Under the joint auspices of the President of Albania, Alfred Moisiu, and the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, a Regional Summit on Inter-religious and Inter-ethnic Dialogue will be held in Tirana, Albania between 9 and 10 December 2004.

This Regional Summit, co-sponsored and co-organized by UNESCO and the Albanian authorities, will focus on the contribution of religion and multi-ethnicity to the dialogue among civilizations and cultures. It will seek to examine and assess how religion and multi-ethnicity can be put constructively to work through dialogue in the areas of UNESCO's expertise - education, culture, the sciences and communication and information - as an important contribution to the stability and progress of the Balkans. Participants expected to attend include: high-levels representatives as well as scholars, experts and members from civil society.

The Regional Summit on Inter-religious and Inter-ethnic Dialogue is the latest in a number of high-level meetings held since 2002 to consult national authorities of South-East European Member States on priorities for future cooperation.  The first of these meetings being the High-Level Conference on Strengthening Co-operation in South-East Europe held at UNESCO Headquarters on 4 and 5 April 2002.  Subsequently, UNESCO organised, in collaboration with the Presidency of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia the summit-level Regional Forum on Dialogue among Civilizations held between 29 and 30 August 2003.

Several Heads of State/Government of the region will be attending this important Summit together with a number of eminent personalities and experts have been invited, drawing on national and international policy-making and academic and scientific expertise as well as religious and spiritual leaders.