Remarks by H.E. Mr. Miguel Ángel Moratinos
The High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC)
at the PLURAL+ Virtual Watch Party Featuring Youth Media Makers Against Racism
Friday 26 June | 10 AM – 11:30 AM EST
Good morning to all,
And thank you very much for joining us this morning.
Choosing today to screen selected videos of PLURAL+ that stand up for racism and all forms of discrimination is not coincidental. Today marks the day when the Charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco on 26th June 1945 at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization. It came into force on 24 October 1945 with the aim to save generations from the scourge of wars. At the heart of the UN Charter is “we the peoples” and our commitment to uphold the human rights of citizens. And that’s very much our topic today.
Together with our partners at the International Organization for Migration, we selected a series of PLURAL+ videos that stand up against racism. The task was not easy because we have received such wonderful films since we jointly launched the PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival more than ten years ago.
The storytelling takes us across the globe from a man in a bus in Austria verbally abusing a black passenger to a young refugee and her mother in Spain trying to navigate friendships across language barriers. Videos were all produced by young people as young as 7 year old from Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, Austria, South, Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. And they all have one thing in common: they all invite us to embrace our differences and combat misconceptions, stigmatization, and all forms of discrimination.
While we keep seeing examples of intolerance, divisions, and racism around the world, today’s screening is a reminder that young people are powerful agents of social change, and that when youth are engaged , there is hope for a better world. Young women and men spell out the “future we want”.
These videos also remind us that racism is an affront to universal human values and rights and that we need to stand up collectively and peacefully against racism and all forms of discrimination based on religion, belief, ethnicity or gender as One Humanity.
I hope that seeing these films and these young filmmakers’ creative vision of our world will inspire you and give you hope, especially amid these difficult times.
Because images speak louder than thousand words, I will leave it there and let you reflect and enjoy watching.
Thank you again for joining us today.