The King and Albares attend Alliance of Civilizations’ 10th Global Forum in Portugal

Eduardo González King Felipe VI and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, will participate tomorrow Tuesday in the opening ceremony of the tenth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), which is being held since this Monday in Cascais (Portugal) under the motto 'United in peace: restoring trust, reconfiguring the future: reflection on two decades of dialogue in favor of humanity'. The meeting, which will address the achievements of the Alliance of Civilizations since its creation and outline the plan for “One Humanity” in the coming years, will bring together members of the Group of Friends of UNAOC, political leaders, representatives of international and regional organizations, religious leaders and religious actors. Representatives of the private sector, civil society, academia, youth, the arts, the media, donor agencies and foundations will also attend, who will address global issues relevant to peace and security and call for restoring trust and uniting in peace. At the Forum, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on the twenty years of the ‘Alliance of Civilizations’ initiative, announced by Spain at the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2004, and on how UNAOC became a stable UN entity. The idea of the Alliance of Civilisations was first proposed by former Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2004. The proposal was taken up by the then UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and the Alliance was officially launched on 14 July 2005 under the patronage of Zapatero and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Spain and Turkey remain the main political and financial backers of the Alliance, which has around 130 member states. Moratinos, who was Foreign Minister under Zapatero between 2004 and 2010, has been High Representative of the Alliance of Civilizations since January 2019. Cascais Declaration After Monday's session, which will focus on the UNACO Youth Forum, the tenth Global Forum itself will begin on Tuesday with the reception of ministers and heads of international organizations by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Portuguese Republic, Paulo Rangel, and the Deputy Secretary General and High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos. The inauguration will then take place, in which Felipe VI will participate together with Rangel, Moratinos, the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, José Manuel Albares and the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Haka Fidan. Spain and Turkey are participating in the event as co-sponsors of the Alliance of Civilizations. This event will be followed by a round table entitled “Special Reflections: Two Decades of Dialogue for Humanity”, followed by an event in memory of Jorge Sampaio, President of Portugal from 1996 to 2006 and first High Representative of UNAOC (2007-2013), and the first plenary session, entitled “Two Decades of Dialogue for Humanity: Reflecting on Lessons Learned and Forging a Way Forward”. After lunch, hosted by Rangel, there will be a high-level meeting of the Group of Friends of UNAOC, attended by Albares, Fidan, Moratinos, Rangel and Guterres, and with the participation of Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group of Friends and Heads or Deputy Heads of international organisations. The high-level meeting will conclude with the adoption of the Cascais Declaration. The rest of the day will include, among other events, a thematic panel entitled “Ending hate: turning the tide in the face of the global rise of all forms of religious intolerance, including anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim hatred and anti-Christian bigotry”, and a second plenary session entitled “United in peace: restoring trust, reshaping the future”, and will conclude with an official dinner hosted by the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Wednesday session Wednesday session will include thematic panels on “sports diplomacy as a bridge builder”, the contribution of migration “to building peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development”, “inclusive and transformative education”, disinformation, “religious mediation for peace”, the role of Artificial Intelligence in “promoting intercultural and interreligious dialogue”, intercultural and interreligious dialogue and “the role of women peacemakers” and multilingualism in the 21st century “as a facilitator of multilateral diplomacy and a vector of cultural diversity”. On the same day, a United Nations World Conference on “Safeguarding Religious Sites: A Multi-Stakeholder Approach” will be held, led by Moratinos and representatives of Member States, United Nations agencies, religious actors and religious organizations, civil society and other relevant stakeholders. The Forum will conclude with a closing ceremony, in which Moratinos and representatives from Spain and Turkey will speak, and with a press conference on the results of the meeting.

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