I Forum Madrid 2008 Informe

7/23/2019 I Forum Madrid 2008 Informe

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Th FrtAlliAnce oF civilizATions Frum

Madrid, 15-16 January 2008

UNITED NATIONS


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Madrid, Spain


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P :Alliance o Civilizations Secretariat

866 UN Plaza, Suite 300New York, NY 10017

USAwww.unaoc.org

D L:Chris Krupinski, CK Art & Design Studio

P:Ben Powless

EFELalin Press

Linda A. Cicero / Stanord News Service

Printed in the United States by YGS Group

D: Tis report seeks to capture key elements o the proceedings and discussion during the firstAlliance o Civilizations Forum. It does not purport to be a transcript and is necessarily selective. It should not be takenas a complete or authoritative record o any individual statement or intervention, nor expressing the views o the UnitedNations Alliance o Civilizations. Participants should be consulted directly or an authoritative statement o their views.


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Th F rt AlliAnce oF civilizATions Frum 1

cttexut summary 3

i t r d u t 5

opg s 7

Pary s i

Te Alliance o Civilizations: Managing Diversity in the Era o Globalization 11

Pary s ii

Political Challenges to Building Cross-Cultural Understanding 15

H g h - P t a D a g u 1 9

Wrkg s

1. Consolidating International Partnerships 232. Building the Alliance o Civilizations Clearinghouse: Media Literacy Education 273. Te Role o Religious Leaders and Communities in Promoting Shared Security 294. Innovative Uses o Mass Media to Promote Cross-Cultural Understanding 31

5. Youth Approaches to Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue 35

6. Conflict Prevention, Religion, and Politics at the Community Level 377. Rapid Response Media Mechanism 41

8. Engaging the Corporate Sector in the Alliance o Civilizations

How Business and Increased Cross-Cultural Understanding Can Benefit Each Other 45

Fudat Wrkg Grup Brakfat 47

Brakfat wth mmbr f th frmr Hgh- Grup

f th Aa f cat 51

Pary s iii

From Global alk to Local Action 53

cg s 57

Appdx 1: statmt f Rgu ladr shard surty 61

Appdx 2: statmt f Rgu Yuth orgaat 65

Appdx 3: Partpat 67




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Hosted by the Government o Spain, the First Alliance Forum convened over 500

leaders, activists, scholars, and public figures rom every region o the world inan effort to find new ways to bridge the growing divide between nations and cultures,

and to establish new partnerships to promote global understanding.

Over one and a hal days, political leaders including heads o State and Government;

Ministers and senior officials; civil society activists and Nobel laureates; corporate

executives; religious leaders; and leading scholars dialogued and debated with each

other, launched practical initiatives and made commitments to action aimed at im-

proving relations across regions and cultures.

Following opening remarks by the President o the Government o Spain, Jos LuisRodrguez Zapatero; the Prime Minister o urkey, Recep ayyip Erdoan; the UN

Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon; and the High Representative or the Alliance o

Civilizations, President Jorge Sampaio, the Forum began with two plenary panels

which defined the priority issues to be addressed at the Forum and set a pragmatic

tone or the ensuing discussions. Preceding each panel was a major announcement

which underscored the Alliances results-oriented approach:

H.H. Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned o Qatar announced a $100 mil-

lion investment to launch Silatech, a global youth employment initiative in-

volving ounding partnerships with the World Bank and Cisco; and

H.M. Queen Noor o Jordan announced the creation o an independent Al-

liance o Civilizations Media Fund to support film productions that oster

cross-cultural understanding, with an initial investment o $10 million and

ounding partnerships with major Hollywood talent, distribution, and pro-

duction companies.

Participants spent the remainder o the first day o the Forum and the morning o

the second day in smaller ocused discussion groups, including a High-Level Politi-

cal Dialogue or members o the Alliance o Civilizations Group o Friends, eight

working sessions, and two working breakasts. In these sessions, participants delved

exut summary


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4 Th F rt AlliAnce oF civilizATions Frum

deeper into the issues o politics, economics, culture, and religion that are central to

expanding cross-cultural understanding, shared security, and peace. Several practical

initiatives were generated or launched, including:

Te announcement o national and regional strategies or cross-cultural dia-

logue by governments and multilateral organizations to advance Alliance oCivilizations objectives in their respective countries and regions;

Te launch o a Rapid Response Media Mechanism beginning with an online

resource that will eature a list o global experts, who are available to comment

and give media interviews, particularly in times o major cross-cultural crises;

Te debut o an On-line Clearinghouse on policies and projects related to Al-

liance o Civilizations objectives;

Te creation o a North-South network o private oundations and philanthro-pists;

A consensus statement by diverse religious leaders committing to advance

conflict resolution and to provide youth with guidance to counter extremist

influences;

Te prioritization o cross-regional youth mobilization and exchanges to be

supported by a newly-created Youth Solidarity Fund;

Te signing o partnership agreements and memoranda o understanding be-tween the Alliance and major multilateral agencies and international organi-

zations; and

Te establishment o an Alliance network o goodwill ambassadors made up

o prominent, high-profile, internationally recognized figures drawn rom the

worlds o politics, culture, sport, business and entertainment to help in pro-

moting the work o the Alliance, highlighting priority issues and drawing at-

tention to its activities.

A third plenary panel held at the end o the Forum served to make the transition romthe wide-ranging discussions held at the Forum to the mechanisms or implementa-

tion and action that are to ollow in the coming months.

In his closing remarks, the High Representative or the Alliance o Civilizations,

President Jorge Sampaio, reviewed the main outcomes o the Forum, and commit-

ted to work with the members o the Alliances Group o Friends community and the

Alliances many partner organizations to ensure ollow-up on the ideas and project

launches advanced at the Forum.

Te ollowing report presents the themes and outcomes o each session held at theForum.


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itrdut

T

he Alliance o Civilizations (AoC) was established in 2005, at the initiative o the

Governments o Spain and urkey, under the auspices o the United Nations. It

aims to improve understanding and cooperative relations among nations and peoples

across cultures and religions and, in the process, to help counter the orces that uel

polarization and extremism.

Te first phase o the Alliance started with the creation by the UN Secretary-General

o a High-level Group o 20 eminent personalities mandated to produce a report ex-

ploring the roots o polarization between cultures and societies worldwide and pro-

posing practical recommendations to address this growing trend. Te High-level

Group presented its Report to Secretary-General Kofi Annan in November 2006.

In April 2007, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Jorge Sampaio, ormer

President o Portugal, as High Representative or the Alliance. Tis marked the begin-

ning o the second phase o the Alliance o Civilizations, with the development o an

action-oriented Implementation Plan ocusing on initiatives and projects in the areas

o youth, media, education and migration.

Te Alliances ocus on concrete initiatives was reinorced and consolidated at the First

Alliance o Civilizations Forum, which was hosted by the Government o Spain on 15-16

January 2008. Te Forum was a high-profile, action-oriented event which brought to-

gether a powerul network o political leaders, governments, international organizations,civil society groups, religious communities, as well as media and corporate leaders.

Te Madrid Forum, which was attended by over 500 delegates, provided participants

with a unique international platorm to develop joint initiatives and orge partner-

ships. In addition to a High-level Political Dialogue attended by Ministers and other

senior representatives o the Alliance o Civilizations Group o Friends, the Forum

eatured announcements o major new initiatives and project-specific working ses-

sions on a wide range o cross-cultural issues, including media literacy education,

conflict prevention at the community level and the contribution o the corporate sec-

tor to promoting intercultural understanding. With more than one thousand jour-nalists and media proessionals attending the Forum, the event received widespread

international coverage.


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Te important element here is to ensure the

optimal use o limited resources and to act

with a spirit o serving humanity, rather than

competition.

H.E. Mr. Recep ayyip ErdoanPrime Minister o urkey

Te Alliance o Civilizations aspires to build bridges that can help us to

manage the differences existing in the world, particularly those linked to

religious or cultural issues.

