2015 (EN)

THE ANNA LINDH FOUNDATION GATHERED IN FARNESINA

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Roma  ||  11 September 2015
Tutte le Attività (EN) - Anno 2015

The newly appointed Advisory Council of the Anna Lindh Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue, composed by 42 countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (Upm), has been hosted in the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, inaugurated by the Undersecretary  Mario Giro at the presence of the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, Stefania Giannini and the Executive Director of Anna Lindh Foundation Ambassador Hatem Atallah.
"Peace and stability in the Mediterranean area are priorities for Italy which strongly believes in the cooperation among the two shores of the Mediterranean” declared Giro in his opening speech. “Italy supports for years the activity of the Foundation in the face of the regional challenge of extremism and radicalisation. The Anna Lindh Foundation activity is important in order to change the narrative about our region today, bringing new inputs for the partnership between the two shores of Mediterranean and bringing civil society into the heart of this partnership” declared the Under Secretary, highlighting how much the European foreign policy should strengthen its action for the southern neighbourhood.

The Council, chaired by Elisabeth Guigou, parliamentary of the National Assembly and President of the Foreign Affair, is composed of important exponents coming from Europe and countries from the South shore of Mediterranean, and is in charge of the strategic direction of Fondazione: Italy is represented by the prof. Michele Capasso, president of Fondazione Mediterraneo which gave a crucial contribute to the development of Anna Lindh since 2002.

The topic on the agenda was the role of Anna Lindh Foundation, as reference point for intercultural dialogue, especially in the regional challenge to extremism and refugees crisis.

The President Elisabeth Guigou highlighted how in the Mediterranean area there is a convergence of values and the extremists who push for the clash are just a minority. The foundation has the aim of encourage the silent majority to let heard its voice. The proposal made by president Capasso has been welcomed and among the forthcoming actions being discussed is a regional program of communication aimed at providing migrants and youth leaders with the skills, tools and platforms to have a voice and create a counter-media narrative in the face of the negative trends impacting in the region, also taking in account programs already successfully carried on in Egypt (Young Citizens for Dialogue), as antidote against extremist tendencies.