The international community would be making a “big mistake” if it approached the global economic crisis in purely financial terms at the expense of dialog between cultures and religions, the director general of UNESCO said on Wednesday.
“My firm conviction is that dialog among religious leaders is a very important component of the international dialog,” Irina Bokova said answering a question from RIA Novosti’s English language service about her meeting Monday with Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, who had proposed to institutionalize relations between world religions and UNESCO. ”Neither I nor politicians can do what religious leaders can do.”
She expressed concern that the global economic crisis was increasingly seen in purely financial terms, while its moral aspect was being overlooked. She stressed that the international community needs to look for remedies not only in the economic field, but “complement it with the conversation about the role of culture and heritage.”
“We will be making a very big mistake if we don’t do it,” she said.
Bokova, a high-ranking Bulgarian diplomat who was elected the director general of UNESCO in October last year, was at RIA Novosti on Wednesday to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Russian news agency and UNESCO, the United Nations’ culture, science and education arm.
She spoke passionately about her vision for a dialogue among cultures and civilizations, which, in her view, is needed to remedy the consequences of globalization, such as the rise of nationalism all over the world, including Europe.
She said she had a wide ranging discussion with Patriarch Kirill, who proposed in 2006 to establish a high-ranking council of religious experts which would help inter-governmental organizations such as UNESCO to facilitate dialog among civilizations. But, according to Russian Orthodox Church officials, the idea was stalled, mainly due to the secularist ethos and rules of inter-government organizations.
Bokova said she was very impressed with her meeting with Patriarch Kirill and “welcomed” his initiative, which fit into her vision of what UNESCO should do.
“The dialogue of cultures occupies a very important place in my vision,” she said. “The most important thing is for us to find a formula of how to include the religious component into the international dialogue among civilizations and cultures.”
Such a dialogue is necessary to remedy the consequences of globalization, which have made the world more complicated, she said.
“It turns out that in the 21st century it is hard for us to understand what is happening in the world, in societies,” she said. “The borders have disappeared, but the fear of the other has remained. Even in Europe there is a rise of nationalism.”
In such a context, she said, religion and identity is at the core of the process and need to be involved in finding the solution. “Our duty is to interact, to have a discourse,” she said.
MOSCOW, September 28 (RIA Novosti)
