Address of Chairperson of Committee on Improving Quality of Life, Exchanges between Civil Societies and Culture under PA-UfM Mohamed Houiyet at the Meeting of the Committee
As-Salamu Alaykum,
Dear members of the Committee,
Dear guests of Morocco,
Dear colleagues,
First and Foremost, I should welcome you to Rabat and the headquarters of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Morocco. This meeting is an opportunity to pursue our open discussion at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean, within the Committee on Improving Quality of Life, Exchanges between Civil Societies and Culture, hoping for the construction of a shared vision on the several questions that concern our Committee. I also hope for unifying our views and efforts to work together under a Euro-Mediterranean vision that does not focus only on the collective intellectual, cultural, and human heritage, but also on the particularity of the Mediterranean region, especially regarding a vital and topical issue such as "Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in the Euro-Mediterranean Region: A Lever for Enrichment and Acculturation."
In this respect, we should first recall the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, unanimously adopted following the discussion that took place under the auspices of the UNESCO in the Organization's 31st General Conference in Paris on November 2nd, 2001. The General Conference was the first ministerial meeting following the September 11th tragic attacks. It was an opportunity to form a uniform conviction on the high value of dialogue between human civilizations and cultures towards world peace. It also came as an opportunity to express the collective refusal of the so-called "inevitable" conflict, strife, and clashes between civilizations and cultures.
The challenge of this universal Declaration was to make cultural diversity an earning for humanity and the basis for its collective heritage. Also, it has elevated the value of cultural diversity to the level of biological diversity that concerns living creatures, which transcends close-minded identities, or "killing identities" as described by the Arab Lebanese author Amine Maalouf. It also transcends radical thoughts that pretend to be worried for local particularities, deny the benefits of cultural and civilizational openness, and refuse to recognize the value of difference and the other.
Based on this came the thought of turning the open views and suggestions aware of dialogue between cultures and their complementarity, and of the importance of difference and diversity, into binding legislation. This legislation should form a moral code that rises to the level of a human conscience that rejects any manifestation of isolationism, and develops a universal view based on peace, openness, dialogue, creativity, and democratic practices in their initial, political, constitutional, legislative, cultural and intellectual meanings. Hence, the Declaration was considered one of the most important modern texts that "establish for a new moral philosophy," as stated the former Director-General of UNESCO Kōichirō Matsuura.
However, and since the adoption of the Universal Declaration in early 2000s, and as though humans have become aware of the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity, and understanding of the existence of other different cultures in the world and within one society, we still regretfully see the continuation of some wars and violent clashes, and some manifestations of hatred, violence, racism, and rejections of others and their cultures. Unfortunately, these manifestations do not only take place in underdeveloped countries but also developed ones. Our Euro-Mediterranean region has not been safe of such anomalies, as we still witness the happening of violent events and crimes driven by hatred towards others' cultural, religious, social, and ethnic expressions.
The principle of cultural diversity is simply to accept our human condition that we live in a world of various cultures, religions, social groups, histories, and cultures. It is also to admit the impossibility of imposing one culture or creating a “homogeneous one.” Besides, it means to accept our fate as humans to exchange different cultural values and accept their differences. The world was created with this diversity between human societies in cultures, languages, customs, traditions, clothing styles, cooking, arts, practices, values, rituals, and moral systems. Thus, this difference impacts the interactions at local and international levels.
Cultural and linguistic diversity is a must for human existence, just like biological diversity, which, as I mentioned earlier, is scientifically considered an imperative for the continuity of life and the viability of humans and other creatures on earth.
It is our existential and moral responsibility, before being a political duty, to preserve cultural and linguistic diversity as a vital profit that is no less important than the duty to protect biological diversity and is no less important than the conservation of eco-systems for our human life.
For this purpose, our policies, plans, legislations, daily practices, manners, religious and spiritual convictions, and educational curricula should include calling for the respect of diverse cultures in one society and the different societies. We should also encourage the opposition of tendencies to religious, racial, and sectarian violence. Also, we should denounce all kinds of disparaging the different languages and dialects, especially in media and social networks.
To conclude, our discussion today may be based on this spirit to review each other's experiences and particularities, the achievements of our countries in this respect, and what we should achieve regarding cultural and linguistic diversity, and the legislation, legal, political and social problems this question poses.
The concept of cultural and language diversity is, no doubt, an earning of modern civilizations. Therefore, we should pursue our joint work in the Euro-Mediterranean region and the whole world to make this diversity a moral triumph.
Thank you,
As-Salamu Alaykum