Contents

Presentation by Dr. Katérina Stenou(*)

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with a vivid pleasure that I am addressing this audience one more time, after having read out the message of the Director General of UNESCO, M. Koïchiro Matsuura, at the opening session.

According to the Constitution of UNESCO, the promotion of dialogue in order for "the defences of peace" to be constructed "in the minds of men" is one of the governing principles the Organization's action. The terms translating this vital necessity for dialogue include among others" “mutual respect”, mutual understanding”, or “international understating” between “peoples”, and then between “cultures”, and finally between “civilizations”, and again between “peoples”.

As you know, dialogue among cultures and civilizations has always been at the core of UNESCO’s preoccupations. As such, in the wake of the Second World War, the countries signatories of the Constitution, being aware that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”, have decided “to develop and to increase the means of communication between their peoples and to employ these means for the purposes of mutual understanding and a truer and more perfect knowledge of each other’s lives”.

Within an international context characterized by its rapid changes, programmes and methods of action have been devised and concepts enriched with the accumulation of new experiences, which gives a more complex, yet effective dimension of dialogue. In addition to the growing recognition of the role of culture in the promotion of development of and interaction among peoples, dialogue is today associated with to the problematic of interculturality within a globalized world marked by the increase of national, regional and international inter-communal tensions, threatening stability in the world and jeopardizing the survival of the human race.

By way of a brief historical and, more precisely, institutional overview, I will try to pin down the dialogue and to present the major strategies that have been devised and, ultimately, to anticipate the future in the light of certain orientations that are taking shape.

In the beginning

“Promoting mutual understanding between the peoples and civilizations of the world was already one of the objectives of the International Institute for Intellectual Cooperation (1925-1946), which preceded UNESCO, which conducted, as soon as it was founded, a series of studies on the distinctiveness of “interrelations of cultures and their contribution to international understanding” such as: The Cultural Essence of Chinese Literature, The Place of Spanish Culture, Notes on the Culture of the U.S.A. and The Basic Unity underlying the Diversity of Culture. The committee of experts created by UNESCO issued a statement on “Humanism of Tomorrow and the Diversity of Cultures”.

Along with that, a first statement on race problems was issued by ISESCO considering that “race is less a biological fact than a social myth and as a myth it has taken a heavy toll in human lives and suffering”. Moreover, under the Major Project on Mutual Appreciation of Eastern and Western Cultural Values, implemented between 1957 and 1966, basic studies and research, awareness-raising programmes for youth and information for the general public on the relationship between those two blocs.

Launched in 1948 as part of the direct assistance programme, the UNESCO collection of “representative works” was aimed at encouraging the translation and publishing, in the world most used languages, of cultural and literary works unknown beyond their national, geographical and linguistic boundaries. In 1989, we had around 850 translations published under the auspices of UNESCO. Those works cover around 65 literary genres in almost 70 languages. In this regard, the translation of the works of Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldoun from Arabic, those of Avicenna and Hafez from Persian and those of Mohammed Iqbal from Urdu. As for translations into Arabic, they included works by Saint-Augustine, Leibniz and John Locke to name but a few.

In addition to that, the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music of the World has contributed to a better promotion of the different cultures. In this respect, UNESCO published music recordings from Algeria, Bahrain and Egypt, as well as music of the Yemenite Jews, of Syrian Orthodox Church: Antioch Liturgy, and of the Islamic rituals of Kosovo.

In order to promote a better understanding of other cultures, UNESCO also published a collection of general and regional histories, comprising the scientific and cultural histories of humanity, the General History of Africa, The History of Civilizations of Central Asia, the General History of Latin America, and the General History of the Caribbean. The publication of the Different Aspects of Islamic Culture series which highlights the contribution of different cultures and civilizations to the progress of humanity is on the way to publication.

Culture as a driving force of development and dialogue

During the 60s and 80s, was placed on international cultural cooperation in order to respond to the needs of the then newly independent countries.

Within this context, emphasis was laid on the cultural dimension of development and the promotion of intercultural dialogue as two intertwined aspects of the new international cooperation. Those years were characterized by a will to further knowledge about different cultures and to stimulate the expression of cultural identities.

The Mexico Declaration on Cultural Policies, adopted by the Mondiacult conference in 1982, was an important milestone in this direction. In this respect, it is noteworthy that two years later, UNESCO emphasized that the relentless efforts towards peace and international mutual understanding should rest on “active intercultural dialogue”, that all civilizations are part of the world common heritage and that one of the major objectives of the Organization is to enhance their cross-fertilization.

