The 10th Anniversary of the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development will be celebrated across the world today to raise awareness worldwide about the importance of intercultural dialogue, diversity and inclusion.
The day aims to encourage people to ‘live together better’. It was established by the United Nations in November 2001 following the adoption of a Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The purpose of celebrating the day was to link the protection of cultural diversity and the importance of dialogue between civilizations in the modern world. “Such days should be considered as important events as they give us the opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to learn to live together better,” said Khalid Javaid, eminent folklorist while talking to APP.
Culture is a set of norms that set standards for a society for social interaction and the term cultural diversity is a way to create interest in this world as people from diverse cultures bring language skills, new ways of thinking, creative solutions to difficult problems and negotiating skills.
The cultural diversity also refers to having different cultures respect each other’s differences. The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity adopted by UNESCO is a legal instrument recognizing for the first time, cultural diversity as “common heritage of humanity” and considers its safeguarding to be a concrete and ethical imperative inseparable from respect for human dignity. This year the theme of the day encourages people and organizations from around the world to take concrete action to support diversity, build a world community of individuals committed to support diversity with real and every day-life gestures, to combat polarization and stereotypes to improve understanding and cooperation among people from different cultures.
