Fifteen years ago, on 14 July 2005, the Alliance of Civilizations was created as a special initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General. Mr. Kofi Anan, the then United Nations Secretary-General launched the Alliance of Civilizations at a time when the United Nations recognized an urgent need to fill a policy gap in the governance of cultural diversity, which was threatened by growing divisions between communities, the rise of violent extremism, the polarization of attitudes and world perceptions, and frequent manifestations of intolerance, xenophobia, and racism.