The UNESCO “World Decade for Cultural Development” (1988-1997) urged Member States to pursue and intensify their efforts to incorporate the cultural component in the development process, to affirm and enrich cultural identities, to enlarge the scope of participation in the cultural life and to entrench the values of peace and understanding among peoples by promoting cultural cooperation at international level. While highlighting the importance of furthering reflection on prejudice, intolerance, racism and all forms of discrimination, emphasis was also put on international cultural exchange, with a special focus on the respect of the standards favouring the maintaining of international cultural relations on the basis of moral principles.

Towards an effective dialogue among cultures and civilizations:

The notion of “dialogue among cultures and civilizations” appeared in the late 80s, and gained scope in the mid-90s after the dissemination (and more importantly the vulgarization and abuse) of Samuel Huntington’s concept of “the clash of civilizations”. UNESCO’s mid-term plan for 1990-1995 underlined the importance of devoting more attention to the development of international cooperation in the field of culture, mainly through dialogue among cultures and civilizations, drawing on the possibilities offered by with the progress in modern technologies.

The mid-term 1996-2001 strategy (instead of plan) points that the major challenge, at the end of the 20th century, lies in achieving a transition from a culture of war to a culture of peace: a culture of brotherliness and partnership, based on the principles of freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance and solidarity; a culture that rejects violence, tackles the deep roots of conflicts and favours dialogue and negotiation as effective problem-solving mechanisms. The strategy considered the transatlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity and made of the “slave route” one of its major intercultural dialogue projects.

During the same period, emphasis was put on cultural pluralism and dialogue among cultures, in a way that is closely linked to the strategy aiming at valorising heritage, promoting living cultures and stimulating creativity. The importance of multilingualism and foreign language learning have also been emphasised as a means of achieving a real understanding among cultures. On the other hand, the Organization is deeply concerned with the Middle East conflict and pays special attention to the stumbling blocks to the implementation of the Oslo Accords;

In 1997, the contribution of religion to the establishment of a culture of peace was highlighted. With the increasing role of religion in reinforcing moral values, tolerance and social cohesion, and as part of UNESCO’s efforts to strengthen mutual understanding between nations, groups and individuals of different creeds, the Organization calls on the Member States to deploy all efforts to guarantee the freedom of religion while promoting human values.

The 21st Century: towards a new orientation

The rapid rate of globalization at the close of the 90s brought a new challenge for the UNESCO. So the year 2000 was proclaimed International Year for the Culture of Peace, in an attempt to promote human rights, democracy, tolerance, sustainable development, education for peace, freedom of information, a larger feminine participation in society and non-violence. Many projects covering different fields were implemented under this heading.

After the 9/11 events, UNESCO reaffirmed dialogue as a key component in its endeavour for a judicious response to such a thorny problem. In this context, the year 2001 was proclaimed United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations. The same year was marked by the adoption of the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity which constitutes a new ethical framework of the commitment of the Organization in favour of “the fruitful diversity of cultures”, the spirit of which is reflected in the Sustainable Development Summit (Johannesburg 2002).

Objective (8) of the Medium-term Strategy (2002-2007) consisting in "safeguarding cultural diversity and encouraging dialogue among cultures and civilizations", sheds light on the concept of dialogue among cultures and civilizations. As it is closely linked to the protection of cultural diversity, dialogue involves values and credos, philosophical and political concepts and cultural and scientific achievements of all peoples and regions; it is aimed to give a new and contemporary significance to the notion of cultural heritage […] and transcends the dimensions of culture and heritage; it embraces a very wide range of concerns, namely the different ways whereby societies treat their environment and protect it, express their solidarity, mobilize their scientific and technological know-how in an innovative spirit and reflect their experience and presence in literature and arts. The dialogue among civilizations is itself influenced by the dynamics of contemporary creation and the set of its forms of expression.

With regard to the implementation of its commitments at the political and institutional levels, UNESCO has to provide tangible mechanisms, methods, and data on innovative practices likely to facilitate the conversion of ideas into actions. These tools and methods are often developed on a sub-regional level and thematic approaches are devised, taking into account the different specificities. The Organization is required to work in a transversal and cross-sector way with a view to rallying competences to provide solutions to complex problems.

A new political framework has been developed for actions related to dialogue among civilizations, reflecting the will of the Organization to act at the highest levels, in close cooperation with Member States, often with heads of states or their representatives (Vilnius, 2001; New Delhi and Ohrid, 2003; Sanaa, Tirana and Bishkek, 2004; Varna and Rabat, 2005; to mention but the most significant meetings).

