15 -16 gen. 2008 - Intervento del Ministro al I Forum of the Alliance of Civilisations

I Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations. Madrid, 15-16 January 2008
High Level Political Dialogue
Minister Giovanna Melandri Address.

Mr. Chairman,
Italy’s second contribution to the Clearing House is in the area of youth. The Report of the High-Level Group pays particular – and I would add, appropriate - attention to the critical role of youth in building up the Alliance of Civilizations. Young women and men can be the strongest advocates for dialogue, and national authorities need to devise appropriate means to encourage them to play this role.
This responsibility is very strongly perceived in Italy. The recent creation of a Ministry for Youth – of which I am honoured to be the first Minister – is a recognition of the need to foster the positive role of young generations in shaping our life, in particular through their full inclusion in the society.

We pay special attention to young women and men belonging to weakest groups, including ethnic and religious minorities. Our efforts tend to make them feel an integral part of the system since their young age, and to do so, it is essential to provide them with the opportunity to talk to each other and to be listened to.
In this spirit, in December 2006 the Ministry for Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Interiors jointly set up a Youth Advisory Board for Religious and Cultural Dialogue.
There are currently 16 members of the board, young men and women aged between 20 and 30, belonging to 10 different faiths and denominations. The Advisory Board is helping the Government through the presentation of opinions and proposals on issues related to the peaceful coexistence of different cultures and faiths; organizing workshops and seminars and publishing documents which facilitate multi-cultural and multi-faith integration policies, including a declaration on the issue of Women and Society. The board is also active in international bilateral and multilateral exchanges with other countries, mainly in the Mediterranean and Middle East regions.
Ultimately, through the Advisory Board, we hope to encourage young people to play a leading part in building up models of dialogue and tolerance between Italy’s different religions and cultures and to help define an integration model which will enable us to avoid repeating the errors of the past.
In Working Session number 5, tomorrow, there will be a chance to meet some of the members of the Advisory Board, so I will not expand any further on their activities, but I strongly encourage all of you to engage them in an open and frank discussion, which I am sure will prove extremely useful both for you and for them.
In this spirit, Italy believes the work of the Advisory Board could be included in the Clearing House of Alliance of Civilizations, and today I would suggest that we move a step forward. This Forum, in fact, offers a unique opportunity to compare Italy’s experience in this field with that of other countries. Some of them might already have in place similar institutions, others might be encouraged to establish them. All together we could consider the idea of creating an international network of National Youth Bodies active in the area of intercultural and interreligious dialogue, under the leadership of the Alliance.
Such a network could facilitate the exchange of experiences and their cross-fertilization. It would eventually become part of the Global Youth Alliance envisaged in the Report of the High-Level Group, which I believe constitutes one of the most ambitious and yet absolutely necessary goals of this initiative. Italy stands ready to provide its full support to carry out this proposal.
Thank you.