H.E. Mr. Jos Luis Rodrguez Zapatero

President o the Government o Spain

Never in our lietime has there been a more

desperate need or constructive and committed

dialogue, among individuals, among communities,

among cultures, among and between nationsAs

Secretary-General o the United Nations, my ocus is

on results. I am heartened to know that the Alliance

o Civilizations is, too.

H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon

Secretary-General o the

United Nations


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Te Alliance o Civilizations is clearly

the result o a shared political will

directed at harmonising adequate ac-

tion to conront cultural and religious

problems and threats to security, sta-

bility and peace in the world.

H.E. President Jorge Sampaio


opg s

T

he Opening Session o the First Alliance o Civilizations Forum

eatured the President o the Government o Spain, Jos Luis

Rodrguez Zapatero and the Prime Minister o urkey, Recep ayy-

ip Erdoan, as well as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the

High Representative or the Alliance o Civilizations President Jorge

Sampaio.

President Zapatero and Prime Minister Erdoan each announced

ambitious national implementation strategies which outlined a range

o initiatives and policies aimed at improving cross-cultural under-

standing and bridge-building. Both leaders called on UN member

states to mobilize support and implement policies related to the our

action areas o the Alliance o Civilizations education, media, youth

and migration and to ormulate national action plans to acilitate

implementation.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President Jorge Sampaio ex-

pressed their hopes and aspirations or the outcomes o the Forum

and the need to engage in constructive, solutions-oriented dialogue

as part o the longer term work o the Alliance o Civilizations. Te

speakers stressed the need to involve multiple sectors and to make

the work o the Alliance o Civilizations a joint effort, working withthe media, business, academia, religious leaders and institutions, civ-

il society, youth leaders, and opinion makers.


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Youth representatives withH.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moonSecretary-General o the United Nations


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By investing in our youth, we are in-

vesting in the security o our nations,

and only secure and confident nations

can build alliances based on mutual

respect and common objectivesWe

have talked enough, now we have to

take action.

H.H. Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser

Al-Missned

B

eore Plenary Session I, H.H. Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-

Missned o Qatar announced a $100 million investment in Silat-

ech, a global youth employment initiative aimed at connecting young

people to each other, to capital, to industry, to opportunity.

Te Silatech initiative, launched in cooperation with the World Bank

and Cisco, will work with international and regional partners to cre-

ate new jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities or youth. It will help

connect young people to employment, provide business development

services and promote small and medium-sized enterprises. Te initial

ocus will be on youth in the Middle East and North Arica, a region

with some o the highest youth unemployment rates in the world.


Announcement:sathYuth empymt itat


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H.E. Mr. Ali Babacan,Minister o Foreign Affairs o urkey

H.E. Kjell Magne Bondevik, Former Prime Minister o Norway meeting youthrepresentatives, Mr. oni Bandov, Mr. Rey Asis and Ms.Steanie Tomas

H.E. Ms. Mary Robinson meeting youth representatives


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PlenArySeSSioni

Maagg Drty thera f Gbaat

M

oderated by Ms. Ghida Fakhry-Khane o Al-Jazeera Interna-

tional, the first plenary panel sought to speciy the true nature

o the divisions that oment extremism and polarization between com-

munities and how the Alliance o Civilizations could best contribute in

practical terms to improving relations.

Dr. Javier Solana and Mr. Kjell Magne Bondevik each asserted that the

conflicts we witness today are about power and resources to a ar great-

er extent than they are about religion and culture, but that the emer-

gence o extremism and manipulation o ideas and ideologies within

this context still poses a challenge to be addressed.

Mr. Bondevik went on to note that humiliation and desperation con-

tribute to radicalizing people and that i people eel humiliatedby, or

example, occupation, injustice, or persistent portrayals o their religion

as ineriorthey become desperate. He urther contended that since

religion and politics are interwoven in this discourse both internation-

ally and at the local level, efforts in the area o interreligious dialogue to

overcome the problems we are acing today should also include politi-

cal leaders.

Drawing attention to the need to look at root causes as well as symp-toms, Prime Minister Badawi o Malaysia, President rk and Mr.

Bondevik commented on the issue o Palestine as an area where the

Alliance would ace a particular political challenge and contended that

a sense o despair combined with a lack o practical solutions would

continue to discredit talk o human rights and equality.

In considering practical actions to be taken, Prime Minister Badawi

and H.H. Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned o Qatar each placed

primary emphasis on the need or improved education. Prime Minis-

ter Badawi highlighted in particular the importance o empoweringwomen:

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Women must be given access to education.Hal o the Muslim population is women

and we must empower women i we would like to succeed.

H.E. Mr. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Sheikha Mozah asserted that quality education including the teaching o citizen-

ship, responsibility and civic initiative - must be a priority, not simply education or

all, noting that people who are taught to be obedient are more likely to be influenced

by extremists. Mr. Kochiro Matsuura agreed on the importance o quality educa-

tion, adding that non-ormal education and teaching outside the school system also

needed to be supported.

Te panelists also urged a strong emphasis on human rights as oundational to any

alliance across diverse communities. o this end, Ms. Mary Robinson suggested that

the Universal Declaration o Human Rights provides a common standard o achieve-

ment or all nations and individuals, and that the Alliance could help to reiterate and

reormulate a common understanding o this oundation across differing contexts

and a range o settings. Building upon this, President rk underlined the value o

taking a comprehensive approach:

Let us develop the Alliance o Civilizations in two directions:one is to add the col-

lective or identity element to the individualistic perception o human rights and

(second) let us make this Alliance all inclusive and let us see all the problems []

not only the most immediate and the most exciting issues o tension between Islam

and the West.

H.E. Dr. Danilo rk

Mr. Enrique Iglesias, Secretary-General o the Ibero-American Secretariat and Mr.

Ali Babacan, Minister o Foreign Affairs o urkey, commented that integration and

reconciliation between diverse groups are long-term processes that have taken place

already in many different historical contexts, including, or example on the European

continent and in Latin America. In the latter case, the successul outcomes o such

processes can be observed through political developments, such as the election o a

President o indigenous descent in Bolivia.

Above all, the panel stressed the importance o practical approaches and o taking theinitiative:

Among us we have to solve the problems o the world. And among us we have to try

to make this world a better place

H.E. Dr. Javier Solana Madriaga


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In truth, in our hearts and souls in

what we ear, in what we seek, in what

we need and what we love there is

a undamental common humanity

that towers above our differences.

H.M. Queen Noor

B

eore Plenary Session II, H.M. Queen Noor o Jordan announced

the launch o the Alliance o Civilizations Media Fund, which aims

to promote, support and sustain media content that enhances mutual

understanding and respect within and among different societies and

cultures.

With a goal o establishing a $100 million Fund, o which $10 million

has already been committed, she noted that the Fund will support the

production and distribution o films that entertain as well as enlighten

films that will enhance the connections that already exist between

different societies, but are seldom noted on screen and in popular cul-

ture.

She urther announced that leading Hollywood and new media com-

panies, including Participant Productions, International Creative

Management, Summit Entertainment, and Youube have already com-

mited to support the Alliance o Civilizations Media Fund.


Announcement:Aa fcat Mda Fud


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Te problem in Arica today is that

we need to be listened to. Let us rule

ourselves. Let us gather around a

table and we will define together the

conditions or cooperation.

H.E. Mr. Abdoulaye Wade

President o Senegal

Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Lawyer and Nobel Prize Laureate


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PlenArySeSSionii

Pta chag t Budgcr-cutura Udrtadg

Dr. Robin Niblett, Director o Chatham House, moderated the second

plenary panel which eatured heads o state, members o government,

civil society leaders, and public figures. Dr. Niblett initiated the dis-

cussion by asking whether there is, indeed, a so-called Islam-West

divide. He suggested that the clash, as a polarizing orce, resulted rom

efforts by those in power to appeal to peoples identity-based allegianc-

es or the sake o political gain.

