LA VALETTA–Ministers of foreign affairs and representatives of governments of 40 countries around the Mediterranean, and international organizations met on November 9th, in La Valetta, Malta, to agree on a UN Alliance of Civilizations regional strategy and action plan on intercultural cooperation for the Mediterranean.
The UNAOC Regional Strategy for the Mediterranean will convene relevant cultural, economic, social, and political actors to promote mutual understanding and improve mutual perceptions. It will aim to defuse cross-cultural tensions, bridge divides, and enhance security, human development, and intercultural dialogue among societies, institutions and individuals in the region.
The strategy will help generate joint ownership of these goals among key stakeholders. It will further a culture of peace through an enhanced framework for policy development, provide new opportunities to on-the-ground projects, link innovative initiatives across regions, and promote people-to-people contacts and collaboration. By building grassroots civil society capacity and relations across borders, the strategy may also help spur progress in the Middle East peace process.
“We need to create new opportunities for new experiences and interaction to build a brighter future for peoples in the Mediterranean region,” UN Alliance of Civilizations, President Jorge Sampaio said. “Transcending our present difficulties in living together is an obligation. Governments, international organizations, key sectors of civil society, faith based organizations, the youth and the media, we all bear a joint responsibility for achieving results and making a difference”.
For more information:
Contact Stephanie Durand stephanied@unops.org
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations is a special project of the UN Secretary-General which seeks to reduce tensions across cultural divides that threaten to inflame existing political conflicts or trigger new ones. Through initiatives in preventive diplomacy, it works at the grassroots level to promote education, youth, media and migration projects aimed at building trust and respect among diverse communities.
The Alliance was established in 2005 at the initiative of the governments of Spain and Turkey, and is today supported by a coalition of 120 UN member states and international organizations including the EU, OSCE and Arab League. In April 2007, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Jorge Sampaio, former President of Portugal, as High Representative for the Alliance. http://www.unaoc.org/