Bahrain Declaration promotes global dialogue for balanced human relations

Manama: A declaration issued at the end of a three-day international inter-civilisational conference in Bahrain has called for promoting dialogue and common values to confront fanaticism, hatred, extremism and terrorism.

“Common values will decisively help the world to continue building balanced human relations based in their core on the human being, as a person and a value, not only in his or her individuality, but also in his or her belonging to a country, a nation and the world,” the participants said.

The three-day “Civilisations in the Service of Humanity” conference brought together international organisations, political personalities, religious leaders, thinkers and representatives of different religions, beliefs, sects and groups throughout the world.

In the declaration, the participants insisted on the need to support the culture of dialogue “for the sake of the alliance of civilisations to achieve coexistence between all human beings, regardless of their diversity and the multitude of their cultures and their intellectual, religious and spiritual choices.”

“Humanity is the common origin of all human beings, regardless of their different colours, ethnic backgrounds, languages and intellectual, cultural, religious and spiritual attitudes,” it said. “Dialogue constitutes the basis and the tool that assume the responsibility of consolidating the unity of humanity within the context of its diversity, multiplicity and plurality with the view to achieving peace, security, justice, development, equality, freedom and democracy.”

The declaration called for encouraging the culture of dialogue and mutual knowledge by all available means.

“All forms of hatred discourse are practices contrary to human rights, contradict civility and challenge civilisation. They emanate from a relationship with the other that ignorance transforms into hatred. It leads only to exclusion and discrimination, inciting intolerance, extremism and terrorism, and calling for reclusion instead of dialogue, violence instead of peace, and animosity instead of cooperation and alliance,” it said.

The declaration warned against the political exploitation of religions and civilisations by encouraging factional, violent and intolerant mentalities.

“The exploitation leads to interference in the internal affairs of communities and sovereign states, to disruption of development, and to the shutting of the doors to the natural political development of communities. This is done by imposing the logic of inflexibility and aggressiveness and the issue of political allocations rather than the logic of tolerance, cooperation and common allegiance to the country,” it said.

Cultural, educational, and media policies, a spirit of moderation and a culture of common living should be strengthened within the context of the divine requirement to honour all human beings, it said.

“Human rights, as the legal and moral framework for relations among nations and peoples, cannot be efficient or effective unless they are within the unified standards in the practical application among all civilisations,” it said.

States and civil society organisations working in the areas of development, in its comprehensive concept, should use, in their endeavours, the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022), and its related Action Plan, which was prepared within the framework of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), the declaration said.