In reaction, speakers raised the relativity o this perspective rom one

region to another. Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem, President Ab-

doulaye Wade, and Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu all stressed

that the problem is not so much one o Western and Islamic cultures,

but rather o the imposition o political and economic models and plans

rom outside powers which disregard the sovereignty o nations. Speak-

ers drew attention to the civilian cost o promoting democracy, and in

this way how continuous instability leads to even greater violations o

human rights in conflict areas. Tese oreign impositions ultimately

contribute to divisions and polarization between and within nations:

Forcing any model rom outside does not really help develop democ-

racy or peace or stability, on the contrary.

Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu

Further pursuing the theme o externally imposed processes, Presi-

dent Wade, in discussing Arica, said that the problem is not one o

resources, but rather one o expertise, education, and training. He then

stressed the need or partnerships o mutual respect between Arica

and the global North:

Te problem in Arica today is that we need to be listened to.

Let us rule ourselves. Let us gather around a table and we will

define together the conditions or cooperation.H.E. Mr. Abdoulaye Wade

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Others ocused less on the ostering o cooperation than on the necessity o

renewed political will, particularly in the West. Dr. Gareth Evans argued that

the U.S. must elect leadership that will evenhandedly try to solve problems and

advance the Middle East peace process and that the EU should recognize and

embrace the potential o urkey, while bringing more o its political and eco-

nomic power to bear on advancing the Middle East peace process. He addedthat the clash paradigm had reinorced an unwillingness to place the requi-

site political will behind solving key conflicts, particularly in the Middle East.

More than anything else, it has increasingly polarized people:

Te clash paradigm has no explanatory power, but it does have emotive

power. Te language used has had its effect.

Dr. Gareth Evans

Dr. Shirin Ebadi asserted that the clash paradigm had been created to serve

political interests, particularly to fill the need or a new enemy afer the dissolu-tion o the Soviet Union. She observed that i the discourse o a clash benefited

anyone, it was those selling weapons to conflicts areas.

Focusing on solutions, both Foreign Minister Miguel ngel Moratinos and Dr.

Ali Alatas pointed to the need to acknowledge and address the broadly-held

perception o double standards in how international laws and standards are

applied. Foreign Minister Moratinos went on to suggest that while the Alliance

o Civilizations was not in a position to resolve conflicts which would require

political will and agreements, it could contribute to a culture o peace marked

by greater understanding and respect between peoples. In terms o a strategy,

he urged other countries to develop national and regional plans to urther Alli-

ance o Civilizations objectives.

In a similar spirit, President arja Halonen and Foreign Minister Micheline

Calmy-Rey suggested that ostering new international, trans-regional, and

cross-cultural cooperation that produced results would be the best way to build

human security and advance basic human rights. On this note, and in answer-

ing the question o whether the European Union and its changing landscape o

economic and political immigrants are perceived in any way as a threat, Presi-

dent Halonen responded:

I think that international cooperation is more o an opportunity than a risk,

because at least or the smaller countries like my own (just 5 million), we

cannot live just on our own up in the North.Cooperation is the way we can

become richer and you can become richer.

H.E. Ms. arja Halonen

H.E. Mr. Abdelaziz BelkhademPrime Minister o Algeria


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H.E. Ms. arja HalonenPresident o Finland

HH Prince Saud bin Nai, Ambassador o Saudi Arabia to Spain andH.H. Prince urki al Faisal o Saudi Arabia


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H.E. Mr. Jorge Sampaio, ormer President o Portugal,UN High Representative or the Alliance o Civilizations


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Hgh-l Pta Dagu

since its establishment in 2005, the Alliance o Civilizations has beensupported in its role within the United Nations system and beyond bythe Group o Friends (GoF), a community o UN member countries, UNagencies and other international organizations that have demonstrated an

active interest in urthering the goals o the Alliance. Having more than

doubled in size to over eighty members since the High Representative

was appointed by the UN Secretary General in April 2007, the Group o

Friends represents the primary mechanism or concerted political action

and mobilization toward the objectives o the Alliance. During the First

Alliance Forum, a High-Level Political Dialogue bringing together the

Group o Friends community was convened. Over orty ministers, (in-

cluding 22 oreign ministers), secretaries-general, and directors-general

o Group o Friends and observer countries participated in the sessionwith the remainder o GoF members represented by parliamentarians,

ambassadors, senior policy-makers and advisors to heads o state.

President Sampaio opened the session with a brie update on progress

achieved since the Implementation Plan o the Alliance was launched in

June 2007. He emphasized the results-based approach o the Alliance and

the need or this ocus to be reflected through practical action at national

and local levels. In order to assure the long-term coherence and sus-

tainability o the Alliance, President Sampaio stressed that the Alliance

should develop strong international partnerships and strive to achieveprogress in those areas where unity o purpose and unity o action can be

achieved across diverse actors and stakeholders. He also stated that the

work and activities o the Alliance should be urther integrated into the

UN system. Moreover, the Alliances work would also be strengthened

through the development o national and regional policies and initia-

tives. Regarding organizational matters, President Sampaio underlined

the need or the Alliance to remain a light and effective structure. He

added that contributions to the Voluntary rust Fund or the Alliance

are essential to its continued unctioning and long-term viability.

Over the course o the High-Level Dialogue, strong support was ex-

pressed or the Alliance and its goals. Te timeliness o the initiative was

highlighted, given the increasing urgency o improving cross-cultural and

inter-religious understanding in order to enhance international stability

and expand human security and peace. Reerring to the global context,

participants pointed out that both political and economic actors were

central to countering extremism and the polarization o cross-cultural re-

lations. Several noted that without progress on specific conflictsnotably

in the Middle East and most prominently in the Israeli-Palestinian con-

flictthe impact o the Alliance would be limited while others empha-

sized the importance o addressing poverty and economic inequities.

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(continued on page 20)


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Representatives o diverse states shared the steps that their governments

were taking to oster tolerance and mutual respect between communi-

ties while countering the influence o extremists who exploit social, cul-

tural and economic insecurities to advance exclusivist brands o identity

politics. In this regard, some GoF members noted the challenge they ace

in striking a proper balance between sof approaches (education, ex-changes, youth mobilization, etc.) that support increased cross-cultural

understanding on the one hand, and hard approaches required to po-

lice and combat violent extremism, including countering the influence o

external support or extremist ideologies and groups on the other.

Because the Alliance is primarily concerned with sof approaches,

participants ocused on these, with several issues emerging over the

course o the discussion as common areas o priority or diverse Group

o Friends members. Tese included:

celebrating diversity as a source o local, national and regional

strength and vibrancy;

ocusing on shared regional interests through on-going re-

gional dialogue and cooperation processes;

expanding understanding and respect or diverse communities

and cultures through education, exchanges, youth mobilization,

and media; and

seeking to establish a common ramework or dialogue and co-

operation by stressing the common principles o respect or hu-

man dignity and the values common to all as expressed in the

Universal Declaration o Human Rights.

