World Public Forum

Published on 11 October 2008

Written by WPF Dialogue of Civilizations

Speech of Mr. Walter Schwimmer

Former Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Chairman – International Coordination Committee –
World Public Forum – Dialogue of Civilizations

Madame Chair, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The intercultural and inter-religious dialogue has been one of my priorities already in the Council of Europe where I started for example the cooperation with the Organization oft the Islamic Conference and the League of Arab States, and I am very glad that I can continue to work for this challenging goal now under the presidency of Vladimir I. Yakunin in the World Public Forum - Dialogue of Civilizations and its International Coordination Committee.

As an Austrian and a Viennese by birth I am very happy that this 1st Summit of WPFDC takes place in Vienna in a very symbolic place. The square from which you entered the building, Josefsplatz, is not named after a hero of wars or battles but after Austrian emperor Joseph II who is famous for his modern reforms in the areas of administration and education, for his contribution to Austrian enlightenment and in particular for his decree of tolerance for other religions than the dominating Roman Catholic one.

Just four weeks ago we returned from a very successful annual Rhodes Conference which was determined by a situation in international relations which is pressing more than ever for dialogue in a spirit of mutual respect.

Therefore I am proud to present to you some basic ideas of the Rhodes Declaration 2008. The Rhodes participants were convinced that the international community must find ways how to find common responses to global and regional challenges respecting the equality of nations and the right of each nation to self-determination. A constructive dialogue should bring together all available forces to meet the global challenges and to find common solutions for the greatest threats to mankind. Global threats, such as terrorism, climate change, financial and economic imbalances, migration flows, and the poverty gap between North and South are still waiting for global responses.

Terrorism is not the result of one civilisation opposing or attacking another one, it is an attack on all civilisations. Poverty is not only a problem of poor regions or countries, it is a problem of the prosperous countries too and keeping the economy moving and the financial markets working properly concerns not only the developed countries. The threats to climate and our natural resources are threats to the future of all of us. And migration flows need joint action of the countries of origin, transit and destination in a spirit that goes beyond the mentality of a besieged fortress. This all needs global thinking and global solidarity.

All nations should be united in rejecting any kind of extremism, fundamentalism, racism and any attempt of domination of nations over other nations. Fruitful dialogue should lead to partnership of equal nations in order to fight together terrorism, to take all possible measures against the climate change, to bridge the poverty gap and to overcome dangerous imbalances.

We are living on one globe and sharing the same resources. Therefore dialogue should lead to global economic partnership and joint efforts to resolve problems which affect many countries and their economy. Regional economic cooperation is important and necessary to avoid a situation where one economy is the dominating one and problems of this economy would hurt the whole world. Cultural and religious diversity should not be an obstacle to economic cooperation. And in the context of the current economic and financial crisis I would like to emphasize that the ultimate target of all economic activities should be the well being of human beings and not the agglomeration of capital.

The current financial crisis should be taken as a lesson. Profit, making money is not the ultimate goal of economic activities which should serve the people with supply of goods and services. Financial markets should therefore be better controlled, in particular “short sales” and similar pure speculative deals. The market has to serve the distribution of products and services and must not be used for speculations. Therefore I also underline the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Private Partnerships which should be fostered in global cooperation.

In the light of the current financial crisis one should pay more attention to new forms of financial business like social business, ethic funds, environmental funds and all kind of ethic banking, in particular also Islamic banking.

We firmly believe in the responsibility of the richer countries to bridge the poverty gap. Poverty of whole nations is endangering regional and global stability. Therefore it is necessary to recall again and again the UN goals of 0,7% of GDP of the developed countries dedicated to development assistance and to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the world's people (currently 22 per cent) whose income is less than one dollar a day.

Madame Chair, ladies and gentlemen, looking to our common challenges and also opportunities, I am convinced that we have already much more in common than many people in our countries think. Unfortunately one too often looks first at differences and what may divide us than to what may unite us. Diversity within and between our societies should be seen as an asset, not as an obstacle. All civilizations, cultures, religions and nations, not only the so-called West and the Muslim World, should be united in creating the conditions for genuine dialogue based upon respect for shared values and the dignity of each civilization and culture.

To support this dialogue dissemination and sharing of information and knowledge is essential – helping all civilizations to build their human and institutional capacities for the sake of a better and peaceful future. There is no clash of civilizations, but certainly and unfortunately very often a clash of ignorance which we have to overcome. Today there is not only a big gap in the world economy, but following the same dividing line also a huge gap in education which leads to a vicious circle – no economic resources, no education, no education – no economic development.

I also want to draw your attention to the fact that the still in some countries and societies existing gender gap in education has to be closed. Boys and girls have the same right to education and there is no religious or cultural justification for gender discrimination. This is also an important aspect for the integration of migrants into the societies of the host countries.

Allow me also a few remarks on the role of religions. As the Rhodes Declaration 2008 emphasizes the world religions constitute a unique pool of wisdom and desire for a better living-together of mankind in friendship and peace and they all are respecting live as given by God to mankind. So all religions are denouncing violence against other people and especially against the innocent ones. Neither terrorism nor any other kind of violence, including armed conflicts, therefore will find religious justification and terrorists always violate the basic principles of their religion.

A prerequisite for mutual respect also between religions and their believers is knowledge about each other. We therefore suggest that the world religions work together for the elaboration of a common curriculum for teaching about the other religions. This will ensure respectful information on the one hand and avoid misunderstandings, wrongful stereotyping and hatred. The World Public Forum - Dialogue of Civilizations could serve as a kind of clearing house for this project. Since 2003 World Public Forum – Dialogue of Civilizations has brought together people of various nations and of very different backgrounds who have been concerned about political and social volatility at the global level, increased violence (for example, terrorism), social upheavals (for example, food riots), political unpredictability (for example, military interventions), weakening of international institutions and international law, global economic slowdown, ongoing debate on the role of the state, climate change, and many other areas.

The Rhodes Declaration 2008 is reflecting the ideas of the participants and their discussions in eight working groups and two round tables. This year’s Rhodes Conference marked a significant breaking point in the development of the World Public Forum. We did not discuss just the issue of dialogue, its prerequisites and how to promote it; no we were more discussing the use of dialogue for solving the world’s most pressing issues. Dialogue is no more an aim in itself but a most precious tool for a development of the world to the better. From here on World Public Forum - Dialogue of Civilizations can move to concrete action, from words to deeds. Maybe we will have to adapt our structures to the new tasks too, with working groups dealing with specific global problems which can be solved or at least reduced through dialogue. But in anyway, World Public Forum - Dialogue of Civilizations and its so many participants of the annual Rhodes Conferences have become a movement for global change through dialogue. Together with the online network which was created by the International Coordination Committee, World Public Forum is also a big think-tank for the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Let me conclude by recalling the United Nations Millennium Declaration of 8 September 2000, which considers, that tolerance is one of the fundamental values essential to international relations in the twenty-first century and should include the active promotion of a culture of peace and dialogue among civilizations, with human beings respecting one another, in all their diversity of belief, culture and language, neither fearing nor repressing differences within and between societies but cherishing them as a precious asset of humanity.

Therefore the Rhodes Declaration 2008 ends with the conviction that despite all obstacles, despite all recent deterioration in international relations, despite the current financial crisis, dialogue will prevail over confrontation, we will overcome the reigning culture of clashes and violence and replace it by greater cross-cultural understanding and partnership between societies and civilizations. The participants of the 6th annual session of World Public Forum – Dialogue of Civilizations promised to continue to work for these goals, for a new humane world order! And having said this I would like to join those, who ended their speech with “Yes, we can!”.