Hamdan bin Rashid visits Unesco HQ

Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, visited Paris on Tuesday at the invitation of Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

Shaikh Hamdan and the accompanying delegation began their visit to the French capital with a tour to ‘The Louvre Museum’ where they visited the Islamic arts building, which was officially opened last September as a major part of the Louvre Museum. The museum has a collection of over 1 million works of art, of which about 35,000 are on display, spread out over the three wings of the former palace. The museum has a diverse collection ranging from antiquity up to the mid-19th century.

He then went on to visit the headquarters of Unesco where he discussed with Director-General Irina Bokova a number of humanitarian, social and educational issues.

During the visit, two cooperation agreements were signed between Unesco and both Al Maktoum Charity Foundation as well as Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Distinguished Academic Performance.

The first agreement was signed by Shaikh Rashid bin Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Al Maktoum Foundation, and the second agreement signed by Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al Qattami, Minister of Education and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hamdan Bin Rashid Award. Meanwhile, Irina Bokova signed the agreements on behalf of the Unesco.Irina thanked the UAE leadership, government, charitable and humanitarian institutions for their humanitarian assistance to the needy all without any bias on the basis of color, religion or geographical affiliation.

The delegation that accompanied Shaikh Hamdan in his tour included Mohammed Ahmed Al Murr, Speaker of Federal National Council, Shaikh Rashid bin Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Al Maktoum Foundation, Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al Qattami, Minister of Education, Mariam Mohammed Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of Social Affairs, Dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water, in addition to a number of dignitaries and officials.

• UAE