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United NationsEducational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization

Envisioning a New Humanism for the 21st Century


New Avenues for Reflection and Action



Excerpts from selected texts

The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this book and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.

The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

This publication is produced under the direction of

Hans d’OrvilleAssistant Director-General for Strategic PlanningUNESCO

and edited by:

Jacques PlouinAssistant Programme Specialist, BSP

Ann-Belinda PreisSenior Programme Planning Officer, BSP

Published in 2014By the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization7, Place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SPFrance

Composed and printedin the workshops of UNESCO© UNESCO 2014All rights reserved

Printed in France

BSP-2014/WS/2

Presentation

This booklet presents a selection of texts related to the theme of the New Humanism proposed by UNESCO’s Director-General. It should be read as

a synthetic snapshot of a ‘project’, which is still in the making. The very notion of a “New Humanism for the 21st Century” expresses an ambition that goes well beyond the frontiers of UNESCO. This is precisely the point: in order to catalyze this long-term process, specific steps need to be taken, each leading to different types of activities and outcomes. Each section of the booklet features a brief synthesis of key issues that emerged from a given activity or event. While much remains to be done, it was nonetheless considered important to take stock of this early stage and to draw on it as an inspiration for the next phases of reflection and concretisation of the notion of “New Humanism”.

The first part of the booklet presents the proposition as articulated by the Director-General of UNESCO. The second part consists of an overview of discussions in different fora within which her vision of New Humanism has been analyzed and explored jointly by representatives of Member States, scholars, experts and other stakeholders with a variety of different backgrounds and experiences. The third part is a presentation of select initiatives to discuss the potential of the New Humanism around a set of themes, which are directly linked to UNESCO’s Programme.

Table of Content

Introduction 1

The Vision – Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO 5

UNESCO in a Globalised World: New Humanism for the 21st CenturyText submitted by Irina Bokova to UNESCO’s Executive Board at its 181st session, in conjunction with her candidacy for the post of Director-General 6

Address on the occasion of the installation of Irina Bokova as Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)Address delivered at the 35th Session of the UNESCO General Conference (UNESCO Headquarters, 23 October 2009) 7

A New Humanism for the 21st CenturyAddress delivered on the occasion of the award ceremony for the Honorary Diploma in European and International Politics “UNESCO and the foundations of a New Humanism” (Milan, Italy, 7 October 2010) 9

Rethinking Humanism in the 21st CenturyText published in the International Review of Education on the New Humanism (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, 2013) 12

New Humanism in the 21st Century – the Role of Education in Empowering SocietyAddress delivered at the University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 21 May 2013) 15


New Humanism in the Perspective of an International Dialogue 19

New Humanism in a Globalizing World9th Euro-China Forum of the CEIBS, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, 27 June 2011 20

Nunc! New Humanism. Science, Culture and Communication in the Digital AgeAgencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) / UNESCO. UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, 14-15 November 2011 24

21st Century, Towards the New HumanismPermanent Delegation of the Russian Federation to UNESCO, Russian Centre for Science and Culture, Paris, 23 January 2012 29

Confucianism and New Humanism in a Globalized WorldParis-Nishan Forum, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, 16 April 2012 35

Strengthening the Euro-Arab Dialogue: Contribution to a New HumanismUNESCO/MBI Al Jaber Foundation, Vienna, 31 May 2012 42

Exploring the Potential of a New Humanism 49

Media Literacy and New HumanismUNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, 2010 50

Humanism, A New IdeaUNESCO Courier, October-December 2011 53

Charting the Way Forward 63

Investiture Ceremony of Irina Bokova for her second term as Director-GeneralUNESCO Headquarters, 18 October 2013 64

Annex 73Programme of various conferences 74

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Introduction

The core of humanism has probably been best expressed by the philosopher Baruch Spinoza when he wrote that: “Peace is not an absence of war; it is a

virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.” This vision is a universal compass that we must tailor to the realities of our times.

Faced with unprecedented and unpredictable challenges, humanity now finds itself in a century where its very progress is being put to test. Climate change, loss of biodiversity, oceanic degradation, global economic and financial downturns, disappearing cultures, social upheavals and new forms of conflicts, all tell a paradoxical tale: these problems stem from the very success of globalization; a process that has connected all parts of the planet in a complex web of economic, social and cultural relations. But this whole is not “entire”. It is lacking harmony.

A prevailing viewpoint is that no political or ethical doctrine has had the capacity to fully prepare today’s decision-makers and individuals for the complexities, intricacies and changeability of the present world. There is something like a prevailing collective impediment to steer existing political and normative frameworks towards authentic sustainable development and genuine rapprochement of cultures.

In such times, it is worth reminding ourselves of the intellectual and political audacity demonstrated by the humanists throughout history. Indeed, in the strife for global peace and welfare, it is a major success of humanism that we can refer to the Charter of the United Nations, the UNESCO Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and agendas like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education For All (EFA). The progress is real: millions of people have been lifted out of poverty in the recent decades, more people are educated than ever in human history, and an increasing number of countries experience democracy at political or societal levels, beginning with the universal recognition that discrimination against women or ethnic minorities is inacceptable.

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Envisioning a New Humanism for the 21st Century New Avenues for Reflection and Action

Most of humanity now also considers peace, not war, to be the normal state of affairs between and within nations. But peace is never a given. Peace is inseparable from values, attitudes and behaviours that must be accepted and practiced in earnest by decision-makers as well as ordinary people. Thus, no matter how universally recognized the objectives of peace and prosperity may be, they must be constantly reviewed, renewed and adapted to the requirements of the present and the future. This principle of constant “attuning” is central to the New Humanism. Peace and shared welfare are two sides of the same coin. And humanism is that coin.

Against this backdrop, the call for a New Humanism for the 21st Century stems from the conviction that we must imperatively rethink the intellectual and moral foundations of globalization. Humanism was instrumental in the building of nations; it must now accompany the building of the planet as one planet for a diverse humanity. This essentially means that we must carefully steer towards, and be guided by, reflections and action that are universal and open to diversity. Such a quest is necessarily collective. This is the approach taken by the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, since the beginning of her mandate: to tap the convening power of UNESCO and gather individuals from a variety of different intellectual and geographical backgrounds to chart out the contours of a New Humanism.

Such cooperation has always formed the starting point of humanism, understood as a philosophy of education both for individuals and humanity as such. Given its five functions – laboratory of ideas, actor in the global agenda through policy analysis, monitoring and benchmarking, standard-setter, a catalyst for international and regional cooperation, as well as provider for policy advice and capacity-builder and– it is within UNESCO’s mandate to explore new or renewed ideas, values, attitudes, behaviours and models, and through these to address the challenges faced by the international community. As stated frequently in this booklet: humanism is in the DNA of UNESCO.

Hence, the vision set out for a New Humanism is one that seeks to help people create their own future. It is not, as was the mostly the case in the former versions of humanism, a mere culture for the elites. It is a resource for all individuals and all communities to pursue their own progress and development. This presupposes social inclusion of everyone and at all levels of society. At the global level, it translates into forms of cooperation that promote the transformative power of education, the sciences, culture and communication. Every human being must

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have access to a quality education as well as to the benefits of science and the capacity to participate in the social and cultural life of his or her community, either at the local or at the global level. Hence, gender equality is a critical component of the New Humanism. Humanism today should thus be understood by all – from governments to civil society – as a holistic project based on dialogue, solidarity and creativity.

THE VISION – by Irina Bokova,

Director-General of UNESCO

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UNESCO in a Globalised World: New Humanism for the 21st CenturyText submitted by Irina Bokova to UNESCO’s Executive Board at its 181st session, in conjunction with her candidacy for the post of Director-General Paris, 14-30 April 2009

The programme initially proposed by Irina Bokova to the Executive Board was based on the view that the global challenges of our interconnected era could only be addressed through effective reforms. These should aim at achieving more just and prosperous societies based on knowledge, tolerance and equal opportunities for all through education, science, culture and access to information. This would essentially require to campaign under the banner of a “New Humanism for the 21st Century”.

Highlights

The greatest challenge is to lead the world into a new era of peace and humanism, to create more inclusive, just, and equitable societies through sustainable economic and social development, based on science, innovation and new technologies that will serve mankind and will preserve the environment.

The major challenge is to turn the crisis into an opportunity and create a more democratic and humane world where the values of human dignity and human rights, of equal access to education and culture, will underpin all economic and political considerations. UNESCO should take part in the global governance debate because its competences are at the core of globalization.

I consider gender equality to be one of the most important goals, both political and humanistic, of our times. I am strongly motivated to make UNESCO invest more efforts in attaining this objective.

I strongly hope that this spirit will guide our efforts here, at UNESCO, towards the creation of more just and prosperous societies based on knowledge, tolerance and equal opportunities for all through education, science, culture and access to information.

My understanding of a NEW HUMANISM for the 21st century will guide all my activity.

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Address on the occasion of the installation of Irina Bokova as Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)Speech delivered at the 35th Session of the UNESCO General Conference on 23 October 2009

In her installation speech as newly elected Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova expanded her vision of a New Humanism, turning it into a strategic horizon for the Organization’s action and expertise, and for making the most of its many assets. Humanism as an inspiration for reflection and action could thus be weaved into a holistic framework for bringing people together and sharpening their conscience with regard to the potential of a world based on peace, democracy, justice and human rights.

Highlights

East, West, North and South: I shall strive to build countless bridges between these parts of the world, all involved in globalization. Indeed, we must be ever on our guard for while globalization brings freedom and has helped millions of people to break free from poverty and absolute poverty, it also bears the inherent danger of imposing uniformity on our world of diversity.

I stand against the theory of the clash of civilizations. I reject it completely. I wish to state clearly, from the outset, what I understand by civilization and what I understand by culture. To my mind, the concept of civilization is embedded in the very principle of human community. The same sap flows through the trunk and the branches of the tree of humanity. Cultures, for their part, are the countless forms of expression that our civilization can take: all cultures flow into the same river, that of human civilization. The theory of the purity of cultures is an illusion. In the long thread of history, cultures have always mingled, enriched and influenced each other. There are no fault lines between cultures, all ready to trigger shocks and conflicts. An affirmation to the contrary is tantamount to imputing ulterior motives to humanity. I, in full agreement with UNESCO’s position, refute that theory. My vision is quite different because I believe that we are naturally bound by our status as human beings, that we all have the same

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dreams of happiness and prosperity and that we know full well that such dreams can come true only if there is peace.

Cultural diversity and dialogue among cultures contribute to the emergence of a new humanism in which the global and local are reconciled and through which we learn anew to build our world.

I propose a new, universal vision, open to the entire human community and embracing each and every continent. I have dubbed this vision a “new humanism”. An accomplished person today is one who acknowledges co-existence and equality with others – even those far away - and seeks a modus vivendi with others. Modern society and current events will take humanism further. World citizens will henceforth care for and respect the Other, they will admit that they may not make decisions alone, and will seek agreement and consensus.

I think that humanism is an aspiration to peace, democracy, justice and human rights; it is an aspiration to tolerance, knowledge and the diversity of cultures. It is rooted in ethics and in social and economic responsibility; it is embodied in assistance for the most vulnerable. Humanism is central to our commitment to take up major common challenges, including respect for the environment.

Respect for fundamental rights, for the dignity of every individual and for diversity, thus a humanity that is mutually supportive and responsible – this is my message. It is also the message of UNESCO, whose role it is to give fresh impetus to solidarity, to bring people together and awaken their conscience.

As an intellectual organization, UNESCO – the “conscience of humanity” in the powerful words of Jawaharlal Nehru, a great citizen of the world – must take the lead in humanist thinking in the international community.

UNESCO holds all of the keys to providing an intellectual and humanist response to globalization and the current crisis. We know that culture, art, science, education, communication and knowledge are the true values upon which the essence of humanity rests.

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A New Humanism for the 21st CenturyAddress delivered on the occasion of the award ceremony for the Honorary Diploma in European and International Politics “UNESCO and the foundations of a New Humanism” Milan, Italy, 7 October 2010

Within the first year of her mandate, during a visit to Milan, the Director-General, Irina Bokova, underlined the necessity of rethinking and renewing humanism in the 21st Century. Here, in one of the birthplaces of Renaissance humanism, she stressed that sixty-five years after the foundation of UNESCO, the humanist idea that peace must be constructed in the minds of people was more relevant than ever before. However, the actual implementation of this idea must be adapted to the new requirements of our time, hence the need for a New Humanism. Globalization has accelerated the mingling of peoples and cultures. The rapid development of information technology has multiplied opportunities for rapprochement and social interaction. However, it has also exacerbated misunderstandings and expressions of discontent. In addition, climate change and the depletion of natural resources have contributed to a hardening of positions. This new context requires that the conditions for mutual understanding and peace-building be rethought; there is a need for a renaissance of the very principles underlying humanism.

Highlights

The preamble of the UNESCO Constitution reaffirms clearly the humanist framework of all thought and action in the pursuit of peace. Not only is peace of great benefit to human beings, but they hold primary responsibility for it. They are its ultimate guarantors, through the nature of their intentions and the strength of their will. It is at this level that we must work, by peacefully predisposing minds through mutual understanding and international cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture and communication.

Being a humanist today means adapting the strength of an age-old message to the contours of the modern world. By definition, this work is an ongoing effort that knows no end.

Humanists posit the existence of a community of humanity that binds every individual to all others. Conflicts may arise from misunderstandings or superficial

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disagreements, but that which unites us is stronger than that which separates us. Together, cultures from across the world form a single human civilization.

It remains for us to discover anew what best can unite this humanity. Anew, because humanists have always understood that the soil for a growing and thriving community is culture, with all manifestations of the mind.

