REMARKS
OF H.E. MR. NASSIR ABDULAZIZ AL-NASSER
HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED NATIONS ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
MULTILATERAL EFFORTS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
KONRAD ADENAUER STIFTUNG
18 SEPTEMBER 2015
NEW YORK
Excellencies
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me to state at the onset that I am very pleased to support the CDU/CSU Parliamentary group in the Bundstag , Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation and the International Panel of Parliamentarian for Freedom of Religion and Belief in their efforts as they find ways to preserve religious freedom and combat persecution.
All eyes are on this historic session of the United Nations General Assembly. First it marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. The UN Charter with its guiding principles charted the course for the work of the United Nations for the past seven decades.
Yet, we also know that human suffering continues to inflict the lives of millions of people around the world we share.
Europe for example is facing the largest refugees crisis since the end of the Second World War? Millions of people have left their homes over the last few years under catastrophic circumstances, forced by wars, conflicts, or ethnic cleansing . The source of these horrific conflicts is complex but in all, you will find one common thread: a lack of respect for differences of religions and beliefs and an absence of a noble human value : tolerance.
We and when I say ‘we’, I refer to the vast family of the United Nations are faced with a situation that can easily overwhelm us. The main reason is that we are only the sum of the States that constitute our membership. We only have the tools allowed to us by our members. Our core identity is defined by our members. This organization, that we call the United Nations is a member-driven organization.
Of course, all our 193 members when joining the United Nations pledge their full and unconditional support to the United Nations Charter.
And what does the first Article of the Charter state ?
It specifies that one of the purposes of the United Nations is to promote and encourage respect “for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.”
The reality of our world today is a blunt contrast to the spirit of these words.
This situation is, of course, not new. The United Nations was created on the ashes of two world war conflicts in a universal effort, let me quote here from the opening sentence of the Charter, “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”.
It becomes our responsibility, “we” who have a leadership role in the United Nations, to take firm action and remind our members of their obligations. Let me be clear: all parts of the United Nations are involved in one-way or the other in this daunting task. Whether through our peacekeeping operations, our education and cultural programs, our fight for sustainable development, our humanitarian reliefs actions, our human rights activities, just to name a few.
We all know how daunting this task is. Because It means that we must strive constantly for a world that refuses hatred and violence. It also means that that we need to prove our faith in the power of humanity to respect each other’s differences.
Let me tell what my role and responsibility as High-Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations is in support of these efforts. The Alliance plays a unique role in the United Nations. The Alliance was created to defuse tensions between the Western and Islamic worlds. Our main goal is to come up with concrete actions to address the rising wave of polarization between societies and cultures and to build respect among peoples of different cultural and religious identities.
My approach has always been multi-prongs. World leaders recognize more than ever that extremists throughout the world exploit differences between people and know how to lead people; especially young people to commit barbaric acts of violence. I constantly remind political and religious leaders of the importance of educating young people to understand the benefits of cultural and religious diversities.
Over the last few weeks, just to name a few, I attended a meeting in Paris organized by the Governments of France and Jordan on the protection of the victims of ethnic and religious violence in the Middle East. I was also recently in Spain where I participated in a meeting on intercultural and Interreligious dialogue. Moreover, here in the UN, in conjunction with the office of the President of the GA and the office of the Secretary General, we convened a High Level Thematic Debate on “Promoting Tolerance and reconciliation: Fostering Peaceful, Inclusive Societies and Countering Violent Extremism”.
The Alliance believes in the importance of helping young people develop ideas devoid of prejudices and pre-conceived perceptions. After all , young people were the primary victims of radical and terrorist groups. As such, our efforts focused on launching projects that promote youth involvement in the decision-making process. We seek to engage youth as critical messengers who can spread the word when it comes to issues of inclusion and diversity. We recognize that instilling values in our youth is the most lasting and most sustainable investment that we as global community can make.
I know how important the role of the media is in shaping perceptions of people. Social media was used as a tool by radical and terrorist groups to recruit our young people. We have thus developed capacity-building workshops to provide journalists covering culturally sensitive issues with the tools that can help them in reporting more balanced and objective stories.
We also recognize the importance of education in developing critical thinking, learning about freedom, human values and most importantly about respect of the other regardless of their color, faith, race or gender.
I am fully aware that we cannot achieve our goals without partnerships with the civil society. In this regard, I want to commend the work of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief and the advocacy and education programs of the Konrad Adenauer foundation.
Parliamentarians play a key role in securing the implementation of international legal frameworks in their country. “Parliamentarians should continue to ensure that the voices of the people are heard and included in the development process”. The United Nations has recognized their relevance, and the UNAOC stands by them in these efforts to advance democratic governance and to counter violent religious extremism. I have in mind the Alliance’s recent collaboration with the Parliamentary Association of the Mediterranean in 2012 and recently during its 9th Plenary Session in 2015.
We constantly work with faith-based organizations like those represented at our meeting today, to emphasize the importance of religious harmony for peaceful coexistence.
I also want to take this opportunity to applaud the Government of Germany for welcoming thousands of migrants into its borders and setting an example for other countries worldwide. Their approach demonstrated the values that the EU stands for.
In conclusion, let me say that it is my strongest belief that together as international community, civil society and international institutions we can achieve the dream of a just and equitable world, a world where all people will be able to coexist in full respect of their diversity and achieve the dream of the founders of the United Nations.
I look forward to our discussions here today and thank you for your attention.