Thus, UNESCO has consolidated its long experience in the fields of heritage and creativity, two pillars of culture, at the service of dialogue, while at the same time strengthening its efforts through a series of new normative mechanisms. Inverting Cato’s Delenda est Carthago (Carthage should be destroyed), UNESCO has adopted “Carthage should be preserved” as a slogan which it has translated in concrete form by subscribing this beautiful site on the World Heritage List.

Actually, the cultural heritage –under all its tangible and intangible forms– stands witness to the human experience and aspirations throughout history. This aspect of heritage which illustrates interaction between cultures needs to be preserved, valued and conveyed to future generations in order to feed their creativity, continuously reinforce the feeling of identity and establish a real dialogue among cultures, especially in post-conflict areas where it could prove a useful tool for reconciliation. UNESCO continues today to give importance to the restoration of tangible cultural heritage; but also to the promotion of the intangible cultural heritage including practices, all forms of expression and knowledge and skills that are part and parcel of the collective memory.

Whereas globalization opens new perspectives for creation and innovation, it also produces new asymmetries, especially between North and South. With their inherent characteristics and international dimension and being an indispensable tool of contemporary creation, cultural industries represent a determining factor for the future in terms of the respect of identities, the promotion of development and the enhancement of mutual understanding.

The recently adopted Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is aimed to consolidate the achievements of UNESCO’s Universal declaration on cultural diversity, especially at the level of the interconnection of the fundamental rights, dialogue and development. It is noteworthy that the diversity of cultural expressions, which illustrates the plurality of identities, is an enriching factor for both communities and individuals, enabling them to express and share their ideas, values and views with others. Actually, the Convention aims at reinforcing international cooperation and solidarity.

The rapid globalization process affects as well the human mobility, and accordingly on cultural tourism. Indeed, the latter can offer many enormous opportunities favouring a genuine dialogue between visitors and hosts, promoting new types of cooperation, improving people’s knowledge about cultural and natural heritage as vectors of culture and identity. Hence, the increasing attention paid by UNESCO to tourism as a vector of exchange and a tool for the preservation of cultural diversity, especially in the post-conflict areas where it can play a crucial role in terms of integration, if well conceived. Moreover, its role in terms of sustainable development and anti-poverty action links the question of dialogue to the major questions of economic and human development.

All of these approaches contribute concretely to sensitize the Member States to the importance of intercultural dialogue in such a way as to reinforce the support provided by UNESCO to those countries to elaborate their policies (namely the cultural policies and those relative to education and communication), to define them better and to integrate them within the challenges of cultural pluralism, which, is in fact, a political answer to cultural diversity.

In general, the following priorities are part of UNESCO contribution to identify and overcome obstacles to dialogue (the list is not an all-inclusive one):

- The quality of education, formal and informal, including intercultural education;

- Improving education material and reviewing the methods adopted in the elaboration of curricula and school manuals;

- Education on human rights and tolerance;

- Training of teachers and educators in informal education systems on intercultural competencies;

- Reinforcing of research and action in post-conflict areas (intercultural mediation, reinforcing the chair system network);

- Exploring new cultural indicators for the prevention of conflicts;

- Identifying obstacles to dialogue from the point of view of human rights and cultural freedom (marginalized groups);

- The role of contemporary creation as a tool for mediation and intercultural communication;

- The role of history in understanding contemporary interactions;

- The role of heritage, especially museums, as instruments for knowing the other and fostering dialogue;

- The role of multicultural festivals as a space for mutual understanding;

- The role of exchange programmes between youths;

- The role of media in the intercultural dialogue (training of journalists; information processing; media strategies; image production; circulation of cultural content.)

The Future: Identifying the new policy and fulfilling the ideals of the Organization:

As I have mentioned earlier, UNESCO has incorporated “dialogue between civilizations” among the objectives of its 2002-2007 medium-term strategy, which it considers as a “new orientation”. Despite the fact that this orientation has been debated from different angles, (religious, geopolitical, cultural etc.) it still needs more elaboration. Though a consensual definition to this orientation may be hard to find, the clarification of the strategic orientations to be developed by the Organization in the future years should be sustained.

To the definition of the field action are associated action modalities which are as follows: UNESCO should continue to highlight the complex processes intervening at the level of cultures interaction, especially through pedagogical exploitation of projects on the History of Humanity; Regional Histories and Regional Intercultural Projects. The Organization will encourage research studies aiming at describing and demonstrating more precisely the advantages and the enrichments which civilizations ad cultures have gained from each other. It will also support the creation of online communication channels as well as initiate contacts between research institutions at international level. It will make efforts to introduce materials highlighting dialogue among civilizations into the teaching curricula for history, geography and civic education. It will encourage innovative measures for the promotion of intercultural education. It will provide expertise to the Member States concerning the policies to adopt in these domains, with an emphasis on the shared features of cultures rather than treating them as single entities.

