4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue kicks off

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

The 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue kicked off in Baku on the theme “Advancing Intercultural Dialogue – New avenues for human security, peace and sustainable development”.

The three-day forum aims at further promoting and sustaining understanding and dialogue within and between cultures.

The forum is organized in cooperation with UNESCO, the UN Alliance of Civilizations, the UN World Tourism Organization (WTO), the Council of Europe, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the North-South Center of the Council of Europe, Azertac reported.

The agenda includes topics such as the role of faith, religions, migration, human security, sport, education, art, sustainable development, preventing violent extremism, business in building trust and cooperation among cultures and civilizations.

The forum will see the launch of a global call for prevention of violent extremism through girls’ education. The call will be made by Azerbaijan’s First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva and UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova at a high-level meeting on the prevention of violent extremism, migrant and refugee problems.

A special plenary session co-organized with UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will be held as part of the Forum. “Intercultural dialogue, food security and community resilience: Essential elements in achieving sustainable development and TBC peace (UN FAO-Azerbaijan)” will take place for the first time. The project will be implemented through support of Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and FAO Goodwill Ambassador, Leyla Aliyeva.

Besides, “Baku Process” award for leadership in intercultural dialogue will be announced during the 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku this week. The award will be presented to a famous figure in 2018.

The forum brings together nearly 120 officials from foreign countries, representatives of 39 international organizations and more than 50 non-governmental organizations, heads of governments, ministers, senior policy makers, cultural professionals, goodwill ambassadors, experts, journalists, practitioners, prominent intellectuals and activists.

The event aims to be an international platform to enable and encourage people, countries and organizations around the globe to take concrete actions to support diversity, dialogue and mutual understanding among nations by raising awareness on the importance of intercultural dialogue worldwide.