Forward Thinking attends 1st Conference on Preventative Diplomacy in North Africa and Middle East, Alicante, Spain, 30th-31st May 2016
At the invitation of H.E. José García-Margallo y Marfil, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Forward Thinking’s Jordan Morgan attended the 1st International Conference on Preventative Diplomacy in the Mediterranean, Alicante on 30th-31st May 2016.Organised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in conjunction with the Casa Mediterraneo, the inaugural conference was opened with a poignant minutes silence for those lives lost due to conflict in the MENA region. It drew together diplomatic, academic, political, religious, development and civil society leaders to better understand the multifaceted strategies in which to promote a culture of conflict prevention. Representatives from the UN, European Union and other regional organisations included H.E. Ignacio Ybañez Rubio, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Spain; the UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova and Mr Antonio Guterres, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees.Panellists from the MENA region and Europe discussed diverse and multilateral mechanisms for conflict prevention, including issues such as the role of women, the media, human rights, gender parity, decreasing violence against women, cultural and religious pluralism, the role of civil society, strong democratic governance, participatory democracy, building the capacity of youth and the need for greater intercultural and inter-religious dialogue.