If the war on terrorism is a new challenge for the Organization, it should be handled carefully and in connection with other priorities, by recalling through all tools available to UNESCO, the historical and cultural facts which have shaped the world as it appears today, while at the same time identifying the various balances of power and acquiring the means favouring the involvement of all civil society actors, as well as political, cultural and religious authorities, etc. In essence, it would be useful to shed light on the dynamic and living aspect of cultures with a view to avoiding their radicalization or isolation, containing all forms of identity-based derailments and preventing conflicts. This testifies to the important role of the cultural component in addressing the deficiencies tainting the democratic process and responding to social problems. Culture, often considered as a cause of conflicts when utilized for partisan ends whether they are ethnic, religious or any of any other form, should instead serve as a vector of peace based on the will to lay the foundations of a sustainable dialogue.

Our emphasis on this aspect is a reminder that before anything else, and despite the emergency aspect of some tensions around the world today, UNESCO needs to remain this thinking club and play a central role in the clarification of concepts and the development of new methodological tools – which are often misused. Such action is not to be restricted to the intellectual aspect of the issue, but should be managed in such a way as to avoid naïve simplistic handling of things and to allow decision makers and civil society actors understand the challenges of dialogue in all its complexity without indulging into diverse manipulations. The urgency nature of the issue should not exclude critical and prospective thinking on the notion of civilization, which, too often, has been subject to manipulations destined to legitimize all sorts of hegemony. Civilization is a notion with a variable geometry: sometimes presented as the antithesis of culture – within an inherited perspective of enlightenment philosophy– and sometimes reduced to its religious dimension.

I would like to come back to the key term of “dialogue” since a better understanding of its word will certainly enable to understand its consequent behaviours.

This Greek root of the term does not suggest conversation between two persons or two groups of people, but that two people or people accept to confront their logic with that of their counterparts. Dialogue as such is a delicate exercise, sometimes destabilizing, since it implies the risk for the speaker to have his/her idea altered, which means his/her own identity put to the test. The prefix “dia” has as equivalent the prefix “trans”; which suggests a considerable movement in space, time, and thought. With Plato, who codified dialogue as a means of joint pursuit of the truth, the term has taken all its significance; it has gained, thus, its contours and limits. Dialogue is no longer conceived to reach a definitive conclusion. Inherent to dialogue is this paradox of containing a latent oral quality, which transpires down to its written form and guarantees its vitality; it becomes, hence, a continuously renewed means to trigger off the process of the thought, to question its certainties, and to progress from discovery to discovery.

This is why great attention should be given to the techniques of dialogue, not in the rhetorical sense but in the sense it gains with intercultural communication experts: the question is to define and then acquire competencies likely to engage and sustain a dialogue with a large variety of speakers of different cultural horizons be they close or incongruent. These techniques should combine logos and mythos: the rational dimensions, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the intuitive, poetic and even symbolic dimensions of the human thought, which are present there to assist in the quest for meaning. Here we are today at the heart of the subject with the Danish cartoons…

This etymological detour into the term “dialogue” constitutes a prerequisite for determining a theoretical basis of dialogue that responds to the needs of the present world. In this context where certain forms of cultural fundamentalism reappear in all their inherent dangers, and where, simultaneously, globalization creates the conditions for a general level of stereotyping (disfiguration), dialogue, in the full and real sense of the term, is the only exercise capable of dissipating the sentiments of hatred and misunderstanding while preserving cultural diversity, which is the essential ingredient for development.

The idea is not to create a special discipline for dialogue, but to explore, within each domain (artistic, scientific, philosophical, linguistic, religious, etc.), the structuring elements of an intercultural communication. Indeed, if some languages, such as the language of mathematics (certainly) and music (relatively) are universal, others need a decoding map in order to disengage their common referents. Beyond the artistic motifs, the migration of myths and epics, the sharing of symbols, and the domains already explored a long time ago within UNESCO’s “Routes” programme, we should explore new territories and become interested cultures that have nothing in common. The cultural incongruence does not resist dialogue which could resolve all communication setbacks provided it admits recourse to reason and to creative capacity at the same time.

How to construct a science or, more humbly, a theory, or even a study of the intercultural dialogue? A methodical, meticulous and attentive approach in order to craft this “alliance of cultures and civilizations”, meant to be a tightly held net of knowledge, mutual understanding and solidarity.

Thank you for your attention.

(*) Director of the Division of Cultural Policy and Intercultural Dialogue at UNESCO.

Publications of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

-ISESCO- 1428H/2007 A.D