Through communication, through language learning and dialogue, through scientific cooperation, we can extend beyond the limits of ourselves, we can broaden our knowledge, discover other customs, and enter the ideal city of the mind, aware of the humanity that binds us together. We will always need to renew with the sources of this humanism, to rediscover the profound meaning of culture and to recognize that a community of all humanity is necessary for a life fulfilled. The Constitution of UNESCO is consistent with this idea: peace and prosperity cannot be secured solely through economic and political arrangements.

What humanists of all ages and countries posited for cities and states, we must now achieve worldwide. We must build a lasting universal human community, drawing on the fundamental values of humanity, and first and foremost on the resources of the mind. These are the stakes of this new humanism, where UNESCO has a leading role to play.

Being a humanist today means building bridges between North, South, East and West and strengthening the human community to take up our challenges together. It means guaranteeing access to quality education for all so that everyone may make their voice heard in the universal dialogue. It means encouraging scientific cooperation networks, establishing research centres, and disseminating information technology to accelerate the sharing of ideas. It means using culture, in all of its diversity of expression, as a tool for rapprochement and for crafting a shared vision.

An accomplished human being is one who recognizes coexistence and equality with all others, however far away, and who strives to find a way to live with them. This new humanism calls for every human being to be able to truly participate in our shared destiny, including the most marginalized among us.

In the twenty-first century, globalization is no longer about “contacts” but “sharing”. The global human community has become more self-aware. It has developed

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closer ties; time and space have contracted. Different peoples are increasingly in contact with one another, cultures entwine, and identities intermingle. All countries are actors in a single globalization process in which all must be able to participate.

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Rethinking Humanism in the 21st CenturyText published in the International Review of Education on the New Humanism UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, 2013

The International Review of Education published by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning invited the Director-General to highlight the role of education with respect to the New Humanism. As an approach centred on the capacity of humanity to improve itself through culture and science, humanism is by nature a philosophy of education. Knowledge and culture from the past must be transmitted in the present so that the intellectual resources of humanity can be enriched and renewed in the future. As education cuts across all the dimensions of development, be it personal, human, economic, political, social or spiritual, the International Review of Education assembled a series of contributions from different authors, representing a variety of geographic and intellectual horizons, to present their views on the dynamics of humanism and its renewal for the 21st Century.

Highlights

Humanism may not be a new idea; it is nevertheless an idea that must be reinvented at each new step in the history of human development.

Several rapid changes have revolutionized, in the 21st century, the relationship of humanity to its environment. The traditional model of growth is depleting resources and has reached the biophysical limits of the planet. Inequality increases and becomes more complex when at the same time, the rise of emerging economies, social transformations, democratic transitions gives rise to new hopes of reducing poverty and promoting human rights. The development of information technology creates a new global public space that brings together cultures and people, exacerbating misunderstandings and tensions. The multiple crises affecting societies and straining the capacity of States are also paralleled by a proliferation of new ideas, innovative projects. We see the emergence of new actors from civil society, youth, who invent new forms of solidarity and social action. They tap into the unlimited resources of the human intellect and raise hopes of a new humanism, adapted to the challenges of our time.

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A humanist today is someone who can adapt the strength of a time-honored message to the requirements of the modern world; who can rethink the conditions for mutual understanding and peace building as well as the protection of human dignity and the means to realize the full potential of each individual.

The liberating energy that runs through the history of humanism is our guide. The philosopher Pico della Mirandola has defined in the 15th century its central concept: human dignity lies in the properly human capacity to give oneself the form one has chosen for oneself. This self-training effort is endless, and it always starts with education. The principle is the same today, even if it has changed in scope: the point is not to educate a class of privileged people any more, but to ensure access to quality education for every man and woman, every boy and girl, and thereby unlock a potential for development that is unprecedented in history. 61 million school-age children are not in class today. Among those who have the chance to go to school, millions are taught almost nothing, and can barely, upon leaving school, read, write or count. There is an urgent need to recruit and train the teachers whom youth needs, including by using Internet tools and mobile phones, which allow to bring education into places where there is no school.

This effort to train the individual cannot be separated from a collective ambition, which is the other essential component of humanism. Human beings accomplish themselves within communities. The Delors report commissioned by UNESCO around 20 years ago under the title, “Education: the treasure within”, had already indicated the way forward in recognizing that education culminates in learning to live together.

All the cultures of the world are being united into a single human civilization. Humanism is a constantly renewed effort to highlight the common values and the sometimes hidden, but always deep, links that tie together people and cultures. The World Heritage bears traces of these exchanges and mutual influences. It is the great open book of our mutual relations, which education can help to discover. Knowledge of history tells us that the fundamental rights enshrined in the Manden Charter, transmitted in Mali since the 12th century, are not so different from those of the Magna Carta, written at the same time in England. No culture is isolated and we need each other to be ourselves in full. UNESCO seeks to mobilize resources for education, culture, knowledge sharing to bring to light these ties that bind us and help us to live together in growingly mixed societies.

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Each culture is a key to understanding the world. When natural resources are dwindling, we should not squander those of the mind. We must give ourselves the means to grow, building educational systems that should be stronger, more open, more flexible, more adapted to the challenges of the century. Quality education today involves taking new dimensions into account: technical and vocational education and training, which can help millions of young people find jobs; education for sustainable development; intercultural training; human rights education, which paves the way for global citizenship. This ambition is at the heart of UNESCO’s efforts to achieve the Education for All goals.

This is not a utopian venture: recent history has shown what strength lies in the dynamics of joint action. I belong to a generation who has experienced the division of Europe, and who has nevertheless learned the lessons from the past in order to unify the continent. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was established only a few years after the war and it remains a far-reaching document. 50 years afterward, the Joint Declaration of the United Nations Millennium Development did set a concrete political agenda which is a humanist call to action par excellence. It is up to us to succeed, and to extend these efforts beyond 2015. We must dare to seize this opportunity, without ever yielding to the forces of skepticism. Let us remember the message of Pico della Mirandola: human beings can be free and their potential is limitless.

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New Humanism in the 21st Century – the Role of Education in Empowering SocietyAddress delivered at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 21 May 2013

Invited by the University of Malaya to deliver a keynote address on humanism and the role of education in empowering society, the Director-General, Irina Bokova, stressed that education plays a key role in preparing women and men to promote the public good. This mission is a central responsibility of universities, which have always been instrumental bridges, throughout their history, for knowledge sharing and intercultural dialogue, two pillars of the “intellectual and moral solidarity” of humankind. Universities and higher education institutions must become vectors of the New Humanism as they are tasked with the cultivation in the minds of people of the ultimate resources of humanity: imagination, resilience and creativity. These are strategic resources. Countries cannot rely solely on economic investments if they aspire to a future of prosperity and sustainability. The New Humanism is an approach whereby the investment in education and in higher education in particular, yields mutually reinforcing gains in terms of economic returns as well as social inclusion and harmony among people.

Highlights

Universities have strategic importance for every country today, as key actors providing women and men with tools to shape change together, in the direction of their aspirations and for the public good.

This is a humanist mission, and it is one that lies at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate. UNESCO’s Constitution opens with the following words: Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed. Written after the devastation of World War Two, these words reflected the conviction peace had to be built in new ways, “upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind,” as it is written in our Constitution.

This vision is as relevant today as it was then – perhaps even more so……at a time, when societies face rising pressures, when the impact of climate change is deepening, when a range of global challenges call for urgent and common action. The global economic crisis is a “jobs crisis,” and young people are shouldering the

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heaviest burden. Our societies are more diverse than ever, but intolerance is on the rise, and the question of social inclusion is becoming essential.

These are difficult times, but they offer also vast opportunities for positive change. Connections and exchanges have never been so rich. We are developing powerful new ways to share knowledge and express ourselves and our identities. We must not allow an economic and financial crisis – a crisis of means – to become a crisis of opportunities and imagination. Far from resisting change, we must embrace it together, to shape it in positive directions.

This is what I mean by calling for a new humanism. This is really an appeal to invest in the dignity and capabilities of every woman and man. We need today a new humanism rooted in a profound respect for human dignity, fundamental rights and the diversity of cultures. We need a new vision of development where every woman and man feels a sense of responsibility towards others and for the safeguarding of our planet. A new humanism must contribute to harmonious relations between all regions in a world where all societies are connected. [...]

In this new age of limits, I see human imagination and creativity as our ultimate renewable energy – but so much of it today is untapped or stymied. We must make far more of the boundless opportunities of ingenuity, to release the powers of innovation and creativity, to craft new solutions that are inclusive, just and sustainable. Making this vision real starts on the benches of schools, and it is taken forward in the auditoria of universities. Countries cannot develop fully if they only focus on the economy, if parts of society are left behind, if the future is mortgaged against short-term gain. […]

Education is a basic human right that is essential to individual dignity – this is our starting point. It also brings sustainability to all development – as a force for positive transformation, as a motor for economic success. The facts speak for themselves. According to UNESCO estimates, every $1 you spend on a child’s education yields $10-$15 in economic growth over that person’s working life time. Education is a life multiplier – and, on a planet under pressure, it is the best way to shape new ways of thinking and acting, to build societies able to adapt to change. […]

This calls for strong national educational systems. It means starting early, by providing access to quality early childhood care and education. It means ensuring

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no girl and boy is left behind, whatever their origin or ethnicity, wherever they live. Less than three years away from the 2015 deadline of Education for All, we need a new global push on education. Our aim is to put education at the top of the political agenda – to ensure every child gets to school and the right learning, and to foster new forms of global citizenship.

Experience shows what political will, strong policies and adequate resources can do. Education policy is the ultimate long-term policy – it must be visionary, it must be strategic. I believe we need to rethink the fundamentals of education at this time when the world is changing profoundly. We need to educate for a sustainable future.

Globalization is accelerating. There has been tremendous growth, but also deepening inequalities. The need to learn to live together has never been more urgent. Almost one fourth of all countries may be considered ‘fragile states’ -- in or emerging from conflicts, and undergoing political transition. The world is getting younger every day, and the expectations of young people are rising, for decent jobs, for dignified lives. The world is changing – education must change too. […]

As the international community shapes a new global development agenda to follow 2015 – the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals – we must make the most of the power of education. The future agenda must start with equity – to ensure everyone can exercise the right to education, to training, to learning opportunities. It must focus on quality, to ensure the right learning for the right skills – enrolment is not enough, we must bolster the numbers and the skills of teachers, and harness the power of information and communication technologies. It must promote global citizenship – to strengthen peace and human rights education and shape new behaviours for sustainability, and to give cultural literacy that is so much needed. This requires a sharper focus on education for creativity, education for global solidarity, education for sustainable development. […]

We face many challenges – but the solutions are there. They lie with people, they lie in the creativity and imaginations of women and men […]. Solutions must be nurtured in the capacities of every woman and man to realise her/his rights fully – this is the basis for a new humanism. This is why education is so important and why solidarity must start with young minds. In the words of the Malaysian saying:

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Kalau meluntur buluh, biarlah waktu rebong To bend a bamboo, start when it’s still a shoot.

To craft a new humanism for the century ahead, we must begin in schools, in universities, and all throughout life. This is the social responsibility of education – to open the minds of young women and men, to strengthen their voices, to give them tools to participate in and shape the direction of their societies and economies.


New Humanism in the Perspective of an

International Dialogue

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New Humanism in a Globalizing World 9th Euro-China ForumOrganized by the Shanghai China-Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and UNESCO UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, 27 June 2011

At its 9th edition, the Euro-China Forum reflected upon the interactions between China’s re-emergence and Europe’s transformation in light of the potential offered by a New Humanism. The Forum offered a unique space for exchanges and dialogue between two great civilizations, which have produced original and powerful forms of humanism. In addition to the free and encompassing development of individuals, humanism was seen to promote: friendly relationships between people, (including fairness, mutual help, tolerance and non-violence); a harmonious relationship between human beings and society (with equal emphasis on law, virtue and feelings); a synergic relationship between human beings and nature; new relationships between cultures and civilizations through extensive and intensive communications, and knowledge exchanges on the basis of mutual respect.

Acknowledging that European and Chinese traditions of humanism had influenced each other, the participants advocated for the enlargement the global village through the opening up of new economic, political, diplomatic, intellectual and artistic horizons. The Chinese Renaissance, as well as the emergence of developing economies worldwide, questioned the intellectual and geopolitical assumptions of the 20th Century. However, this evolution should not be perceived as an obstacle to peace and shared prosperity, but rather as a foundation for the “Global Silk Roads of the 21st Century”.

A humanist turn in international affairs could well pave the way for a period of global enlightenment. Humanism was defined as a rational way of addressing questions pertaining to humanity and nature, which could facilitate the progress of science and technology and evolve into a grand movement of human ‘spiritual liberation’ and ‘creativity liberation’, as well as an unprecedented prosperity of material civilization. Viewed in this perspective, humanism today could become a force of renewed modernization by moving towards a clear recognition of diversity as the most important wealth of nations.

See: http://www.ceibs.edu/ase/ecforum/index.html

http://www.ceibs.edu/ase/ecforum/index.html

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Highlights:

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO

The theme you are about to discuss is timely: “New humanism in a globalizing world.” As Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, I can only commend this envisioning of humanism as an encounter between regions and cultures.

In a globalizing world, humanism should rightly be approached as an attempt at rapprochement, a work of hybridization. Diversity as a basis for dialogue is at the heart new humanism, which is not an intellectual, ethical or cultural monolith. It builds on the wealth of diversity within and between cultures and regions.

Humanism, after all, is a recurring trait of all societies, as is demonstrated in the fact that, Europe and Asia somehow succeeded in developing distinct but similar forms of humanism, placing mutual understanding and knowledge at the root of durable and peaceful human relations.

