PRESS CONFERENCE LAUNCHING WEB SITE ON YEAR OF DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILIZATIONS

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE LAUNCHING WEB SITE ON YEAR OF DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILIZATIONS

The dialogue among civilizations should start with children, because adults were too old and biased to tackle such an important issue, Giandomenico Picco, the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations (2001) said today, at a Headquarters press conference launching a Web site for the Year.

To that end, he said, the Web site had a special area composed of images only, without any words, and could be used by children from all over the world to communicate with each other in whatever language they spoke.

In launching the Web site, Mr Picco told correspondents: "This aspect of the Web site is probably the most relevant to me because I believe that dialogue is something which should start at the child level. In a way, we are too old to be trusted with dialogue and already have enough prejudices in our minds and it may just be too difficult for us to start anew."

In order to transform the theory of dialogue among civilizations into practice, a television section outlining the stories of 12 people known as the "Unsung Heros of Dialogue" had been devised. The 12 people -- selected by Mr. Picco –- were chosen as examples of those who have reached across the "divide" to the "other" to make a difference in society.

In response to a comment that most people would not have access to the Web site, Mr Picco said that the idea of the Web site was to bridge the digital divide and in the long run it would be more beneficial to all to continue the process of giving as many people as possible access to the Internet.

"If it is true that only 5 per cent of the world's people have access to the Internet, even if it was only 1 per cent, I don't see why one should stop, instead of trying to increase the number”, he said. “Our aim is to realize what the problems are and see if we can make a dent in it."

He added that the United Nations was currently working closely with big multinational companies -- some 90 of them -- who were working to provide free software and hardware to schools all over the world. And, as a result of the work done by those companies, teachers from some of the countries being helped met for the first time at a general conference in China a few months ago to exchange ideas.

The General Assembly, by its resolution 53/22 of November 1998, decided to proclaim the Year 2001 as the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations. Over the last 12 months, governmental and academic institutions and non-governmental organizations have conducted seminars, debates and research work on the issue.

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