In coordination with Ibn Zohr University: An international symposium in Dakar on the topic of “The Arabic Language in Senegal: Cultural and Societal Challenges and Stakes.”

Agadir24

The Islamic Institute in Dakar hosted an international symposium organized by the University of Minnesota, Senegal Branch, in partnership with the African Union of Arab and Arabist Academics in Morocco, the Islamic Institute in Dakar, the African-French-Arab Council for Scientific Promotion, and the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Ibn Zohr University on the topic of “*The Arabic Language in Senegal: Cultural and Societal Challenges and Stakes”; on Saturday, July 27, 2024. This unique event was distinguished by the participation of researchers representing a number of African and Islamic countries, and achieved great scientific and media success.

This symposium came in the context of the dynamism that African countries are experiencing at the societal and cultural level, which pushes towards strengthening societal awareness of the components of African identity in its diversity and richness and the development of joint work between educated elites of Arabs and Arabists, especially after the establishment of the African Union of Arab and Arabist Academics in Morocco, which worked to strengthen the partnership between African elites and scientific and civil structures that work to care for Arab culture and the bearers of this culture.

This scientific symposium, which received strong media coverage throughout Africa, especially in Senegal, came out with important recommendations included in its final statement, which would contribute to the development of Arabic and invest in this awareness and political will and direct academic and political actors to adopt linguistic and cultural policies that aim to care for Arabic, similar to the rest of the components of the African personality. In this context, the Senegalese experience can constitute a model to be emulated within the sub-Saharan region in general, especially considering the political will reflected in the measures taken by President Ibrahim Bassiro Dimay Faye with a view to institutionalizing and developing the Arabic language and caring for and recognizing its position within the cultural and political system in the country, and caring for the Arabized people in Senegal, which is a context that requires the involvement of the Arabized elites in Senegal, and support for this trend by various Arab and Arabized elites in Africa in general, and blessing these steps and contributing to framing and supporting them scientifically and academically. The final statement also valued the step of establishing the African Union of Arab and Arabized Academics in Morocco, and called for coordination Efforts between Arabists between African countries and called for the support of Arab countries for this dynamic that Arab culture is experiencing on the continent.