David Gosset (France), CEIBS, Founder of the Euro-China Forum

The Chinese renaissance can not only be understood as a catalyst for globalization, but it does also enlarge the global village by opening new economic, political, diplomatic, intellectual and artistic horizons. China’s revival not only widens the Chinese people’s representation of the world but it also expands a world-system which has been, to a certain extent, contracting for more than five centuries. The analysis of the interactions between the Chinese renaissance and what can be called the global village’s new terrae incognitae is in its infancy, but the way they will be mapped as much as the origin of their cartographers will be highly consequential.

Liu Ji (China), Honorary President CEIBS, Former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

The globalization trend presents a new perspective for human beings to rediscover themselves: human beings live on the one and only earth, and share a common fate; the existence and development of diversified cultures across the globe are backed by unshakable driving forces and intrinsic edges. […] How shall humanism meet

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these challenges in the 21st century? The only right path is to keep pace with the times, adopt an inclusive culture to make best use of the advantages and bypass the disadvantages, learn from others’ strong points to offset one’s weaknesses, and transform the humanist scientism into New Humanism.

Without a New Humanism we can’t construct a new world, and education is the most important pillar of the New Humanism.

Laurent Fabius (France), former Prime Minister of France

The approaches taken by Europe and China will be vital in finding solutions to five major challenges of the 21st Century:

1. Demographics and population flows, e.g. Europe has to grapple with migratory issues);2. environmental protection and energy: both Europe and China will likely have to rely heavily on imported energy in the years ahead and there is a need for a global environmental organization -- a European commission of energy -- that would oversee the region’s energy needs;3. the economic landscape: China needs to boost domestic consumption and Europe needs to strengthen its economy;4. security in terms of nuclear safety and anti-terrorism efforts; and5. democracy, and the forms it will assume.

Lu Qiutian (China), former Ambassador of China to Germany and President of the Chinese People’s Institute for Foreign Affairs

I am optimistic about China-Europe relations. Of course there are areas of disagreement, because we are at different stages of development, and so on; but we have to recognize that we have more in common than disagreements. So I’m optimistic about the future of the relationship. […] These two old civilizations on both sides of the globe have to cooperate. Through humanism we have to reinforce cooperation.

Huang Baifu (China), General, Vice Chairman of the China International Institute for Strategic Studies

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The history of humanistic exchanges is longer than that of political exchanges, and humanistic exchanges go deeper than economic exchanges. […] The ancient Silk Road connecting Chang An and Rome opened a dialogue between Chinese and European civilizations. Marco Polo, a merchant of Venice, unveiled the mystery of the Eastern kingdom to the Western world. China’s Four great inventions and ancient books had brought far reaching impact in the evolution of modern European society. In the new century, China and Europe have increasingly activated cultural exchanges. […] From one Silk Road to dozens of flights between China and Europe each day, it is not only the change in distance, speed and time, but also reflects a great leap in exchanges between China and Europe in breadth, frequency and depth.

Augusto Soto (Spain), Professor, ESADE

Europe and China, as two of the great civilizations in world history are getting closer. Between these two titans lies Central Asia, which historically is a central part of Eurasia thanks to the Silk Road. A meaningful part of the human process of self-reflection and exchange of dreams, trade, ideas and religious views have taken place along various segments of the Silk Road. We may well say that mankind mirrors itself along this historical superhighway. […] Today we have at our disposal channels that seem to make so many things possible. On the threshold of the XXI century the world achieved a very significant level of connectivity, virtually flattening intercontinental conversation. […] It has to do with practical matters as well as with ideas of a Silk Road now really based on a real oikoumen. These, I believe, are significant bases for a New Humanism.

Hans d’Orville, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Strategic Planning

We need a global vision to deal with global issues for the betterment of the human condition. It is up to us to harness the benefits of globalisation, to use the dynamic opportunities that interconnectedness brings to promote the shared values and respect for difference that will make our world a safer and more peaceful place where we share our common human civilization, strive for prosperity and satisfaction and join hands to promote sustainable development in green societies.

The diversity of cultures is the manifestation of our humanity. Culture is not indeed a mere layer in our existences: it shapes them.

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Nunc! New Humanism Science, Culture and Communication in the Digital AgeOrganized by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) and UNESCO UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, 14-15 November 2011

The participants in the event “Nunc! New Humanism” agreed that, while the current political, economic, ecological and social crises are generally experienced as obstacles, they may offer opportunities for rethinking human life in a world transformed by science, technology and communications, but on the condition that we adopt a New Humanism. New technologies bring us closer. However, they do not necessarily deepen understanding. Without genuine solidarity tailored to the age of Internet, such innovations as the social media will remain mere tools that cannot help us craft a genuine dialogue today.

To address the problems of our times through ethical and political means and resources, humanism has to be globalized, open and pluralist. Indeed, a global and holistic perspective is needed on issues such as the adjustment of the ideologies inherited from the 19th century to a democracy of the 21st Century; the implementation of lessons learnt from an economic globalization without adequate regulations; the redefinition of the concept of transparency in a digital society, or the reconciliation of authors´ copyrights with consumer rights in the cultural sphere. Only humanism can offer the kind of multidisciplinary framework or reference for coping with such challenges in a coherent and original manner. With creativity being the most powerful renewable energy of humanity, we need to transform the education of citizens through, for example, the integration of poetry and science.

An important discussion revolved around the question of access to, and ownership of, culture and information in the digital era. More in-depth reflection is needed to reach a humanist balance between the rights of authors and the rights of the public. The new technologies have created unprecedented situations with respect to the production of access to information. The traditional media and the Governments are concerned by new practices such as blogging, and by related expectations of increased transparency. Nevertheless, accurate information cannot be obtained without professional journalists collecting facts and providing

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analyses, and transparency can create insurmountable difficulties in relation to security and privacy. Other ethical and political concerns relate to the converging advance of the biotechnologies and the information sciences. The perspective of driving human evolution into a so-called “transhumanity” poses risks to the unity of the human species itself. Humanism as a concern for the dignity of people calls for the definition of limits in the application of science and technology. Humanity stands at an evolutionary turning point, and the future will only be sustainable if an open dialogue on the outcomes of the sciences, technology and innovation takes place. The benefits of science must be accessible to all – but people need to be asked whether or not they agree to benefit from science.

Highlights:

Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO

Humanism is in the DNA of UNESCO. Building peace in the minds of men and women is the humanist programme par excellence. I have said on several occasions that the most humanistic programme of our time is the Millennium Development Goals. Humanism is an old concept, but it is an idea that can be reinvented.

Humanism rests based on two pillars. The first pillar is the search for the full realization of the individual. It is the emancipation of the human person, his rights and capabilities. The second pillar is the feeling of belonging to a single human community, beyond our differences of origin, race, religion.

Today, we are entering a new phase of humanism. We live in a changing world. New technologies have created a global public space. They provide new tools for building knowledge societies. For providing education for all, reach marginalized populations. The trade of goods, the movement of ideas as well as migrations alter our planetary consciousness. We are more connected. We realize that disasters occurring on the other end of the earth, in Japan, Pakistan, concern us directly. We hear the peoples and the youth cry for change, freedom of expression, dignity, freedom - in the Arab world and elsewhere. Our societies are increasingly diverse. How to ensure that this diversity is a force of renewal and not a pretext for division?

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Humanism today is a call for more openness, tolerance, mutual understanding because our fates are linked. We must live together, not just side by side. We need to rethink the direction of progress, our relationship to nature.

In the face of rising, complex challenges, I am convinced we should see humanism not only as a value, but also as a strategy founded on three pillars -- dialogue, solidarity and creativity. Dialogue is an essential condition for human dignity and the respect of human rights. It is also the best way to develop the collective solutions necessary for the problems we face in common.

Today, no single country holds the solutions to our global challenges. No culture holds a universal monopoly. We will find answers to the questions we face together, or we will not find them at all.

Dayan Jayatilleka (Sri Lanka) Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to UNESCO

A project on “New Humanism” has to face the challenge that was posed by Nietzsche, when he said “Man is something that has to be overcome.”

This is not only wrong, it is historically wrong in terms of the evolution of ethics, mathematics, politics; philosophy and ethics existed together, if we go back to the Greeks. I think ethics comes in, in a different sense. Is it possible for us to permit, encourage, enhance the possibilities that science open up while minimizing, determining, protecting ourselves, our species against the catastrophes that looms with the unfettered development of science. The point therefore is to have an economic and a social experiment that would permit the development of science to benefit humanity, for instance in the realm of medical research as the fight against cancer, but on the other hand combating the effects of climate change. And there we are talking not only about political will but of an economic system and a political system, because what we have today and what we have experienced are anti-humanistic systems, which I refer to as predatory; namely neo-liberal capitalism and statist-socialism. We have had climate change and natural disasters and man-made disasters that both systems have caused.

Ethics and science come together in the sense that the challenge is to imagine an order, a social structure, a social system, social arrangements and economic arrangements which are in fact humanistic, which place man and everything that

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he and she needs to sustain themselves in this ecosystem. This is where we must direct our efforts when we think about science and ethics.

Humanism has to be globalized. This is not to deprive or deride the breakthroughs made in the West and in the North in the history of the human thinking. But we must seek out the Southern and Eastern contributions to a human-centric world outlook. The globalization of humanism, which could be new, may also take us to older routes of humanism.

May all living beings be happy is the challenge. Is it possible or not to imagine a social and economic system which will permit all living beings to be happy? The final thought I would like to share with you since we have been talking about philosophy is that sometimes the answers have to be post-philosophical. I say post-philosophical in the sense that a great philosopher, Karl Max intended in his 11th thesis on Feuerbach: “Hitherto philosophers have all interpreted the world. The problem however is to change it.


Humanism is a holistic understanding of the world and it is essential for UNESCO, which is an organization with a humanist software – constituting as it were a good part of the world’s soft power – to approach the contemporary challenges and crises through a multidisciplinary lens.

In UNESCO’s view, humanism is not a local response to local problems – it is a conceptual framework to inspire cooperative action in a global context. In a constantly evolving global context, humanism needs to renew itself constantly. UNESCO was intended as a humanist organization from its inception and it has been accordingly renewing its humanist mandate throughout different eras and challenges. Today, though, the reason why we need a New Humanism goes deeper than mere changes in the contemporary context.

In the digital age, we must embrace the potential of technologies to further develop our capacities and skills – but it must be kept in mind that basic reading and writing skills are an indispensible foundation. We need to bring the computer and the Internet into the classroom, but we must ensure that all girls and boys are in the classroom and that they receive a quality education from teachers who

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have been effectively trained. In that perspective, the Education For All (EFA) objectives as well as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the gateway to inclusive knowledge societies.

David Nelson Gimbel (United States of America), Historian

The ‘New Humanism’ will take place within a context of extraordinarily fast-paced and exponentially driven changes in technology, biosphere, society, security, resources, economy, and communication. In parallel, the human species will be undergoing evolutionary changes based upon an unprecedented convergence with our own technologies. Here we stand at the forefront of a new stage in our evolution, but that stage will only occur if we let it, if we not only engage in a dialogue about the future of the entire planet, but if we begin to take concrete steps to ensure that there will actually be one. This is the New Humanism‘; it begins here and ‘now’ (NUNC).

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21st Century - Towards the New HumanismOrganized by the Permanent Delegation of the Russian Federation to UNESCO, the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and for International Humanitarian Cooperation Mission Rossotrudničestvo in France, the Russian Centre for Science and Culture, with the support of UNESCO, the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and the European Humanist Federation Russian Humanist Society Russian Centre for Science and Culture, Paris, 23 January 2012

Humanism is a living idea with a diversity of expressions, including within Europe, where Russian history has allowed for the development of powerful intellectual perspectives, as expressed, for example, in Dostoyevsky’s, Tolstoy’s or Sakharov’s works. To support UNESCO’s initiative on the New Humanism and ensure the conditions for dialogue, solidarity and creativity, the Russian Centre for Science and Culture hosted a seminar to launch an open debate on the topic. A number of interesting views and perspectives emerged from the lively exchanges.

The global crisis is marked by a crisis of ideas and values. A practical response to this can only be identified through a firm and sincere commitment to international cooperation and multilateralism, which cannot be achieved without renewing humanism. We have a globalized economy, we have experienced global wars, but we still fail to produce an authentic human civilization. A New Humanism will succeed if Governments, civil society and the private sector manage to identify principles of solidarity that meet the requirements of our era. While classical humanism sought to reconcile tradition with modernity, as well as the rights of individual with their duties as members of communities, the New Humanism will have to help reconcile the local with the global, and people with nature. A global awareness of life and a sense of compassion for people and nature must be acquired by each and every one.

The universalism intrinsic to humanism is not static and inflexible. Rather, it is an evolving idea which different generations and nations adapt to their circumstances at a given point in time. No culture holds the monopoly to truth, justice, or universality, since all traditions, cultures and religions contain a humanist kernel. In this sense, humanism is not an ideology or a dogma, but an invitation to dialogue among equals. Renewing humanism will prove impossible if the rights of individuals are not recognized as paramount. This implies that the New Humanism is necessarily also feminism. Viewed in this perspective, all

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institutions must place people at the centre. This is true of the State, the market as well as of religions, all of which have to protect the diversity of societies and the aspirations of individuals. With respect to the expression of this diversity and these aspirations, the New Humanism must support the new global public space which currently emerges with the Internet. Humanism must become digital so as to better foster education for all, openness, tolerance, mutual understanding and the rapprochement of cultures.

Highlights

Ion de la Riva Guzman de Frutos (Spain), Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO

Somehow, the idea of renovating the humanist message inevitably leads us to the birth of a new Renaissance in the 21st Century […] It is important to remember that during the Renaissance, people showed inquisitive and holistic interest, a thirst for knowledge that knew no bounds and could deal with all the questions that affected them, often by breaking up with prejudice, taboos and artificial classifications, and always insisting on spreading ideas and discoveries to humanity as a whole.

