Joint Statement of the Co-Sponsors of UNAOC, Spain and Turkey
At UNAOC 8th Global Forum
Turkey and Spain as the co-sponsors of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) profoundly appreciate the sincere and strong support of the Secretary General to this initiative. This Forum marks the first ten years of these high-level events and the accomplishment of the 2013-2018 Strategic Plan of the Alliance.
Today as the international community and the UN, we are seeing the vital need of “thinking and acting together, better and stronger” to meet today’s complex and inter-connected challenges like poverty, displacement, armed conflicts, inequality, climate change and unfortunately every type of discrimination, in particular against women.
We believe the UNAOC is and should be an integral and vital part of these efforts through its strong role in promoting understanding and mutual respect among peoples of different cultural and religious traditions as an indispensable tool for preventive diplomacy in addressing the root causes of conflicts and strengthening the solidarity among the nations against common challenges.
Turkey and Spain once again underline their dedicated support to the Secretary General and his team’s efforts to strengthen the UN’s integrated vision on peace, security and sustainable development. UNAOC has now become a crosscutting element of the UN system and is ready to contribute to the organization´s overall efforts including in the field of conflict resolution. Media early alert is also a very helpful tool in this regard.
Turkey and Spain sincerely thank to His Excellency Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the High Representative for his tireless work to promote the core values of this initiative. During his term of Office, the Alliance has become even stronger.
On the other hand, as the co-sponsors of the Alliance we warmly welcome His Excellency Mr. Miguel Angel Moratinos, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain to this post. We strongly believe that in light of his experiences he will make concrete and invaluable contributions to our common goal.
Taking this opportunity, Turkey and Spain have the honour to inform the member states that we are currently working on a draft Action Plan on the work of the Alliance based on National and Regional Strategies and focused on an efficient implementation. The draft which will be shared with the Secretariat and the member states soon will aim at providing a fresh impetus to the Alliance through proposing new focus areas based on the existing projects. To this end, the financial structures of the Alliance could be adapted.