The UNAOC in the Service of International Peace

See - Sada Elbalad

19-05-2025

Prof. Abdelhak Azzouzi
It is impossible to speak of the UNAOC without mentioning its High Representative, Mr. Miguel Ángel Moratinos, a prominent figure in international diplomacy within the United Nations. As the UN's High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, his career stands as a model of a life devoted to peacebuilding and fostering agreement, rooted in empathy and solidarity among peoples.
The UN program he leads, guided solely by wisdom and foresight, aims to instill in young people the values of cultural pluralism, diversity of beliefs, and sustainable development. Its greatest enemies are radical fundamentalism, unchecked individualism, and exclusion based on racism or hatred. By multiplying programs, summits, and meetings across the globe, Mr. Moratinos is more determined than ever to champion hope and restore human dignity to the core of all economic, social, and political issues. "Our humanity comes first," he continually proclaims. It is our current capital and future heritage, which must be preserved and promoted without wavering in the face of hardship.
This explains why he held significant administrative and diplomatic positions in Europe, the Middle East, and Arab countries with exemplary efficiency before joining the United Nations. A true Mediterranean at heart and in spirit, he is deeply devoted to humanity and to the refinement that lies at the foundation of all civilizations.
Under his leadership and with the support of his team, the UNAOC has become an inclusive United Nations platform that brings together multiple stakeholders to advance the culture of peace and promote intercultural and interreligious dialogue in the name of peace and mutual respect. UN member states have reaffirmed their support for the UNAOC and its role in promoting dialogue as a form of soft power to prevent conflict, through General Assembly Resolutions 64/14 of December 22, 2009, and 69/312 of July 6, 2015. Inspired by UNAOC's values and principles, several governments have developed and launched national plans and strategies aimed at preventing tension, promoting interfaith harmony, improving interethnic relations, and strengthening social cohesion.
In November 2010, the UNAOC Regional Strategy for the Mediterranean was adopted by member states in Valletta, Malta. As part of this strategy, the UNAOC and its partners—including the European Commission, the League of Arab States, and the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation—have proposed a series of training programs, workshops, summer schools, and annual fellowship editions. These bring together young people from diverse cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds to encourage collaboration, mutual respect, and the deconstruction of stereotypes and prejudices about the 'Other.'
In this context, the United Nations Chair for the Alliance of Civilizations, which I preside over, was created at the Euromed University of Fez. The creation of the 'United Nations Chair for the Alliance of Civilizations' at the Euromed University of Fez was announced during the 9th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, held in Fez on November 22–23, 2022, and during a joint press conference by H.E. Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccan Expatriates, and H.E. Miguel Ángel Moratinos, UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations.
The Chair was officially inaugurated on December 6, 2024, at the Euromed University of Fez and was officially recognized during the UNAOC Advisory Council meeting held on April 20, 2025, in Marrakech.
The Chair's mission is to conduct activities, training, and research related to the Alliance of Civilizations, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, peace diplomacy, conflict resolution, and the search for unity in diversity—all in full alignment with the values and principles of the UNAOC and Euromed University of Fez.
Since its creation, the Chair has undertaken various actions, summarized as follows:
• February 14, 2024: Organized meetings of Euro-Mediterranean and African youth at the Moroccan Parliament alongside the Summit of Parliamentary Presidents and the 17th Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean. Youth from 30 countries exchanged ideas and debated the challenges facing the Euro-Mediterranean and African regions, producing and reading a "Call for the Future" before the parliamentary presidents of the UfM member states.
• December 6–7, 2024: Under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, held conferences and discussions on the topic of the Alliance of Civilizations, with the participation of prominent figures from various countries and approximately 1,600 students.
• December 6, 2024: Organized youth meetings on the theme of immigration involving Euro-Mediterranean and African participants.
• 2023: Launched a Master's program in 'Conflict Resolution and the Alliance of Civilizations,' enrolling students from around 20 different nationalities.
• Several PhD students are currently conducting their research within the framework of the Chair.
• Published numerous scientific journals and books. Among the journals: International Journal of European, Mediterranean and African Studies, Médiations Méditerranéennes, Alternatives Africaines, and Student Times. The Chair also released its first set of academic books, distributed worldwide, meeting the highest editorial standards, further affirming its role as a center of knowledge.
• Appointment of Chair members from all continents. These members, drawn from a wide geographic range, form a global network of experts, allowing the Chair to expand its areas of activity accordingly.
The Chair aspires—through the mobilization of a community of renowned scholars and thinkers—to nurture in students a new vision of humanity and the world, one that resists sectarianism, extremism, and exclusion. It promotes mutual respect for diverse perspectives and ideals and affirms the role of international law in defending pluralism of faiths, cultures, identities, and social characteristics.
Today's globalized world challenges all peoples to embrace intercultural and interreligious understanding to prevent divisions, contradictions, and isolationist tendencies. Education and training at all levels are of crucial importance for citizens of the world to commit to peace. We are thus outlining a roadmap for building a culturally diverse society based on four goals: the shock of alterity, the meaning of difference, the awareness of perspective, and the intelligence of coherence. These core insights should form the essence of student training for harmonious living in a culturally and religiously mixed world. Our 'planetary society' is not immune to this growing diversity, and we believe it is urgent to prepare for it if we hope to contribute meaningfully and effectively to its development. We all share the responsibility of intensifying efforts to spread the values of dialogue, peace, and mutual understanding among peoples.
In other words, this education in cultural diversity must connect citizens with truth in order to live humanely, spiritually, and rationally. Our future is shared. Binary and explosive visions are extremely dangerous—they inflame the imagination, and imagination can sometimes be more dangerous than objective reality. A reordering of the problems that fuel the dynamics between East and West—often falsely presented as opposites—is needed.
Thus, the Chair seeks to be a vibrant space for research and dialogue on the pressing issues of our time. By investing in humanistic knowledge—both scientifically and heuristically—it serves as a powerful lever to support the younger generations in facing destructive dogmas and meeting the challenges of the future. Created by the UNAOC and Euromed University of Fez, this Chair continues to grow through new experiences, expertise, and innovations.
Picture featuring the students of the Conflict Resolution and Alliance of Civilizations Master's program.
Part of the 1,800 attendees at the inauguration of the Alliance of Civilizations Chair.
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