Saudi Arabia participated in the 216th session of the Executive Board of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which began Monday at the organization"s headquarters in Paris. The session will continue until the May 24. The Kingdom is represented by Princess Haifa Bint Abdulaziz Bin Mohammed Bin Ayyaf Al Muqrin, the permanent representative of the Kingdom to UNESCO and Chair of the World Heritage Committee, with the participation of the Saudi National Committee for Education, Culture, and Science. In the Kingdom"s speech at the opening session, Princess Haifa reiterated Saudi Arabia"s keenness to boost international cooperation among the 193 member states of the organization and to contribute to achieving the goals of the United Nations" 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which are in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. She also expressed her appreciation to the organization for its interest in the draft resolution submitted by the Kingdom and Kuwait during the 215th session of the Executive Board to establish a global framework for open science to counter pandemics, which aims to create a flexible global system for capacity development and knowledge transfer. This will enable countries most in need of such a system to achieve self-sufficiency in accessing information to counter any future pandemic. The Saudi permanent representative concluded the speech by expressing the Kingdom"s aspiration to host the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh next September, adding that the meeting would be the first to be held with in-person attendance in four years and would discuss the registration of global heritage sites of great importance. The Kingdom"s strategic position in the organization is reflected in its membership in three main committees of UNESCO: its membership in the Executive Board of the organization, which includes 58 member states; its membership in the World Heritage Committee; and its membership in the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. — SPA