General Assembly Session 55 meeting 59

The President

I give the floor to the representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to introduce draft resolution A/55/L.30.

Mr. Nejad-Hosseinian (Iran)

In less than two months' time, in January 2001, a modest worldwide media campaign will begin in order to launch the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations and bring the issue to the public. As stated in paragraph 6 of the report of the Secretary-General contained in document A/55/492/Rev.1, 12 television spots of 30 seconds each, dealing with the stories of 12 individuals whom the Secretary-General calls the unsung heroes of dialogue, because they "have reached across the 'divide' to the 'other'", will be offered to all television stations in the world for broadcasting as many times as possible during the year 2001.

Another public campaign involves the preparation of a book by a number of eminent persons, in cooperation with the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General. The eminent persons have accepted the invitation to reflect on issues such as ethnic cleansing, and concepts such as diversity and the common denominator of values, in the context of the United Nations; on diversity as the human face of globalization in today's world, which has never been more integrated, more vulnerable or more unequal; and on dialogue as a seed for a new paradigm of international relations. These are fundamental questions, and will require soul-searching reflections on the part of the authors. I would like to underscore the importance of this effort as a means of helping us all to develop a vision for the future and for the common destiny of humankind.

I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Secretary-General for the leadership he has demonstrated and for his personal conviction about the potential of dialogue. I cannot not fail to express my gratitude to the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, Mr. Giandomenico Picco, who is himself an effective practitioner of dialogue, for his faith in, and creative efforts to advance, dialogue among civilizations in both theory and practice.

My delegation looks forward to these promotional activities in the year 2001 on a dialogue among civilizations. In my view, these and other activities will provide a good start to the year 2001 in promoting the beginning of dialogue, but it will not end there. Dialogue is as expansive as we dare to imagine. It is expansive in terms of the interlocutors and in terms of the subject. Of course, it is not an end in itself but represents a new approach -- a qualitatively different mode of communication and discussion. I would therefore like to suggest that, in the year 2001, when we commemorate the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, we prepare ourselves to celebrate a new beginning, and not an end. We should prepare ourselves to lay a concrete foundation upon which we may be able to build our common humanity.

We are privileged to live in exciting times: the cold war is over and we are at the beginning of the third millennium. Our accumulated knowledge and human experience ought to point to a profound realization of our interdependence, common destiny and need to celebrate life in all its diversity and human dignity everywhere in the world.

It was perhaps in response to such a realization that the 191 world leaders, including 147 heads of State or Government, who took part in the Millennium Summit held from 6 to 8 September this year in New York, committed themselves, upon the creative suggestion of the Secretary-General, to halving, by the year 2015, the proportion of the world's people whose income is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger and, by the same year, to providing clean drinking water and education for all, to reverse the spread of AIDS, make the right to development a reality for everyone and free the entire human race from want. The world leaders underscored freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility as fundamental values, essential to international relations in the twenty-first century.

These were not simple words, nor are they uttered frequently by large groups of world leaders. The goals will not easily be achieved. But, as the Secretary-General has acknowledged, the remarkable convergence of views among the world leaders on the challenges we face, and the urgency of their call to action, are striking. These undertakings by the world leaders are a source of hope for our common humanity in the twenty-first century.

We will rise to the challenge only if we revisit our approach to problem resolution. That is why, in our opinion, the call for a dialogue among civilizations has been welcomed across the world by both the public and private sectors. The objectives that our leaders set out to achieve are within reach when we dare to rise above short-term and narrow interests and take responsibility, as world citizens; when we dare not to fear our differences, and attempt to understand one another's concerns and aspirations; when we accord each other the respect, compassion, tolerance and dignity each human being across our shrinking world intrinsically deserves; when we truly avoid the tyranny of indifference and dare to genuinely care for our neighbours and fellow human beings -- or, to put it simply, when we dare to have a dialogue at all levels and in all fields. This is our understanding of a dialogue among civilizations. Admittedly, dialogue is difficult, and we need to develop the requisite human skills for it.

