Resources

Since its creation in 1945, UNESCO has been working to enhance mutual understanding between peoples, founded on an ever more subtle knowledge of cultures in their rich diversity in order to promote the dignity of all through the affirmation of the principles, rights and values of our common humanity. The era of globalization characterizes our societies, in a cultural landscape which, more than ever, is permeated with diversity because of the mutual influences of peoples, communities, and of their cultural and religious practices. A major issue remains: the need to demonstrate the benefits of promoting both respect for human rights and cultural diversity, recognizing the importance of genuine intercultural dialogue in order to fight against new forms of racism, discrimination, intolerance, extremism and radicalization. UNESCO, with lengthy practical experience as an international laboratory of ideas, monitors respect for universal values, in particular by initiating research and producing various kinds of teaching tools designed for the acquisition of intercultural skills. Which skills should be mobilized or acquired in order to be able not only to respect but also to appreciate the Other in all his or her diversity. How many of these skills can be useful on both a collective level and an individual one in order to protect cultural rights, protect oneself from, or to transcend prejudice? Intercultural sensibility and aptitudes have to be explored since they refer to the willingness and capacity of people to step outside of their own logic and systems of thought in order to engage with others, and appreciate different cultural narratives especially if they are not equally valorized or recognized in a given societal context. This portfolio proposes a basic tool for capacity building in support of exchange, communication and cooperation beyond cultural, religious and national borders, allowing the emergence of a global citizenship in a safer world for all. In this perspective, this set of key resources consists of papers by international experts exploring the linkage between respect for cultural diversity and human rights, with all that that implies. It brings together other publications such asIntercultural Competences, Conceptual and Operational Framework, published by UNESCO in 2013, and documents such as Dire la Tolérance (Defining Tolerance), published in 1997 and translated into English and into Arabic, and, finally, UNESCO’s Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence, A Vision in Action, published in English in 2012 and in French in 2013. Symbolically released on 10 December 2014, Human Rights Day, this multilingual and evolving publication is designed primarly to be an Open Access tool, a flagship project of the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022). In the same spirit, its content will be enriched and developed in an e-learning format, throughout the Decade.