Outcomes
This forum will provide a timely and much needed platform for us to consider what has been done, is being done, and could be done in the future, to attain tangible outcomes in our quest for the development of peaceful societies. It will help consolidate and strengthen existing efforts and raise awareness amongst the general public of the critical roles played by individuals, local communities, governmental, non-governmental, corporate, and media bodies in promoting change and building bridges for peace. Facing the fact that we are all dependent on each other, this forum will help reinforce the idea that we have much more uniting us than dividing us. The idea of ‘unity in diversity’ is nothing new but sadly, in reality, today’s world does not reflect this concept. This conference aims to put the idea of unity in diversity back on the agenda. Just as importantly, this conference will also emphasize that all of us have a role to play in facilitating positive change.
Mainstreaming culture into the various fields of development is firmly on the international development agenda. In 2001 UNESCO Member States adopted the Universal Declaration of Cultural Diversity, and at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in 2002, the principles of that Declaration were integrated into the Millennium Development Goals. As previously stated this is also the declared UNESCO International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence of the World. Thus the issue is not only a regional concern but is a concern of global significance.
Furthermore, the conference will see an expansion of a growing network of partners that are able to share valuable learning experiences which can be adapted to other contexts and thus result in tangible outcomes.
