The General Conference consists of the representatives of UNESCO’s Member States. It meets every two years, and is attended by Member States and Associate Members, together with observers for non-Member States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).The 42nd Session of the General Conference was from 7th-22nd November 2023.
Catalina Hinojosa Lopez, Vice President of New Humanity NGO delivered the following
address on 13th November. Significantly, she began with a reference to 2023 as the “International Year of Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace**”. :
Madam President, Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This year, we are commemorating the international Year of “Dialogue as a Guarantee for Peace” as endorsed by the UN General Assembly. However, despite the combined efforts worldwide, violence, polarization, and hatred persist. There is therefore an urgent need to mobilize all forces to ensure that dialogue, reconciliation, and healing remain the preferred path to repel violence at all levels.
Our NGO, New Humanity, is dedicated to promoting human fraternity, which serves as the cornerstone of dialogue, peace, justice, and solidarity. We strive to cultivate deep intergenerational, interreligious, and intercultural relationships rooted in mutual trust, respect and support that enable us to transcend hatred, and discrimination. At UNESCO, we are collaborating with fellow NGOs representing various religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, with whom we have experienced that practicing dialogue, strengthen our fraternal bonds.
This group of NGOs calls upon you, members of the General Conference, to restore the full place of interreligious dialogue in the C5, which is essential for building more inclusive and peaceful societies. We firmly believe that the Golden Rule, a principle present in all religions, can be taught in all educational institutions to promote the respect of every human being: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In our network of schools, represented by our NGO, we have witnessed that teaching the Golden Rule encourages and adds regular reflection of the practices experienced by children. This method, which we refer to as the “Citizenship and Fraternity Dice” has proven its worth.
As young members of New Humanity NGO, we have formed an active network in over 40
countries. We aspire to create a world that is less divided, more attentive to the needs of the vulnerable, more respectful of the diversity of peoples and nature. Peace can prevail when we acknowledge that our diversity is an asset rather than a barrier. Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti sustains “The true worth of the different countries of our world is measured by their ability to think not simply as a country but also as part of the larger human family, especially in times of crisis”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0dM4iVA14s
* The “New Humanity International Association” is a Non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 1986, and active in more than 100 countries worldwide. It aims to contribute to building unity in the human family, fully respecting the individual identities of all of its members. New Humanity advances the idea of a united world in all spheres of society and at all levels. It promotes the universal spirit of fraternity, as proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article n. 1), as a dynamic factor in social cohesion. New Humanity’s principles and initiatives draw on the values of the Focolare Movement. New Humanity an expression of the Focolare Movement whose founder, Chiara Lubich, received the 1996 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education and the 1998 Council of Europe Prize for Human Rights. In 2008 New Humanity was recognized as a NGO partner of UNESCO.
**https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N22/729/47/PDF/N2272947.pdf?OpenElement