President Khatami, who proposed the need for dialogue among civilizations, is the first to concede, as he did in his statement at the round table on dialogue among civilizations, which was held the day before the Millennium Summit, on 5 September, at the United Nations, that

"dialogue is not easy. It is even more difficult to prepare and open up vistas upon one's inner existence to others."

However, recognizing that, despite its difficulty, there is no escaping "dialogue" if, as human beings, we are to secure the common destiny that befits us as rational beings, President Khatami hastened to point out that:

"A belief in dialogue paves the way for vivacious hope: the hope of living in a world permeated by virtue, humanity and love, and not merely by the reign of economic indices and destructive weapons. Should the spirit of dialogue prevail, humanity, culture and civilization will prevail. We should all have faith in this triumph."

Allow me to express our gratitude to the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and his staff for their efforts aimed at promoting the concept of dialogue among civilizations and for organizing the round table on the subject on 5 September, in which many heads of State, ministers, senior officials and eminent personalities participated. Each speaker contributed profoundly to our understanding of who we are, where we are heading, and the great potential of dialogue among civilizations to find answers to our common challenges.

The Secretary-General stressed that the United Nations, at its best, can be the true home of dialogue among civilizations -- the forum where such a dialogue can flourish and bear fruit in every field of human endeavour. The Secretary-General has stated that if this dialogue does not take place every day, among all nations, within and between civilizations, cultures and groups, no peace can be lasting and no prosperity can be secure.

The President of the Republic of Namibia highlighted the need for dialogue in order for us to develop an appreciation of one another as human beings with diverse cultures, if we are to begin to understand one another's social and economic needs and viewpoints.

The President of Algeria saw great potential in dialogue as a tool for withstanding the onslaught of uniformity of a one-dimensional model stemming from materially rich countries, which tends to transform genuine and warm societies into what he called "schizophrenic societies".

The President of Indonesia elaborated on the absolute necessity for dialogue within civilizations. The President of the Republic of Nigeria expounded on the notion of why we need to rediscover the value of dialogue and return to the fundamental faith that life, all life, is sacred in our communities, our nations and, indeed, in the global community; to become our brothers' and sisters' keepers; and to care to share.

The President of Latvia defined dialogue as listening not just with an open mind but an open heart and an open spirit. The Emir of the State of Qatar emphasized the value of tolerance and diversity in today's world and underscored Qatar's support for, and participation in, dialogue at three levels: academic, media-related and governmental.

The President of Georgia rhetorically asked if we could not, after several millenniums of existence, avail ourselves of humankind's accumulated experience and make the universal dream of peaceful coexistence and the mutual complementarity of cultures finally come true.

The President of the Republic of Mali recognized dialogue among civilizations as one of the most fundamental which the United Nations has had in its brief history, but he did not hide his apprehension that it might suffer the same fate as several other initiatives of its kind -- that is, to be forgotten after the initial fanfare. He considered that it would be a pity and highly detrimental if dialogue among civilizations served only as an outlet for the expression of profound anguish and concern but did not enable us to integrate social and cultural aspects into the forces of globalization, which is, to date, driven only by the logic of the market.

The President of Mozambique said that he regarded the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations as a vivid invitation to revive the debate on interaction among the peoples of the world as we strive to meet the challenge of bringing people together in a more just world that is free from conflict, poverty and hunger.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Culture of Costa Rica stressed the importance of recognizing that amid the magnificent diversity of cultures and forms of life, we are a single family with a common destiny. He pointed out the need for humankind to unite to create a sustainable global society based on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace.

It was only fitting that the morning programme on 5 September should end with typical Indian wisdom. The Minister for External Affairs of India pointed out that the dialogue which, it is hoped, will bring together the advances of all civilizations will be judged by one touchstone -- compassion. It will promote a reaffirmation of the human conscience and of universal fellowship, and ensure that care is provided to those whom material advances have left behind. He expressed trust that this dialogue among civilizations would promote a sense of indivisibility and of mutual belonging that would nurture the feeling that a community's or civilization's ascent cannot be complete until it is accompanied by the progress and advancement of the whole of humanity. The Minister warned that the maintenance and promotion of identities and the protection of cultural and civilizational traditions must not become a pretext for ultra-nationalism and exclusion.