It might be possible that this political, economic, ecological and social crisis can give us the opportunity to rethink human life in a world where science, technology and communications allow us today to find global solutions to global problems.

Dayan Jayatilleka (Sri Lanka), Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to UNESCO

Russian political ideas have had a strong streak of humanism. We think of Herzen, we think of the Decembrists and we understand that a progressive, rational, radical humanism was very much part of Russian ideas. I would also like to say something heretical, in a critical defense of the Russian Revolution because the Russian Revolution takes place in a context of the greatest degeneration and decomposition of humanism, the greatest challenge to humanism the world has witnessed, and that is the First World War. It is against the historical backdrop of this crisis of ideology, this ruination and negation of humanism, that you have the radical response of the Russian Revolution. The Russian Revolution

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itself was a radical variant of humanism. I think the tragedy of the Revolution is when it deviated from its humanistic roots and inspiration. The tragedy of the Revolution was the anti-humanistic aspect, but this was not the totality of the Russian Revolution. I would also like to say that those who defended Moscow, those who defended Leningrad, those who defended Stalingrad, in the face of the worst threat to humanism, that is Nazi-fascism, were also inspired by spirit of humanism and were defending the heritage of humanism in Europe and the world. So, I would like to pay my tribute to the Russian people, Russian culture, Russian history and Russian ideas, from the perspective precisely of humanism.

Humanism is the closest we can get to a universal good, to a universal idea! Humanism puts the human being at the centre. Placing the human being at the centre means to recognize that above all else, beyond national, ethnic, political, cultural, civilizational, religious, systemic, and ideological differences, one thing unites us and that is that we are all human.

It was said that Marx took the rational core of Hegel; took the method that abandoned the system. I think a similar exercise is necessary to go through the heritage of Latin America, Africa and Asia; the heritage in literature, the heritage in political ideas, the heritage in social ideas, the heritage even in forms of social systems, and try to uncover, try to unpack, try to deconstruct them, so you can find a humanistic core, if it exists, and carry it forward. Of course you will not find it in Nazism, in fascism, but in many traditions, if you seek in terms of, shall we say, an archaeology of knowledge - you will find this humanistic core.

I would bring it altogether and say that today, now, nunc, is the time to recognize that humanism is a universalism, and this is the closest we can get to universality because it places the human at the centre and it understands and values our common humanity, the fact that we are all human beings. We place that as the highest value. If we understand that we must give primacy not only to man and woman as individuals but also, and equally, to man and woman as citizen, and man and woman in his/her collective existence, then we will have the foundation stones of and the stepping stones to a better and different future.

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Hans d’Orville, Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning of UNESCOWith respect to the contemporary challenges, humanism must be understood by all - governments and civil society - as a holistic strategy based on dialogue, solidarity and creativity. Dialogue creates environments that facilitate human rights, which are universal, and cultural diversity as well as the practice of non-violence and tolerance.

We already know that in our world so chatty, where communication is so fashionable, dialogue must take on a new meaning, especially with the rise of social networks. These questions are at the heart of the forward thinking on the Internet that UNESCO has launched this year. Humanism must go digital.

Solidarity, a key concept in the Constitution of UNESCO, should be the response to the process of globalization, which has made us more interconnected and interdependent, but did not foster satisfactory progress towards shared prosperity and reduced inequalities. We must improve our action towards the needs and aspirations of the most vulnerable countries and all the segments of societies.

Humanism is linked to the creativity of knowledge. Humanism – and I speak of humanism throughout history and continents – is first and foremost a belief that humankind’s problems can be solved by knowledge rather than violence.

Diversity as a basis for dialogue and rapprochement is at the heart a New Humanism, which should not be understood as an intellectual, ethical or cultural monolith. It should build on the wealth of diversity within and between cultures and regions.

Valery Kouvakine (Russian Federation), Professor at the Lomonosov Moscow State University and President of the Russian Humanist Society

The process of globalization accelerates the convergence and interaction of the endogenous cultures of the world. The development of the information technology helps to bring people together and facilitates the integration of wider population of the world into society and culture.

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Collectivism of the humanism, the humanist community is a society which today begins with those closest to you and applies to all people on Earth. They are united by a common world culture, which objectively represents a result of the creativity and work of all the previous generations – this is what we call the cultural heritage of humankind. It brings people together, creates a common space of human communication and existence.

Today, the globalization of values of humanism is developing through global dialogue. The New Humanism is the realization of equal access to culture and participation in society through equality in all its basic dimensions. The New Humanism is a solidarity with neighbouring as well as distant nations. The 21st century, it is not just about networking, but it is about a global cooperation, it is about the socialization of humanity as emphasized by Irina Bokova.

Humanism as a life stance protects the humans’ right to happiness, development and expression of their positive abilities to free and responsible participation in the life of the world and society.

Humanism as an open and universal outlook does not associate itself with a particular philosophical system of ideas, so there is a great variety of humanistic schools and movements. Chief among them are the religious and the secular humanisms. These humanisms do not compete, but are in a constant constructive dialogue. And this unity of humanity is manifested in its diversity.

Farit Moukhametshine (Russian Federation), Head of the Federal Agency ‘Rossotrudničestvo’

We must admit that, despite all expectations, we are faced with a harsh reality. We are all perfectly aware that the modern world seen through the outlook lens is not only complicated, but also more fragile and unstable. The crisis phenomena of our civilization are provoking an avalanche diffusion of social vices, globalizing extremism and terrorism. No need to prove that the threats and challenges of the 21st century must be countered by international cooperation. The willingness to build bridges and establish concerted collective actions is, without exaggeration, an indispensible condition of our future existence. Our ability to integrate the principles of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue directly determines the achievement of sustainable development in the world.

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A particularly relevant issue is the survival of humanity in connection with the contemporary experiences of a global a multi-dimensional crisis that affects the lives of millions of people. Many experts believe that today we should talk of the first systemic crisis of globalization. As a policy of paramount importance to the socio-political dimension, economists and philosophers emphasize the undermining of the spiritual and moral bases of modern civilization and the crisis of humanism, which proved unable to resist in the 20th Century to the two World Wars and the rise of the totalitarian regimes. This crisis did not only cause vivid criticism of humanism, it also led to the dissemination of anti-humanist ideas.

Modern humanism is an open concept which presents an alternative to all the temptations of ideological monopoly. It is a concept suggesting the awareness that all life has worth and teaching to give, according to values that go beyond the remit of the individual to embrace the welfare of the others, the planet and the future of humankind.

Paul Kurtz (United States of America), President of the International Academy of humanism

We are all citoyens du monde - that is, citizens of the world community, the members of the human race, irrespective of gender, ethnic, racial or religious grounds, which divided people so deeply in the past. First of all, “we”, the planetary beings, inhabitants of the earth, and then “we”, the Americans or Russians, Chinese or Africans, people of the past or the present. But we are not closed within the boundaries of our planet or solar system; we are opening a galactic space. Our true identity is universal, we are not reduced to the determination of past “-isms”: Christians, Jews, Muslims, non-believers or believers [ ]. Most likely we are guided by our humanity, the possession of which requires us to share a common set of obligations with respect to the planetary community - precisely because each of us is an integral part of it.

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Confucianism and New Humanism in a Globalized World Paris-Nishan ForumOrganized by the Nishan Forum and UNESCO UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, 16 April 2012 Jining and Nishan, China, 21-23 May 2012

In an era of globalized economic, financial, social and environmental crises, the quest for the intellectual and moral solidarity of humankind has become an urgent imperative to build the foundations for sustainable peace. Aware of the need for intellectuals, politicians and civil society from everywhere to explore how the Confucian tradition can foster a dialogue on the universal ideals of the New Humanism, UNESCO and the Confucius Institute of the People’s Republic of China Headquarters joined forces to host the Paris-Nishan Forum on “Confucianism and New Humanism in a Globalized World” at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, on 16 April 2012.

From the interventions and discussions held at the Forum, the idea emerged that, whether they have a bearing on poverty, climate, energy, finance, culture or the issue of governance, all the contemporary global crises are interconnected. This means that the present turmoil is not a temporary one; we are not merely faced with yet another crisis of globalization: it is a crisis of globalization which has attained an ethical and spiritual dimension. Because individualism, scientism and the quest for profit have dislocated traditional value systems, it is necessary for nations and regions to cooperate better, and through empathy, among others. A New Humanism is needed that will be based on intercultural dialogue as a clear win-win strategy. This would offer a new ethical approach, which draws on all traditions of thought, including from the Orient, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, so as to promote diversity while bridging knowledge and belief, which are universal features in the human mind. In so doing, it would essential to bear in mind that dialogue is an exercise in mutual respect and creativity.

The participants in the Nishan Forum agreed that youth must be at the centre of the debates on the New Humanism because they represent the future to be built collectively. The New Humanism would have to differ from its Enlightenment version, by taking account, among others, of the horrors that marked the 20th Century. Humanity will have to prove itself creative with the help of scientists, artists and scholars, whose duty it is to call upon leaders and draw their attention to unjust and inhumane situations. The development of a New Humanism could

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then lead to the formation of a common ethical space, to which everyone would belong and in which everyone could participate, building upon respect for diversity and individual aspirations. The values identified throughout that process would have to be embedded into the multilateral system, the most humanist approach to global governance.

See: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/bureau-of-strategic-planning/themes/new-humanism/paris-nishan-forum/

Highlights:


We need today a New Humanism rooted in a profound respect for human dignity, fundamental rights and the diversity of cultures. We need a new vision of development where every woman and man feels a sense of responsibility towards others and for the safeguarding of our planet. This means moving beyond some of the limitations of the humanist tradition. Humanism has long been male-centred. A New Humanism must be a stepping stone towards gender equality. Feminism is humanism. Humanism was often based on elitist forms of education. A New Humanism also seeks to provide quality education to all. Humanism was often defined nationally or regionally. The New Humanism must contribute to harmonious relations between all regions in a world where all societies are connected. A dialogue between cultures from the safety of distance is not enough. We must now learn to live together and not just side by side.

The 7 billion strong population of the world must advance together on the basis of respect for the dignity and rights of every individual. We have more knowledge and technologies than any civilization before us. We must ensure our social intelligence lives up to our scientific intelligence – to prevent conflicts, to eradicate poverty, to release the potential of every woman and man. From across the world, we hear appeals for more imagination, for greater justice and solidarity, for a new harmony with our world. This is not a philosophical debate – it is a policy issue.

New realities are emerging across the world. They call for new policies. At a time when societies are buffeted by uncertainty, we must imagine new ways to cooperate against challenges of unprecedented scale. East, West, North and

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/bureau-of-strategic-planning/themes/new-humanism/paris-nishan-forum/



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South – we need new and deeper exchanges between all the parts of the world. New humanism is a call to action, to imagine a better world and to shape reality in this direction. This call must be acted on by individuals, societies, governments and international organizations, intellectuals. It must be taken forward together. Policy in isolation has little point today. But this requires reflection and debate. We must rethink the scope of public policy and rethink the role of international organizations.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin (France), Senator, former Prime Minister of the French Republic

Humanism is the centre of the reflection on the path that lies between these two great values, universality and cultural diversity. [...] In that dynamics, I find that Chinese thinking offers a form of modernity that fits well with what we might call temperance, responsibility, balance, and that the Chinese would probably call harmony, a call to always look for this path. [...]

This approach that you are about to explore in your search of a New Humanism is very important even for the younger generations, who need landmarks that should be both rooted in our civilization, and, at the same time, anchored to the principles of living together in the world of today. [...] A number of values are clearing delineated in Confucian thought which may serve as the backbone of a modern humanist thought. The first of these values is probably respect, respect vis-à-vis oneself and respect for others. It is this idea that Confucius argues when he says that “it is better to fight against oneself than to fight against each other.” This part of humanity within me is what matters. It is not through criticism or clashes with others that I will succeed in asserting myself but through the struggle with myself, that is to say respect for myself and respect for the others.

Xu Jialu (China), Professor, founder of the Nishan Forum, former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress

In a complex world, nothing is of higher importance than friendship and exchanges. As we come to realize that global crises have their causes in humanity itself, we need to foster harmonious coexistence, that is, harmony in diversity. In this new era, material and technological progress has generated a lot of turbulences against a background of indifference to misery and obliviousness to the past and

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to morality. However, the problems created by science and technology cannot be solved with them; only wisdom can do so. We must become creative if we are to ensure that humanity has a future.

Michel Camdessus (France), Honorary Governor of the Banque de France, former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

What we are experiencing is not merely another crisis in globalization but rather the first crisis of globalization. […] In a word, however diverse it may be in its local manifestations, the crisis of values is global and must be addressed as such, along with all the others.

In many parts of the world, societies find themselves to be without markers, confronted with disrupted value systems and discredited values.

To draw from the richness of our diversity and attain the harmony promised by the New Humanism, I cannot not see a better catalyst than the friendship of the greatest possible number of people of culture and spirituality of all backgrounds. We should make them more sensitive to their duty to converse between themselves, to agree on what the values we refer to mean in each culture and seek ways a translating these exchanges into multilateral action.

We must work together to identify within the diversity of our cultural heritage, the seeds of a global humanism. It is not difficult to identify some common values within the diversity of cultures and spiritualities that still support our societies. They can bloom again in a global humanism. It will be different from the humanism of the Enlightenment legacy. […] It will be aware of the intrinsic fragility that makes people capable of the best when they display generosity and the worst, as with these monstrosities created, as Goya knew, when reason sleeps away.

We must turn multilateral institutions into venues for deepening and entrenching these values.

Helping humanity and its leaders to reach a capacity of discernment and moral sense must become or become anew, with the inspiration and support [UNESCO], the primary task of all educators throughout the world.