One o the themes that received greatest attention throughout the

high-level dialogue was the place o religion and the role o religious

leaders and communities in efforts to cultivate social cohesion within

and across national boundaries. Tree primary areas o ocus emerged

rom the discussion o this theme reflecting action that some Group o

Friends members are taking or encouraging others to take:

ostering greater understanding and respect between religious

communities by, or example, recognizing the value oand in

some cases acilitating the ormation ointer-religious coun-

cils as platorms or inter-religious dialogue, cooperative action,

and peace-building among communities at both national and

regional levels;

expanding education to ensure a basic understanding o diverse

religions and belie systems among general populations; and

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mr. SiAmetSAntoSomuStAfAAmbaadr f ida t spa

mr. roBertPAivADrtr f extra Rat, ioM

mr. jAmeSjenningSsrtary f th cmmtt fr Mdd eat iu, iPU

mr. AliBAgHeriDputy Frg Mtr fr eurp, ira

dr. ABdulAzizotHmAnAltwAijriDrtr Gra, isesco

H.e. giovAnnAmelAndriMtr fr Yuth, Pt ad sprt, itay

mr. motoHideyoSHiKAwAAmbaadr f Japa t spa

H.e. nAncyBAKirMtr f cutur, Jrda

mr. yerzHAnKAzyKHAnovDputy Mtr f Frg Affar, Kaakhta

H.e. BernArdinooSiosrtary-Gra, lat U

mr. AHmedBenHelliAtat srtary-Gra fr Pta Affar,

lagu f Arab stat

mr. eKmeleddiniHSAnoglusrtary-Gra, oic

mr. HemAyetuddinDrtr-Gra, cutura ad sa Affar, oic

H.e. min-SoonSongMtr f Frg Affar, Rpub f Kra

H.e. PetrASvAitieKunASMtr f Frg Affar, lthuaa

H.e. jeAnASSelBornDputy Prm Mtr ad Mtr fr Frg

Affar ad immgrat, luxmburg

H.e. HAmidAlBArMtr f Frg Affar, Maaya

H.e. SergiovelAPrdt f th nata cu fr cutur ad

Art, Mx

H.e. milAnrocenMtr f Frg Affar, Mtgr

H.e. AHmedtoufiqMtr f Habu ad iam Affar, Mrr

H.e. AireSBAPtiStAAliMtr f eduat ad cutur, Mambqu

H.e. mAXimeverHAgenMtr f Frg Affar, Th nthrad

H.e. cHriScArterMtr f eduat ad eth Afr, nw zaad

(continued from page 19)

(continued on page 21)


25/84


coming to terms with diverse perspectives on the relationship between religion and politics.

Te discussion also ocused on reedom o expression and the need to respect religious belies. Te point

was made several times that reedom o expression was a universal right which was to be promoted and

protected, but that it needed to be exercised responsibly.

Te practical initiatives launched during the Forum and mentioned by the High Representative in his

opening remarks were all reerenced during the high-level dialogue as welcome examples o dialogue

leading to action. Multiple Group o Friends members urged the Alliance to maintain its demonstrated

commitment to pragmatic approaches aimed at touching peoples lives in practical terms. o this end, a

number o commitments as well as recommendations by Group o Friends members were put orward

during the high-level dialogue. In particular, Bulgaria, New Zealand, Spain, and urkey presented na-

tional strategies developed to advance the objectives o the Alliance and oster greater cross-cultural

understanding, in line with the recommendations contained in the AoCs High-level Group Report.

Te High-Level Political Dialogue session concluded with a commitment that the Alliance would seekto support Group o Friends members in their efforts to oster cross-cultural understanding within their

own borders and regions; to acilitate inormation exchange and dissemination among them so that

their efforts can increasingly benefit rom being part o a collective response to the challenges o cross-

cultural polarization that conront every region; and to urther develop its own capacity as a acilitator

and catalyst or pragmatic action toward these ends.

Finally, urkey confirmed its intention to host the second Forum o the Alliance o Civilizations in 2009.

H.e. HAKongulBrAndSenstat srtary fr itrata Dpmt,

nrway

mr. HilAlB. mArHoonSAlimAlmAmAryAmbaadr f oma t spa

mr. mArcPerrindeBricHAmBAutsrtary Gra, osce

mrS. HumAirAHASSAnAmbaadr f Pakta t spa

mr. joSluiSPrezSncHez-cerroAmbaadr f Pru t spa

mr. AlBertoromulosrtary f Frg Affar, Phpp

mr. leonKiereScharma f th sat Frg Affar

cmmtt, Pad

H.e. luiSAmAdoMtr f Frg Affar, Rmaa

mr. AleXAndryAKovenKoDputy Mtr f Frg Affar, Th

Rua Fdrat

mr. enriqueigleSiASsrtary-Gra, seGiB

mr. ABASndiourAmbaadr f sga t spa

H.e. vucjeremicMtr f Frg Affar, srba

mr. feodorStArcevicAtat Mtr fr Mutatra Affar, srba

mrS. AnitAPitAnDrtr-Gra, Py fr Pag ad

Mutatra Rat, sa

mr. SiPHogeorgeneneDputy Drtr fr Mutatra iu,

Dpartmt f Frg Affar, suth Afra

H.e. ceciliAmAlmStrmMtr fr eU Affar, swd

H.e. micHelinecAlmy-rey

Mtr f Frg Affar, swtrad

mr. SAlAHeddinmAHAmidTurm Attah, embay f syra spa

mr. mAnASPASXutospa ey f th Prm Mtr, Thaad

mr. moHAmedHASSinefAntArspa Adr t th Prdt f Tua

mrS. elizABetHgAteAusrtary-Gra, UclG

mr. AndriyveSelovSKyiDputy Mtr f Frg Affar, Ukra

mr. KocHiromAtSuurADrtr-Gra, Unesco

H.e. ABdulrrAHmAnm. AlowAiSMtr f cutur, Yuth ad cmmuty

Dpmt, Utd Arab emrat

H.e. SHAHidmAliKMtr fr itrata Dpmt, Utd

Kgdm

H.e. ABuBAKerAl-qirBiMtr f Frg Affar, Ym

oBServerS

mr. deePAKoBHrAiParamtary srtary fr Frg Affar,

caada

H.e. fASilnAHumspa Adr t th Prm Mtr, ethpa

mr. rAPHAelScHulzAmbaadr f ira t spa

H.e. tAreKmitriMtr f cutur, lba

H.e. moHAmedSAleKouldmoHAmedlemineMtr f Frg Affar, Maurtaa

mr. HArunAginSAucharg dAffar, embay f ngra spa

mr. muSAAmerodeHGra Dgat f th Pata Authrty

spa

mr. SAudBinnAifBinABdulAzizAlSAudAmbaadr f saud Araba t spa

mr. eduArdoAguirreAmbaadr f th UsA t spa

(continued from page 20)


26/84

H.E. Mr. erry DavisSecretary-General o the Council o Europe


27/84


28/84


Others underlined the important role o cultural programs in promoting eco-

nomic development. Such programs enjoy high rates o return and can help

generate employment opportunities as well as economic benefits.

Te role o tourism in bringing different cultures closer together was also em-phasized. As a growing industry (in 2007, 900 million people crossed borders,

marking a 5% growth in global tourism), tourism can contribute to building

bridges among people rom a diversity o backgrounds. Te impact o tourism

could be urther increased by acilitating the movement o people and through

the adoption o a global code o ethics.

Several participants underlined the importance o increased dialogue among

international and multilateral institutions in charge o promoting cross-cultur-

al understanding. Tere was also, according to some, a growing need or evalu-

ating actions and past projects in this area o work in order to ensure that newinitiatives are effective and lead to concrete results.

Te act that improving intercultural relations was seen as a priority was a

source o concern or some, as it meant that little progress on intercultural dia-

logue had been achieved in the last decades. However, the current political in-

terest in intercultural dialogue was a source o encouragement, since it reflected

an understanding that sof power policies in the areas o education, youth and

media or example, were seen as an important element in efforts to promote

global stability.

Tis change o paradigm was reflected in the attention the Alliance o Civiliza-

tions was receiving as a mobilizing orce. It was important to remember, how-

ever, that the content or projects and initiatives was to be sought in a broad

network o partnerships with international organizations that have already

been operating in this field or some time. In that regard, UNESCO played an

important role as a platorm or international cooperation. A key aim o this

cooperation was to promote intercultural citizenship and to support efforts to

recognize each individuals reedom to belong to several cultures.

outcomeS

Several organizations highlighted shared priority areas (including youth, edu-

cation and media) and outlined concrete projects in which collaborative work

could be developed. Tese include:

As a step in the process o building the AoC Clearinghouse, UNDP

suggested the development o a resource on cultural development pro-

grams in order to encourage exchange o best practices and expertise.

Te OSCE also highlighted a number o areas o potential collaboration,

including the teaching o religions and belies in schools and the gather-

ing o expertise and best practices on tolerance and cultural understand-

H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon,UN Secretary-General


29/84


ing (in this regard, the OSCEs olerance and Non-Discrimination In-

ormation System a clearinghouse o organizations and resources on

tolerance and anti-discrimination policies could prove to be a useul

starting point).

