Remarks by the High Representative for the United Alliance Civilizations
at the UNITAR event on ‘Peace, Education and Dialogue’
New York, 26 September 2022
Excellency Mr. Nikhil Seth, Assistant General , Executive Director of UNITAR
Your Excellency Dr. Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa , Chairman of the Board of Trustees of King Hamad Centre for Peaceful Coexistence,
Distinguished guests,
I am very pleased to be speaking about this important topic. The interlinkage between peace and education and the interdependence of peace and dialogue.
Just few days ago, the Secretary General of the United Nations convened the Transformative Education Summit. He outlined his vision on Education which was also included in his Our Common Agenda report.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on learning worldwide, and adversely impacted progress on Sustainable Development Goal 4. The pandemic has also exposed the digital divide that deprived billions of students around the world from accessing classes.
But even before the pandemic, we have seen setbacks in our education systems from inequalities in education opportunities to the poor quality of education in many countries across the globe include the rich countries. The current education systems are failing students and societies. They are not fit for purpose.
Looking at the current global scene, we see a sharp rise in stigma, polarization, racism and hate speech against vulnerable communities. This is where education comes into play. Teaching about humanistic universal values of compassion, mutual respect, diversity and human dignity for all.
While traditional education, focused on improving literacy and facilitating the transmission of knowledge and skills from one generation to the next, remain vital, there is a growing need for transformative education such as Global Citizenship Education which nurtures those universally shared values. Traditional education and transformative education complement each other.
Transformative education is one that develops students’ capacity to adapt to the rapidly changing world and equip students with a set of skills that meets the needs of the new labor market.
We have long recognized at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, that education is a core component of any healthy, diverse, just and inclusive society . Therefore, education is one of the pillars of the work of UNAOC intersecting with the youth pillar.
Here are few examples of these projects/programs
UNAOC Young Peacebuilders programme is a peace education initiative that creates a safe space to support young people in gaining knowledge and skills in order to enhance their positive role in issues of peace, security and preventing violent extremism. The programme also brings visibility to actions initiated by young people towards peace and the promotion of diversity and dialogue.
The Fellowship Programme encourages intercultural cooperation between young civil society leaders from Europe, North America and the MENA region. During their educational exchange trips, UNAOC Fellows interact with a wide range of local stakeholders to explore opportunities for collaboration and exchange good practices on how to address current global challenges (including violent extremism).
The PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival, a partnership between UNAOC and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), supports the global distribution of youth-produced media, amplifying the voices of young people on topics such as migration, diversity and social inclusion.
The Youth Solidarity Fund supports youth-led organizations that foster peaceful and inclusive societies. Seed funding and capacity building is provided to projects that demonstrate innovative and effective approaches to intercultural and interfaith dialogue.
The Global Forums of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) are a leading platform for promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue for the prevention of violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism, as well as for forging collaboration with like-minded partners. Participants include members of government, policy makers, experts, civil society and UN representatives. Youth Events occur during the UNAOC Global Forums and are framed as an opportunity for dialogue between young people and decision-makers.
The UN Plan of Action to Safeguard Religious Sites developed by my office on 2019 in the aftermath of the attacks against mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Plan of Action dedicates a section to the issue of prevention to identify and address the underlying root causes and societal grievances that lead individuals and groups to commit terrorist attacks against people of other faiths in their places of worship. Among the recommendations for states and religious leaders, there is emphasis on investing in education from an early age to ensure that children have access to curricula that promotes tolerance and mutual understanding; and on promoting education initiatives that highlight the role of religious sites in bringing people together.
We have learned how empathy, compassion, respecting diversity and being able to recognize and challenge discrimination are key skills that young people need to acquire. These skills can only be learned at home or at school especially at early age. These traits are universal and global values that constitute an essential component for a global citizenship education. It protect societies becoming more polarized. Recent research shows that socio-emotional skills contribute to building the resilience of young people, especially in times of crisis. Together with UNESCO, the UN Counter Terrorism and the Mahatma Ghandi Institute we joined hands in the project Intercultural dialogue and socio-emotional competencies for peacebuilding” it is a Videogames project training young people to use video games in peace building.
We invested in the use of sport and videogames as accessible and effective pedagogical tools
And lastly, UNAOC has created a global space for dialogue through its biannual Global Forums in which state and non-state actors including youth, faith actors, religious leaders, media experts, academia and business leaders explore new ideas through a meaningful dialogue in which they actually listen to each other in a spirit of mutual respect and acceptance. On this note, I wish to inform you that UNAOC 9th Global Forum will be held in Fez, Morocco on 22 & 23 November 2022.
Thank you.