ADDRESS BY H.E. ANTONIO MILOSHOSKI
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
at the
ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS “GROUP OF FRIENDS” MEETING
New York, 24 September 2010
President Sampaio,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentleman,
After my participation and intervention at the ministerial meeting of the AoC “group of friends” during the Rio Forum in May, I welcome this opportunity to provide, as chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, a brief update on recent developments in the cooperation between the AoC and the CoE. More information is provided in my written contribution.
At the outset, let me thank the High Representative, President Sampaio, for his address at the 3rd part-session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and his participation in the important debate on “Islam, Islamism and Islamaphobia in Europe” held on 23 June.
The implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding, signed in September 2008 between the Council of Europe and the Alliance of Civilizations, has provided grounds for cooperation in many fields. The Council of Europe has contributed substantially to the Alliance of Civilization’s regional strategies and Action Plans for the Balkans and for the Mediterranean. Having in mind the limited speaking time I will not present the activities that have been done so far, but, rather highlight some considerations for our future cooperation.
In the implementation of the AoC’s Action Plan for the Balkans, the CoE will be involved in the reform in history teaching and will facilitate establishing a concrete co-operation plan for the future between Ministers of Education of the Balkans and relevant actors in civil society.
Regarding the contribution of the CoE for the Mediterranean Strategy and Action
Plan, we intend to focus on three main areas: women’s rights, youth cooperation
and history teaching. In this connection, the Council of Europe and its North South Centre, in partnership with IRCICA, propose the inclusion in the Action Plan of a project on “the history of interaction in the Mediterranean and between the Mediterranean and other regions and cultures of the world”. The aim is to promote intercultural dialogue on history teaching through the global network of historians which has been established and to provide complementary history teaching material for the Mediterranean.
The “Intercultural Cities” – a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Commission - promotes an intercultural approach to integration and community-building in diverse societies. This approach focuses on encouraging interaction between cultural groups in the public realm and a positive public discourse about diversity as a means to developing a pluralist identity of the community. The Alliance’s support will be important as the Intercultural cities networks opens up to involve more cities beyond Europe.
In the field of Youth we can do more and build on each other’s achievements. I believe that the youth should be one of our most important target groups. We have to educate young people in the spirit of multiculturalism and urge them to counter and reject prejudices, That was one of the reasons for organizing the South East Europe Youth Gathering within the Macedonian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers few days ago in Ohrid and launching the Ohrid process which aim is to contribute in promoting youth participation at local, national and regional levels, based inter alia on the intercultural dialogue.
The CoE expects to develop further the cooperation with the AoC on “Youth Peace Camps” and to explore the AoC’s association in possible follow-up of the Campaign “Speak out against discrimination”.
Last but not least, I would like to highlight the importance of the 3rd Council of Europe Exchange on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue, which my country hosted in Ohrid on 12-13 September. I opened the meeting in my capacity as Chairman of the Committee of Ministers. A special focus was made on the role of the media in fostering intercultural dialogue, tolerance and mutual understanding: freedom of expression of the media and respect towards cultural and religious diversity, which is indeed a crucial topic in our age of universal medias and high technologies. The Exchange brought together some 150 participants from all over Europe: experts, academics, media professionals, religious leaders from various origins, representatives of non confessional-communities. It has been one of the core events of my country’s Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, which will come to an end by Mid-November 2010.
My final remark will be to welcome the privileged relationship which has developed between the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe and the Alliance.
With the implementation of the initiatives outlined above, co-operation and synergy building between the Council of Europe and the Alliance of Civilisations will continue to develop and flourish. The Council of Europe looks forward to continuing this privileged co-operation throughout the autumn 2010 and 2011 and to making a substantial contribution to the Alliance’s 4th Annual Forum due to take place in Qatar in late 2011.
In my national capacity, I would only like to reiterate our strong support for the work of President Sampaio and his vision for strengthening the role of the Alliance, including his proposal for sustainability and predictability of financing of the Initiative, which is essential for the implementation of the Action Plans.
Thank you for your attention. |