ICYF Chief de Cabinet Elmaddin Mehdiyev represented our institution in Sixth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) held on 29 and 30 of August 2014 in Bali, Indonesia. Mehdiyev held several meetings with officials of the participant organizations as weel as Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations.

Sixth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) was held on 29 and 30 of August 2014 in Bali, Indonesia. Under the overarching theme “Unity in Diversity: Celebrating Diversity for Common and Shared Values”, the Sixth Global Forum of the UNAOC will bring together over 1,500 participants, including political leaders, representatives of international and regional organizations, the private sector, civil society, academia, youth, arts and the media, as well as donor agencies and foundations, to explore new ways of promoting cross-cultural dialogue and understanding and to spark new partnerships and commitments.

In line with the mission of UNAOC, the Bali Forum focused on strategic and yet practical measures that generate and sustain common values and a shared sense of responsibility among all stakeholders and partners. During the plenaries and the various beak-out sessions, the Forum participants discussed and answer key questions, including:

· Promoting harmony through inter-religious and cross-cultural dialogue;

· The role of women in fostering understanding among cultures;

· Fostering understanding through the power of sports, art, music and entertainment;

· Youth participation in peace-building;

· Media conversation across lines;

· Harnessing the positive power of social media in reconciling the freedom of expression;

· Social inclusion and migration: developments for post-2015 agenda;

· Perception of migration: how to change the narratives about migrants.

R. M. Marty M. Natalegawa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, John W. Ashe President of the 68th United Nations General Assembly and Ban Ki-moon United Nations Secretary-General also honoured the Sixth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC).

About UNOAC

The primary mission of the UNAOC is to forge collective political will and to mobilize concerted action at institutional and civil society levels aimed at improving understanding and cooperative relations among nations and peoples across cultures and religions and, in the process, helping to counter the forces that fuel polarization and extremism. It aspires to the ideal of a culture of peace and dialogue among all civilizations on the assumption that “differences within and between societies should be neither feared nor repressed, but cherished as a precious asset of humanity”.