Brendan Howlin
Question:71 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Eminent Persons Group of the United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilisations recently held in Dublin. [17795/01]
Written Answers. - Dialogue Among Civilisations.
In November 1998, the UN General Assembly expressed its firm determination to facilitate and promote dialogue among civilisations and decided to proclaim the year 2001 as the United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilisations. Subsequently, an Eminent Persons Group was tasked by the UN Secretary General with preparing a report on the issue which will be presented at the 2001 session of the United Nations General Assembly. The group is composed in the main of political figures and academics, each of whom has been individually invited to participate by the Secretary General. It is intended that the report will outline the main components of a new paradigm of international relations.
At the request of UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and his personal representative, Giandomenico Picco, the Government hosted a meeting in Dublin on 30-31 May of the Eminent Persons Group. Members of the group travelled from various parts of the world, including Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia and the United States. The meeting, which was attended by officials of my Department in an observer capacity, focused on drafting the report and in particular on chapters concerning the relationship of globalisation to the concept of a dialogue among civilisations. The emerging international relations scenario foreseen by the group is one in which dialogue is used to manage diversity and to lay the groundwork for a peaceful future for all the peoples of the world. The aim is to produce a text which will be read both by policy makers and members of the public and which will appeal in particular to young people.
The meeting was a useful contribution to the work of the Eminent Persons Group and the Government's invitation was highly appreciated by both the UN secretariat and the eminent persons themselves. I look forward to the successful outcome of this project at the General Assembly next December.