The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations seeks to address widening rifts between communities and societies by reaffirming a paradigm of mutual respect among peoples of different cultural and religious backgrounds and by helping to mobilize concerted action towards this end. It aims to bridge the world’s divides and to build trust and understanding across cultures and communities worldwide.
The Alliance of Civilizations was established in 2005 as a UN initiative jointly supported by 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 between cultures need to be addressed. This vision was articulated by the High-level Group of the Alliance, appointed by the UN Secretary-General to explore the roots of polarization in the world. In their report, members of the Group outlined a range of practical initiatives aimed at improving relations between diverse cultures. These recommendations – in the areas of youth, education, media and migration – provide the foundation upon which the Alliance developed its work.
