WELCOME REMARKS BY
SONIA MENDIETA DE BADAROUX
CHAIRPERSON OF THE
EXECUTIVE BOARD OF UNESCO

Vilnius, Lithuania
24 April 2001

H. E. MR. VALDAS ADAMKUS, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA,
EXCELLENCIES, HEADS OF STATES OR THEIR REPRESENTATIVES,
MR. KOÏCHIRO MATSUURA, DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNESCO,
H. E. MS. UGNE KARVELIS, AMBASSADOR AND PERMANENT DELEGATE OF LITHUANIA TO UNESCO,
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,  

PLEASE ALLOW ME, FIRST AND FOREMOST, TO BRING YOU THE GREETINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF UNESCO, A BODY THAT REPRESENTS A CROSS-SECTION OF THE CULTURES AND CIVILIZATIONS OF THE WORLD. THE THEME OF “DIALOGUE” AND THE VALUES IT REVIVES IS A RECURRENT ONE ON THE EXECUTIVE BOARD, AND IT IS AN HONOUR FOR ME TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PRESENT MEETING. I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS MY APPRECIATION TO THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF LITHUANIA FOR HOSTING THIS IMPORTANT CONFERENCE, A MAIN EVENT IN PURSUANCE OF THE “UNITED NATIONS YEAR OF DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILIZATIONS”.  

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,  

THE UNDERLYING PRINCIPLE OF DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILISATIONS AND ITS PROMOTION IMPLIES – PRE-EMINENTLY - THE RECOGNITION OF CULTURAL COEXISTENCE AND UNBIASED INTERACTION OF THE PEOPLES, RELIGIONS AND CULTURES OF THE WORLD, AS VALUES THAT ARE COMPLEMENTARY TO ONE ANOTHER RATHER THAN AS DISTINCTIVE FEATURES THAT ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. WE SHOULD SEE THIS EXERCISE AS OUR MORAL DUTY TO NURTURE AND PROMOTE THE INTANGIBLE HERITAGE OF THE PEOPLES LIVING TOGETHER IN OUR GLOBAL VILLAGE. I REGARD THESE CONSIDERATIONS AS A PRE-REQUISITE FOR DEALING SUCCESSFULLY WITH THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION OF DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILISATIONS, THAT IS, CREATING A COMMON UNIVERSE OF DISCOURSE, AND ARRIVING AT COMMON VALUES, WHILE STRIVING TO ACCEPT AND MANAGE CULTURAL DIVERSITY, AS WELL AS REMOVING PREJUDICE.  

THE DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILISATIONS MUST OF NECESSITY BE AN ONGOING, OPEN-ENDED PROCESS, WHICH SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO RUN ITS COURSE FREELY ACROSS CIVILIZATIONS. IN OUR PRESENT-DAY WORLD, HOWEVER, THE INESCAPABLE PHENOMENON OF GLOBALISATION IMPINGES UPON THE REALIZATION OF THIS IDEAL. AS THIS HISTORICAL PROCESS CUTS ACROSS ECONOMIC, TRADE, AND CULTURAL BOUNDARIES, AND PURSUING OBJECTIVES THAT VERY OFTEN RUN COUNTER TO THE PROMOTION OF INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE AND UNDERSTANDING AMONG NATIONS, IT IMPACTS - INEVITABLY AND STRONGLY - ON HUMAN INTERACTION AND – MORE IMPORTANTLY – ON THE SUSTAINABILITY OR SURVIVAL OF MINORITY CULTURES. IT WOULD BE A HAPPY CO-INCIDENCE IF GLOBALISATION WERE TO BE HOLISTIC AND ALL-EMBRACING IN ITS CONSEQUENCES AND EFFECTS, IN THAT IT WOULD, IN ITS WAKE, CONCOMITANTLY, PROMOTE INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING AND ARTISTIC EXPRESSION THROUGH INTENSIVE GOAL-ORIENTED HUMAN INTERACTIONS.

ANOTHER MAJOR OBSTACLE TO THE FRUITFUL DEVELOPMENT OF INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY IS INTELLECTUAL STEREOTYPING, WHICH HAS BEEN A PERENNIAL EVIL FOR CENTURIES. IT IS NOT SELDOM AT THE VERY BASIS OF REPRESENTATIONS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS OF OTHER CULTURES AND CIVILIZATIONS IN RESPECT OF ONE’S OWN. THE ERUPTION OF HATRED, RACISM, VIOLENCE, XENOPHOBIA, AND OTHER ATROCITIES IN MANY SOCIETIES AND ACROSS BORDERS CAN OFTEN BE TRACED BACK TO MANY REPREHENSIBLE STEREOTYPICAL CONVENTIONS. EACH AND EVERYONE OF US SHOULD FIND THE DETERMINATION AND THE TOLERANCE WITHIN OURSELVES OF LOOKING BEYOND ALL THE BOUNDARIES OF CIVILIZATION FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION OF THE RICHNESS THAT CULTURAL DIVERSITY COMPRISES, AND FOR GETTING IMMERSED IN CIVILISATIONS AND THEIR STRUCTURES OTHER THAN ONE’S OWN.

IN OUR THEMATIC DELIBERATIONS AND DISCUSSIONS OF THIS CONFERENCE WE CANNOT AFFORD TO TAKE A NARROW, IF PEDESTRIAN VIEW OF CIVILIZATION AND DIALOGUE, BUT WE SHOULD RATHER SEE THESE CONCEPTS AS CONSTITUTING DEEP-SEATED VALUES, AS BEING PART AND PARCEL OF SUSTAINABLE LIVING. WE MUST BEAR IN MIND THAT INDIVIDUALS IN EVERY SOCIETY NEED TO BE ENCOURAGED AND ACCOMMODATED TO FOSTER THEIR IDENTITIES, AND THAT WE NEED TO PROMOTE AND PRESERVE THESE VALUES, IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO COPE WITH ETHNIC AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE WIDEST POSSIBLE SENSE. OUR PRESENT EFFORTS AND THEIR FOLLOW-UP MAY IN THE LONG TERM PROVE TO BE THE CRUCIBLE FOR LASTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND FOR THE ULTIMATE SURVIVAL OF HUMAN KIND.

THIS WORKSHOP SHOULD BE ABLE TO PAVE THE WAY FOR A TOTAL REVALUATION AND SUBSEQUENT EMBRACEMENT OF THE DIFFERENT CULTURAL CONCEPTS, BY ALL PARTIES FROM ALL REGIONS AND CIVILIZATIONS. I EXPRESS THE HOPE THAT TOGETHER WE WILL MAKE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS GIVING PLURAL SOCIETIES THE TOOLS AND THE SUPPORT NECESSARY TO CULTIVATE OPENNESS AND TOLERANCE, AND THAT WE WILL ALSO SUCCEED IN DEVELOPING OBJECTIVES AND DEFINING CONCEPTS, STRATEGIES, AND SOCIAL MECHANISMS FOR ESTABLISHING AND SUSTAINING A TRUE INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE THAT WILL CUT ACROSS ALL THE CIVILIZATIONS OF THE WORLD.

THANK YOU