Address by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO to the UNAOC Group of Friends Ministerial Meeting at the 6 th Annual Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations Bali, Indonesia, 29 August 2014 Excellencies Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to congratulate the Alliance of Civilizations, especially Mr Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, as well as the Government of the Republic of Indonesia for this important initiative and the positive cooperation we have developed. In 2015, UNESCO will celebrate its 70 th anniversary, when it was created in the wake of a terrible war as the lead UN specialised agency to build the defences of peace through cooperation and intercultural dialogue between and within societies. This is why the theme of this Forum resonates deeply with UNESCO s core mandate. Wars start in the minds of people it is in the minds of people that the defences of peace must be built. This is the mission and responsibility of UNESCO. In 2011, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke before the UNESCO General Conference on the 10 th anniversary of the UNESCO Universal Declaration DG/2014/116 Original: English
on Cultural Diversity, when he referred to the important for Indonesia of BHINNEKA TUNGGAL IKA unity in diversity. This message stands at the heart of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, with whom UNESCO cooperates closely, an important initiative by Turkey and Spain and many other countries. This has never been so important. Across the world, we see conflicts tearing countries apart, civilians hit hardest. We see the rise of extremism and cultural cleansing. We see mosques, churches and other temples being destroyed, minorities persecuted and cultural diversity threatened. We see education under attack and children forced out of learning. We see freedom of expression threatened, with journalists suffering violence. We see societies closing against perceived Others. Our vision of the world UNESCO s vision -- is different. We are rebuilding mosques in Timbuktu this is our vision. More than ever, we must strengthen the values we share and recognise the destiny we hold in common. All cultures are different, but humanity is a single family, bound by respect for human rights and dignity for all. We all recognise the deepening interdependence of the world and increasing cultural diversity from migration - our responsibility is to make this a source of strength. DG/2014/116 - Page 2
This is why UNESCO is working so hard to include culture as an enabler of sustainable development, and I am pleased the Alliance of Civilizations Initiative shares this vision as a natural ally in these tasks. The ideas of tolerance, mutual understanding and respect underpin the UN Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022), initiated by Kazakhstan and the UN General Assembly, launched last year in Astana and led forward by UNESCO. We need new forms of cultural literacy, between and within them societies. We need greater media literacy and freedom of expression, to ensure every woman and man can speak out and reject messages of hatred this was a conclusion of the Global Media Forum, which closed yesterday, organised with Indonesia. We need policies to harness the power of cultural diversity for development, to foster the innovation all societies need. We need a new focus on young people, on education for peace, for global citizenship because young women and men are architects for the future we want for all. Let me highlight here the Global Education First Initiative of the UN Secretary- General, which focuses on strengthening new forms of global citizenship, education for peace and mutual understanding. Cultural diversity is a reality -- it must also be a policy, unfolding within a framework of democracy. These goals guide all of UNESCO s action and through our conventions, to promote cultural heritage, tangible and intangible, to nurture cultural diversity for development, to deepen a sense of common history. This spirit guides all of UNESCO s action across the world the Slave Route Project, launched 20 years ago, and the Silk Route Project, the 6 th Volume of the History of Islam we launched this year and the General History of Africa. DG/2014/116 - Page 3
We are rebuilding mosques in Mali and preserving manuscripts, to safeguard the great wisdom of Islamic thought in philosophy, medicine as well as art and architecture. This is our response to extremism. We must promote the diversity that enriches us along with the universal principles binding us together. Because, as President Yudoyono said in 2011, in uneasy times, there is greater potential for societies to become more exclusive and less tolerant culturally. The 2001 UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity declares defending cultural diversity as an ethical imperative. At the same time, no one may invoke cultural diversity to infringe upon human rights, nor to limit their scope. Striking this balance is the task of Governments it is the task of each of us. This calls for effective policies in schools, through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information. It calls for deeper partnerships, and this is the importance of Alliance of Civilizations, the leadership of Turkey and Spain, and this Group of Friends. We have much to learn here from Indonesia from the millennial message of peace embodied by the Borobudur Temple, which UNESCO helped restore from the power of the Saman dance, for the Gayo people of Aceh province, part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity In addressing UNESCO, President Yudhoyono said: Societies have lived for too long under the divisive notion of us and them. It is time we evolve the new we. DG/2014/116 - Page 4
These are the stakes the world faces today, they stand at the heart of the new transformational agenda we must set to follow 2015 together, I am convinced, we can meet them and UNESCO will continue to provide its full support to the Alliance of Civilizations Initiative, to all Member States to move the world towards lasting peace. Thank you. DG/2014/116 - Page 5