SUMMARY REPORT SHS-2017/PI/H/1

SUMMARY REPORT SHS-2017/PI/H/1

The Euro-Arab Dialogue is a manifestation of the Culture of Peace. It s a way to promote dialogue between civilizations and cultures. And, for those reasons, the Executive Board firmly support this initiative Michael Worbs, Chairman of the Executive Board The conference Mawaid / Rendez-vous was organized within the framework of the Euro- Arab Dialogue Initiative at UNESCO Headquarters in close cooperation with the Euro-Arab Network of National Commissions for UNESCO and the MBI Al Jaber Foundation on 9 and 10 December 2016 to consolidate and expand Euro-Arab cooperation by framing its inherent aspirations in the current international context. Launched 15 years ago by the National Commissions, this meeting took stock of a continuous history of initiatives and brought forward a proposed plan of action by young personalities on cultural heritage, education et media. This two-day conference brought together 150 participants, including 21 European National Commissions, 11 Arab National Commissions, 16 experts and 20 young personalities. Two cartoonists from Cartooning for Peace, Laurent Salles and Tewfiq Omrane performed live, drawings during the Conference. Moderated by Nada Al-Nashif, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO, the meeting was opened by Eric Falt, Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Public Information on behalf of the Director-General Irina Bokova, followed by Harald Stranzl, Ambassador, Alternate Permanent Delegate of Austria; Carolyn Perry, Director and Head of Philanthropy at MBI Al Jaber Foundation; Samira Mohamed Moosa Al Moosa, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the Sultanate of Oman; Laurent Stefanini, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of France; and David Fajolles, Secretary-General of the French National Commission for UNESCO. Internationally renowned experts contributed to the conference which was articulated around these four themes: preserving and harnessing cultural heritage to achieve reconciliation; the importance of local governments in the educational and cultural cooperation between Europe and the Arab world; education as a vehicle of preventing violent extremism;and ehe role of media in promoting intercultural dialogue in preventing radicalisation. While no sphere should be exempt from engaging in intercultural dialogue be it neighbourhoods, workplaces, civil society or the media - the education system and cultural actors play a particular role Harald Stranzl, Ambassador, Alternate Permanent Delegate of Austria to UNESCO The participation of young personalities ran like a thread throughout the event: they were involved at all stages, as rapporteurs and designers of a young leaders programme (Action Plan) on three major axes. Their participation is a potential first step towards a more long-term Euro-Arab Youth engagement. 2

A fundamental dialogue is opposed to a fundamentalist dialogue Metin Arditi, UNESCO Special Envoy for Intercultural Dialogue The first panel focused on preserving and harnessing cultural heritage to achieve reconciliation and promote dialogue. In this session all the speakers underlined the fact that the current moment in history is one of upheavals and deep change; heritage is both a target and a stake in those changes. Each speaker emphasized how heritage could be preserved and used to enable dialogue. The key idea is to be able to adapt heritage to the contemporary world while preserving what it carries from the past. The most important issue is that of educating younger and older generations not only on the importance of heritage, but also on its usefulness. The preservation of heritage remains an important struggle. As the speakers pointed out, it is not only a testimony of the past but a key to the future. This is the spirit of the universal heritage contribution of UNESCO to the world. This conference on the Euro- Arab dialogue comes at a crucial moment when it becomes essential to relaunch public and private initiatives aimed at struggling against stereotypes, and at promoting tolerance and comprehension of the Other in Europe and in the Arab World, Mounir Bouchenaki, Special Advisor to the Director-General of UNESCO on World Heritage Session 2 questioned the role for local governments in the Euro-Arab Dialogue Initiative. The speakers mostly covered local views and good practices on the involvement of local governments and cities in the Euro-Arab dialogue initiative. They emphasized the importance of decentralized cooperation, and the key role of cities in the promotion of social inclusion and intercultural dialogue, as cities are centres of migration, diversity, connectivity and innovation. Local governments are real actors of change and have huge responsibilities, as they have to address effectively many economic and social issues such as unemployment, a lack of education, poverty, a weak health system etc. This is why they emphasized the need for multidisciplinary and holistic actions and better cooperation between different stakeholders (international, local, private, civil society, etc.). Several speakers also highlighted the importance of sustaining the well-being of youth, in education, employment and health, as this contributes to more peaceful and tolerant societies. The third panel addressed the role of education in the prevention of violent extremism and the promotion of social inclusion in both regions. Speakers covered various aspects of the issue, beyond the formal education system, and emphasized, in particular, the need to 3

