VILNIUS DECLARATION ON DIALOGUE
AMONG CIVILIZATIONS CLOSES VILNIUS CONFERENCE
Vilnius (Lithuania), April 27 (No.2001-64)
- The international Conference on Dialogue among Civilizations closed in
Vilnius on the evening of April 26 after adopting a declaration which reaffirms
the importance of dialogue as “the only means to build a world of human
dignity, solidarity, mutual respect, understanding, fellowship, and hope for the
future” and calls on governments and civil societies to practice dialogue so
as to further the common good.
The Vilnius Declaration,
adopted by the participants during the final plenary session, notably recalls
that “no civilization can assume or represent complete humanity.” It
explains: “The complementarity of civilizations would be unthinkable without
constant interplay and exchange of such faculties of human thought and
creativity as science, art, philosophy, and spirituality.”
The Declaration also
stipulates: “Civilizations are entities of faith, historical memory, moral
imagination, and human connection. […] Like biological diversity, cultural
diversity is the best warrant against any kind of global uniformity.” It
furthermore adds: “No civilization could be demonized and references to all of
them, their intellectual traditions and masterpieces of art, would come as
easily and naturally as to those of his or her own civilization.”
It enjoins all governments and
civil societies “as an integrated part of their cultural policies, to take the
initiative to further a dialogue among civilizations, in such a way that it can
become an instrument of transformation, a yardstick for peace and tolerance, a
vehicle for diversity and pluralism, especially in culture, with the ultimate
aim of furthering the common good.”
The Vilnius Conference, which
brought together experts, most of them academics, from more than 20 countries
and four continents during three days, was opened on Tuesday, April 24, by the
presidents of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine and by the Director-General of
UNESCO. All welcomed the highly symbolic choice of venue for the Conference, as
the Lithuanian capital has been at the crossroads of eastern and western Europe
over the past millennium.
During the six workshops which
took place during the Conference, the participants frequently drew on their own
experience and national history to outline their vision of dialogue among
civilizations and propose actions to be taken. Thus, in the workshop on “Plural
Identities and Common Values”, whose rapporteur was Yersu Kim of the Republic
of Korea, it was proposed that UNESCO launch satellite television broadcasts to
promote music from all over the world and the participation of the young in the
dialogue among civilizations. Yves Plassereau of France explained that those
taking part in the workshop on “Reciprocal Knowledge and Interaction” raised
questions regarding history teaching, stressing the need for it to be critical,
and called for an ethical dimension to be included in the dialogue for it to be
effective.
The workshop on “Globalization
and Cultural Diversity”, according to its rapporteur Steve Austen of the
Netherlands, considered that adopting a defensive attitude towards globalization
would be counter-productive, but recommended caution as warned against the
danger that globalization lead to cultural uniformity. Arthur Cromwell of the
United States, rapporteur of the workshop on “Otherness”, noted that a
distinction should be made between globalization and Americanization, as
minorities in the U.S. are also wary of globalization. He further noted that
participants were concerned that by attributing common values to the peoples of
the world their distinct characteristics could be obliterated.
Peter Curman of Sweden, who
moderated the workshop on “Trade, Science and Cultural Exchange”, explained
that participants were worried about the danger to cultural diversity posed by
globalization, especially due to the instruments of international dissemination
available to the dominant cultures. Finally, Leonidas Donskis of Lithuania
explained that, according to the participants in the workshop on “Concepts of
Civilization for the 21st century”, we should not succumb to the stereotypical
view which opposes the cultures of East and West and that civilizations should,
on no account, be lined up in hierarchical order, lest some of them be demonized
or disregarded.
During the first day - after
addresses by the President of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus; the Director-General of
UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura; the President of Poland, Alexander Kwasniewski; and
the President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma - a number of personalities took the
floor, including: the Chairperson of UNESCO’s Executive Board, Sonia Mendieta
de Badaroux, and the special representative of the Secretary-General of the
United Nations, Giandomenico Picco.
Among the other speakers,
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General of the International Organisation of
the Francophonie stressed the need for dialogue among civilizations to “democratize
globalization, before globalization distorts democracy.” Hélène Carrère d’Encausse
- the Permanent Secretary of the French Academy, who represented the President
of France - spoke of the principles underpinning the Organisation of the
Francophonie and welcomed the fact that it serves as a forum for real dialogue
among both French and English language civilizations. Brunson McKinley,
Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, recalled that
migration and the number of migrants were bound to continue increasing over the
coming decades and said that some form of dialogue was therefore indispensable,
if only to facilitate the acceptance of immigrants.
The Conference was held as part
of the United Nations Year for the Dialogue among Civilizations, which was
proclaimed at the initiative of the Islamic Republic of Iran which was
represented in Vilnius by Ata’Oll ah Mohagerani, special advisor to the
President of Iran and Director of the International Centre of Dialogue Among
Civilizations.
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For more information: www.unesco.org/dialogue2001/vilnius
