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Home > WCO 2004 > NYC Events > Conference at the UN |
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WCO 2004 Conference at the United Nations |
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On Friday, Sep 10,2004, the World Culture Open convened the Conference at the United Nations for government and academic representatives to examine strategically at the role of culture in development initiatives, peacebuilding and wellbeing of a society and its members.
The WCO Conference at the United Nations engaged UN secretariats, UN ambassadors , Ministers of Culture from around the world, academicians and a range of non-governmental organizations in an exploration of the next steps required to fully engage culture as a central pillar of the peace process.
The conference's panel of renowned experts included peace studies scholar Dr. Johan Galtung, global ethics researcher Dr. Hans Küng, Permanent Representative of Finland to the UN and President of ECOSOC Ambassador Marjatta Rasi, Deputy Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, Jerome Binde, senior officer from the UN Department of Political Affairs Dr. Alexsandr Ilitchev, and a host of Ambassadors and Ministers from around the world.
During the welcome address, Dr. Chung Ok Lee, Co-Chair of WCO Strategic Planning Committee, clarified the dialogical objectives for the conference by framing the WCO vision in the following way:
"The World Culture Open is a new initiative to strengthen humanity by developing and celebrating a positive culture of creative arts, holistic wellbeing and humanitarian service. WCO aims to value and support ancient and modern cultural resources as a way of positively transforming conflict energy within our world. Cultural and artistic diplomacy, initiated by emissaries and ambassadors of culture, is a new and an innovative approach to peace, understanding and reconciliation. WCO's mission is to help illuminate clearly the ties that connect us all." |
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Session I explored issues of cultural identity, cultural retention and/or abandonment, potential for global cultural co-existence and the need for reconciliation between cultures, and the need for an updated cultural policy worldwide. Framing the session's dialogue within the UN context, Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations, H.E. Marjatta Rasi, emphasized the need for a more comprehensive peacebuilding approach with the following statement:
"For many years the international community has sent peacekeeping forces and worked to build peace after conflicts. However, we now have come to realize that we need to work at a deeper level if we want sustainable results. This is why we need a culture of peace and true reconciliation in order to better prevent conflicts."
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Session II delved into the consequences and potential adverse effects facing Culture in this globalizing society. Dr. Johan Galtung initiated the dialogue by saying,
"Culture is not only art. Culture is everything that defines¡¦who we are, where we are, what we should be, what we should do. Culture is everything that gives us meaning."
Fellow noted scholar and international relations expert Dr. Hans Küng countered with a cautionary note by saying,
"Cultural diversity can be celebrated, can be a cause for celebration, but cultural diversity can also be a cause of hatred and enmity. Cultural diversity, if not rooted in a culture of peace and humanity, will produce conflicts and wars. Cultural diversity, if not based on ethical standards, will prove to be very destructive and divisive."
The expert panelists addressed several nuances coloring the current debate on globalization's effect on culture and cultural integrity, including security issues, god and religion, as well as the introduction of integral and innovative paradigms for future discourse and diplomacy. Dr. Küng summarized the session's overriding themes by stating declaratively:
"There will be no peace among the nations unless without peace among the religions. And there will be no peace among the religions without dialogue for which should global ethical standards be provided. And there will be no survival of this globe without a common global ethic at the basis of the different cultures." |
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Session III, intended to assist in the charting of World Culture Open initiatives in 2005 and beyond, was an opportunity for all participants and lecturers to contribute in the collective designing of WCO's future programming. Session III allowed space for recommendations from Civil Society, Government, and the United Nations and panelist Dr. Alexandr Ilitchev seized this opportunity to emphasize the need for action, not merely dialogue:
"We are dealing today with what seems to be a re-emergence of a culture of violence, force, war. This is one of the reasons people like me find real encouragement and inspiration in meeting and hearing from you; because you believe in a different culture. And World Culture Open not only offers a new approach as an alternative to that other culture; it tells you that there is another way of dealing with what all of us cannot stand. But also, it tells you that you have to act. You cannot simply talk."
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan hailed the WCO gathering at the UN and delivered a message of endorsement through his Personal Adviser Maurice Strong. Throughout the day, approximately three hundred delegates participated in the WCO Conference at the United Nations, engaging in provocative and exciting dialogue about the necessary and actionable next steps to be taken in the realm of culture that encompasses arts, religion, philosophy and everything that affects our holistic wellbeing. |
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