I realize that I have not done justice to any of the statements made by the leaders who participated in the round table on dialogue among civilizations, but I have tried to convey that each and every one of them was important, profound and deserving of further study. They constitute a body of knowledge on dialogue which can serve as a guiding light as we begin to ponder the prospect and potential of dialogue among civilizations.

I now have the distinct pleasure to introduce the draft resolution on the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, contained in document A/55/L.30. The draft resolution before the Assembly is the result of a constructive process of consultation, and I wish to thank the many delegations that participated in the process and contributed to improving the text. I have the honour of noting that, in addition to the sponsors indicated in document A/55/L.30, 14 other States have indicated that they have decided to become sponsors of the draft resolution.

The draft resolution is longer than the one adopted last year for two obvious reasons: first, because a larger number of delegations contributed to its development and, secondly, that since this draft resolution, when adopted, would usher in the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, more ideas are introduced in it.

The fourth preambular paragraph is derived from a section of paragraph 6 of the Millennium Declaration regarding how tolerance is a fundamental value of international relations in the twenty-first century. The fifth preambular paragraph deals with interdependence and globalization, and the opportunity dialogue among civilizations provides to emphasize the cultural aspect of globalization. The eighth preambular paragraph is derived from paragraph 1 of article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and peoples' rights to self-determination, their freedom to determine their political status and their freedom to pursue their economic, social and cultural development. The tenth preambular paragraph emphasizes cooperation, partnership and inclusion as means of addressing global threats and challenges by seeking common grounds among and within civilizations.

Operative paragraph 3, like last year's resolution, invites all to further intensify their programmes to promote dialogue among civilizations. Operative paragraph 5 deals with educational curricula -- the inclusion of programmes of study that would help enhance appreciation of cultural diversity. Operative paragraph 8 is intended to highlight the commemoration of the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations in the penultimate week of the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly. It also seeks to allow for deliberation on and consideration of any follow-up measure or agreed final text. It also encourages participation at a high political level. The Secretary-General and his Personal Representative may wish to arrange for a presentation to the plenary Assembly by eminent persons or for the undertaking of other activities. Operative paragraph 9 calls attention to the Trust Fund on dialogue among civilizations and invites contributions to it so that continuity regarding this idea can be maintained on a voluntary basis. Operative paragraph 11 requests the Secretary-General to provide a substantive report about the activities during the Year and also about his vision for the future of dialogue among civilizations.

I trust that the draft will be adopted without a vote and hope that it will constitute a basis for a concerted effort to promote dialogue and expand the common values and principles of the family of humankind.

Mr. Levitte (France)

I have the honour of speaking on behalf of the European Union.

As the Secretary-General indicated in his report on this item to the fifty-fourth General Assembly, in the absence of a universally recognized definition of the notion of civilization, the idea of a dialogue among civilizations can be interpreted in several ways. For its part, the European Union believes it preferable to understand dialogue among civilizations as a dialogue among cultures in the broadest sense of the term. Culture is both one of the most typical qualities and a basic aspect of human beings. The culture of a country or of a society is made up of a multitude of elements that reflect all aspects of human experience: geography, environment, language, history, science, the arts and beliefs, to give just a few examples. In the view of the European Union, any dialogue among civilizations to be undertaken must embrace all the elements that make up the wealth of cultures. To exclude some of these would be to impose an unfortunate limit on a dialogue that should be as rich as possible.

The plurality and diversity of cultures which the world displays to us every day are both a source of wealth for humanity and the foundation on which international relations are based. An inevitable corollary of the diversity of cultures is the differences in sensibilities between individuals or societies of different cultures. History teaches us, unfortunately, that these differences can lead to mistrust, and that mistrust can in turn lead to hostility. For the European Union, the establishment of a dialogue among cultures requires the international community to shoulder the dual task of preserving cultural diversity while protecting against the risk of misunderstanding that such diversity can engender. In order for us to understand each other, it is important to create a favourable environment and have shared points of reference.

