United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Forum Resumes Activities in Doha

Doha, December 13 (QNA) - Activities of the third and the final day of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Forum resumed this morning at Qatar National Conference center with a plenary session entitled "New Strategies for Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding and Cooperation." More than 2000 people, including a number of Heads of State, Prime Ministers, Ministers, civil society activists, youth associations, research centers and foundations are participating in the Forum, which was opened by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser on Saturday, to work on joint actions to improve relations across cultures, combat prejudice and build lasting peace. The last day of the Forum will witness simultaneous and breakout sessions dealing with 'A New Agenda for Living Together - Changing the Narrative on Dealing with Differences', 'New Tools for Building Consensus and Making Cultural Diversity an Asset' and 'Promoting Intercultural Dialogue, Inclusion and Diversity : Towards a New Deal that Engages all Actors'. The sessions will also discuss topics including, 'Intercultural competences and skills what is it all about ?', 'New ICT Strategies for Intercultural Dialogue and Citizenship Education' and 'Changing the Narratives on Migrants: a Shared Responsibility'. Issues of 'Internationalizing Academia for Sustainable Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding, Cooperation and Development - Impact, Challenges and Next Steps', and 'A new Agenda for Philanthropy: Mainstreaming Intercultural Dialogue and Cultural Diversity' and 'Do one thing for diversity and inclusion: join the World Advocacy and Awareness Campaign' will be discussed during the sessions. A set of recommendations are scheduled to be issued by the participants in the three-day UNAOC Forum. This Forum is an important global event on the agenda of the United Nations since 2008, when the first forum held in Spain on January 15 and 16, while the second forum held in Turkey on April 6 and 7, 2009, and the third forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 28 and 29, 2010. The idea of ??creating such a forum was raised by Spain to the General Assembly of the United Nations in September 2004 in order to overcome misunderstandings between different cultures. The initiative came after the bombings in the Spanish city of Madrid in the same year. Turkey joined Spain as the co-sponsor of the Alliance of Civilizations initiative in June 2005. This year forum is considered a turning point because the program of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations will be establish in Doha as a source of rooted convictions and activities with significant impact, which would enhance peace and development in communities through dialogue between cultures. (QNA)