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Jacques Attali (France), Professor, author, President of Planet Finance, former Adviser to the President of the French Republic

One of the main questions of our times is whether one culture is going to overcome the other? Will we obtain a syncretism, a single civilization? Are we headed towards a Confucian primacy of the State or a Western primacy of the individual?

We must never neglect the internal diversity of cultures and religions.

A paradox of our times is that the economic decline of the West is paralleled by its ideological triumph, the recognition in all regions of the supremacy of the individual and the practices that go hand in hand with it: voting, buying and self-expression. This paves the way for a melting pot whereby all values are available for everyone to freely build up one’s own culture. […] But there is a narcissistic risk of closing oneself to the others and the world. In that sense, the Westernization of the world is suicidal in that is fosters a forgetfulness of the past, a crisis in the environment, and a neglect for the future. The solutions can only be spiritual.

Ward Graham (United Kingdom), Professor of Theology and Ethics at the University of Manchester

I will draw attention to a highly particular symbol of the divinity of being human found in several religions and that is the Tree of Life. […] This symbol (found in Indic and Aztec iconography) is a complex expression of the sacred character of the life principle (in Hebrew Nephesh). It articulates a doctrine of creation and its goodness, life as a beneficent gift of what is divine and transcendent, and the indiscriminate bounty of grace towards us and all living creatures. It points to the fact that human beings are fragile dependences within eco-systems that are delicate and interconnected in complex ways; the destruction, abuse, manipulation or exploitation of any part of these eco-systems will impact upon all other parts. When these dependencies are respected then there is flourishing: not for one with respect to many, but for all. We need then to tread softly, with care and attention, with reverence for and courtesy towards the multiple webs of relation in and through which we exist – not because a human being has rights that, in some cases, can be negatively enforced, but because the vision behind these rights themselves is a theological one. The liberation that human rights seek can only be realised when the sacredness or divinity of life itself is central to them.

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Katalyn Bogyay (Hungary), President of the 36th General Conference of UNESCO, Ambassador Permanent Delegate of Hungary to UNESCOLet us remember that harmony does not mean monotony. Quite to the contrary, it implies plurality and diversity. […] Real harmony is achieved in a society where the plurality of thoughts, expressions, cultures, and ideas cross-pollinate and feed from each other, and thereby become richer, more dynamic and resilient. Attaining harmony under the conditions of diversity involves the formation of open and genuine dialogue. And such open and sincere dialogue can only take place when certain political conditions are met. Those of us that have lived through the dictatorships remember the failure of the experiments to establish social order and “harmony” through force, intimidation and fear. Such “harmony” was only superficial.

Aminata Traore (Mali), President of the “Forum pour un autre Mali”, former Minister for Culture and Tourism of MaliWe are in the era of market economy, that is to say, a great sell-off in the name of free trade. The question we ask points to the freedom of cultures: where is it to be found?

Peoples have become disposable. […] At the very bottom of the scale are the black Africans. So I am hurt as a black woman from Africa to see that in reality we are the victims of the immense wealth of our continent in raw materials, including energy resources that are strategic to the progress of the so-called globalization, a globalization that happens without us and to our detriment. […] The solutions will evidently come from ourselves. I want to say quickly that we hold alternatives in our midst. Let us first nurture an African humanism. Because we are the cradle of humanity, we have not waited for colonization to learn how to stand together and stand our ground together. It has been said that the heritage of a society is its wealth. As for us, we are rich with a thinking called Maya. It is related to the concept of Ubuntu. [...]

Democracy cannot be exported. Democracy cannot be imposed. The peoples in question must be allowed leeway to draw on their heritage of values, which may help them resist and call out to their leader.

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Cao Weidong (China), Professor at the School of Chinese Language and Literature and Deputy Director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Humanities and Religion (IASHR), Beijing Normal UniversityThe humanism tradition inherited from the western culture must merge with others to progress. The tensions inherent to European Humanism are the reflections of conflicts in modern society, which must look for new incentive to restart the modernization programme. Secondly, European Humanism should endorse the Chinese or Oriental humanism traditions as a mirror. Thirdly, the development of Chinese Humanism traditions needs to interact with Western Humanism.

Wu Jianmin (China), Vice-Chairman of Organizing Committee of the China Nishan Forum, Vice-President of the European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Literature

The world is confronted with two competing tendencies: one trend fosters cooperation in opposition to another trend sustaining conflict and cold war. The cooperation trend embodies the future. We stand at the crossroads and the path humanity shall take has not been set yet. […] The New Humanism will rest on a contribution by all civilizations. […] China can bring forward the idea that humanity and nature can form a whole. Humanity today thinks that it has the power to transform nature, but we must reach for a pacified relationship with nature.


As a universal virtue, harmony signifies an aptitude to maintain unity in diversity and to build bridges between different places and people. The distance of centuries does not alter the vividness of Confucius’ message of harmony in our relations with others. These ideals are universal, and we find them expressed in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity which states, in its second article, that: “In our increasingly diverse societies, it is essential to ensure harmonious interaction among people and groups with plural, varied and dynamic cultural identities as well as their willingness to live together.”

In its promotion of social harmony, Confucianism is a universal form of humanism, which must be understood as a quest for lasting peace between and within nations.

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Strengthening the Euro-Arab Dialogue: Contribution to a New HumanismInternational Conference of National Commissions for UNESCOOrganized by UNESCO and the MBI Al Jaber Foundation Vienna, 31 May 2012

With the aim of strengthening the Euro-Arab Dialogue in fostering tolerance and mutual respect, the International Conference of National Commissions for UNESCO “Euro-Arab Dialogue: Contribution to a New Humanism”, was held in Vienna in June 2012. The Conference was organized by UNESCO in collaboration with the MBI Foundation and gathered some 200 participants from 67 countries. Among the delegates in attendance were senior representatives of ALECSO (Arab League Educational Cultural and Scientific Organisation, ISESCO (Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), ABEGS (Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States and Council of Europe).

The participants shared the view that the Arab region is in a process of change that will benefit Europe in many ways. In this sense, the Euro-Dialogue initiative embodied a key vector of exchange for change, generating innovative actions and developing Euro-Arab cooperation in the fields of education, culture, science and communication. The bridging of continents, cultures and nations through new approaches and perspectives to better sustain the provision of public goods to all, demonstrated that the adoption of a New Humanism could prove instrumental for the promotion of social innovation.

The recognition of the need for a New Humanism was central to the discussions of the meeting, which also focussed on enhancing Euro-Arab cooperation through the formulation of new terms of references and a concrete action plan. The Arab Spring made it all the more urgent to explore and promote new principles to address social transformations. Social realities in the Arab world expressed a process of change that would fail to deliver on its promises if such basic values as freedom of expression and gender equality were not mainstreamed in all the spheres of the society as well as in the daily lives of communities and individuals. It is only on the basis of these humanistic values that a sustainable and peaceful future could be constructed.

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To achieve this, international cooperation is indispensible within the Arab region and beyond, notably with Europe. New opportunities for democracy and peace would benefit all the partners of the Arab world in terms of shared welfare and intercultural exchange. Centuries of intellectual, scientific and cultural exchanges that marked the relations of Europe and the Arab world in the past proved that dialogue is a lifeline for mutual understanding and respect. In a world of interconnectedness, it is not enough to just connect: societies and nations must share solutions, experiences and dreams, as a single community bound together by human rights and fundamental freedoms. Learning from one another is the strongest basis for living together in peace.

Cf: http://www.mbifoundation.com/news/strengthening-the-euro-arab-dialogue

Highlights

Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO

Uncertainty is on the rise in a world that seems to turn more quickly every day. People are more connected than ever, but misunderstandings remain deep between societies and within them. Values, traditions, customs and cultural expressions have moved to the front of national politics and international relations.

Youth are ever more engaged in civic life, and they are calling for greater intergenerational dialogue to have a full say over their future. UNESCO stands by them.

Cultural diversity is a reality for most countries – it must also be a policy, one of continual dialogue that unfolds within a framework of tolerance and that reaches out to all countries. I see this as the essence of a New Humanism for the 21st century.

In a world juncture marked by great many challenges that further compound the problems threatening to undermine peace and security, there is need to promote the culture of coexistence, toward stronger peaceful relations between peoples and nations, and put an end to conflicts and clashes everywhere. […]

http://www.mbifoundation.com/news/strengthening-the-euro-arab-dialogue

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Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, Director General of the Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO)

While Euro-Arab dialogue at the political and institutional levels, for instance, has gone through a period of uncertainty due to the causes and factors previously mentioned, exciting prospects are offered to comprehensive human dialogue in the areas of culture, education and information to provide the useful means to knowledge exchange in its broadest sense which promotes noble objectives and achieves the prime target, namely living together in schools and in everyday life. […]

This is part of the New Humanism aiming to reshape international relations and establish world peace on solid and durable foundations. This trend also seeks to bridge the existing gaps through a clear-sighted and open approach founded upon ethical values, universal principles, the rules of international law and the common heritage of mankind. We firmly believe in dialogue as the viable option taken by the wise and sagacious people to rationalize international cooperation and establish a new world order based on education that edifies the values of coexistence. It is this notion of dialogue that has stimulated our active participation in the global effort to promote dialogue of cultures and alliance of civilizations and spread the culture of justice, peace, coexistence, tolerance and mutual respect.

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Final Declaration International Conference of National Commissions for UNESCO “Euro-Arab Dialogue: Contribution to a New Humanism”Issued on 1 June 2012

The International Conference of National Commissions for UNESCO “Euro-Arab Dialogue: Contribution to a New Humanism” organized by UNESCO, in cooperation with the MBI Al Jaber Foundation and with the support of the Austrian Commission for UNESCO, was held in Vienna on 31 May – 1 June 2012. The aim of this Conference was to bring together the main actors of the Euro Arab Dialogue initiative, review the work carried over the past ten years and explore the ways and means of generating innovative actions. The ultimate objective is to develop Euro-Arab cooperation in the fields of education, culture, science and communication.

BACKGROUND

1. The UNESCO’s Euro-Arab Dialogue’s originality lies in the mobilization of its network of National Commissions with a view to fostering rapprochement and cooperation between the two neighboring regions on the basis of their shared common historic, cultural and educational interests and values, as embodied notably in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At a time when the Arab region has witnessed social and political upheavals of great magnitude, and when also living together of people with different cultural backgrounds is in questions in a number of countries of both regions, the Euro-Arab Dialogue seeks to identify activities that build on best practices while developing at the same time new and timely approaches based on the comparative advantages of the Commissions. lt highlights a concerted outreach of national intellectual, scientific and social capacities at their best.

2. The Euro-Arab Dialogue was launched at the initiative of the Tunisian Commission for Education, Science and Culture, the German Commission for UNESCO and the French National Commission for UNESCO at a meeting held on the side lines of the 46th International Conference on Education in September 2001 in Geneva. On this occasion, over thirty representatives of

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National Commissions for UNESCO together with some Ministers of Education and Culture launched the Euro-Arab Dialogue initiative in order to promote the exchange of experiences and best practices between the two neighboring regions in the areas of education, culture, science and communication. The initiative was further developed at consecutive technical meetings in Abu Dhabi, Morocco, and Paris. Three major meetings were held in Cartagena, in March 2005, “Cultural Diversity in knowledge societies”, Euro-Arab Seminar, organized by the Tunisian and French National Commissions; in January 2010 in Paris, where the Task Force of National Commissions for UNESCO’s Euro-Arab Dialogue initiative was constituted with the participation of 18 countries; in January 2011 in Muscat (Oman) where it was recommended to convene an international conference involving all the National Commissions from the two regions as well as relevant international and regional organizations together with civil society and private sector partners to plan the way forward.

3. In an age when globalization and new technologies are bringing people together in unprecedented ways, we have to scale up our efforts to build world open, sustainable societies constructively dealing with cultural diversity. The Euro-Arab Dialogue initiative rests on the assumption that cultures and civilizations thrive thanks to exchanges and borrowings and that openness to dialogue should be a permanent disposition in societies and individuals. To further develop the already undertaken initiatives and to create prospects for the new ones, relevant conditions have to be created and adequate support provided.

4. Considering the above, the participants in the International Conference of National Commissions for UNESCO “Euro-Arab Dialogue: Contribution to a New Humanism” held in Vienna on 31 May – 1 June 2012, committed to the following:

COMMITMENTS

5. We will intensify our efforts towards intercultural dialogue and cooperation in all the areas of competence of UNESCO, education in particular, but also the sciences, culture, and communication and information. The Commissions drew their inspiration from Learning: The Treasure Within, the Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century presided by Jacques Delors, which identified Learning to live together, by developing an understanding of other people and an appreciation of interdependence - carrying

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out joint projects and learning to manage conflicts - in a spirit of respect for the values of pluralism, mutual understanding and peace as one of the four pillars of education. Students and teachers from both regions should be provided with a platform and opportunities to explore jointly solutions to current problems through feasible projects. ln this vein, the internationally acknowledged expertise of the UNESCO Associated Schools in this field is a major asset.

6. We will continue to promote knowledge and understanding as key vectors for challenging myths and stereotypes and promoting mutual respect and sharing common international values. Besides education, all the fields of UNESCO should be included. Science, given its universal character, can be instrumental in stimulating dialogue, openness and mutual respect, and thus in serving the cause of peace. Communication and information, especially through the media, have a critical role to play in helping communities to live together in peace, by promoting freedom of expression and respect for diversity, bringing social recognition to different groups and communities, and promoting dialogue. Culture is also an invaluable source to promote knowledge about different cultures among both young people and adults. Numerous initiatives implemented to this end need to be highlighted. Among those within the framework of the Euro-Arab Dialogue, the “Comparative study of history textbooks”, the “International conference on Education for Sustainable Development in Support of Cultural Diversity and Biodiversity” held in Muscat in January 2011, figure together with other projects carried out individually or jointly by the National Commissions for UNESCO. The participation of regional institutions such as the Council of Europe, ISESCO, ALECSO and ABEGS, NGOs and private sector partners enriched the exchanges.

