Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to bid you all welcome on the occasion of this most important Regional Forum on Dialogue among Civilizations.

I should like before all else to congratulate President Boris Trajkovski most warmly on having taken this propitious initiative, and for having chosen so magnificent a historic city as Ohrid to host the event. The goals of this Forum can, I feel, find a particularly apt expression in this site, one that was, as early as 1980, placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. We have been given the opportunity to meet in this country in which cultural diversity and pluralism are experienced as an everyday reality by all citizens: at the heart of this magnificent region, the Balkans, in which the first vestiges of artistic creation date back to the sixth millennium BC.

Thank you, Mr President, for having invited us here today.

The Forum which brings us together today represents a follow-up to the Presidential Round Table which was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, in September 2000, and which, on the eve of the United Nations Millennium Summit, launched the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations. In November 2001, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 56/6 setting forth a “Global Agenda for the Dialogue among Civilizations” and designating UNESCO as a major actor for follow-up purposes.

Our meeting therefore fits into a continuing process of reflection that had already been initiated at several international meetings held in these past two years. I have in mind in particular the international conference held in Vilnius (Lithuania) in April 2001, the Tokyo-Kyoto (Japan) Conference in July-August 2001, or again the international symposium on “Civilizations in the Eye of the Other” at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in December 2001. Finally, just a few weeks ago, in New Delhi (India), the Conference on the “Dialogue among Civilizations” brought together over 50 ministers, as well as numerous intellectuals, consultants and experts from all regions of the world. On that occasion the New Delhi Declaration was adopted, opening up new prospects and calling for new approaches, particularly in the spheres of values, education, science and technology.

The peoples of South-East Europe have suffered immensely throughout the past century, and again recently when terrible conflicts raged during the 1990s. The century that has just dawned has generated a new wave of hope, one that must be nurtured and consolidated through dialogue. On my visits to the countries of the region during the past three years, I have been struck by the sincere desire of each and everyone to live in harmony within the different communities and with all neighbouring peoples. This is also the goal that the eight Member States of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), here represented at the highest level, have set themselves. Pockets of ethnic tension still persist in this region of the Balkans, as we are reminded by the hostage-taking in the vicinity of Skopje.

It is therefore with great pleasure that I also bid welcome to all the Presidents of the countries of the region and to the personal representatives of those who have not been able to attend. Their presence testifies to their shared commitment to a peaceful future, one founded on tolerance, respect for others and cultural diversity, which are prerequisites for the stability so ardently desired by all.

May they all be assured of UNESCO’s full support in their resolve to strengthen and to enhance their mutual cooperation, more particularly in the spheres of education, science, culture and communication.

This Forum represents in my view a follow-up – one destined to carry the process a stage further – to the High-Level Conference on Strengthening Cooperation in South-East Europe, held at UNESCO Headquarters in April 2002, which I co-chaired with the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Mr Walter Schwimmer. Today, it is the Heads of State who will be building on the work begun on that occasion at ministerial level, a development I can but applaud.

The presence of ministers and senior representatives of countries of South-East Europe, but also representatives of Member States of the European Union and other Western countries, together with representatives of major regional and international institutions and organizations, including the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, provides a precious opportunity to support the countries of the region in their efforts to nurture an intraregional dialogue, and to develop such cooperation bilaterally and multilaterally. For we are all aware that stability in this region is the guarantee of a far broader stability, extending throughout Europe and even beyond.

As regards its cooperation with the countries of South-East Europe, UNESCO has developed a strategic approach, which was adopted last year by the High-Level Conference to which I have just referred. Indeed, it is within this framework that our operational action in the region is now being structured, and that a series of specific projects focused on priority areas are today being implemented. I am moreover happy to note that the Task Force I set up within the Secretariat is continuing to coordinate the activities conducted by the Organization in South-East Europe, and that partnerships with the private sector have been identified for financing priority schemes, namely schemes providing for cooperation between countries and institutions in the region – hence, dialogue between neighbours.

The channels of communication must therefore remain wide open, in order to permit free flowing contacts among different groups, thereby fostering mutual understanding and cooperation. Ensuring the independence of the media, freedom of the press and of expression, the right to information, but also media education – these are a major challenge for the region, one for which UNESCO is mobilizing its expertise and financial resources. For, in addition to being essential information resources, the media provide powerful tools with which to forge new identities.

Education is nevertheless undoubtedly the most powerful lever for promoting tolerance, understanding, dialogue, respect for diversity, human rights and democratic principles, as President Trajkovski has stressed. It is these values and dimensions, as a composite whole, that UNESCO terms the “quality of education”. It frequently requires a radical revision of curricula and textbooks, in particular in regard to the critical presentation of the history of intercultural relations and relations with neighbouring countries. Strengthening cooperation in higher education therefore means for the region introducing and entrenching such changes, and fostering the emergence of a new generation of teachers and administrators for a truly modern education system.

For educational policies must ensure that cultural diversity becomes the driving force of social cohesion. The systematic effort made by education systems to strengthen democratic citizenship and respect for human rights is an integral, key element of it. Education for pluralism thus becomes a partner able to put considerable weight behind political action to promote pluralism.

Scientific and technological cooperation is another major area in which progress can and must be made. Today’s world calls for an ever greater volume of scientific advice based on analysis, understanding, sharing and thinking ahead. In South-East Europe, the reconstruction and development of scientific networks and infrastructures entails both enhanced institutional capacity building and human resources development. In order to bolster regional endeavours, UNESCO is encouraging concrete cooperation between European institutions and those in other regions, particularly in the form of exchange schemes for researchers, with a special focus on women and young scientists.

I should like to conclude this panorama of the various fields in which UNESCO nurtures and supports the efforts being made in South-East Europe by focusing on culture and the cultural heritage. Fifty-four cultural and natural sites located in this region are included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List – a fact that testifies amply to the wealth and diversity of its heritage. When recent history has shown how far the heritage of the Other can become the symbolic target of aggression, it has become a matter of urgency to develop a culture of conservation of and respect for the heritage, regardless of its – necessarily diverse – origins. For if cultural heritage enables peoples to understand themselves, it is also a key to understanding others.

During 2002, proclaimed “United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage”, UNESCO chose to place the spotlight on the dimensions of reconciliation and development inherent in that heritage. As an instrument of peace and reconciliation, the heritage enables us to gain an awareness of our multiple roots and affiliations. It is also a factor of development since a harmonious, integrated approach to heritage management enables a nation’s natural and cultural heritage to be turned to optimal account, not least in economic terms. It is therefore my hope that this Forum will strengthen specific commitments and activities towards this goal.

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have gathered here in order to make the dialogue among cultures and civilizations a broad, inclusive process, and to highlight its relevance to contemporary challenges. I have no doubt that the Declaration you adopt at the close of this meeting will point the way to new goals, and serve to evaluate the consistency and complementarity of the different regional and subregional approaches, while at the same time identifying the true obstacles to dialogue, in order to overcome them more effectively.

Building true cultural pluralism is one of the major goals of intercultural dialogue. This entails abandoning the old antagonisms and fostering the emergence of a common culture born of diversity. Differences must not indeed be ignored, but rather turned to account and recognized as a positive factor in the development of individuals and of the community. Such constructive pluralism fosters the quest for compromise through dialogue. It is aimed, in a democratic framework, at securing solutions that are acceptable to everyone. Dialogue does not mean negotiation. Rather, it means openness, a readiness to respond to a whole range of situations and points of view. 

Any lasting, sustainable undertaking aimed at stabilizing and rebuilding the Balkans requires the unreserved commitment of all to the democratic principles of respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Together, you are going to make that commitment.

Together, you are going to succeed.