The undertaking of a dialogue -- whether between individuals, societies or States -- presupposes that the two parties accept and respect each other. One does not enter into dialogue with someone whom one does not recognize as an equal, notwithstanding the differences between the two. Similarly, the European Union believes that the recognition by States, of the values of tolerance and respect for the intrinsic dignity of human beings and of human rights, and the implementation of these values by the civil societies and individuals that make up States, contribute to the promotion of dialogue among cultures.

With regard to relations among States, the European Union believes that the founding of the United Nations was an essential milestone in the history of international relations. The United Nations is the first lasting international organization within which States are able to debate, on an equal footing, all questions relating directly or indirectly to the prevention and resolution of conflicts. The European Union considers that the strengthening of the role and means of action of the United Nations and the agencies of the United Nations system is a fundamental way of promoting a dialogue among cultures.

The United Nations Charter, in proclaiming the dignity and worth of the individual, the equal rights of men and women and of nations and the undertaking of Member States to practise tolerance has established the principles within which dialogue must take place. Within the United Nations system, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), because of its specific competencies in the area of education and culture, has a particular role to play in the development of a dialogue among cultures. In this respect, the European Union welcomes UNESCO's designation as the main body for the implementation of the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations. We welcome the drafts prepared by that organization with a view to making a reality of the concept of the dialogue among civilizations.

Dialogue among civilizations, however, cannot simply be limited to inter-State relations. It implies that we must promote among individuals, whatever their creed, a curiosity about other cultures. In this way we can develop direct exchanges between individuals and groups of people that have common linguistic, artistic, scientific, spiritual and human interests. The development and deepening of the dialogue among these interlocutors presupposes an active role for individuals themselves, institutions that represent civil society, non-governmental organizations and international organizations.

The European Union considers that the development of the activities of these various players is a way in which we can step up exchanges and encounters among people from different cultures. We call upon Member States to facilitate this development in every way that they can.

Over and above the traditional institutional framework for international relations, globalization and the fast development of new information and communications technologies give us new and extraordinary opportunities for expression and exchange. Today we are seeing only the beginnings of these developments. The European Union welcomes these developments, which place the individual again at the heart of the process of the communication of knowledge and gives the individual an unprecedented capacity to take the initiative. The European Union calls upon Member States to mobilize and contribute to the development of new information and communications technology and to enable all human beings to have access to it.

The existence of a dialogue among civilizations requires one last condition that must urgently be met: the preservation of plurality and diversity of cultures in all their dimensions. As the Secretary-General points out in the report before us, diversity goes hand in hand with universality and underlies all thinking on the dialogue among civilizations.

Mr. Levitte (France)

The European Union realizes that globalization, with all its rich potential, nevertheless carries the risk of making behaviour, cultural codes and means of communication uniform. What is more, the risk of marginalizing or even causing the disappearance of minority forms of culture is often exacerbated by economic disparities and imbalances in levels of access to modern media, particularly the new forms of information and communications technology.

The European Union believes, as does the Secretary-General, that diversity represents the human face of globalization. It hopes that Member States will give themselves the long-term objective of preserving cultural diversity while also respecting universal values. The Union considers that we should think about the ways in which we can bring this about. We welcome the setting up on 5 September 2000 of an Eminent Persons Group, invited by the Secretary-General to lead consultations on the dialogue among civilizations and to prepare a report on this subject. The first meeting of this Group will be held from 13 to 15 December of this year in Vienna.

The history of international relations has, unfortunately, given us many more examples of confrontation than of dialogue. The European Union is very happy to see that, in declaring 2001 the Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, the United Nations has set itself the goal of creating a new paradigm for relations among countries and cultures.

Mr. Vantsevich (Belarus)

The delegation of the Republic of Belarus welcomes the discussion on the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations. It is not by chance that at the threshold of the twenty-first century we are reaching a general understanding of the special importance of a dialogue among nations, cultures and civilizations. We all witnessed a manifestation of this during the gathering of heads of State that took place in September 2000 at United Nations Headquarters. We particularly welcome the role that is being played by the Iranian delegation and, personally, by President Khatami of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in pursuing this noble goal.

