The Foreign Minister thanked the Director-General for her active participation at the 6th Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations initiative, adding that this brought additional weight and experience to the discussions, given UNESCO's mandate and action.

Irina Bokova congratulated the Minister on a successful Forum, underlining that promoting intercultural dialogue resonates with the core of UNESCO's mission and across all areas of its mandate.

She explored the importance of the UN Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures, which UNESCO is leading forward across the UN system, noting the detailed Action Plan adopted by the Member States. She stressed the importance of raising the profile of the UN Decade and deepening advocacy for its goals, underlining the wealth of Indonesia's experience here. 

The Foreign Minister pointed to the need to strengthen synergies across the UN system in this respect . He noted here his commitment to advancing new forms of global citizenship in education, to create, as he said, "a new 'we'." He indicated his intention to move this forward, starting with ASEAN, looking here also for UNESCO's experience and support. 

The Director-General welcomed this and noted UNESCO's work in steering forward the UN Secretary-General's Global Education First Initiative, where global citizenship is one of three priorities. She recalled  also the Memorandum of Understanding agreed between ASEAN and UNESCO last December and welcomed the proposal of working with Indonesia in this area. 

The Foreign Minister spoke of the paradox of the disconnect rising between people in a globalising world, and the need to foster new bridges of dialogue -- including through actions to harness the power of sport for peace. The Director-General noted the wide range of UNESCO's work in this area also.

"All of this," she said, "is part of UNESCO's commitment to deepening new forms of cultural literacy across the world."