Talking to UN Information forward of the eleventh World Discussion board of the Alliance, which opens in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, Miguel Ángel Moratinos urged youth in all places to reclaim peace as a worldwide precedence.
The long run is determined by a brand new technology prepared to decide on dialogue over division, and humanity over hatred, he mentioned.
Lara Palmisano- UNifeed
Miguel Ángel Moratinos, Excessive Consultant for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), throughout an interview with the UN Media Workforce in Riyadh-Saudi Arabia
A singular position
The Alliance is a number one UN platform for intercultural dialogue. Because the discussion board marks 20 years since its creation, Mr. Moratinos mirrored on how the world has modified over the previous 20 years.
When the Alliance was established in 2005 as an initiative by former UN Secretary-Common Kofi Annan, the worldwide order was unipolar.
At present, it’s multipolar, with rising powers within the Arab world, Asia, Africa and Latin America demanding to be seen and heard.
The Alliance is uniquely positioned to carry them and everybody else to the identical desk, he insisted.
Mr. Moratinos acknowledged, nonetheless, that the world has turn into extra complicated. He sees this as a problem that calls for deeper dedication to listening, dialogue and understanding.
AI: Alternatives and challenges
Among the many most urgent points Mr. Moratinos recognized is synthetic intelligence – a drive he says will form the longer term in profound methods, whereas warning of the challenges
“A machine has no concern for faith, religion, ethics — however people do,” he mentioned. That’s the reason he insists that AI should stay human-centered, guided by human values and human decision-making.
He warned in opposition to the chance of individuals surrendering their freedom and duty to machines. If humanity forgets its ethical compass, he cautioned, expertise won’t appropriate course. For Mr. Moratinos, the Alliance of Civilizations exists exactly to guard values and ethics.
© UNICEF/Raphael Pouget
Social networks can allow cyberbullying.
‘Hate is again and it’s harmful’
Turning to one of many Alliance’s vital considerations, he spoke in regards to the resurgence of hate speech, particularly on-line.
“Hate is again,” mentioned Mr. Moratinos. “Hate makes you are feeling you need to remove your counterpart.”
He warned that hate begins with phrases however results in exclusion, violence, and battle. To fight it, the Alliance is investing in programmes that promote counter-narratives and encourage understanding. And he mentioned younger persons are central to these efforts.
At present’s youth reside “a lot of their lives” in digital areas which he fears can pull them away from actual human connection.
“We have now to carry realism again to the youth,” he mentioned, urging a greater stability between the web world and actual life — the place relationships, cultures, and communities actually take form.
Peace should come first
Mr. Moratinos mentioned the world has turn into consumed by safety and within the course of, it has forgotten peace.
“All people is far more involved about safety than about peace,” he mentioned. “However you’ll not get safety with out peace.”
Saving the planet, he added, is meaningless if humanity continues to destroy itself. He pointed to the heavy human toll of the conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, and insisted that the world should refocus on what actually issues: saving humanity.
“Peace with a capital P,” he mentioned, have to be the defining message of the Riyadh discussion board and the guideline for the generations to come back.
And he believes it’s younger individuals who could make that imaginative and prescient actual. Solely they, he mentioned, can resolve that the twenty first century would be the final century scarred by battle.
