International Symposium on Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations

From 10-02-2004 to 11-02-2004 (Yemen) 

Organized by the Center for Yemeni Studies and Research In cooperation with The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Colloquium on the Dialogue among Civilizations and Cultures offered an opportunity to promote the creation of a regional space based on tolerance and dialogue, and solicit new recommendations on future pathways to dialogue and understanding at the regional and sub-regional levels. The colloquium also provided an occasion to evaluate the coherence and complementarities between the regional and sub-regional methods of approach aimed at dialogue among communities, cultures, and civilizations.

Dialogue among Civilizations
Proceedings of the International Symposium on Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations


"The question of dialogue between cultures and the interaction and merging of civilizations is a major issue for intellectuals and advocates of a harmonious human approach. The purpose should be to serve the goals of the inhabitants of this earth, to bring about the coexistence and peace that emanate from a spirit of tolerance, from human accord, from ties of love and conciliation, from the exchange of material and moral benefits, and from the enhancement of knowledge and economic integration among peoples. Sana’a is truly the place to assert common principles, aspirations and goals as well as our hope for a bright future in which democratic dialogue, development, peace and close human cooperation prevail."

Abd Al-Qadir Ba Jamal
Prime Minister of Yemen

"At a time when there is renewed focus on the Arab and Islamic civilizations in political and academic circles as well as in civil society at large, the International Symposium on Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations, held in Sana'a, Yemen, on 10-11 February 2004, was both a timely and significant event. Today, the dialogue among cultures and civilizations is no longer a mere catchword with which everybody agrees and sympathizes. Instead, it is being transformed into a solid tool and working mechanism for setting global agendas and yielding concrete results. The task now is for its instrumentality to be demonstrated through the full commitment of and resolute action by all parties concerned."

Koïchiro Matsuura
Director-General of UNESCO