In the context o intercultural projects, the Council o Europe outlined

a range o programs on which collaboration with the Alliance could be

explored. Tese include: the training o youth leaders in intercultural

skills; the promotion o human rights education; and city diplomacy

programs. Several existing Council o Europe programs offer oppor-

tunities or joint work, including the CoEs human rights education

program, youth leadership training and the Intercultural Cities pro-

gram.

Regarding youth-related programs, the Commonwealth Secretariatstands ready to assist the AoC Secretariat in ormulating and imple-

menting youth-led projects in Commonwealth countries in the areas

that have been identified inter-cultural and religious exchanges;

youth leadership training; and youth voices in the media.

Concerning the organization o joint events, ISESCO reiterated its

strong commitment to work with the Alliance o Civilizations and pro-

posed to organize a conerence around the AoC in 2008 with a view to

establishing a concrete mechanism o collaboration with the AoC.

UNESCO reiterated its commitment to collaborate with the AoCus-

ing, as a starting point, the MoU that had just been signed.

H.E. Mr. Miguel Angel Moratinos,Minister o Foreign Affairs

o Spain andH.E. Ms. Maria eresa Fernndez,

First Vice President o Spain


30/84


31/84


worKingSeSSion2

Budg th Accarghu:Mda ltray eduat

M

oderated by Dr. Pr Lundgren, Proessor o Media and Com-

munication at the University o Karlstad in Sweden, Working

Session 2 brought together Media Literacy Education1experts rom 21

countries representing a wide range o universities, media education,

and media policy organizations rom across the globe.

As the Alliance o Civilizations chose MLE as the subject or the first

theme to be elaborated in its on-line Clearinghouse, the main purpose

o Working Session 2 was to invite the assembled MLE experts and

advocates to advise on how the Alliance could best develop this on-

line resource to support a growing international MLE community o

knowledge.

diScuSSion

Te Working Session began with the introduction and demonstration

o a live interactive navigation o the newly developed Clearinghouse

website on MLE which was scheduled to open to all Internet users on

the 15 February, 2008.

Te MLE Clearinghouse is the first o a series o clearinghouse themes

being launched by the Alliance o Civilizations, which aim to develop

an international community o knowledge, providing exemplary bestpractice resources and serving as a research tool or users and practi-

tioners in a range o key fields o work relevant to AoCs implementa-

tion plan.

Te purpose o the MLE Clearinghouse is to become an open and in-

clusive resource providing inormation to interested individuals, insti-

worKingSeSSion2 SPeAKerS

dr. reginAdeASSiSPrdt, MUlTiRio, Bra

dr. AguStngArcAmAtillADrtr f cmmuat,

Urty car iii d Madrd,

spa

dr. c. K. cHeungUrty f Hg Kg

dr. SAmytAyiePrdt f MenToR, carUrty, egypt

dr. reneHoBBSDrtr, Mda eduat lab,

Tmp Urty, UsA

1 Media Literacy Education (MLE) describes a broad variety o recently-developed pedagogical ap-proaches that teach media consumers how to critically interpret the inormation they receive, takinginto consideration the new cultures emerging rom the Inormation Society. Some preer the termsMedia Education, Digital Literacy, News Literacy, or 21st Century Literacies.


32/84


tutions, policy-makers, and organizations. All registered users will be able to con-

tribute to its development by uploading content, articles and inormation. Te AoC

is developing a network o partner organizations which will jointly with the AoC

Secretariat become the administrators o the MLE-themed website.

Following the interactive live website demonstration, the session continued with pre-sentations by five speakers who provided both overviews o the latest MLE initia-

tives and policies across diverse regions (Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, North

America, and Europe) as well as highlights o uniquely innovative programs and/or

ar-reaching policies.

Te presentations were ollowed by small group discussions in which participants and

speakers debated the definition o MLE, exchanged inormation on best practices and

discussed the relevance and optimal utility o the AoCs MLE clearinghouse. A num-

ber o participants in the session expressed an interest in partnering with one another

through the AoC. Tese partnerships could be developed through the MLE on-lineclearinghouse in order to urther the process o sharing inormation and supporting

cooperative action ollowing the AoC Forum.

outcomeS

Based on the discussions o the working groups, as they were reported back to the

main session, the ollowing themes and conclusions were identified:

Tere is an increasing number o organizations working in the MLE area and more

resources and activities are being developed.

Contextual differences between regions have given rise to a wide variety o approaches

to MLE with emphases on different types o media varying rom country to country.

echnological divides are still preventing some parts o the world rom engaging in

online MLE debates and using web-based resources.

Policy and curricula pertaining to MLE have been and are being developed in a vari-

ety o regions, but the level o development between regions is uneven. Civil society

could play an important role in inorming decision-makers and policy advisors on

the latest developments in MLE policies in diverse regions.

MLE should be part o citizenship education as it is part o a broader context o en-

couraging critical thinking in todays inormation society.

Tere is a need to critically evaluate MLE in light o the work that has been achieved

in this area over the last 20 years. Tis task is acilitated by an enhanced understand-

ing o the media context developed through research and studies during this time.

MLE audiences need to be defined and suitable resources and materials need to be

made available to them.


33/84

worKingSeSSion3

Th R f Rgu ladrad cmmut Prmtgshard surty

W

orking Session 3 convened religious leaders rom around the world

to explore their role in promoting tolerance, shared security, and

peace. Shared security moves beyond a conventional understanding o na-

tional and human security, and recognizes that human dignity (including

the right to a decent lie or everyone) lies at the heart o any effort to pro-

mote peace. Organized in partnership with Religions or Peace (RP), this

session continued RPs ongoing efforts to advance multi-religious coop-

eration toward these goals. Moderated by Most Revd Dr. John O. Onaiye-

kan, Archbishop o Abuja, Nigeria, the sessions participants included over

fify religious leaders, youth representatives, and civil society leaders.

diScuSSion

Over the course o the session, speakers and participants emphasized a

series o important points to advance the shared security agenda. Speci-

ically, they expressed the need to increase interaction between religious

leaders and politicians. While religious leaders continue to engage each

other in dialogue, it is ofen politicians who make substantive decisions

that can create or mitigate conflicts. Politicians also need to be held ac-

countable or discrepancies between their rhetoric and their actions.

Te vast majority o people are not aware that religious leaders as-semble in this way. It is important to raise the profile and visibility o

exchanges such as this one. But the issue at hand is more than a matter

o public relations. Te misperception that religion is the root cause

o violence needs to be dispelled. Engaging voices that represent the

peaceul, mainstream o religions is essential, as ignoring them allows

extremists to fill the void lef by their absence. Tus, religious lead-

ers have a necessary role in the promotion o shared security. In that

respect, it was suggested that a uture theme or the AoC Clearing-

house should be the collection o best practices in the engagement by

religious leaders and communities o other key sectors, including thecorporate, political, and media sectors or the purposes o advancing

development, humanitarian action, and positive social change.


mS. KArenArmStrongAuthr ad Thga,

Utd Kgdm

H.H. SHeiKHtAySeerAl-tAmimiHad f th Hgh lga curt ad f

th suprm cu fr Rgu

Adjudat Pat

dr. AzzAKArAmcutura Adr, Utd nata

Ppuat Fud (UnFPA)

HiSHolineSSABunePAuloSPatrarh, ethpa orthdx churh,

ethpa

mr. juAnfernAndolPezAguilArFrmr Mtr f Jut, spa

rABBidAvidroSencharma, itrata Jwh

cmmtt fr itrrgu

cutat; Amra Jwh

cmmtt, ira

Profdr. dinSyAmSuddinPrdt, ctra Bard f

Muhammadyah, ida

His Holiness Abune PaulosPatriarch o the Ethiopian Orthodox Church



34/84


Participants also recognized that to expand shared security, disparities in income,

allocation o resources, and various other inequities also need to be addressed. Te

dynamics o globalization have urther cemented many o these problems. Shared

security cannot be achieved without working toward global justice. Engagement

rom multiple sectors and stakeholders is thus necessary to make progress.

