Mohamed Gohar

May 2023

The Initiative for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue 

Intercultural Dialogue can be defined as, ‘a process undertaken to realize transformative communication that requires space or opportunities for engagement and a diverse group of participants committed to values such as mutual respect, empathy and a willingness to consider different perspectives.’ An important tool for peace, conflict prevention and fragility reduction, and human rights promotion, a knowledge gap on what makes dialogue effective has hindered our ability to use this tool until now. 

Recognizing the potential for Intercultural Dialogue and the need for better data on Intercultural Dialogue to effectively tackle pressing global issues, UNESCO has developed the UNESCO Framework for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue in partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace. Including data from over 160 countries, the Framework serves as a guide on how best to improve the structures, values and processes that enable Intercultural Dialogue.

Following an extensive research consultation process, the Framework was designed using a two-level approach to evaluate the macro- and micro-level enabling conditions of effective Intercultural Dialogue. The Framework includes 9 domains consisting of 21 indicators. Five structural domains focus on those aspects that reflect the systemic elements of society at the social and institutional levels, defined by policies and legal frameworks. Stability and Non-violence, Governance and Citizenship, Freedom of Expression, Horizontal Equality and Social Cohesion comprise the structural domains. Four supporting domains focus on the principles, values and competencies that impact actions, policies and activities of Intercultural Dialogue based on individuals’ interaction and engagement, as well as Intercultural Dialogue working ‘on the ground’. These domains are Inclusion and Representation, Leadership and Organisation, Linkages and Coherency, and Skills and Values. 

Global, regional, and country level data on all nine domains can be accessed through the online platform for the Framework, serving as a guide on needs and priorities in regard to supporting intercultural exchange for policymakers. The first of its kind, the Framework provides stakeholders not only with an understanding of the environment behind intercultural dialogue, but also how to enable intercultural dialogue within their specific context. The Framework also shows for the first time the direct connection between peacefulness, conflict prevention and non-fragility, and human right protection with intercultural dialogue creating an additional incentive for countries to foster this important tool. 

Through the Framework, we now understand the impact this work can have with 1.5 billion people currently living in countries where dialogue is failing and risks of forced displacement, violence, extreme poverty, and discrimination are increased. We now know that: 

• 89% of all current conflicts are occurring in countries where dialogue is stalling.
• 30% of people in countries where dialogue is stalling live in absolute poverty compared to less than 1% in countries where dialogue is thriving.
• Countries with where dialogue is stalling score 77% lower in terms of gender equality than countries where dialogue is thriving. 

Launched alongside the global analytical report, We Need to Talk: Measuring Intercultural Dialogue for peace and inclusion, the Framework is the first step in UNESCO’s Initiative for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue. To ensure advocacy and awareness raising, four regional launch events have been planned in addition to the global launch of the Framework and report. The work has also been featured in Al Jazeera and on the World Economic Forum’s blog. 

Three pilot policy dialogues are also being planned to mobilise the evidence into action. Consisting of a two-to-three-day workshop, these pilots will engage government stakeholders and civil society to work with the data from the Framework and ultimately enable intercultural dialogue. Each pilot will do a deep dive into the country data, working to provide government stakeholders not only with an understanding of the where the country stands in relation to intercultural dialogue, but also the actions behind the strengths and challenges. Pilots will conclude with the taking of commitments and development of a national action plan, including steps for monitoring and evaluation. 

The first time the evidence from the Framework will be put into action, these pilots will be used to evaluate the ways in which the data can be successfully leveraged for intercultural dialogue. Ultimately, the pilots will be used to inform the creation of a Dialogue Support Facility and ways in which the data can be used to support States in the pursuit of strengthened intercultural dialogue.

The Dialogue Support Facility will bring together UNESCO’s networks of practitioners, experts, and partners to co-create and implement needs-driven and evidence-led interventions, directly targeted at addressing priorities areas identified through the Framework data. Three interlinked pillars of activities (capacity-building, financing, and complementarity and coherence) will be created, all informed by the Framework.

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