Sharing Culture for Shared Security

"Intercultural and interreligious dialogue are critical for human security" said Professor Fethi Mansouri, Director of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation and the UNESCO Chair on Comparative Research on Cultural Diversity and Social Justice, on his return from the the Academic Forum of UNESCO Chairs and the 3rd World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, Azerbaijan.

"The forums", he explained, "form an international platform to encourage and enable people, countries and organisations to support diversity by raising awareness of the importance of intercultural and interreligious dialogue."

The UNESCO Chairs were joined in Baku by national government representatives, leaders of international and regional organisations, religious and civil society institutions and experts from over 100 countries. Together the UNESCO Chairs on Interreligious and Intercultural dialogue played a key role in impacting the Forum with insights from current research and engaging with and informing policy-makers on approaches to facilitating dialogue in multicultural societies.