The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) along with the Arab League and the Anna Lindh Foundation is convening a forum focusing on media in the Arab World in the face of ongoing regional changes, and its role in relations with the West. The forum will take place next to Tahrir Square at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo, Egypt on April 6, 2011.
A number of international dignitaries will speak at the opening session—including Secretary-General of the Arab League and current Egyptian presidential candidate, Amre Moussa, former President of Portugal and High Representative for the UNAOC, Jorge Sampaio, President of the Anna Lindh Foundation and Counselor to the King of Morocco, André Azoulay, and Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation, Gunilla Carlsson.
Reacting to historic events in the Arab region since the New Year, the forum will convene 150 policymakers, media managers, journalists, and civil society representatives from around the world to debate the impact of recent events on cross-cultural relations.
The forum builds upon the UNAOC’s Regional Strategy for the Mediterranean, adopted in Malta in 2010, which calls on governments to promote mutual understanding, improve perceptions, and bridge divides among societies, institutions and individuals in the Mediterranean region.
The Forum is also taking place in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. Key partners involved in the initiative include: Media Tenor and the Swedish Institute of Alexandria.
“Recent events on the Arab street demonstrate the crucial role tools connecting people and media play in the region. The UNAOC is committed to fostering public conversations on this and to ensuring that both media and governments do their utmost to encourage cross-cultural interaction and learning between citizens across borders,” said Marc Scheuer, UNAOC Director.
The main plenary debate at the forum is being run in association with the UNAOC’s Global Experts resource, which connects journalists with top experts around the world. A number of leading commentators will speak on the role of media in the region, including Joe Klein from Time Magazine, David Ignatius from The Washington Post, Sylvie Kauffman from Le Monde, Hafez Mirazi from Al Arabiya, Gilles Kepel from Sciences Po, Jamal Khashoggi of Al Watan, and Dalia Mogahed from Gallup.