Summary: 18 May 2012, New York - In 2002 The United Nations General Assembly declared May 21 as the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development following the adoption in 2001 of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity by UNESCO. This year, the UN Alliance of Civilizations calls citizens worldwide to "Do ONE thing for Diversity and Inclusion" through its 2nd global campaign.
To celebrate this World Day for Cultural Diversity 2012, the United Nations Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC) will be launching the second edition of the "Do ONE Thing for Diversity and Inclusion" campaign in partnership with UNESCO. Based on the successful model of the Earth Day that encourages people to take concrete action to preserve the planet, the Do One Thing campaign invites people from around the world to "do one thing" to support cultural diversity through cultural exchanges, music, food, cinema, languages or art.
A dedicated Facebook page has been created as the main vehicle of the campaign over the past year, visited and "liked" by millions of people around the world.
"Diversity, dialogue and development": these are three magic Ds. Add a fourth D from "Do one thing campaign" and join us in creating a positive narrative for our age of diversity. Living together in diversity within tolerant and inclusive societies is indeed a dream. But action is what dreams are made out of. Now is a time that we need action to produce results, for with dreams become true - just join us in the Do One Thing Campaign!" said President Jorge Sampaio, High Representative for the UNAOC.
"UNESCO is proud to be a partner in this campaign," stated its Director-General, Irina Bokova. "Cultural diversity is something to be celebrated and enjoyed by people everywhere. Not only does it provide insight into the richness of the human experience, it is a hallmark of tolerant, inclusive societies."
The second edition will add new features:
A world movement for Diversity: This year, the initiative is supported by major corporate partners including Intuit, Sodexo, Deloitte, Genentech, Dell, McAfee, American Airlines, Vivendi, Major League of Baseball and a wide coalition of NGOs and civil society organizations from all over the world including Red Cross, Civicus, SAGE Foundation (India), Global Dialogue Foundation (Australia), Akili Dada (Africa), ALECSO (Middle East and Arab countries), Council of Europe, Secretaría General Iberoamericana, Vivario (Brazil) and Nishan Forum on World Civilization(China), among others1.
The activities: A video contest and a photo contest are also organized at this occasion in partnership with the UNESCO Centre of Florence with monetary and gifts provided by the partners of the campaign. Videos from personalities all around the world are being posted on the Facebook page each week and many events related to the campaign are being organized to Do One Thing for Diversity and Inclusion.
To learn more visit: http://www.unaoc.org/actions/campaigns/do-one-thing-for-diversity-and-inclusion/
Contacts:
Jean-Christophe Bas, Senior Advisor, UNAOC, Jeancb[at]unops[dot]org(Jeancb[at]unops[dot]org)
Marta Lopez, Campaign Coordinator, UNAOC, martal[at]unops[dot]org(martal[at]unops[dot]org)
Mauro Rosi, Communication, Knowledge Management and Partnerships, UNESCO, m[dot]rosi[at]unesco[dot]org(m[dot]rosi[at]unesco[dot]org)
1 Akili Dada, American Airlines, Arab League Educational and Cultural and Scientific Organization, Bridge the Gap Tv, Café Babel, Civicus , Conscious Programs International, Council of Europe, Cultural Voice, Dar Al-Hekma, Dell, Deloitte, DiverseCity, Education for Employment Foundation, Genentech, Global Dialogue Foundation, ICoCo , Intel, Intuit, ISIC (International Student Identity Card), Johnson Controls, Johnsons & Johnsons, Kickfair, McAfee, Mejdi Tours, Nishan Forum on World Civilizations, NNNGO, Northern Trust , OOFRAS (Occupational Opportunities for Refugees & Asylum Seekers Inc) , Pfizer, Red Cross, SAGE Foundation, Secretaría General Iberoamericana, SERFAC, Sodexo, Tavira Ilimitada , The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, The UNESCO Centre of Florence, True Blue Inclusion, UNESCO, UNHCR, Vivario and Vivendi.
****
About the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
In 2001, UNESCO adopted the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and one year later, in December 2002, the UN General Assembly declared May 21 to be the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
About UNESCO
UNESCO works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values. It is through this dialogue that the world can achieve global visions of sustainable development encompassing observance of human rights, mutual respect and the alleviation of poverty, all of which are at the heart of UNESCO'S mission and activities. Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO and the first woman to lead the Organization, was appointed in 2009.
About the UNAOC
The UN Alliance of Civilizations was established in 2005 as an initiative of the UN Secretary General, under the cosponsorship of the President of the Government of Spain and the Prime Minister of Turkey. It emerged out of a conviction that, in order to achieve sustainable peace, long-standing divisions and misperceptions between cultures need to be addressed. In April 2007, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Jorge Sampaio, former President of Portugal, as High Representative for the Alliance. Under his leadership, the Alliance promotes dialogue that delivers change on the ground. It is supported by a growing Group of Friends of 128 governments and international organizations.
| Top |
European Union Member States
Alerts by email
Email this page
Print this page