Some 600 representatives of organisations from around the Mediterranean will meet in Malta next month for what organisers say will be the “largest and most significant coalition of actors for inter-cultural dialogue”.
The third Mediterranean Forum of the Anna Lindh Foundation will take place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta between October 23 and 25, bringing together practitioners, policy-makers, media and international donors.
Over three days of high-level debates, strategy sessions and a new youth forum, the conference will create networking opportunities and draft policy recommendations on the major challenges facing the Mediterranean, from extremism and xenophobia to migration and sustainable development.
Formally announcing the event this morning, foreign minister George Vella described the Anna Lindh Foundation as a “beacon of light” for the Mediterranean region.
He said the forum would serve as an opportunity to highlight the importance of intercultural dialogue and person-to-person contact in address the challenges of the region in the context of a renewed European Neighbourhood Policy.
Dr Vella added that the forum would tie in with Malta’s EU presidency at the start of next year, which would be an opportunity to place the Mediterranean, along with migration and maritime issues, at the top of the European agenda.
Anna Lindh Foundation director Hatem Atellah said: “Amidst the backdrop of unprecedented crisis and change in the Mediterranean, this year’s forum aims to accelerate and scale-up the impact and reach of intercultural action to counter forces fuelling polarisation and extremism.
“Both sides of the Mediterranean, north and south, are facing huge common challenges, from the impact of a refugee crisis and climate change to youth unemployment and radicalisation, and the cultural roadmap represents the only viable long-term approach to creating a common space of peace, stability and economic prosperity.”
The Anna Lindh Foundation is based in Alexandria, Egypt, and works across 42 member states of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).
The foundation said the forum process would open up a new phase of action, taking advantage of assets such as the largest network of civil society working for Mediterranean dialogue, pioneering research and extensive experience in the field.