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| HH Sheikha Moza listening to Mohamed al-Fadel, a student from Sudan, at the closing session of the 4th United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (AOC) Forum in Doha. The inclusion of a strong and active youth voice was one of the main hallmarks of the Doha Forum. PICTURE: Maher Attar |
Looking to the future achievement of the UN Alliance of Civilizations’ goals, HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser yesterday announced plans for the formation of an observatory “to ensure follow-up and identify indicators for commitment on all levels, whether on the financial, ethical, moral, or methodological levels”, at the closing ceremony of the Doha Forum.
Youth were very much at the forefront of the Doha Forum, with over 400 young delegates participating in discussions with elder statesmen, corporate and civil society leaders to try and bridge the gap between intercultural dialogue and development. Mohamed al-Fadel, a youth delegate from Sudan, captured the essence of our current state of affairs in his statement to the assembly. “Now we are living in a world that is becoming a global village. All of the cultures are in one single melting pot. The role of the youth is to go forward, along with the decision makers in preparing for the future, in making the future, sitting around the table exchanging dialogue and overcoming obstacles that might separate us and lead to non-communication.”
Xavier Guerrand Hermes, philanthropist and president of the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace, explained how solving the problems we are currently facing will require a change in mindset. “It’s true that Europe, America and a number of countries have to review completely the way they’re going to work with employment and with people, on the basis that in fact their system has to be transformed.” He said that the Doha Forum has allowed delegates to talk about this transformation, new views and new approaches, such as the attitude that “for those who think ‘too much is never enough’ has to be transformed to ‘if I have to much, I have to give’ and ‘I have to look for others instead of looking for myself.’”
HH Sheikha Moza linked the objectives of the alliance to the realities of our complex and ever-changing world. “I think that the crossroads of this alliance is a natural evolution of our world because the world is transforming, not only at the regional level but also on the international level, so the alliance had to be up to the level of transformation and change,” she said. “We have witnessed important political transformations in the Arab world, economic transformation all over the world, so the Alliance had to be flexible, meaning it had to go hand in hand to keep abreast of these new developments. Of course I was happy to hear the voice of the youth today, and the awareness, to be honest because we always looked at young people as maybe vulnerable with less experience, that need support, that need leadership, but it seems we need leadership and support from the youth because they have proven that they are wiser than us and of course they have many demands and obligations. The youth being here, the civil society being here, add an important factor in the Alliance of Civilisations and made it possible to realise the objectives of the Alliance. Of course the objectives of the Alliance are not far from the (UN) Millenium Development Goals (MDG) objectives when you talk about the essential pillars which are education, migration and media.”
Jorge Sampaio, former President of Portugal and High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, highlighted the importance of the various findings of the Doha forum, saying that “we in fact managed to draw attention to the neglected link between culture, cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue for development, and the need to take into account the human dimension of development”.
For Sampaio, the “Doha Forum was as a wake up for all leaders, civil society organisations and youth to the need to achieve growth and prosperity through building inclusive and tolerant societies where citizens are bound together by solidarity, by equality of rights, by opportunities which are available to everyone”.
The main messages in his view were that “diverse societies do not have to be divided societies. Cultural and religious differences do not produce exclusion unless they are hardened by discrimination. They do not generate violence and conflict unless prejudices and stereotypes perpetuate marginalisation, and we have to address these challenges in the framework of a global partnership for peace and development as part of the mission of the Alliance and it has been enriched tremendously by this forum”.
Hassan al-Mohannadi, Vice President of the Qatar Committee for the UNAOC, said that “by 2015 we are supposed to have reached the MDGs, so I think this is our last chance to do what’s remaining, so I think in Qatar, the AOC has to join efforts with UNAOC Secretariat, with the fifth forum and with all our partners to find new mechanisms to achieve these objectives in order for cultural diversity to become an integral part of the development goals. The State of Qatar and the UNAOC Secretariat have already launched many activities that serve the objectives of the Alliance, such as the cultural festival that has been launched this year, another youth festival will be taking place this year and the youth will be playing a bigger role in the coming years. An annual festival will be organised by the State of Qatar this year and we promise to profit from and to seize any opportunity to reach our objective”.
HH Sheikha Moza stressed that education is the key to success for many of the Alliance’s objectives, and that there is an important difference between classical education and a good education, which has empowered many youth in the Middle East to push for reforms in their countries.
Al-Mohannadi said that the Qatar Committee for the UNAOC has been successful in changing school curricula in the country, leading academic institutions to adopt many courses that teach the message that there are “many cultures and religions that are partners with us in this world”. “You cannot eradicate intolerance and racism without truly changing the curricula,” he said.
Next year Istanbul will host a fundraising conference to support the UNAOC’s agenda, to be followed by the next UNAOC Forum in 2013 which will be hosted by the government of Austria.