7. More than half of the world’s population is young people. We will work to address the needs and expectations of young people whose are confronted today with increasingly complex and multiple challenges. When so many youth feel marginalized and voiceless, the need to define one’s personal self-awareness is propelled to the forefront. In this regard, we strongly support the project proposing to prepare a UNESCO set of references devoted to the values in education and inspired by the successful “World Heritage in Young Hands” educational kit. Under the aegis of the UNESCO National Commissions and benefiting from the support of the UNESCO Secretariat, all efforts at both national and regional levels need to be mobilized to conceive and produce jointly this set of references on values in education with the help of international experts and educational professionals designated for this purpose by the National Commissions from the

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two regions. Youth organizations offer young people a chance to fully participate in the decision making process, but also to create their own meaningful ways of life. For the Euro-Arab dialogue to be legitimate, democratic and sustainable we recognize that young people and their organizations must be a wide part of both the forthcoming policy processes and the practical activities, so that their original rights are taken into account and that young people are present on an equal level.

8. All the National Commissions in the European and Arab countries being de facto members of UNESCO’s Euro-Arab Dialogue initiative, we declare our full commitment to the further development of this initiative and we encourage the National Commissions of both regions to join in the common efforts to sustain the existing and open the new channels of communication and cooperation between the two regions around projects such as those involving the networks of the UNESCO Associated Schools, UNESCO/UNITWIN Chairs, and UNESCO Clubs.

9. We will continue our efforts for the prospects and activities of the Euro-Arab initiative to be acknowledged as an important contribution to UNESCO lntersectorial Platform activities for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence and be reflected in the upcoming strategic and programming documents.

10. We pledge to boost cooperation within the Euro-Arab Dialogue with other relevant actors such as the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the Euromed Heritage, Anna Lindh Foundation as well as other possible (future) partners. We also fully support UNESCO’s strategy to mobilize new partnerships and encourage new models of cooperation with regional institutions, civil society and the private sector. ln this light, the National Commissions should increasingly seek to attract the participation of the private sector and philanthropic bodies such as the MBI Al Jaber Foundation in supporting, funding and implementing their joint projects.


Exploring the Potential of a New

Humanism

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Media Literacy and New HumanismUNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, Moscow, 2010

With a view to fostering reflection on the digital dimensions of humanism, the Moscow-based UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education commissioned a study on digital and media literacy in the context of ‘educommunication’ and New Humanism. The study was launched to generate deeper insights into the recent trends in the development of the “media culture” and “media literacy” movement, and to provide a conceptual framework for media literacy, a new media literacy curriculum, and teacher training.

Education is an essential dimension of humanism, as most humanists have developed an interest in the transmission of knowledge and the construction of peace in the minds of people, notably youth. Applied to education, the idea of “New Humanism” envisions the creation of a more inclusive society in which all humans have a chance to access knowledge and quality education. In such an open society, every voice is heard in the universal dialogue, laying the ground for one human civilization made up of a multitude of cultures. The New Humanism at the foundation of the global society must prioritise a new sense of respect for diversity and support media development with the aim of fostering the rapprochement of cultures.

Authors:J. M. Pérez Tornero (Director of the Centre of Communication and Education in the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain)Tapio Varis (UNESCO Chair and Professor of Vocational Education in the University of Tampere, Finland)

See: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001921/192134e.pdf

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001921/192134e.pdf

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Highlights:

Media consciousness and the New Humanism

It is now imperative to abandon blind trust in technology and to deepen our critical spirit. We need to develop an aware attitude that is capable of weighing the positive and negative effects of the changes and especially one that is able to inspire new technical developments that blend with the aspirations of human beings.

The global communication community harbours enormous potential, along with some risks. However, its full, positive realisation depends on whether humanity, including each and every one of us, gains in awareness and responsibility. From our standpoint, this awareness must today be media-related and humanistic.

While Renaissance humanism was characterised by a “discovery” of new “worlds”, America first and foremost, but also Africa and Asia, giving rise to an “encounter” - often violent - between cultures and civilizations, the New Humanism in the global communication society must prioritize a new sense of respect for multiplicity and cultural diversity and must support media development with the goal of consolidating a new culture of peace.

Just as Renaissance humanism, time has now come for us to revive – through the new media and humanistic awareness - the classical idea of the cosmopolitan, universal citizen, with very clear rights and responsibilities that entail a planet-wide commitment. We must foster a kind of citizenship that stimulates the idea that individuals view themselves as the bearers of universal rights as well as responsibilities that are also universal. Today, media awareness and the New Humanism are inseparable. They are the obligatory response to the formation of a technological civilization and a media culture.

The global community calls for global and democratic citizens. Without media literacy, this new citizenship is unachievable. Therefore, universal or global citizenship is synonymous with media literacy for all.

If citizens improve their media competences, they can contribute to the development of a real demand for the mass media to provide information which is in accordance with peace and harmonious international relations. However,

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if this demand disappears, there is a risk that the discourse of the media moves towards populism and sectarianism.

New Humanism is committed to the goal of counteracting the depersonalizing effects of mass technology. But rather than limiting itself to the aim of meeting the purely personal needs of its adherents, it is expected that its educational programs will encourage a sharing of minds and hearts across personal, disciplinary, scientific and cultural barriers.

It is necessary to bear in mind that the dynamics of globalisation must be joined with those of interculturality. Improving media competences must include favourable attitudes toward tolerance and understanding of diversity, and freedom of expression must grow alongside a sense of universal responsibility.

Education programmes must be the fruit of cooperation and communication between people. Present-day technologies are starting to facilitate this, and global media literacy can help us achieve it.

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The UNESCO Courier “Humanism: A New Idea”October-December 2011

A special issue of the UNESCO Courier was devoted to the theme of the New Humanism, with contributions from a variety of authors from all the continents.

Highlights:


Humanism is an age-old promise, as well as an idea that is always new, endlessly reinventing itself.

The current threats to the planet’s precarious ecological balance, the ethical problems raised by digital and biomedical technologies, the economic and political crises – these are all global challenges that demand concerted responses. The humanism that is emerging today has to provide a framework for our common thoughts and reflections on global issues.

A central preoccupation is the promotion of women’s rights and gender equality. Humanism today also has a feminine side.

Building a responsible world of solidarity is a long-term endeavour that has to draw on all the creative forces of humanity. Culture, education, philosophy, science, information technology, law, and international cooperation provide us with the means. Building the ramparts of human dignity in everyday life is not a Utopian quest. Humanism is a promise we must all keep.

Sanjay Seth (India), Professor and Head of Politics and co-Director of the Centre for Postcolonial Studies, University of London - “Where is humanism going?”

At the heart of the notion of humanism is that something that we all share and which sanctions our aspirations towards equality, despite our differences. The Enlightenment philosophers looked for it in the crucible of a singular

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rationality; today we need to search at the crossroads of different visions of morality.

What has changed is, above all, an environmental crisis that calls into question the absolute privileging of humans, as well as the sharp distinction between man and nature, that are characteristic of traditional humanism. It is not only and obviously that our privileging of man may have something to do with the despoliation of the conditions that make human life sustainable, but also that the very distinction between the world that men make and the world that exists independently of them is in the process of collapsing. With global warming and the mass extinction of species, humans have become geological, and not (as before) simply biological agents.

The affirmation of human commonality and dignity is something that is no less urgent today than at any time before. Because such an affirmation can plausibly be seen as being, in some sense, at the core of humanism, we cannot reject humanism, but rather need to re-found and to reinterpret it. I suggest that a reinterpreted and viable humanism will be one in which our moral intuitions regarding human commonality and dignity no longer rest upon a questionable anthropocentrism or on dubious claims to a universal Reason. I further suggest that such a reinterpretation will be the product of a dialogue between different civilizations and moral perspectives, rather than a declaration that one moral perspective (that of the modern West) is the correct one.

Michael Onyebuchi Eze (Nigeria), Author, visiting research scholar at the Center for African Studies at Stanford University, USA – “I am because you are”

Ask anyone on the streets of Harare, Johannesburg, Lusaka or Lilongwe (in Southern and Eastern Africa) what they understand by Ubuntu/botho and they will probably list the virtues to which a person in these societies is expected to aspire – such as compassion, generosity, honesty, magnanimity, empathy, understanding, forgiveness and the ability to share.

In terms of contemporary Africanist discourse, though, Ubuntu/botho is best understood as a critique of the logic of colonialism – the process of attempting to “humanize” or “civilize” non-Western cultures through colonization. Colonialism

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was a powerful and condescending narrative that thrived through a pretext of “humanizing” or “civilizing” non-Western peoples.

Ubuntu/botho has gained recognition as a peculiar form of African humanism, encapsulated in the following Bantu aphorisms, like Motho ke motho ka batho babang; Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (a person is a person through other people). In other words, a human being achieves humanity through his or her relations with other human beings.

Asimina Karavanta (Greece), Author, Assistant Professor, University of Athens “What happened to hospitality?”

One of humanism’s current challenges is how to develop conditions favourable to intercultural societies. […] When viewed as a common field shared by multiple alliances and potential affiliations, this intercultural society presupposes a radical reconfiguration of the institutions and social, educational and political discourses that should be addressing the needs of expanding intercultural communities in the nation states and their supranational formations.

Paulette Dieterlen (Mexico) Philosopher, Researcher, Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) - “Justice and dignity”

Hundreds of millions of people suffer from hardship and poverty throughout the world, a situation that sanctions a philosophical approach promoting justice. This theory underpins a truly humanist intervention when it is dispensed with respect for the dignity of the individual, his or her autonomy and personal responsibility.

If, however, we conceive of individuals not only as means but also as ends, the ensuing distribution policies must foster better economic and social conditions so that the beneficiaries can work toward achieving their life goals. This idea is based on the concept of the human being as an autonomous and worthy individual, able to choose from among the various options at hand.

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Oliver Kozlarek (Germany) Professor of political and social philosophy at the Institute for Philosophical Research, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo, Mexico - “Towards a humanist turn”

We must engage in a dialogue between cultures to discuss what it means to live a dignified life as a human being. It is within and through culture that we learn how to perceive ourselves as human beings. By studying and comparing different cultures we can see just how much they share. The ‘humanist turn’ and the ‘cultural turn’ must complement one another. This means that humanism must be intercultural and involve dialogue.

All cultures and civilizations have humanist traditions. […] It is in these traditions that we can find clear evidence for the fact that human beings share, and have always shared, very important ideas about what it means to be human. But learning from other traditions of humanism does not only mean to reaffirm what we already know. […] East Asian Confucianism was very much concerned with the harmonious relationship between human beings and the social and natural world that they are a part of. One cannot help thinking that a strong sense of ‘world harmony’ such as this could guide us through the ecological and social disasters accompanying the modern destruction of the natural world as well as the devastations of our social worlds. Questions like this have to be discussed within an intercultural perspective.

Humanism is always a consequence of experiences of alienation. It is an outcry from people who feel that the conditions for living a humanely dignified life are withering away. In a world like ours, individual experiences may vary greatly. In our global, modern world, chances are unevenly distributed, and economic, political and military powers are unevenly concentrated.

It is only if humanism comes to constitute a central influence on the ways we think and act in everyday life that it can hope to begin to foster a humanist culture that is not only theoretical and abstract. It is my contention that this ‘translation’ of humanist ideas and values into everyday political, social and economic practices represents above all a task for political and economic institutions.

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Mahmoud Hussein (Egypt), Author, Political scientist and Islamic scholar - “The Muslim phase of humanism”

Contrary to popular belief, humanism developed within the framework of religious thought – first Greek, then Muslim and finally Christian. In the Golden Age of Islam from the 9th to the 12th centuries, first the Mu’tazili, then the Falasifa explored the limits of humanist thought and the concept of free will in a world dominated by a unique and allpowerful God, anticipating the 18th century encyclopedic approach to knowledge.

Liu Ji (China), Honorary President of CEIBS (China Europe International Business

School) and former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. - “For a world of harmony”

The dichotomy between Western and Chinese civilizations is much like the two hemispheres of the human brain: the logical left side and the emotional right side. Only when these two hemispheres are mobilized simultaneously can their full potential be realized. Thus, logic and affection should be combined together to give a full-scale representation of New Humanism.

Harmony instils “good-tempered” individual behaviour in Chinese social order. Families believe that if they live in harmony, they will prosper. Business etiquette is based on the notion that “harmony brings wealth.” In country governance, harmony is the ultimate pursuit, whereas Western society believes in the “survival of the fittest” and “a law of the jungle” where “the weak are the prey of the strong.” Harmony also encompasses the ideal relationship of oneness between man and nature, whereby man is an inherent part of nature and thus should act according to natural laws.

Mireille Delmas-Marty (France), Professor, holder of the chair of ‘Comparative legal studies and the internationalization of law’ at the Collège de France, Member of the Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques - Humanizing globalization

So, on the surface, everything seems to be for the better, in the best of worlds… Globalization acts like a kind of magnifying glass and is revealing a series of

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contradictions, raising a whole host of questions. How can we reconcile the concept of security with the principle of freedom; economic rights and protection of the environment, etc? Globalization can even makes the situation worse when, for example, it separates already globalized rights such as economic rights, from social rights, which are the preserve of States, themselves weakened by constraints imposed by financial markets. We could even wonder if there is not a contradiction between the universalism laid down by the 1948 Declaration on Human Rights and the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression, which qualifies cultural expression as the common heritage of mankind.

