In 2018, the heads of all cultural authorities in the UAE agreed on the importance of having a country wide cultural strategy to unite all efforts in the cultural sector of the country towards a more strategic, sustainable, and ambitious direction. The Culture Agenda 2031 is the first country-level strategy for the cultural sector in the UAE, with a roadmap of 7 strategic objectives and 75 strategic initiatives from 2018 until 2031.
One strategic objective in the Culture Agenda to "Strengthen the role of culture in international relations". All the initiatives assist in the implementation of the 2005 Convention, and some are innovative approaches to ensuring sustainable international cooperation, and they include the following initiatives:
* Ensure culture is a main component of other sectoral policies, strategies, and initiatives
* Strengthen cultural relations and exchange at the regional and international levels
* Contribute to the protection of cultural heritage around the world
* Strengthen culture's role in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals 2030
Since 2018 and the launch of the Culture Agenda, the cultural sector has taken deliberate steps to implement some of the initiatives. As of 2018 and onwards, one example of a major initiative which has been implemented:
* "Revive the Spirit of Mosul":
In 2018, the UAE partnered with UNESCO to restore and rebuild Al Nuri Mosque in Iraq which was destroyed by extremism. This is a 5 year long project (to be completed by 2023), with the aim to train and hire 1,000 Iraqis, provide a museum/memorial and community and educational spaces. In 2019, in celebration of the UAE's Year of Tolerance, the UAE added two more sites to the scope of the project - Al Sa'aa and Al Tahera Churches.
The UAE will continue international cooperation with the aim of ensuring sustainable development for all.