reinforce intercultural competencies amongst youth, both in and out of school. In terms of policy options and action areas, different points were raised, such as the need to implement policies for inclusion and diversity of cultural expressions, including considerations regarding curricula and textbooks to reflect the diversity of cultures and religions. Furthermore, common histories should be emphasized. The importance of ensuring safe school environments was also pointed out. The formal education system cannot alone deal with poor social inclusion and violent extremism: schools must engage in partnerships with all relevant segments of societies (families, local associations, youth organizations, etc.). Finally, Media and the Euro-Arab Dialogue: new perspectives was the last item addressed by the experts. Focusing on the importance of media, social media and information literacy programmes to promote the values of intercultural and prevent radicalization. The speakers stressed the need to tell positive stories in the media - stories based on cooperation. There is a need to include more media learning and teaching in the education programmes, in order to better understand the information that is ever-more abundant on the internet, and to allow youth to develop their own critical thinking and counter propaganda. Media and Information Literacy programs in schools should be one of the most important tools, providing young people with critical thinking and the ability to resist online messages of radicalization. The speakers mentioned the importance of bringing all major actors together to work on specific media programmes: UNESCO and stakeholders should promote online platforms to include academia, media, civil society and youth organizations. Conclusion «The Way Forward» Nada Al-Nashif, Assistant Director-General, Social and Human Sciences Sector, UNESCO: As we could sense it throughout this dense programme, intercultural dialogue is not necessarily obvious. Intercultural dialogue also means dialogue across generations and we are really pleased to have facilitated the fact that young people s voice was given the floor in this framework of Euro-Arab Dialogue led by National Commissions for UNESCO. In her concluding remarks, Nada Al-Nashif paid tribute to the courageous and continuous commitment of the National Commissions towards Euro-Arab Dialogue. Such a dialogue should be continued as a tool for peace and to promote mutual understanding, respect and tolerance. Some outstanding experts underlined both regions deep mutual enrichment. Euro-Arab Dialogue should not be reduced to the prevention of violent extremism; the rise of extremism and intolerance is unfortunately affecting all regions. The correlation between social inclusion and radicalization should be underlined. Finally, she thanked the 21 young personalities who took on the challenge to present their initial ideas on what should be an Action Plan for the two coming years to favour Euro-Arab Dialogue, leading to a future Young leaders programme on the Euro-Arab Dialogue. Three domains were retained by the young personalities: education, cultural heritage and media. The rapporteurs presented the initial ideas of the youth working group session, taking into consideration the issues to address, the results expected and the partners to involve within a two-year timeframe. I. Education as a way to contribute to prevent violent extremism and promote social inclusion Importance of being exposed to different cultures and realities through education Need to emphasize our universally shared values Necessity to relink universal values with the diversity of expressions and cultures Need to develop new interactive learning programs with cutting-ege methodologies. II. Preserving and harnessing cultural heritage to achieve reconciliation UNESCO should encourage a Euro-Arab youth network for preserving world heritage 4

Reconnecting youth to their own cultural heritage is crucial, including contemporary forms of artistic expressions Develop new forms of storytelling heritage for Youth through social media and web platforms Developing youth exchange programmes between countries in order to share knowledge on heritage through social medias and visits III. Media and the Euro-Arab Dialogue: new perspectives Media should propose more discursive spaces where people form opinions and construct dialogue through the creation of forums allowing critical thinking Acknowledge the impact of video games as a new tool, playing a major role in the shaping of public opinion Include Silicon Valley in the process (Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) Involve opinion leaders UNESCO could support this initiative through bringing the different partners together Relevant links: Programme (English, French, Arabic) List of participants List and profiles of young personalities Notice Cartooning for Peace Comparative Study on textbooks. 5