|
Home 
Media Room News UNAOC In The News Joint Strategy for South East Europe Adopted
Media Room News UNAOC In The News Joint Strategy for South East Europe Adopted | Joint Strategy for South East Europe Adopted |
|
In a unique demonstration of commitment to enhance regional cooperation, countries of South Eastern Europe held a Conference under the banner of the UN Alliance of Civilizations and agreed on a Regional Strategy on Intercultural Dialogue. South East European countries put intercultural cooperation first  SARAJEVO December 14th 2010 – In a unique demonstration of commitment at the highest level to promote further good neighbourly relations and to enhance regional cooperation aimed at strengthening bridges between people and communities by promoting intercultural dialogue, countries of South Eastern Europe held a Conference under the banner of the UN Alliance of Civilizations and agreed on a Regional Strategy on Intercultural Dialogue. Ministers of Foreign Affairs from fourteen countries in the region, along with representatives of Spain, Switzerland, Sweden (as EU Presidency) and Brazil (that will host the next annual Forum) as well as with representatives of UNESCO, IOM, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the Regional Cooperation Council and the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Office met on Monday, December 14th, in Sarajevo, to agree on an Alliance of Civilizations’ Regional Strategy on Intercultural Dialogue and Cooperation in South East Europe. The Conference was preceded by a ministerial, high level working dinner on the eve with the special participation of the Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mme Calmy Rey, co-hosted by Turkey and Spain, as co-sponsors of the Alliance, and the High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations. During the dinner, Ministers had a very fruitful exchange of views on the Swiss popular initiative against the construction of new minarets. They all agreed on the importance of having a full and accurate understanding of the causes and the impact of the vote, and on the need to address with appropriate action the wider issue of widening rifts among communities and societies. They decided to make a follow up, namely in the framework of the Alliance of Civilizations. On Monday, Ministers adopted a Declaration endorsing the principles, objectives and recommendations of the Regional Strategy aimed to contribute to further building bridges and strengthening trust through enhanced intercultural dialogue and cooperation in the region. This Regional Strategy stresses the importance of addressing diversity issues, be it ethnic, religious and cultural, and aims at contributing to overcome divisions and conflicts in the region. It emphasizes the need to prioritize action in the fields of education and youth, bearing in mind that media also plays a key role to build pluralistic, inclusive and cohesive societies and that migration, namely the topic of integration of migrants an important area of action. This Regional Strategy - the first ever adopted in the framework of the Alliance - is built on the pre-existing work carried out by countries, international and regional organizations and by other relevant players from civil society. By strengthening regional cooperation between countries, peoples and communities, through joint actions, this Regional Strategy is intended to contribute to good neighborly relations, to help the concerned countries meeting the conditions and requirements set forth in the Copenhagen criteria and in the Stabilization and Association Process and this bringing the whole region closer to the European Union. Some of the planned common initiatives to be developed in 2010-2012 have been discussed in the working sessions such as: projects related to education, namely the teaching of history; a symposium on “Identity and participation: cross cultural youth in South East”; the creation of a platform for teachers and students on intercultural dialogue and cooperation; exchanges between students and teachers of the region; an Human Rights educational project, named “Our rights”; the Dialogue-Café network; a regional youth conference on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue; workshops for Balkan cinema and media, exchanges a journalism media training; a journalism competition on ethnic and religious tolerance, cinema and media etc. An Action Plan for 2010-2012 is now expected to be finalized and agreed in order to be presented at the 3th Forum of the Alliance which will be held next May, 28-29 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In his concluding remarks at the Sarajevo Meeting, the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, President Jorge Sampaio, said: “In our open and mobile societies, there is an urgent need to address ethnic, religious and cultural divides in a pragmatic, results-oriented but long term, sustainable way. I hope that the adoption of this Strategy for South East Europe will help countries to overcome divisions and cope with common challenges of building inclusive and shared societies.” Note to Editors The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations was established in 2005 at the initiative of Spain and Turkey, under the aegis of the United Nations. It seeks to build trust and understanding across cultures and communities worldwide. Working with its global network of government partners, the Alliance promotes policies and initiatives aimed at improving relations between diverse cultural groups through National Plans and Regional Strategies. It also works at grassroots level, promoting innovative projects in education, youth, media and migration in order to build trust, reconciliation and mutual respect among diverse communities. For media enquiries, please contact Ms Florence Laufer at 001-917-238-1419 The following annexes are available on the UN Alliance of Civilizations website (www.unaoc.org): "Diego López Garrido considers that the referendum on minarets shows that more work is needed to integrate the immigrants into the European societies" – Press release Sarajevo Declaration on the Alliance of Civilizations’ Regional Strategy on Intercultural Dialogue and Cooperation in South Eastern Europe – December 2009 Alliance of Civilizations’ Regional Strategy on Intercultural Dialogue and Cooperation in South Eastern Europe – December 2009 Photo: Andrew Nelson |