Remarks by the Director-General of UNOG to the 2008 Tripartite Meeting

It is a pleasure to be here and to address you today, as we start our annual Tripartite Meeting. The new format of this Meeting will compel us to be even more concise and results-oriented than in the past, and I look forward to our frank and constructive discussions.

Allow me at the outset to thank Secretary-General Terry Davis for his hospitality and for suggesting this timely topic for our meeting. As we gather here in this most European city, we cannot but reflect on the strides accomplished on this continent, which after centuries of war has found the way to peace, reconciliation and tolerance. A shared European cultural space has been firmly established, based on a common cultural heritage but respectful of national and regional diversity. Let us hope that this model can inspire other regions and that lessons can be drawn for other nations.

And yet, even Europe is not free of conflicts and tensions fed by suspicions and intransigence. Some have distant and complex roots, while others reflect the growing unease of our populations with the fast pace of globalization. The Secretary-General of the United Nations recently noted that, in today's era of global travel, accelerating migration and frequent interaction, people everywhere are encountering less of the familiar, and more of ‘the other'.

Societies in many countries are losing their monolithic character and becoming increasingly diverse. This has fed rising intercultural tensions, as well as growing alienation among vast segments of the world population. New policies must be developed which take into account these new realities.

Most nations agree on the need to address this worrying trend. Gathered in New York last October by the President of the General Assembly for a high-level meeting on inter-religious and intercultural understanding and cooperation for peace, world leaders stressed the necessity to rebuild bridges and engage in a constructive dialogue that underscores shared values and aspirations. It is now urgent to turn these political commitments into concrete mechanisms for cooperation across borders and cultures.

Our efforts must focus first on education because in a world of technological innovation, cultural diversity and migration, education and training form the path to social inclusion and are the key to success. Scapegoats are too easily identified when economic and social success is beyond reach. Unresolved social tensions breed resentment, bitterness and extremism. We must create opportunities for young people and give them a real chance to contribute and shape the future.

Educating also means rooting out enmities born of ignorance and developing intercultural competences, including the ability to engage in meaningful dialogue. National educational institutions have a critical role to play in elaborating school curricula that emphasize the achievements of other cultures and the benefits that civilizations have derived from each other. Such programmes, which should be accessible to all, must stress commitments made by all Member States of the United Nations under the Charter to promote and encourage universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.

Intolerance can be ‘unlearned' through education, inclusion and example. This is why, since 2004, the United Nations Department of Public Information has run the Unlearning Intolerance Seminar Series to examine intolerance and explore ways to promote respect and understanding among peoples. I also welcome the recent establishment in Oslo, with the cooperation of the Council of Europe, of the European Resource Centre on education for democratic citizenship and intercultural education.

The media also play a crucial part in shaping people's views and influencing their actions. They can educate, inform and demystify. Media organizations can opt to present balanced and nuanced news coverage of complex issues rather than offer simplifications and generalizations and can choose to challenge stereotypes rather than reinforce them.

The basis for genuine dialogue among nations is a shared perception of our common humanity and the conviction that the rights of all men, women and children are the same, wherever they may live. Respect for human rights is both the precondition of intercultural dialogue and its ultimate goal. Therefore, as we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – adopted a few months before the creation of the Council of Europe – we must be firm in defending its universal character.

In the last few years, the universality of human rights has often been the subject of controversy and the Declaration has sometimes been disparaged as culturally biased. It is very important that our organizations work together to dispel such misconceptions so that everybody may understand that the Declaration was actually the fruit of extensive consultations among delegates from very different backgrounds. We should tirelessly explain that the universality of human rights can and must be combined with a stronger protection of cultural, linguistic and religious singularities.

Intercultural dialogue is not an end in itself, but an essential means to achieve a deeper understanding among communities and nations. Its objective, however, should not be limited to achieving mutual respect and tolerance, important as these may be. I am convinced that it can also be an effective instrument for resolving or preventing conflicts.

While many of the conflicts affecting the world today are essentially political in nature, intercultural and inter-religious tensions can ignite latent confrontations and trigger armed struggle. Because they affect the core identity of individuals and communities, linguistic, cultural and religious grievances can easily be exploited for political purposes.

On the other hand, in this age of instant communication, widely publicized conflicts have a profound impact on relations between communities, even far removed from the actual fighting, and may fuel antagonisms, prejudices and suspicions. Events in the Middle East thus find an echo in Europe, East Asia or Africa.

It is awareness of this effect that has led to the creation of the Alliance of Civilizations. The United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, President Jorge Sampaio, was not able to join us today, but he has contributed a message which we have made available to all participants.

Through its Rapid Response Media Mechanism, established following the 2005 Danish cartoons crisis, the Alliance has already shown its potential for conflict prevention by acting fast through an extensive media network. The Alliance stresses the positive role which the media can play in promoting understanding and calming passions.

It is very important for our organizations to look closely at the interaction between politics and culture and factor these linkages into our peacemaking and peacebuilding efforts. Cultural realities simply cannot be ignored by diplomats and peacekeepers, or even by our development experts. They must see intercultural dialogue as a tool to combat prejudice, defuse tensions, and build coalitions.

Culture matters. In regions marked by intercommunity tensions, our organizations should also aim to mobilize political will at the highest level to engage in sustained intercultural dialogue. The Regional Summit of Heads of State of South-East Europe on Intercultural encounters, held annually under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Council of Europe, can serve as a model in this regard.

Nor can we pretend that religions do not exist or are not deeply important to many people. Interfaith cooperation is an essential dimension of intercultural dialogue. Religious leaders have a vital role to play in promoting universal values and a sense of shared humanity. Allow me to suggest, therefore, that we also reflect today on possible avenues for intergovernmental organizations such as ours to engage in informal but regular discussions with various faith-based groups to ensure that they fulfil this most important mission.

As Europe and its institutions have shown, peace and prosperity are built on education, respect for diversity and the effective protection of the rights of individuals and communities. Intercultural dialogue cannot be an afterthought, an activity undertaken in the margins of the work of our organizations. I look forward to discussing with you today the practical ways in which we can ensure that it becomes an integral part of our work for peace, development and human rights.