UNESCO Conference in Samarkand underway (photo report)

The 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference, which began on October 30 in Samarkand, continues. This is the first time since 1985 that the conference has been held outside UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris (the 1985 session took place in Sofia, Bulgaria).

At the opening ceremony, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay addressed participants, expressing her thanks in Uzbek. She highlighted that under her leadership, UNESCO’s resources increased by 82 percent and noted that the Samarkand session has attracted more participants than ever before: 4,500 accredited representatives from 181 countries.

The Government of Uzbekistan prepared extensively to host the event.

On November 6, the member states confirmed the appointment of the new UNESCO Director-General. Khaled Al-Anani from Egypt will take over as the organization’s new leader.

As part of the 43rd General Conference, the event “Samarkand: A Three-Millennium Heritage” was held. The initiative aims to document the city’s historical development and present the results of comprehensive archaeological, historical, and interdisciplinary studies confirming the presence of settlements dating back to the 2nd millennium BCE.

On November 7, a roundtable discussion took place in Samarkand on assessing Uzbekistan’s readiness to implement artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, held in collaboration with UNESCO. The session presented a research project evaluating the country’s preparedness to adopt AI.

The event brought together government agencies, international organizations, researchers, and leading AI experts.