Regional Session 1: Danube/Black Sea/South Caucasus/Central Asian Regions Panelists: Marton Mehes, Director Balassi Institute - Collegium Hungaricum Vienna, Initiator of Danube Culture Cluster, Member of the Steering Group of Priority Area 3 of the EU Danube Strategy Victor Tvircun, Secretary General of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Adil Akhmetov, Senator, Member of Senate of the Republic of Kazakhstan Snežana Samardžić-Marković, Director General Democracy Head of Delegation of Council of Europe Floriane Hohenberg, Head of Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department, OSCE - ODHIR Vasif Eyvazzade, Director for International Relations, Ministry of Culture, Azerbaijan Moderator: Martin Eichtinger, Director-General for Cultural Policy, Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, Austria
Session Summary Moderator Martin Eichtinger opened the session by recalling the diversity of the Danube, Black Sea, South Caucasus and Central Asian region including 26 states and a total population of 640 million people. Following the major political and economic transitions in those countries in the last decades, the strategy of enforcement of intercultural and interreligious dialogue has to be focused on. In this context Adil Akhmetov outlined the importance of the UNAOC and its contribution to build new relations between different cultures. He assured Kazakhstan’s support of new UNAOC initiatives and its willingness to develop further effective cooperation in order to maintain peace and harmony. The contribution to an intercultural dialogue is also on the agenda of the OSCE. Floriane Hohenberg mentioned that the OSCE has fostered a number of grass root initiatives and trainings so that a common language of dialogue could be established. Snežana Samardžić-Marković, Director General Democracy Head of Delegation of Council of Europe, outlined the Council of Europe’s work that is adapted to the various needs in the different regions concerned by the strategy. She then emphasized on the need to support gender issues not only on a regional level, but in every strategy. Therefore the Council of Europe is aiming for contributing to the UNAOC’s work on a long-time basis. Victor Tvircun stressed the importance of his organization BSEC, which serves as a unique and permanent platform of dialogue on the regional scope. He could imagine a cooperation with UNAOC on topics like culture and education as well as the importance of including women’s equality in new strategies. February 28, 2013 1
Vasif Eyvazzade stressed the good links between Azerbaijan and European States, especially within the BSCE and the Council of Europe, which makes Azerbaijan a bridge builder within the region. He further outlined the use of analyzing previous co-operations and their outcomes which could also be transferred to the new strategy of an enforcement of intercultural and interreligious dialogue. Marton Mehes focused on the Danube region itself and emphasized that the region is a good example for building bridges between different cultures in a very diverse region. He further stated the importance of the river Danube and its emotional component in the dialogue within the region.
Quotations Snežana Samardžić-Marković “Diversity should be seen as an advantage to boost society in cultural, economic and many other ways.” Floriane Hohenberg “Women are extraordinary agents of change.” Martin Eichtinger “The Alliance is a good motivator.” Iliana Schmatelka “We have all the instruments. […] We should look on what we have and start to combine it.”
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Regional Session 2: The Mediterranean and South East Europe Moving from “Talk” to “Action”
Panelists: Trond Bakkevig, Pastor Lutheran Church of Norway and Convener of the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land Father Fadi Daou, Maronite Catholic Church, President and CEO of Adyan Foundation Joke van der Leeuw-Roord, Founding President and Executive Director, EUROCLIO - The European Association of History Educators Taulant B. Hoxha, Founder of Kontour, Come and Discover Eduardo Lopez Busquets, Founder Casa Arabe Tevfik Ziyaeddin Akbulut, Head of Delegation to PAM and President of the PAM 3rd Standing Committee Ajsela Spahija, Project Coordinator, Albanian Forum for Alliance of Civilizations (AFALC)
Moderators: Helena Barroco, UNAOC William Infante, UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia
Session Summary
The Session evaluated the role and relevance of the presence of initiatives in order to connect the communities in the area around the Mediterranean Sea and South East Europe . During the conference the action plan for this region was ratified, which includes sustainable development goals to build on a broad complex of strategies for the region. Eduardo Lopez Busquets underlined the holistic approach of Casa Arabe in teaching Islamic and Arabic studies through three aspects, which include politics, economics, and cultural/social studies to build future on a basis of dialogue. Joke van der Leeuw-Roord noted the importance of history teaching in the sense of identity and narratives. Integrative perspectives have to be emphasized and multiple views to be recognized. Furthermore she underlined that within history education nationalism and victimization are two tenuous points of fraud. History education needs to implement new strategies and technologies of learning to lift the quality level of teaching.