Women are particularly affected by extremism. Even though women are ofen

the subject o debates on religious identity, they are severely underrepresented

in these discussions, as a great majority o religious leaders are men. Tis also

allows extremists to scapegoat women. A concerted effort needs to be made to

increase womens involvement in religious programs. More women need to be

placed in positions o religious leadership.

Youth representing religious organizations made an intervention (see appen-

dix) challenging and urging religious leaders to take action on our ronts: in-ter-religious dialogue at the local level should be considered as important as

inter-religious dialogue at the global level; learning respect or other religions

and aiths should be a necessary part o religious education; religious minori-

ties within countries should be allowed to exercise their right to religious ree-

dom without being discriminated against or suppressed; and people should be

empowered to counter and publicly debate with members o religious communi-

ties who inspire ear or disdain or other religions.

outcomeS

A statement committing the assembled religious leaders to action in key areas

was accepted by acclamation during the session. Salient commitments in the

statement included the ollowing:

Use multi-religious dialogue to discern deeply held and widely shared

values that can provide platorms or multi-religious action in service o

the common good;

Provide youth with genuine opportunities or religiously based service

to the common good, as an alternative to what is offered to them byreligious extremists;

Welcome opportunities or new emale leadership and assert that reli-

gious women be ully mainstreamed into the leadership o religious e-

orts to advance multi-stakeholder cooperation or the common good;

Engage the media to raise the visibility o multi-religious dialogue and

cooperation in building peace and promoting the common good.

H.H. Sheikh ayseer Al-amimio Palestine


35/84


worKingSeSSion4

iat U f MaMda t Prmtcr-cutura Udrtadg

W

orking Session 4, moderated by Ms. Mary Robinson, Founder

and President o Realizing Rights: Te Ethical Globalization Ini-

tiative, convened media proessionals rom V, newspaper, film and

radio, as well as nonprofit organizations working with media and oun-

dations and philanthropists interested in supporting media or social

change. Te session also included presentations by some o the princi-

pal supporters o the Alliance o Civilizations Media Fund, including

H.M. Queen Noor who made closing comments related to the Fund.

diScuSSion

While the media is ofen perceived as having a distorting and nega-

tive impact on relations between cultures, participants ocused on the

power o media to recognize uniying elements within peoples cul-

tures and religions, spark conversations, inspire people to action, and

support conflict resolution efforts.

Participants discussed several differing but complementary strategies

aimed at using the media as an effective tool to enlighten people about

different cultures and to inspire collective action towards building

cross-cultural bridges. Te role o both documentaries and entertain-

ment media was discussed. For instance, Just Visions Encounter Pointand Participant Productions An Inconvenient ruth illustrate vividly

how documentaries can raise public awareness and encourage changes

o attitude by triggering global conversations about key issues the world

is acing today. Entertainment media and eature films could also be e-

ective agents o change by highlighting important social and political

issues as backdrops to narratives with which viewers could engage.

Te Alliance o Civilizations Media Fund was presented and discussed

in detail as an initiative that uses the compelling power o media in or-

der to generate more balanced and constructive perceptions o minori-ties. Te research on which the initiative is based shows that sel-per-


mS. juliABAcHAFm prdur ad Mda Drtr, Jut

v; c-Drtr, eutr Pt

mr. omArAmAnAtc-Fudr, Grudw Prdut

ad Bard Mmbr f th Ac Mda

Fud

mS. SuSAncollinmArKSexut v Prdt, sarh fr

cmm Grud

mr. AmrKHAledBradatr

mr. jAmeSBerKceo, Partpat Prdut


36/84


ceptions o minorities are deeply affected by media images portraying acts o violence

committed against the group they identiy with. Te aim o the AoC Media Fund is

to support productions that promote positive images o minorities and to provide

platorms or their widespread dissemination. It was noted that the AoC Media Fund

was a non-profit venture and that income generated by Fund-supported productions

would be reinvested into the Fund.

Tere was a great deal o support or the Media Fund and related initiatives. Some

participants pointed out that, given the scarcity o resources in this field, partner-

ships were crucial i progress was to be achieved. Others noted that, in some cases,

mainstream, commercially viable productions were not necessarily the most effective

channel through which to generate social change. Experience showed, or example,

that in many Arican countries where radio is ofen the primary mechanism or

mass communication smaller scale, locally produced soap operas and reality shows

were more likely to achieve broad impact and contribute to conflict resolution. Such

productions, however, were not usually commercially viable and needed financialsupport.

Te impact o media on young people was also the ocus o much attention. Many

participants emphasized the urgent need to provide positive messages to the young.

All too ofen, the media ocused on negative issues that were not at the core o young

peoples concerns. Tereore, efforts should be made to give young people media plat-

orms to have their voices heard and to concentrate on issues that are o central inter-

est to them, such as employment, womens role in society and combating racism and

intolerance.

It was also argued that young people responded positively to role models. Rock stars

such as Indonesias Ahmad Dhani - and other celebrities carrying a strong message in

support o tolerance and mutual understanding could wield a great deal o influence

among young people. Humor could also play an important role in achieving shifs

in opinion.Aliens in Americawas a good example o how humor could help address

hostility against Muslims.

outcomeS

Suggestions were made to:

Use the media to respond quickly to crises using timely, topical, and strategic ap-

proaches and messages. Participants stressed the need to ampliy the voices o

those in avor o an alliance, and counter those who are insisting that there is an

inevitable clash;

Develop films that both entertain and also enlighten and address difficult issues;

Empower youth to tell their stories at the local level;

Mr. Amr KhaledBroadcaster


37/84


Develop strategic partnerships between media organizations and organizations

that can provide educational outreach to youth and to particular target popula-

tions, such as decision makers;

Develop media projects to share the stories o people in regions around the world

that are not ofen told and to highlight initiatives that are successully creatingalliances locally, regionally, or internationally. Whether small or large scale initia-

tives, such projects could be produced with modest capacity at the local level and

then distributed broadly;

Develop commercially viable narratives that can educate large numbers o people

about cultures that they are unamiliar with or about issues that require greater

public awareness;

urn to Asia and Southeast Asia to highlight additional models o coexistence

beyond the West-Middle East ocus;

Specific suggestions were also made or the AoC Media Fund to: develop both con-

tent and skills (train people to network with one another internationally); develop

and disseminate a strategic plan or their work; and integrate youth in the selection

and development o stories.


38/84

Mr Lucas Welch, President, Soliya andMr. Ricken Patel, Executive Director, Avaaz

lef to right: Ms. Nina Aeckerle, H.M. Queen Nooro Jordan and Ms. Lujain Madani

Youth representatives withH.H. Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missnedat the Alliance Forum


39/84

worKingSeSSion5

Yuth Apprah titrutura & itrrguDagu

W

orking Session 5 brought together leaders o non-governmental

organizations and youth participants nominated by a number o

youth partner networks that cooperated with the AoC Secretariat to

identiy youth leaders or the Forum: the Commonwealth, the Council

o Europe, the International Coordination Meeting o Youth Organiza-

tions (ICMYO), the Islamic Conerence Youth Forum (ICYF-DC) and

UNESCO. H.H. Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned also partici-

pated actively throughout the session.

Te session was dedicated to discussing best practices as well as chal-

lenges and opportunities or intercultural and interreligious leadership

training and exchanges. It was organized entirely in working group

ormat with resource persons rom non-governmental organizations

acting as acilitators and providing insights into projects and initiatives

aimed at promoting intercultural and interaith dialogue. owards the

end o the session, a number o observations and suggestions were pre-

sented by youth rom the working groups.

Global youth movements have skills or dialogue - dialogue or un-

derstanding.

Youth participant

diScuSSion

Participants agreed that conerences and international events offered

good networking opportunities, allowing youth to meet ace to ace

and get to know each others work. Experiencing multicultural en-

counters offered new perspectives to youth who participated in them.