An important step was the holding of the Millennium Summit and the adoption of the Millennium Declaration, in which heads of State or Government of Member States of the United Nations assumed responsibility for the preservation of peace, especially through dialogue. The Millennium Summit became the highest manifestation of the concept of dialogue among civilizations. Belarus is fully committed to the obligations of the Declaration and intends to undertake every effort for its fulfilment.

The concept of the diversity of the modern world is firmly interwoven with that of globalization. We fully share the opinion expressed by the Secretary-General in his report on the need to continue to reflect on this interdependence and on all its advantages and disadvantages, for the United Nations and for mankind as a whole. How can we compel diversity to be a factor for unity, rather than one for division? This issue will remain on our agenda throughout this century. It must be pointed out that the image of the United Nations in the world community as a whole will greatly depend on its resolution.

The theoretical discussions on the problem of dialogue among civilizations should be tied to practical measures. The year ahead, which the United Nations will devote to this topic, will provide a unique opportunity to mobilize the United Nations potential to take concrete steps to demonstrate the advantage of the strength of dialogue over the philosophies of enmity, intolerance, xenophobia and ethnic conflict. Belarus is ready to participate in this work and will encourage its progress in every possible way.

Mr. Malhotra (India)

At the outset, I would like thank Ambassador Hadi Nejad Hosseinian, Permanent Representative of Iran, for introducing the draft resolution before us and for the efforts undertaken by Iran in pursuing this theme over the past two years.

We would like to thank the Secretary-General for his succinct report, which poses pertinent questions before us, particularly his observation that

"It is the perception of diversity as a threat that has made so many overlook the common humanity that unites us all." (A/55/492/Rev.1, para. 4)

As I have already made a more extensive statement on the theme of dialogue among civilizations in the opening debate in 1998, I will restrict myself to a few observations stemming from the above observation.

It has been observed earlier that diversity is the foundation of this house of the United Nations. This is a truth that we should grasp and imbibe, internalize in our thought and action and hold on to as if our joined destiny depended upon it. Seeking a unity of collective human purpose and belonging and celebrating this vast and rich mosaic of civilizational variety, which is the essence of the nations united, enhances both the common bond as well as the variegated splendour of the highest attainments of our shared humanity. Our aspiration at the turn of the millennium should be to erase the sense of separation and to cherish our marvellous variety as a common inheritance, which nourishes us all and deepens and enriches our consciousness and sense of ourselves. It should expand our sense of belonging so that another peoples' pain is felt by us as our own and so that the deprivation and indignity of poverty in the lives of any part of the human family are felt as insupportable for ourselves. It should make us eager to reap the rewards of the human insights and the highest accomplishments in the life of the spirit, thought, literature and art of any group of the global community. A globalization of the spirit and of human fellowship, resting on the bedrock of variety, must accompany the homogenizing globalization of our economic and technocratic life.

We largely share the broad contours of the conceptual terrain outlined in paragraph 5 of the Secretary-General's report. However, while elaborating on the indignities, we feel our vision should not be constricted, lest we miss the broader picture of the experience of all the world's societies and communities. Media prominence should certainly not be our guide to what demands scrutiny. The story of the enslavement, disempowerment and subjugation in all respects of what have now been converted into developing societies holds a grave lesson, instruction and a call for a healing commitment and responsibility.

We would caution against any misinterpretation of the dialogue among civilizations as signifying a dialogue among religions. The Indic civilization, from time immemorial, has been characterized by inclusiveness, and not exclusiveness, of spiritual experience. Conceiving of the world as one family, or vasudhaiva kutumbakam, has been a guiding inspiration. It is also the experience of other cultures that the idea of civilization transcends religious affinities. This perspective is even more central to a dialogue among civilizations, for we need to throw bridges over which a vast traffic of understanding will flow from all sides and consolidate a sense of unity transcending division. Respect for all religious, linguistic and cultural manifestations has been the core of Indian civilizational values. The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization aptly observed recently:

"'Civilization' and 'religion', to be sure, are not synonymous terms ... Cultures have not necessarily identified themselves with any one single creed".

