Remarks
By
The High Representative of the
United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser
at the
High Level Meeting on
INTERCULTURAL & INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
Barcelona, 22 – 23 July, 2015
Your Excellency, José Manuel Garcia-Margallo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain,
Your Excellency, Fathallah Sijilmassi, Secretary General of the Union for Mediterranean,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to participate in the High Level Meeting on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue, organized under the leadership and initiative
of His Excellency Mr. José Manuel Garcia-Margallo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the Union for the Mediterranean.
It is always a remarkable opportunity to join forces with valuable partners as the European Union Member States, the Anna Lindh Foundation as well as the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KACIID). We were therefore
very pleased to be partnering with all these organizations in convening this important meeting.
Allow me to note that the themes selected for this High Level Meeting, addressing three crucial topics, namely : Investing in Youth and women as central actors for Intercultural Dialogue, The challenge of building inclusive societies through intercultural and interfaith dialogue and Making institutions like all of us stronger than challenges in providing a counter-narrative to violent extremism. This is a call for action. Therefore, our discussions today is timely.
To our agenda, I would like to recall he relevance of Chapter VIII “8” of the UN Charter, on the cooperation between regional arrangements with the UN in maintaining international peace and security. To that end, the international community and the UN would not be able to advance their agenda without the crucial cooperation of sub-regional arrangements and regional actors.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our world is in transition and this year is a year of celebration, opportunities and challenges. Our most imperative targets remain to reinforce the tools of opportunity for each man and woman , while determining the most efficient response to increasingly difficult challenges, such as migration, culturally and religiously- based tensions, and of course, the ruthless waves of radicalization and violent extremism that challenge the very nature of humanity.
An overview of this year allows to note the multiple achievements, as well as the achievements to come for the Mediterranean region and the world community at large.
Last month, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter resulting in the formation of the United Nations. It was one of the defining acts of the 20th century. In signing and acceding to the Charter, we agreed as a community of nations to practice tolerance and live with one another in harmony. We also agreed to unite our strengths to maintain international peace and security.
We are commemorating the 15-year landmark of the Millennium Development Goals. This September, world leaders will adopt an ambitious and universal post-2015 Development Agenda. The mission of the Alliance is indeed similar to Sustainable Development Goal number16, on the need for securing peaceful and inclusive societies.
Most importantly, we at the Alliance are celebrating this year, the 10th Anniversary of the founding of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations which was launched in 2005 as an initiative of the UN Secretary General. I am happy to share with you that 2 weeks ago the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus the resolution “ United Nations Alliance of Civilizations”. The resolution demonstrates the importance that Member States attaches to the role of the Alliance and the need for the international community to step up collective efforts to promote greater understanding and respect among civilizations, religions and cultures.
For the Mediterranean region, we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the “Barcelona Process,” whose goals of peace, democracy and dialogue were advanced for stability through a specific understanding:
The region’s actors all share the prosperity and responsibility assigned to effective social, human, and cultural developments. The Barcelona Declaration highlights as one of its principles the respect for diversity and pluralism in societies and the promotion of tolerance.
Last but not least, we can finally note the on-going consultation on the future of the EU relations through the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) review as a clear achievement in terms of reassessing the scope and principles of a policy that seeks to reinforce regional cooperation.
It is important to keep in mind that the Barcelona Process clearly reaffirmed that regional cooperation includes sharing prosperity as well as ownership. Ownership includes the benefits and the challenges of an integrated bloc. Against such backdrop, I strongly believe that collectively addressing the transnational challenges of extremism while building inclusive societies through dialogue remain paramount to a successful ENP.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today we are uniting our thoughts and efforts at a critical time shaped by unprecedented human progress but also by sectarianism and transnational acts of violent extremism. These factors are led by intolerant ideologies that seek to divide humanity based on false versions and interpretations of religious, cultural and social values. Such unjustifiable acts have culminated into targeted killings against innocent people from different faiths, perpetuating stereotyping, xenophobia, racism and discrimination.
No one can deny the short and long-term damaging results of these factors of instability, particularly on international peace and security as well as development. However, we can prevent the reach of extremist ideologies within our societies, particularly through strong and effective visions for our partnerships and institutions, and above all, through intercultural and interreligious dialogue. Allow me to recall, the UN General Assembly Resolution 59/23 of 11 November 2004 which affirmed that mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue among civilizations constituted important dimensions of the dialogue among civilizations and of the culture of peace.
One of the topics addressed today is Investing in youth and women as central actors for Intercultural Dialogue.
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations has a track record of Investing in youth, including young women and men as central actors for intercultural and interfaith dialogue. We know from our experience that youth and woman-led initiatives on the ground enhance peaceful and inclusive societies, which cannot be built without their full participation, leadership and engagement.
I will never shy away from reaffirming the fact that women and young people represent an extraordinary force of social progress and that we still need greater youth and female representation in regional and international leadership positions in order to counter a narrative placing them at the heart of the conflicts.
Youth and Women need to be empowered: It is our responsibility to do so with our institutions and organizations.
We may all concede that there exist challenges to promoting intercultural and interfaith dialogue today.
When it comes to interreligious harmony, the prognostics are gloom despite efforts and initiatives undertaken by organizations or institutions as those present here today.
The simple truth is that the misuse of religion by sectarian and terrorist groups compels the majority of people to retreat in the shelter of silence. The instrument of communication assigned to interfaith and intercultural dialogue needs to be reinforced and address the fact that it is not the religions that cause violence. It is the individual who choose to promote violence.
More often, these individuals are young men and women in search for something greater than themselves, which they cannot find. The accumulated frustrations of social and economic deficiencies can explode under the banner of religion.
Among the challenges to intercultural and interfaith dialogue, there is also a clear absence of investing in interfaith education at the national, regional and international levels. This factor can result in enormous gaps in terms of understanding the shared humanistic values of the world religions.
Moreover, this lack of interfaith education results in misunderstanding, stereotyping and hatred, which we all know, can lead to radicalization and violent extremism. I am encouraged though by the initiatives taken by some countries to revise the curricula taught in religious institutions and to re-train religious clerics.
Today’s youth need to be equipped with the knowledge and proper techniques to promote interfaith harmony within their respective communities. Concentrating our efforts on the need for interfaith education and diplomacy could represent a long-term socio-cultural investment for the cohesion of the Mediterranean Region and elsewhere.
Tackling violent extremism can be achieved through dialogue, but also through practical and pro-active actions, such as:
- Building trust between communities;
- Employing human-centered approaches with a higher level of sensitivity;
- As well as by building collaborative and long-term transnational partnerships that take into account our common interest for peace and security.
To conclude, I strongly believe that we need to advance an interfaith and intercultural dialogue based on the true humanistic meanings of religious and liberal philosophical thoughts. By focusing on the unifying characteristics of the world religions and of humanity, we can tackle the violent challenges we are facing, while creating new binding opportunities. As I said last March, here in Spain at the Mediation in the Mediterranean Seminar, organized by the governments of Spain and Morocco in Madrid, the Euro-Mediterranean region includes many of the world’s complex conflicts and tensions. The ability of regional organizations to be effective in mediating the challenges we all face rest on trust.
That said, it is with great excitement that I am looking forward to the upcoming discussions.
Thank you.