RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s permanent delegation to UNESCO participated in the works of the 217th session of the executive board of UNESCO, which concluded on Wednesday in Paris. The delegation was headed by Fahad Al-Ruwaily, Saudi ambassador to France and Monaco and the Kingdom’s permanent representative to UNESCO. The delegation was joined by various other competent national bodies. The Saudi delegation stressed the Kingdom’s keenness in leading the field of artificial intelligence in a way that served humanity. It said that the Kingdom was one of the first countries to adopt UNESCO’s ethics of AI, and one of the first member states to call for its adoption in a way that ensuredachieving sustainable development goals. In digital learning, the delegation shared current developments in the Saudi education system, highlighting the Kingdom’s pioneering role in digital education at the Arab level.  The delegation also highlighted that the Kingdom, in cooperation with the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, launched the Islamic World Cultural Index Project with the aim of strengthening international efforts in this field and to enhance the participation of Islamic countries in global cultural activities. The Kingdom reiterated its desire to host the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (Mondiacult) in 2025.  Saudi Arabia was also selected by unanimous vote to host the works of the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, during which Uruq Bani Ma’arid Reserve was included on the World Heritage List as the seventh Saudi world heritage site to be registered. The Kingdom also chaired an open-ended working group of state parties to the World Heritage Convention.