While promoting the dialogue among civilizations, we need to be clear on this distinction.

We have also metaphorically visualized the dialogue among civilizations as a confluence of great streams, some ancient and therefore running deep, others young and ebullient with the vitality of invention. We should drink from all these life-giving waters and draw sustenance and strength. This flow is without end. We wonder, therefore, at the usefulness of starting to think of initiatives of the type envisaged in the report to give a so-called "fitting conclusion" to the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations through a "specific diplomatic initiative". We feel that our endeavour should rather be to launch the dialogue in its widest sense during the Year so that we may continue to reap the benefit of the sense of solidarity and common purpose in a shared endeavour, which would inform all forms of collaboration among us.

Over the past half-century, the United Nations has served as a host to all nations, promoting reconciliation and a culture of dialogue among them. The search for common moral and ethical values has led to the codification of a range of international instruments concerning tolerance, human rights, cultural cooperation and cooperation in science and technology. The values of democracy, human rights, pluralism and respect for rule of law, all civilizational influences, have acquired almost universal validity. Dialogue among and within nations and civilizations can and must promote understanding, pluralism and diversity as essential components of progress and human advancement.

The central question that we have to grapple with is how to forge societies that are truly liberal and multicultural, but which retain a sense of unity and a corpus of common values; how they can best contribute to the emergence of a truly shared and liberal "human civilization"; and how the dialogue among civilizations can deal effectively with the menaces that afflict and threaten to drown our civilizational heritage, such as poverty and underdevelopment, hunger and disease, the emergence of xenophobia, racism, extremism, terrorism and actions of the "uncivil society".

Unprecedented advances in science and technology hold out the promise of great material progress and development. Breakthroughs in information technology are creating a new direct cultural interface across the people of the world and offer a unique possibility of intensifying productive exchanges in diverse fields. Science and technology also provide valuable tools for historic preservation, documentation and wide dissemination of the cultural heritage of all civilizations. We agree with the Secretary-General that the promotion of identity and cultural diversity could, in itself, become the very substance of dialogue among civilizations. Instead of viewing diversity as a threat, we should, as stated so eloquently by our heads of State and Government in the Millennium Declaration, respect one another, in all our diversity of belief, culture and language, promoting an active culture of peace and dialogue among all civilizations. The parameters of this dialogue should move away from the traditional but limited approach of better knowledge of each other and understanding of our peculiarities to a greater appreciation of diversity as a variation on the theme of humanity and its unlimited potential and the enlarging of a common denominator of values and principles on which our shared humanity rests.

We commend the Secretary-General for pointing out that

"Our world has never been more integrated, more vulnerable and more unequal". (A/55/492/Rev.1, para. 5)

We live through these ironies and dilemmas. A dialogue among civilizations, which hopefully will unite the advances of all civilizations, will succeed if it fosters the universal urge in our hearts for justice and equality, conscience and compassion, harmony and coherence. It must promote a sense of indivisible mutual belonging and the conviction that all, without distinction, must participate in the advancement of human civilization. We observe that the draft resolution rightly notes that civilizations are not confined to nation-States, but, rather, encompass different cultures. Nor should maintenance and promotion of identities and protection of cultural and civilizational traditions ever become a tool to shield ultranationalism and exclusionism. Exceptionalism and exclusivism are the roots of a clash of civilizations; they cannot advance a dialogue among civilizations.

A year ago my colleague, the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation, said:

"dialogue should be built on the combined efforts of all States and peoples in combating violence, extremism, terrorism, poverty, famine and disease, that is, all those disasters which deny the very essence, the basis, of any civilization." (A/54/PV.77, p. 23)

Instead of viewing the dialogue through the prism of divisiveness, we must ensure that it promotes and consolidates the principles of pluralism and democracy, acceptance of diversity and mutual respect, freedom and equality, solidarity and a sense of shared responsibility. The dialogue must bring out the uniting features of our civilizations, all of which have contributed to the human saga, while preserving those distinctive features of a civilization which give it a distinctive genius and adds to the totality of human richness. India will contribute, in thought and in action, to this endeavour.

Mr. Aboulgheit (Egypt)

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