However, even though international meetings allowed youth to estab-

lish networks and platorms or joint projects and partnerships, there

was a need to complement these efforts with external guidelines and

action. Follow-up was deemed o utmost importance.

worKingSeSSion5 fAcilitAtorS

mr. mArKevAnSDrtr, ctg cutur

dr. eBooPAtelexut Drtr, itrfath Yuth cr

mS. SHirAloewenBerg

Drtr, outward Bud ctr frPabudg

mS. inAyAHwAHidFudr, th Pt Mmt

mr. tylernorriSexut Drtr, Abraham Path itat

mr. lucASwelcHFudr ad Prdt, sya

youtHorientAtionSeSSion

Partr rgaat:

mr. rAlf-reneweingArtnerDrtr f Yuth ad sprt, cu f

eurp

mS. eliSeAuvAcHezst fr Yuth, sprt & Phya

eduat, Unesco

mr. diogoPintosrtary Gra, eurpa Yuth Frum

mr. elSHAdiSKAndArovsrtary Gra, iam cfr

Yuth Frum fr Dagu ad cprat

mr. rAjKumArBidlAPrgramm ofr Yuth Affar D,

cmmwath srtarat

spakr/Fatatr:

mr. AmrKHAled(pakr) ad mr. SHAuKAt

wArriAcH(fatatr)Rghtstart Fudat

mr. derricKASHongDrtr f Bu Dpmt,

Wap f Ma etrtamt

mr. ricKenPAtelexut Drtr, Aaarg

mr. joHnmArKSPrdt, sarh fr cmm Grud

mS. SHAreSeBullocKstratg Partrhp & Marktg,ltUp!



40/84

Ms. Sharese Bullock,ListenUp!


Many participants made the point that young people needed to be included

directly in decision-making processes, and should have a chance to share their

own experience at international meetings and create practical project propos-

als. Access to inormation about projects, unding and possible joint ventures

was also regarded as key.

Moreover, many participants stressed the need to overcome obstacles to youth

travel, such as visa restrictions and lack o financial resources. Tere was also

an urgent need to explore ways o reaching young people who are not present at

international meetings. Given the high costs involved in ace-to-ace exchanges,

other options or interaction should be explored involving the use o new tech-

nologies. In that context, the digital divide needed to be tackled urgently: not

all youth organizations have access to technology and efforts should be made

to extend internet access.

Youth exchange programs were seen as effective tools or promoting intercul-tural understanding. Participants were o the opinion that more money needed

to be committed to increase the number o exchange programs and to deepen

their content. Exchanges should not only be about the experience o meeting

people and cultures, but also about achievingsomething together.

More generally, widening education opportunities was highlighted as one o the

key priorities. Access to quality education and gainul employment still posed

major challenges to the worlds young people. Serious attention and efforts

needed to be invested in these areas. Te Silatech youth employment initiative

announced at the Forum was enthusiastically welcomed in that regard.

Exchanges need to have ollow-up; people need to make use o their knowl-

edge and to share knowledge with others.

Youth participant

outcomeS

An AoC web-based resource should be created to share inormation

about existing projects, including contact inormation to acilitate net-

working.

In addition to involving youth in international events and in concrete

youth-led projects, the AoC should promote the expansion o interna-

tional student exchanges to become a standard component o educa-

tion.

Providing unding should be accompanied by proper evaluation to make

sure that the project goals achieved can be taken orward.

Te UN and all its agencies should better coordinate their efforts in the

youth area.


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worKingSeSSion6

ct Prt, Rgad Pt at th cmmutyl

W

orking Session 6 convened experts and practitioners in the

fields o conflict prevention, religion, and politics. Te ocus o

the session was to move beyond theoretical discussions o a clash to

practical recommendations and best practices in the field o conflict

prevention. Moderated by Mr. Oliver Mcernan, the session included

representatives rom multiple sectors such as members o national

governments, religious and political decision-makers, and representa-

tives rom civil society and the international community.

diScuSSion

Participants stressed that the use o religious language to describe con-

flicts prevents accurate analyses o the underlying political issues. Yet,

while political and economic actors are most ofen the catalysts in cre-

ating conflict, many populations view and interpret the world around

them including conflicts - through the lens o their religious belie.

For this reason, the religious dimension o conflicts needs to be taken

into consideration, and religious leaders need to be engaged at local,

national, and regional levels. Tere also needs to be greater interac-

tion between religious leaders and politicians. Between different aith

communities, a language o shared values is starting to develop. Tiscan be the basis or greater interaction on shared concerns.

Participants noted that to have effective dialogue that leads to peace, all

parties in a conflict need to be invited to the table. While this is recog-

nized as a principle o conflict resolution, it is not acted on, whether it

is in Israel-Palestine or in the unwillingness o various governments to

talk to Islamists. In the case o the latter, it is important to recognize

that there is a significant segment o Islamists that is not extremist, and

needs to be engaged in dialogue.

Dialogue must move beyond nominal exchanges. It is important to lis-

ten earnestly and careully, particularly to those who disagree with one


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most. Te ultimate purpose o dialogue is not to convert the other side to ones

views, but to address its concerns. One o the biggest challenges in dialogue is

that even in private interactions, leaders are not willing to be bold and open,

and the established order is constantly given a ree pass.

All politics are local, and all grievances need to be addressed at the local levelwithout anyones exclusion. Te court systems in many countries are slow to

act, which is why it is important to involve local leaders in the process o ad-

dressing grievances. Local communities also have a role to play in becoming

early warning systems, as they are on the ground and able to witness firsthand

escalations in any conflict. For effective peace building, people need to eel the

dividends o peacemaking at the local level. Tis encourages them to actively

participate in the peacemaking process and eel empowered.

One o the biggest challenges in engaging Muslim and Western societies is

the rise o Islamophobia. Constantly, Muslims and Islam are on the deensive.Te point o departure or discussions on Islam is ofen that it is not a violent

religion. In the non-Muslim world it is thought that it is the responsibility o

mainstream Muslims to differentiate themselves rom extremists. Te non-

Muslim world also has a part to play in actively differentiating between the

religion and acts o terror.

Stereotyping is ofen a product o intended ignorance. Tere are resources be-

ing constantly deployed to spread disinormation and misperceptions o oth-

ers. Tis can be described as an industry o ignorance. o counter this, it was

proposed that a human right to be understoodshould be promoted as a mutual

obligation or all societies and cultures. Additionally, education around this

right should be incorporated into school curricula and textbooks, such that it

can become the basis o interaction between cultures and societies.

Several participants elt that unless the Alliance seeks to address in some way

the issue o the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it will not meet its objectives. It was

argued that the ocus must remain on resolving the conflict, rather than sim-

ply managing its effects. Without a genuine attempt at reaching a negotiated

solution, the situation on the ground would continue to fluctuate between live

conflict and dormant peace process with no hope o a resolution. Participants

also argued that the significant power differential between the two sides o the

conflict needed to be acknowledged. At the same time, the point was made that

internecine fighting in Palestine needed to be addressed in order to reach a

long-term resolution to the conflict.

Proessor John EspositoGeorgetown University


43/84


outcomeS

Suggestions were made to:

Ensure that dialogues bring every stakeholder in a conflict to the table, par-

ticularly when it comes to Israel-Palestine;

Convene ora where open exchanges between politicians and religious leaders

can take place. Many politicians who are involved in policy-making are not

adequately inormed on basic religious issues;

Increase engagement between various sectors and religious leaders through

a clearinghouse that documents best practices o religious leaders engaging

governments, civil society, the media, and politicians;

Develop systems o education and reorm or religious leaders, particularly in

areas where problematic interpretations o religion are being applied;

Empower local community and religious leaders as well as politicians so that

they are able to address local grievances more promptly, as recourse to the

court systems delays this process significantly;

Make local communities and community leaders part o an early warning sys-

tem o escalating tensions in both conflict and non-conflict situations;

Use language at the official level in Western governments that does not con-

flate the religion o Islam with criminal acts o terror;

Help create a multi-religious inrastructure that works at the local, regional,

and global levels to allow religious communities to address their concerns in

the language o shared values;

Incorporate the human right to be understood in school curricula around the

world as a useul pedagogical tool to prevent stereotyping among and between

communities.


