr Salah Khaled, UNESCO Representative to the Gulf States and Yemen and Director of UNESCO Office in Doha.
The first roundtable discussion on Al-Mahjar focused on the literary heritage of Arab migrants in Latin America and emphasized the importance of preserving the archives of Arab Latinos. Refqa Abu-Remaileh, Associate Professor in Residence at Northwestern University in Qatar, and Huism Tan, Executive Director of the Qatar National Library, stressed that the preservation, documentation, and accessibility of these sources require the coordinated engagement of governments, national institutions, academia, and civil society. This collaboration is essential for safeguarding cultural heritage, fostering knowledge production, and strengthening South-South solidarity.
In a second roundtable, "Cinema as a Bridge," experts retraced the history of the Arab Latinos cinema and its powerful medium for promoting intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding. Prof. Geraldo de Campos from the Department of International Relations at the Federal University of Sergipe in Brazil and Mr Christian Mouroux, Director of the LatinArab International Film Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, illustrated how LatinArab co-productions create opportunities for collaborative storytelling that reflect diverse identities and self-narratives. These partnerships enrich artistic expression, transcend borders, and challenge stereotypes, thereby advancing South-South solidarity cooperation in line with UNESCO’s mission of promoting international cooperation through its fields of expertise.
Building on the exchanges, participants emphasized the importance of advancing the Arab Latinos! initiative through concrete follow-up actions, including expanding access to archives, fostering cultural exchanges, and reinforcing bilateral cooperation between national institutions.
Officially endorsed by UNESCO’s Member States in 2023, the Arab Latinos! initiative aims to identify, strengthen, and promote cooperation and intercultural dialogue between Arab, Latin American, and Caribbean societies. Its objective is to develop scientific content, share knowledge on the historical bonds linking the regions, and provide a platform for intercultural dialogue practices that nurture creativity, resilience, and innovation as foundations for sustainable peace and development.
