ADDRESS BY THE ARGENTINE FOREIGN MINISTER

INTERVENTION OF THE ARGENTINE FOREIGN MINISTER, JORGE TAIANA, ON THE OCCASION OF THE FIRST ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS ANNUAL FORUM

MADRID 15-16 JANUARY 2008

Mr Head of Government of the Kingdom of Spain,
Mr Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey,
Mr Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Mr High Representative of the United Nations for the Alliance of Civilizations,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to begin by expressing my appreciation for the hospitality of our hosts, the Spanish government. It is always a pleasure to be in Madrid, and on this occasion it is also an honour to address this forum that is so indebted to Spain and its initiative, in order to share some reflections with you and present the ways in which we in Argentina intend to make an effective and tangible contribution to this rich and motivating process.

When President Zapatero announced this initiative in September 2004, the then President of Argentina, Mr. Kirchner, immediately expressed Argentina’s full support.

In 2005, the governments of Spain and Turkey agreed on the idea of establishing a forum to analyse the causes underlying the polarisation between societies and cultures and how to effectively address this challenge. Once more, Argentina decided to lend its support to the initiative.

There are several reasons, related to our own history as a society and country, underlying this decision.

Argentina is, in essence and in its reality, an area that exists and takes shape through and thanks to the fruitful meeting of cultures and peoples that were originally distant and different from each other.

It is a country that, like others in Latin America, has arisen from the confluence of local, aboriginal peoples with those who reached our shores as part of the influx of the flows that came from the major 16th century centres – especially, though not exclusively, from Spain in the case of Argentina.

Argentina was then the destination of millions of men and women who had the most diverse origins, such as Europe of course, but from the Middle East, Asia and Africa as well.

Those people brought their own stories, their suffering and desire to start a new stage, a new life in Argentina.

The history of Argentina is an almost paradigmatic summary of the things that we know are inherent in the immigration phenomenon, with its epics, glories and hardships.

In the context of this meeting, it seems fitting to recall that in this territory of the Southern hemisphere known today as Argentina, the origin of a person has never meant an obstacle to their integration and identification with the new Nation that, perhaps unwittingly, they came to build.

Men and women belonging to creeds and traditions that in other corners of the world were trapped on account of exclusion and discrimination were able to grow harmoniously in Argentina, without evident hindrances that could be attributed to their religion, race or country of origin.

Argentines are not indifferent to the paradox of our increasingly globalized world, in which serious difficulties exist that prevent cultures and societies from coming together; difficulties that the Alliance of Civilizations seeks to dissolve by creating the necessary conditions that will lead to a better understanding and better mutual familiarity among the Peoples, setting the creative and cooperative forces in motion for them to serve as factors of moderation and harmony.

We therefore did not hesitate to embrace the initiative of President Rodríguez Zapatero and Prime Minister Erdogan and celebrate the quick institutional welcome of this proposal and the response it received at the United Nations.

This was indispensable to infuse the initiative with the profile and truly multilateral character it should have for all of us to cooperate and feel truly committed to and involved in this effort.

From Argentina, we have chosen to make a contribution in the form of a Regional Seminar, as required in the report updating the Action Plan discussed on the occasion of the meeting at the United Nations last September.

Back then, we had the chance of expressing our interest and willingness to organize a seminar in Buenos Aires in April 2008 that would deal with pivotal topics through the question of gender.

I would like to refer briefly to the conceptual approach of our seminar:

Our approach to the dilemmas raised by the polarisation between cultures and societies seeks to integrate the profound and decisive role and contribution of women in the chosen areas – youth, education, immigration and the media.

A brief review of the focus areas of the Alliance reveals that, for instance, in terms of Education, the role of women as transmitters of values and active agents in the educational and socialisation process is unique and unmatched in all cultural systems.

There is an extensive web of opportunities and shortcomings that must be analysed in order to effectively deal with sources of intolerance and exclusion.

It is also possible to see how gender policies can have an influence on and guide contents in the media.

Gender equality among young people is an indispensable contribution.

As the Report of the High Level Group correctly points out, girls account for a significant figure of 70% of the infant population that does not go to school.

Women account for two-thirds of the 960 million adults that cannot read and women and girls account for three-fifths of the world’s poorest one billion people.

Local and regional initiatives are necessary to prevent women from continuing to be left behind in such an outrageous manner.

With respect to immigration, despite the progress made as a result of the several ongoing initiatives in place, there is still a long road ahead until a network of protection, solidarity and support for immigrants is created.

In our country, we have recently welcomed formally more than 600,000 immigrants that had been undocumented until then, and who are entitled today to the same rights and benefits as any other Argentinian.

The role of women in these processes of integration into the new environment is just as obvious as it is an urgent need.

Ladies and gentlemen:

Our aspiration is to tackle some of the edges of the problem during the Buenos Aires Seminar.

The programme and its contents have been distributed at this meeting and we look forward to your attendance and support.

Our regional meeting is not the first in the matter, as it follows on from an earlier meeting that took place in Auckland, New Zealand, on 23 and 24 May 2007, under the direction of Prime Minister Helen Clark.

A few weeks ago, in Rio de Janeiro, an International Conference was conducted, which linked in an imaginative and effective manner the Alliance of Civilizations and Interculturalism and Human Rights.

We consider that those two experiences – which, it bears noting, took place in the Southern Hemisphere – eloquently highlighted the importance of the multicultural and multiethnic contribution to the success and feasibility of the Alliance of Civilizations at the national and international levels.

We hope the Argentina meeting will constitute one more step in the interest of tolerance, liberties, solidarity, respect for diversity and full and utmost respect for human rights. This set of values that constitute the platform of the Alliance of Civilizations is the key to construct a new, more just and equitable world, which is the only guarantee of lasting peace.

It is not an easy path, but we know it to be the right one, along which all of us must make a contribution by providing initiatives and actions from a national, regional and multilateral perspective aimed at eliminating the gross inequalities existing both within each country and among different nations.

Thank you.