44/84

Mr. Shaukat WarraichRight Start Foundation

H.E. Ms. arja HalonenPresident o Finland


45/84

worKingSeSSion7

Rapd Rp MdaMham

W

orking Session 7 brought together media proessionals editors,

producers and journalists to collect eedback about the Alli-

ance o Civilizations Rapid Response Media Mechanism (RRMM), an

initiative aimed at supporting the work o media proessionals by con-

necting them with leading experts and analysts who can comment on

intercultural issues, particularly in times o crisis. Te session was also

aimed at developing a community o support or the RRMM among

these proessionals and to seek their insights about the challenges aced

by the media in covering conflicts and cross-cultural issues. Te session

was moderated by Riz Khan o Al Jazeera International, and President

Halonen o Finland also participated actively in the discussions.2

diScuSSion

Participants expressed strong support or the Rapid Response Media

Mechanism, underlining the act that such a tool could be valuable

when reporting on potentially divisive cross-cultural stories. It was

generally recognized that the media played an important role in shap-

ing stories on intercultural issues and that polarizing views were some-

times more likely to make the news than opinions that seek to calm

tensions.

Some welcomed the RRMM initiative precisely because religion had

become one o the oreront issues in news coverage. Because o this,

the need or balanced views on religious-related matters was greater

than ever. Te upcoming crisis surrounding the Geert Wilders film

about the Koran in Holland showed the need or a tool such as the

RRMM.

Te wider context in which cross-cultural crises arise was deemed very

important. Several participants pointed out that the lack o progress in

2 Shortly ollowing President Halonens participation, Finland initiated the development o its ownRapid Response Media Mechanism.


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46/84


resolving long standing conflicts constituted the backdrop or many cross-cultural

crises and or the increasing polarization between Western and Muslim societies. In

this context, the RRMM could be a useul tool, but it should not be seen as a substi-

tute or political action and it should not be used to hide the act that the ultimate

responsibility or addressing the root causes o polarization is in the hands o political

leadership.

In a similar vein, it was argued that the tendency to over-interpret conflicts in a cul-

tural rame carried the danger o somewhat ignoring the political roots o the issues

involved. Te undamental issues surrounding cross-cultural tensions were deemed

to be political and our effort to explain tensions in cultural terms sometimes made us

incapable o recognizing the real sources o conflict. In parallel to a Rapid Response

Media Mechanism, there is a need to work through the socio-political and historical

roots o conflicts a process that is necessarily slow and needs to be pursued in the

long-term.

Others emphasized the limitations o the RRMM by pointing out that it could do little

to help reduce inter-cultural conflicts on a local or national basis. For people sitting

on the ault lines o local conflicts or suffering rom the impact o tensions between

rival ethnic and political groups, the main issue was to have their voices heard and

to ensure the reality on the ground was reported aithully by the media. Te RRMM

might be a useul tool to help reduce cross-cultural tensions at a global level, but its

impact on local conflicts will be limited though presumably RRMM-type models

implemented at more national and local levels could more effectively reach this level

o impact. Te RRMM should not restrict itsel to giving a platorm to voices o the

establishment and those who analyze conflicts rom a distance; rather, it should ocuson bringing to the ore the viewpoints o those who are experiencing conflict situa-

tions on the ground.

Moreover, in order to be effective, the RRMM needs to be a balanced resource, which

includes a diversity o opinion-makers. Tis is all the more important that this re-

source should not be seen as an attempt by the Alliance or the UN to tell journalists

how to do their jobs. In this regard, some pointed out that the job o journalists is not

to reduce polarization, but to produce balanced views on complex issues.

Participants also stressed the importance o building off o existing efforts and net-works or instance the resource o 180 Palestinian and Israeli commentators and

experts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict created by JustVision, whose aims converge

with those o the Alliance.

outcomeS

Participants expressed support or the RRMM and provided insights, ideas and eed-

back that will be useul or the second phase o the projects implementation:

Support was expressed or the Global Experts Finder (GEF) an online resource

being developed as part o the RRMM. It was highlighted that, in order to be e-


47/84


ective, this resource would have to allow journalists to contact relevant experts

almost immediately.

Te need was stressed by participants that the online resource should be interdis-

ciplinary and diverse, including a plurality o independent voices. It was also sug-

gested that the GEF should include quotes and links to experts publications.

Te tool could be very valuable inasmuch as it allows journalists to produce bal-

anced views about a particular issue. It is important that the Alliance does not

attempt, through this resource, to shape messages: the GEF should simply assist

journalists in their work.

Media training should also be provided to experts included in the resource. It was

noted that the name Rapid Response Media Mechanism could be misinterpreted

and that its military connotations did not convey adequately the aims o the re-

source.

Participants also welcomed the idea o orming an online group where these issues

could be urther discussed. In particular, it was suggested that an early warning

network o partners be created to provide monitoring o cross-cultural tensions

worldwide.


48/84


49/84

worKingSeSSion8

egagg thcrprat str thAa f cat

W

orking Session 8, organized in partnership with the UN Global

Compact and Club de Excelencia en Sostenibilidad, brought to-

gether business leaders primarily Chie Executive Officers and Se-

nior Vice-Presidents rom around the world to discuss the role o

corporations in contributing to promote cross-cultural understanding.

Moderated by Mr. Aldo Olcese, rom the Spanish Royal Academy o

Economic and Financial Sciences, the session had three main goals:

to help engage the corporate sector in the work o the Alliance

o Civilizations;

to collect ideas and suggestions or potential business sector

partnerships and corporate strategies aimed at promoting cul-

tural diversity; and

to share examples o best practices.

Te speakers shared with the group their own companies experiences

and best practices regarding corporate policies that take into consid-

eration and support cultural diversity in their workorce, sustainable

growth, environmental awareness and community-based outreach that

develops and supports local programs.

diScuSSion

Te ollowing observations and recommendations were made:

Many western multinationals make substantial strategic in-

vestments in culturally diverse countries with extraordinary

growth potential in multiple sectors related to inrastructure,

health, education and housing needs. Tese sectors represent

consumer markets o millions o human beings who seek a bet-

ter quality o lie. Most o the worlds natural resources are in countries with a


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50/84


great need or social stability. Investing in local programs and humanresources in these countries would benefit the local community, thecountry as well as the corporate sector.

Economies can only develop within a context o stability. Companies

could play a crucial role in achieving and maintaining peace and so-cial equality. Tey should be engines o development and social justice,especially since they ofen operate in countries whose economies aresmaller than their own (95 o the 150 largest economies in the world arenot countries, but multinationals).

Te corporate sector must recognize its responsibility and develop busi-ness initiatives that take into consideration sustainable and ecologicallyviable solutions to concrete local challenges. Tey should develop strate-gies to structurally enrich the countries in which they are operating.

Successul contemporary business models are those that embrace andpromote diversity within their managerial staff and workorce in general.

Te business world offers a relevant context or the promotion o inter-cultural understanding and diversity. Te strengthening o these actorscan produce greater financial benefits as well as greater stability, andmutual support among different sectors.

Collaboration between corporations and governments is essential in

order to ensure a sustainable work place and a social environment inwhich the principles o equality, diversity, ethical behaviour, good gov-ernance, transparency, and social justice will develop and expand in theuture. All these are undamental elements o social cohesion and areessential to economic development and strong democratic systems.

outcomeS

Te UN Global Compact committed to publish a book on best practiceso corporations promoting and supporting diversity, cross-cultural ini-

tiatives, and sustainable growth as a first step towards setting interna-tional standards as well as a concrete outcome o the working session.

Participants recommended that corporations and governments wo

I Forum Madrid 2008 Informe

Documents

Transcript of I Forum Madrid 2008 Informe