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It was agreed by all participants that intercultural dialogue can only lead to a successful action plan if religious leaders of communities participated in this dialogue. Therefore Pastor Trond Bakkevig underlined the network building efforts between various leaders of different religion groups and the interconnection in the conflict regions of the middle east being achieved so far. The importance of inclusion and cross cultural communication lies within the engaging role of religion in the civic societies. The impact of the action plan on the region was and still is connected to the work of UNAOC and its intergovernmental role to build a strong platform for the exchange of experiences, ideas and knowledge. The UNAOC can additionally contribute by creating value and collecting synergies to transform this gathered information into actions.
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Regional Session 3: Asia-South Pacific
Panelists: Pan Guang, Ambassador UNAOC and Vice President of the Shanghai Academy of Sciences Yan Jun, Secretary General of the Beijing Forum Fethi Mansouri, Director of the Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation Australia Khaled Awang, CEO of the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation Moderator: Jean-Christophe Bas, UNAOC Session Summary About 150 opinion leaders from Asia and the South Pacific region have attended the UNAOC regional consultation held in Shanghai in November 2012. Now, about 3 months later at the UNAOC Global Forum in Vienna, leaders presented their steps and initatives to enhance international dialogue and understanding as well as proposing an agenda for further talks among key actors in the region. Fethi Mansouri emphasized the importance of collaborative partnership and common efforts in order to expand the international network in the Asia/South Pacific region. According to him, the AOC should play an even bigger role in that region in the future. Mansouri also referred to the upcoming UNAOC Global Forum 2014 in Jakarta, which underlines the great and ever-increasing importance of the Asia/South-Pacific region for the entire world. UNOAC Ambassador Pan Guang underlined the importance of Shanghai as a vital center of the Asia/South-Pacific region not only because of its geography but also because of its economic, cultural, ethnic and religious richness. Unfortunately, this richness also brings problems like religious conflicts and increasing fear of terrorism rooted in the middle east. Though many people say that the conflicts in the area are political and not religious, religion always plays a role too, says Guang. Most conflicts, however, are not between the members of different religions but of small extremist groups. The importance of fighting extremism was also underlined by Khaled Awang. He pointed out that our task is to make the voice of the majority of moderates louder than those of the few extremists. In order to achieve peaceful coexistence, there are some key areas to focus on: moderation through dialogue, promotion of democracy through governments, education and social justice. Yan Jun stressed that intercultural exchange is essential for the human experience. In order to further strengthen mutual understanding, he suggested three steps: First, taking advantage of modern communication technologies and new media for disseminating relevant information. Second, stimulating students and youths through offering international mobility programs and crosscultural dialogue. And third, the UNAOC should continue its efforts to establish partnerships in this region. Quotations Yan Jun: „We believe that diversity is a virtue and not a threat“ February 28, 2013 5
Regional Session 4: Latin America
Panelists: Christian Pardo, President of Internacional Juvenil (an international movement of young volunteers) Stephanie Carolina de Castro, On-Line Courses Manager, Youth Action for Change Cândido Mendes, Author Ines Finchelstein, Coordinator of the Geração Muda Mundo Moderator: Fernando Casas, Segib
Session Summary
Moderator Fernando Casas made it clear, that Latin America gained a vast role in shaping the world affairs over the last decades. However, Latin America is not involved in any international conflict. Thus, the first priority is to sort out the internal conflict between the ethnic majority and minorities, especially the indigenous population. By addressing the specific problems of the region every panelist came up with a solution different to the others’. In his beginning statement Mendes de la Almeida determined that the Latin American countries are transforming. He stressed that democracy has been improved, e.g. in terms of fighting corruption. Not only the countries as individuals, but also the relationship between them is changing. He highlighted the fact that e.g. Brazil’s second international partner is China and fosters the cooperation to Africa in order to maintain competitive. He ventured to call for a neo-imperialistic Brazil. Furthermore, he claimed that the perception of what is regional is changing to a less centered concept. Stephanie Carolina de Castro stressed the importance to foster an inclusive strategy regarding the indigenous population in order to solve the internal conflict. It should be a strategy aimed to guarantee and realize human rights for this group by promoting those fundamental rights within the educational system and an international dialogue. An international dialogue which could be shaped by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, a necessary mediator to bring the government and the civil society together in order to dissolve inequality. In coherence with Christian Prado and Ines Finchelstein she asked the responsible actors to include the youth into the decision-making process. February 28, 2013 6
Christian Pardo made the concrete suggestion that the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations should work together with the Summit of South-American-Arab Countries (ASPA) on an effective strategy to strengthen human rights. Ines Finchelstein, the coordinator of the Geração Muda Mundo, was a participant at the Youth Global Forum herself. She claims that one of the main challenges is addressing the great inequalities throughout the continent, such as the exclusion of the indigenous. She also strongly believes that the Alliance of Civilization can play a strong role in working against these. However she also praises new instruments and declarations and claims that it is important to support best practice models that are already taking place.
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