Rather than repeatedly affirming principles, we need to try to reverse the movement towards dehumanization in reality. Only through the effective upholding of human rights can we avoid some of the aberrations of totalitarian politics, such as market totalitarianism, notably in the financial market. The idea of global citizenship is a dream that dates back to Antiquity. But more recently, in the Germany of the late 18th century, Emmanuel Kant dreamed of perpetual peace between nations, just as, Kang Youwei, in China, dreamed of the age of great world peace at the end of the 19th century. This “Dream of the two Ks’” could gradually become reality.

UNESCO can help to establish, disseminate and construct intercultural forms of citizenship – that is intercultural rather than multicultural, since it is not enough to juxtapose cultures, but important to aim for the more ambitious objective of reciprocal humanism.

Milad Doueihi (United States of America), Historian, Chair of Research on Digital Cultures at Laval University, Quebec – “Digital humanism”

Digital humanism is the result of a totally new convergence between our complex, cultural heritage and a technology that has become a space for unprecedented sociability. This convergence is new in the sense that it redistributes concepts and objects, as well as the practices associated with them, within a virtual environment.

Besides its technical and economic aspects, which need constant scrutiny and questioning, digital technology is in the process of becoming a culture, in the

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sense that it is changing our view of objects, relations and values, and that it is introducing new perspectives into the field of human activity.

The hybrid space of the digital culture is a new way of “living together”, with its myths, discoveries and utopias. It makes the global village a reality. Digital humanism is one way of thinking about this new reality.

Ruth Irwin (New Zealand), Senior Lecturer in Business Ethics at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand – “Welcome to the Anthropocene”

Since the industrial revolution, technological innovation has been freeing mankind from many of the bonds that link it to the rest of Nature. But this supposed progress could have a tragic ending. Climate change is now showing us that it is time we stopped behaving like strangers in our own ecological niche. […] the planet has shifted from the temperate, placid, Holocene epoch – which lasted for over 10,000 years, and saw the development of agricultural and urban civilizations – to the turbulent and probably catastrophic Anthropocene epoch, influenced by man’s activities (from the Greek, anthropos: human). The shift had undoubtedly begun much earlier, at least by 1945 (with our entry into the nuclear era) and, more likely, towards the end of the 18th century, when the Industrial Revolution significantly changed the way people relate to their local ecosystems.

The awareness of planetary ecology that climate change has awakened in us should force us to shift the normative lens through which we comprehend the world. We can do nothing without strong political decisions on an international scale. Perhaps globalization can also be seen as the ‘new Green.’

Michal Meyer (Israel), Meteorologist, Journalist, Editor in chief of Chemical Heritage magazine - “Dreams of science”

Science (and technology) is power over the world, and increasingly power over our biological selves. The combination of science and humanism aims to harness science for the betterment of humanity. Yet we tend to forget that using science to better the world is a project as old as science itself. How we use science in the real world of today brings up questions of meaning, values, and responsibility.

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We will need both science and humanism to work together in the future. We should also learn from past mistakes. We must not expect from science that it will provide us with ultimate meanings. It cannot tell us who we should be and it cannot tell us what “better” means. Science is a human creation, and it has the meaning and purpose that each generation gives it. Responsibility and ethical behaviour should be central to the choices we make.

Salvador Bergel (Argentina), Jurist, holder of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics at the Universidad de Buenos Aires - “Bioethics: unimagined challenges”

Each new breakthrough in biology and the health sciences, such as organ grafts, which have saved countless lives, or assisted reproduction techniques, which can solve fertility issues for couples, has faced social and psychological obstacles, and raised religious and ethical questions.

Mankind can now manipulate and modify genetic information for practical purposes, and can even act on his own biological nature as a species—which is certainly the most disturbing aspect from a bioethical point of view.

This progress in the life sciences has repercussions for the very concept of what it means to be human, and raises ethical, social and legal issues that go beyond science. This is where bioethics is called upon, to arrive at a fair and insightful balance between medical progress and respect for human life.

Bioethics stands as a bulwark of humanism both in terms of its goals as well as its multidisciplinary nature.

Cristovam Buarque (Brazil), Senator, Professor at the University of Brasilia, former Minister of Education - “Seven pointers for the future of mankind”

Humanism, as it appeared in the Renaissance, resulted from a merging of revived classical Greek thinking, with its sense of the primacy of man over the Earth, consolidating man as a being apart from the rest of nature – separated and dominant. This vision not only prevailed, it was reinforced by the absolute domination and transformation of nature by man. While this humanism has gained ground, it nevertheless began a course of dehumanization. The atomic

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bomb alone is a symbol of the creation of a schizophrenic civilization. The human being dominated nature, using the technology that he created, but humanity started to be dominated by technology that now defines the characteristics of the social system, destroying the environment and increasing social inequality. The uncertain future of our planet means that we will have to rethink the humanist project, which, for me must be built on seven pillars:

Promoting planetary politics Respecting cultural diversity Caring for the environment Guaranteeing equal opportunities Promoting balanced production Integration through education An ethical technical modernity

Like Einstein trying to dialogue with God – in whom he did not believe – to learn how he had drawn all the details of the world, the New Humanism must imagine the ideal way to build a civilization that is democratic, tolerant, efficient for humanity and each human being, and that respects nature. The only way is dialogue between people and between men and nature. The New Humanism will promote the dialogue between cultures and Mother Earth.

Charting the Way Forward

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Statements on the occasion of the Investiture Ceremony of Irina Bokova for her second term as Director-GeneralUNESCO Headquarters, 18 November 2013

The Investiture Ceremony of Irina Bokova for her Second Term as Director-General provided a unique opportunity to review her action and renew her commitment to the Constitution of UNESCOin the light of the ideals of humanism. Through an exchange of views with Harvard Professor Homi K. Bhabha, she reaffirmed, based on her experiences and actions of the past four years as Director-General, that the ideals behind UNESCO rest on the conviction that every woman and man can become everything they aspire provided they are entitled to their dignity and ingenuity. This idea is as old as humanity itself, but it needs to be renewed at each major turn in the history of nations which, today, unfolds in a hyperconnected, interdependent world. Globalization is accelerating and so is the impact of climate change and natural disasters. There has been tremendous growth, but inequalities are increasing. The opportunities for peace are strong, but conflicts have changed in nature and scope and culture is on the front line. Throughout the world, we see tremendous progress: millions are being lifted out of poverty thanks to the great humanist agenda of the Millennium Development Goals and beyond 2015. But the challenges remain substantial – exclusion, poverty and conflict – and new ones are emerging. We are reaching the limits of our planet. We are reaching the limits of development as it has been understood until now. UNESCO is relied upon to rethink peace, reinvent development and shape a better future for all, promoting a new humanism rooted in a profound respect for human dignity, fundamental rights and the diversity of cultures. What is called upon by nations, societies and individuals is an aspirational project, a framework of belief and an armature of action which requires education, the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities, culture, communication and information to be at the top of the political agenda, for the new humanism is not a philosophical debate – it is a policy issue.


UNESCO was created in 1945 – 68 years ago last Saturday -- but its idea is as old as humanity itself. This is the idea of humanism, expressed by the spirit of Ubuntu, “human kindness” in Bantu, by Confucius, by the 19th century Indian humanist,

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Swami Vivekananda, and so many others. It is the conviction every woman and man can become everything they aspire to – what Michel de Montaigne, the French Renaissance thinker, called “the far-reaching height of human nature”. It is the belief in a single humanity, embodied by each of us.

The late Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe once wrote: “You must find a way to accept something, however small, from the other to make you whole.” Each of us is different, but we are not alone, we stand together, and each of us embodies the whole of humanity. This is what UNESCO stands for, and never has our message been so urgent.

Globalization is accelerating and so is the impact of climate change and natural disasters. There has been tremendous growth, but inequalities are increasing. Technologies are changing the way we communicate, learn and behave – societies are more connected than ever, but also more vulnerable. Information has never been so available, but the knowledge gap is still widening. The world is younger than ever and profound change is transforming regions – human rights aspirations are high but so are thwarted expectations.

The opportunities for peace are strong, but conflict has moved within countries and culture is on the front line. Throughout the world, we see tremendous progress: millions are being lifted out of poverty thanks to the great humanist agenda of the Millennium Development Goals and beyond 2015. But the challenges remain substantial – exclusion, poverty and conflict – and new ones are emerging. We are relied upon to rethink peace and reinvent development. These goals require education, science, culture, communication and information to be at the top of the political agenda.

Historic changes are under way and UNESCO is taking the lead in shaping a better future for all. I have seen it throughout the world. I have seen it in the words inscribed on the wall of the Ayesha-e-Durrani girls’ school in Kabul: “My pen is my sword.” I heard it from Rokhaya Sow, a teenager in Pikine, Senegal, who told me that UNESCO helped her to stay in school. I saw it in Angola, where 3,000 women and young men waving white handkerchiefs for peace met to launch the UNESCO-African Union campaign to promote a culture of peace in Africa “Make Peace Happen”. I heard it in the speech of the President of Peru, H.E. Mr Ollanta Humala, in the United Nations General Assembly in September: “We must find another way … this is not only about growing to include, but also about including

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to keep growing.” I heard it from the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, who spoke to us last February: “True peace requires a form of consciousness that not only eschews all forms of violence but which also envisages the rich fruits of peaceful life together”. These voices are strong and so they must be.

Last year, in Timbuktu, during attacks against the mausoleums, one extremist declared: “There is no world heritage – it doesn’t exist.” These words must strengthen us in our convictions. With President François Hollande, I travelled to Timbuktu and I saw the burnt manuscripts, violated testaments of a millennial Islamic culture, and I am more determined than ever to act. UNESCO is here to amplify the voices of unity against those of division.

UNESCO is here to remind us that lasting peace and sustainable development are two sides of the same coin, that there can be no peace without poverty eradication, no poverty eradication without peace. This is the same agenda. An agenda for human dignity. An agenda for inclusive development, to empower every woman and man. We have entered a new age of limits. We are reaching the limits of our planet. We are reaching the limits of development as it has been understood. In this new era, we must make the most of the greatest renewable energy we have. This is human ingenuity. Human creativity is our great strength, a bottomless wellspring, whose power we must unleash.

In this hyperconnected, interdependent world, we must act together, for the multilateral arena is the only place where we can hope to find peaceful and lasting solutions to our problems. In this changing world, we must also remain faithful to the core principles of humanism: Human dignity, which the Italian philosopher Pico della Mirandola saw in the individual’s ability to define him- or herself and achieve full potential; the principles of equality and equity, solidarity. We must keep these principles alive in the twenty-first century and adapt them to the challenges of our time. That is my vision for a new humanism.

Firstly, in today’s world, human dignity is inextricably linked to human development and poverty alleviation. And, as we now understand, there is no sense in human development unless it is sustainable. It defeats the object if it damages the planet. It defeats the object if it does not benefit all. This is the focus of the new post-2015 agenda: an agenda for sustainability. And this is where UNESCO’s mission takes on its full significance. Our Constitution is itself a covenant for sustainability, seeking to lay the foundations for lasting peace and prosperity.

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Sustainability means quality education, which transforms lives and is the main catalyst for human development, allowing people to adapt to change and reinvent themselves. It is the sturdiest foundation of society.

Sustainability is also found in culture, our strongest social cement, promoting inclusion and giving us confidence, allowing us to draw energy from our history to build a lasting future for ourselves. Culture is the source of resilience described by the writer Dany Laferrière, when faced with the ruins of Haiti after the earthquake: “the country will recover through culture”. Culture drives reconciliation in the wake of conflict, especially living culture carried forward by people.

Sustainability means building the capacities of societies through science, research and the sharing of knowledge, enabling innovation, invention, better anticipation of risks and preparation for the hazards of an uncertain world. It means building more robust and resilient societies, which are able to handle our rapidly evolving environment and the pressures of global warming, social transformations and natural hazards. And in this context, we must help the most fragile, the most vulnerable, the least developed countries, the small island developing States and marginalized communities, for our fates are linked. We must provide emergency assistance during conflicts and disasters, helping the most fragile to make a rapid recovery. This is the new frontier of human dignity and my first strand of action.

Sustainable development is inseparable from equality, and equality in the twenty-first century is above all equality between men and women. This is the second strand of my work. Equality between men and women is a matter of justice and human rights. It is also the best way of investing in the future, a powerful catalyst for human development and the fight against poverty.

Our particular role consists precisely in ensuring that, through education and access to culture and information, women are empowered to make their own choices, and that their role in society is acknowledged in full. Today, two thirds of illiterate adults in the world are women. In the age of the Internet and the knowledge society, 31 million girls even now have no access to basic education. Thirty-four million girls and female teenagers do not go to school. They are forced to leave school because they have become victims of violence, because they have to work, because they were married off at the age of 10 or 12, because they are considered responsible for fetching water. This is where the bloodless civil war

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of our time is being waged. Gender parity is literacy. Gender parity is access to science. Gender parity is not only a right on paper, it is the genuine possibility for girls to become the person they want to be, the possibility of fulfilling themselves, and through such women the whole of society becomes stronger and more developed.

This is the original essence of UNESCO’s mission, precisely because we come up with instruments to ensure independence and development, and it is in that very direction that we must focus the full force of our action. Ultimately, humanism is solidarity, the conviction that we belong to one human family. Today, this solidarity must take the form of a new global citizenship in an era of diversity. Globalization, urbanization and cultural diversity form multicultural societies with multiple identities. This diversity is forcing us to rethink development, dialogue, tolerance, social cohesion and even peace.

