Under the Patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, the Middle East Center for Culture and Development (MECCAD) based in Amman-Jordan and its national partners -- the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities -- are proud to present the second edition of the World Culture Forum.

The World Culture Forum (WCF) was conceived in 2000 by Dr. Damien Pwono who has also designed the program of this Dead Sea edition to reflect the three basic ideas behind the notion of the WCF as: (1) a consultative process to stimulate creativity and to mainstream culture in socioeconomic development; (2) a program of action for the development of cultural enterprises; and (3) a global platform or convening where representatives from the civil society, government and private sector interact to address critical issues in the field of culture and development.

After years of consultations in different regions of the world, the WCF initiative was officially launched in 2004 by President Lula Da Silva in Brazil. The Forum Cultural Mundial (Sao Paulo: 29 June to 4 July, 2004) attracted thousands of participants from around the world and

seeded the development of a continued process for knowledge building and relationship brokering. The organization of the second edition of the WCF global convening at the Dead Sea, Jordan, builds on the Brazilian experience and moves the conversation to focus on the Arab region. 

The organization of the Dead Sea convening under the Patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and the symbolic passing of the WCF torch from President Lula da Silva to His Royal Highness Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, representative of His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan to the Arab-South American Summit indicated the importance and commitment of both countries to utilize the power of artistic expressions to promote cultural liberties for peace and social justice.  

Organized under the theme of “Investing in Culture and Social Justice for Development”, the Jordan edition of the WCF hopes to portray positive images of the rich and diverse aspects of the Arab heritage, to discuss the socioeconomic impact of culture through cultural enterprise development, employment creation and conflict resolution, as well as to advocate for an open culture of dialogue and freedom of expression that foster peace and stability in the region and the world.

Relying on MECCAD’s philosophy of working in partnership with others, the planning of this WCF has benefited from contributions of many Jordanian and international organizations. It is hoped that the leave behind legacy of the Dead Sea edition of the WCF will contribute to the growing efforts to mainstream culture in the national development agenda and the international development policy work.