Azerbaijan, Baku, June 1 / Trend /
The concept of the Global Movement "Youth for Alliance of Civilizations", established at the Second Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations in Istanbul in April last year was adopted at the UN Third Forum Alliance of Civilizations which was completed in Rio de Janeiro, the Baku office of the OIC Youth Forum said.
According to the "Rio Declaration" adopted by the Forum, holding of the first congress of the Movement in Baku at the end of this year was also approved. This decision was included in the Declaration on the basis of the recommendations adopted by the youth delegates from more than 150 countries participating in the Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations.
The Concept of the Movement, adopted within the work of the Forum, noted that "it is the implementation of the initiative "Youth for the Alliance of Civilizations". It is the result of the High-Level Conference, held in Baku in November 2007 under the patronage of the First Lady of Azerbaijan, UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva. At a conference in 2007 Azerbaijan's first lady initiated a global movement of young people, which would be a mainstay of international efforts to strengthen dialogue between different cultures and reduce tension in inter-civilizational relations.
The OIC Youth Forum Secretary General Elshad Iskandarov said that during 2008-2009 the OIC Youth Forum, a partner of the UN Alliance of Civilizations carried out the work both with the Secretariat of the Alliance of Civilizations, and regional youth platforms from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America to determine crystallization of the initiative into a broad international movement that can fulfill the global targets for mobilization of youth's resources.
The Advisory Council was established in April 2009 to develop a unified youth policy of the Alliance. Leyla Aliyeva was elected the General Coordinator of the OIC Youth Foundation as a representative of youth of the OIC countries. Leyla Aliyeva's proposal to agree the details of a future movement before the Third Forum of the Alliance and hold the First Congress of the new movement in Baku in 2010 was also approved.
"The work on agreement was conducted until the opening of the Forum in Rio. Its outcome was the adoption of the Concept of the Movement and the announcement of the Baku events as an official initiative of the UN Alliance of Civilizations. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Youth and Sport, whose representatives actively participated in the Forum in Rio greatly supported in negotiating with the leadership of the international Secretariat of the Alliance of Civilizations," Iskandarov said.
The Annual Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations is the supreme authority of the UN initiative, co-chaired by Turkey and Spain. The Alliance is supported by the so-called Group of Friends, which includes more than 90 UN member-countries and major international organizations. About 2,000 delegates, including the presidents of Brazil, Spain, Turkey, as well as ministers, leaders of religion and culture, heads of international organizations and youth leaders attended the Forum in Rio. The next Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations is planned to be held in Qatar in 2011.