The borders of peace are shifting within societies, in the perception that every person has of their own culture and those of others. Making peace with others implies being at peace with ourselves, with multiple affiliations and with painful memories that demand our respect. This wealth is also a mine of creativity and fresh ideas if we learn, at the same time, to reconcile the diversity that makes us richer with the human rights that bring us together. And UNESCO plays a unique role in proposing curricula and skills that enable citizens to live with different cultures and languages, and to build cultural synergies. Our role is to provide the tools to turn this diversity into a force for dialogue and understanding, and to face the shared challenges that are beyond our individual scope. Because we must live and work together: climate change and natural risks know no borders. Water management and biodiversity know no borders. Science knows no borders.

We must create spaces, attitudes and skills to rise to these challenges in the diversity of our cultures, our beliefs and origins. The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity is the dictionary of this globalized world, a citizenship textbook for multicultural societies. And more than ever, we are measuring the importance of President Houphouët-Boigny’s words: “peace is not a word; it is a behaviour.” It is a skill.

Education must be about learning the intercultural values and skills that are essential for the twenty-first century, initiating young people into world citizenship, and this is the third priority of the Global Education First Initiative

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launched by the United Nations Secretary-General and piloted by UNESCO. I recall with emotion the dream of Doris Lessing, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, who passed away yesterday, and who fought her entire life against a “fragmenting culture”, where young people who have had years of education know only one speciality or another and are ignorant of the realities of the world, incapable of thinking globally. And I quote her:

“We have a treasure-house. It is all there, this wealth of literature, to be discovered again and again by whoever is lucky enough to come upon it …Let us suppose our world is ravaged by war. Let us suppose floods wash through our cities, the seas rise.But the storyteller will be there, for it is our imaginations which shape us, keep us, create us.It is our stories that will recreate us, when we are torn, hurt, even destroyed.It is the storyteller, the dream-maker, the myth-maker, that is our phoenix, that represents us at our best, and at our most creative.

UNESCO is that quintessential universal platform, the laboratory of ideas, the one and only network for sustaining this heritage, removing the barriers between disciplines, learning to act with others and constantly revitalizing ourselves.

I am thinking of the world heritage sites. I am thinking of the biosphere reserves. We must be more ambitious, promoting the networking of sites, creating cross-border areas for the heritage shared by two or more countries, providing support for common textbooks, and sharing the memory and living culture of peoples on a continental scale, irrespective of frontiers. The new technologies make this an even more urgent course of action. UNESCO is the house of peace and we can bring the instruments of peace up to date. Enhancing the sustainability of a fragile world. Ensuring equality between women and men. Building citizenship in an age of diversity. That, in my view, is what defines the new humanism, which is the key to peace today, and UNESCO’s contribution.

The founders of this Organization enunciated a vision that represented an act of faith in human capacities, a defence of humanism in the aftermath of a war that amounted to its negation. It took courage to talk of intellectual solidarity in a world laid to waste, left physically and morally in ruins. Given the emergencies of our day and age, we must respond with the same courage, the same sense of daring.

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The oath that I have just taken, uttered by all my predecessors, is a pledge for humanism. It is the pledge of the millions of men and women fighting day in day out for justice, tolerance and the rule of law. It is the pledge of millions of children on the way to school, and the promise of their parents who want a better future for them. A future of peace and prosperity. At this moment in time, I am fully aware of the trust that you have placed in me, and I undertake to honour that vision of what is best in human beings, which is the honour of UNESCO.

Homi K. Bhabha, Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities and Directory of the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard University

The framework of a new humanism, as you describe it, Ms Bokova, is “rooted in a profound respect for human dignity, fundamental rights and the diversity of cultures.” No ethical or political mission is more crucial for the new humanism than the advancement and emancipation of women and girls. Gender equality and capability is the measure of civility and progress for all human beings. Sustainability is often seen as an ecological issue, but it is no less an issue of our moral economy. UNESCO’s insistence on the integration of cultural imperatives in the future Sustainable Development Goals is a step in placing the “new humanism” at the heart of the global policy agenda. Respect for cultural diversity is grounded in the recognition of the contribution of cultures to the history of the world, not simply in the interests of nation and region. It is dignity in the sense of “sustainability” that provides, in your phrase, the “software for peace.”

What is the “new humanism?” Each era that announces a new epoch of human development must also acknowledge its shortcomings and contradictions. No description of Renaissance Humanism is more admiring than Shakespeare’s:

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, howinfinite in faculties, in form and moving how express andadmirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god!

And yet, these words are spoken by the melancholic Prince Hamlet who sees about him a world of regicide and intrigue. Enlightenment humanism has never been better represented than by Immanuel Kant’s concept of cosmopolitanism. And yet, Kant wrote in the wake of the Thirty Years War. While it is widely claimed today that the embrace of global markets and technologies can create a

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transnational and transcultural global humanism of digital “connectivity,” Joseph Stiglitz warns that the development policies of international bodies are often “seen as the intrusion by the new colonial power on the country’s own sovereignty….”

The history of humanism teaches us a lesson that you, Madame Director-General, have articulated and that UNESCO takes forward. The new humanism must be seen neither as a utopian dream nor as an ideological compulsion. No: the new humanism is an aspirational project—and I understand project in the French sense of the word projet: a design, a perspective, a subject or object of contemplation. The new humanism is a work-in-progress – not because its ideas need further thought nor because it is unclear. It must remain a framework of belief and an armature of action; it cannot be presented as a prescriptive set of beliefs because ideas that have a universal application across different societies—which is the global jurisdiction of UNESCO – can never be dogmatic. Ideas that have a global significance must be open to “global doubt,” according to the Indian economist and ethicist Amartya Sen, because universal ideas and ideals are always with us, they return with a foundational force to generation after generation.

Doubt, I want to suggest, is crucial because we agree on the value of universal principles – like the new humanism – not by asserting them on the world stage, but by arguing and advocating for them, as the best practices of the UN demonstrate.

Doubt is part of the dialectic of freedom. As the driving force of the new humanism, “doubt” is the process by which we test our actions as agents in the world. Who would have guessed – without a doubt! – that the rebuilding of the Old Bridge of Mostar under UNESCO’s stewardship would restore dialogue? Is it not for this reason, Ms Director-General, that you have argued that the new humanism “is not a philosophical debate – it is a policy issue.” Let me turn to three areas, central to UNESCO’s mission, where the new humanism has important policy implications: education, civil society, and the ethical imperative of dignity. This is what I have called the armature of action.

It is difficult to conceive of a flourishing of new humanism if the map of knowledge is itself deeply distorted. This age of the world-wide web is, in some ways, a narrow, parochial place. According to reliable sources, the US and the UK published more indexed journals than the rest of the world. There are remarkably more articles (7,800) written about Antarctica than any country in Africa or South America.

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In this map of “educational un-sustainability” the humanistic disciplines are in a state of crisis. How can the new humanism take root if the soil of humanistic thought is left to wither? What is neglected in this era of Big Data is the remarkable integrative capabilities of the humanities. The integrative capability of the humanities has given rise to a number of hybrid disciplines – the digital humanities; the medical humanities, the legal humanities. Notice how such interdisciplinary formations display the extension of the humanities into areas of public policy and social ethics. Notice, too, how the “integrative” impulse of the humanities is structured along the lines of inclusion and diversity, so that “public reason” is accessible across all divisions.

From this perspective, it becomes clear that the integrative humanities, in the company of scientific discoveries, can be preeminent in contributing to building a global civil society. A civil society is collaborative form of association that articulates diverse claims and interests. If we are seriously “going global,” should we not consider the authority of international civil society as a new framing? Would this not be in harmony with the “new humanism” as a project for the future?

The desire for educational equity is a foundation stone for dignity, for confidence, and as a force to strengthen capacities to allow women and men to withstand the pressures of change and make the most of its opportunities. There can be development, no sustainability, if we don’t start with education...Dignity goes beyond the respect and rights we endow on all human beings. Dignity, contemporary philosophers argue, is based not on only the claims of the present, but also on the hopes of radical freedom in the future. “Human beings are moved by a sense of possibility or potentiality, of the unrealized, of the not-yet”, of what is yet to be fulfilled in the future.

UNESCO plays an urgent role in the world today; but UNESCO’s commitment to strengthening the “sustainability” of a complex world is an act of endowing dignity to the future. It is the project of the new humanism that provides us with an aspirational vision of the “not yet” , of what is yet to be fulfilled in the future, that binds us ever more firmly to protecting and transforming the world as we know it today. Let the new humanism define the horizon of our shared history and our collective morality.


Annex: Programme

of various conferences

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New Humanism in a Globalizing World 9th Euro-China ForumOrganized by China-Europe Business School (CEIBS) and UNESCO UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, 27 June 2011

Programme

Opening of the 9th Euro-China Forum at the UNESCODavid Gosset (France), CEIBS, Founder of the Euro-China Forum Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO Shi Shuyun (China), Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of China to UNESCO Romano Prodi (Italy), Former President of the EU Commission and Prime Minister of Italy

The European Union and China in the 21st CenturyDavid Gosset, CEIBS, Founder of the Euro-China ForumEric X. Li (China), Founder of Chengwei Capital, Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute Thierry Dana (France), Founder TD Conseil, Former Diplomatic Advisor of the President of the French Republic Jacques Chirac Liu Ji (China), Honorary President CEIBS, Former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Carlos Gaspar (Portugal), Director of the Portuguese Institute of International Relations, Adviser to Former Presidents Soares and Sampaio Europe, China and the New Global GovernanceRiccardo Sessa (Italy), Ambassador of Italy to NATO, former Ambassador of Italy to China Lu Qiutian (China), former Ambassador of China to Germany and President of the Chinese People’s Institute for Foreign Affairs Serge Abou (France), former EU Ambassador to China Huang Baifu (China), General, Vice Chairman of the China International Institute for Strategic Studies Jose Luis de Sales Marques (Portugal), President of the Institute of European Studies of Macau

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Reality, Perception and Image: The role of the media in the relations between the West and China Horst Loechel (Germany), CEIBS and Frankfurt School of Finance and Management Isabelle Fernandez (France), Director of UBIFRANCE China Zheng Ruolin (China), Correspondent of Wenhui Bao in Paris Ni Ning (China), Executive Dean of School of Journalism, Renmin University of China Ravi Shankar (India), Executive Editor of China Daily European WeeklyMassimo Bergami (Italy), Dean of ALMA, Bologna

The European Union, China and Central Asia – Toward a 21st Century New Silk Road?Ion de la Riva Guzman de Frutos (Spain), Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, former President of the CASA ASIALaurent Fabius (France), Former Prime Minister of FranceZdravko Popov (Bulgaria), Diplomatic Institute of BulgariaPierre Morel (France), EU Special Representative for Georgia and Central Asia, Former Ambassador of France to Russia and ChinaAugusto Soto (Spain), Professor, ESADE

The role of business in the relations between Europe and ChinaHellmut Schutte (Germany), European Chair for Global Governance and Sino-European Business Relations, CEIBSLeo Sun (China), Huawei, President, Department of European AffairsDominique De Boisseson (France), Former President of the EU Chamber of Commerce in ShanghaiBasile Zimmermann (Switzerland), University of GenevaEdward Y.M. Zhu (China), CEO, CHIC GROUP GLOBAL CO, LTDIman Stratenus (Netherlands), CEO, China for International SOS

Preparing the Future – Educating Citizens of the World, Sharing Experiences from Europe and ChinaXu Bo (China): Special Advisor to UNESCO, former Vice-Commissioner of the Shanghai World ExpoXavier Prats Monne (Spain), Deputy Director-General for Education and Culture at the European Commission.Tugrul Atamer (France), Dean of EM Lyon

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Tong Shijun (China), Vice President of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) and Director of the SASS Institute of PhilosophyGuan Naijia (China), Vice President of NANKAI University, TianjinDusan Sidjanski (Switzerland), Special Advisor to President of the EU Commission Jose Manuel Barroso

Conclusion of the 9th Euro-China Forum

Xu Bo (China), Special Advisor to UNESCOLiu Ji (China), Honorary President of CEIBS, Former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social SciencesDavid Gosset, Founder of the Euro-China ForumHans d’Orville, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Strategic Planning

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Nunc! New Humanism Science, Culture and Communication in the Digital AgeOrganized by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) and UNESCO UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, 14-15 November 2011

Programme

OpeningIrina Bokova, Director General of UNESCOÁngeles González-Sinde (Spain), Minister of Culture Jorge Edwards (Chili), Writer and Diplomat Roberto Toscano (Italy), Writer and Diplomat

I. Culture, Communication, and Science in the Digital Age: “Is the New Humanism the answer to the cultural and scientific challenges of our age?”Paul Audi (France), Philosopher Hans d’Orville, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Strategic PlanningDavid Nelson Gimbel (United States of America), Historian Apolonio Ruiz Ligero (Spain), Economist (Spain)Fatou Diome (Senegal), Writer Dario Valcárcel (Spain), Journalist, Director of Política Exterior, founding member and former Deputy-Director of El País

II. Culture, Ethics and Political Engagement: “Does culture belong to those who create it or to those who consume it? The rights of owners and authors vis-à-vis the demands of a culture of free access”Cynthia Fleury (France), Philosopher David Bravo (Spain), Lawyer (Spain)Isabel Coixet (Spain), Journalist and Film Director (Spain)Eric Altmayer (France), Producer Isabella Thomas (Spain), Program Director at Axess TVAlaska (Spain), Musician (Spain)Francesco Bandarin, Assistant Director- General of UNESCO for Culture

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III. Science and Humanism: “The Human and the Post-Human paradigms: are the ethical limits of science an obstacle to our evolution?”

José Manuel Sánchez Ron (Spain), Physicist, Historian of Sciences, Member of the Royal Spanish AcademyGretchen Kalonji, Assistant Director- General for Natural Sciences of UNESCOMaria de Sousa (Portugal), Scientist Víctor Gómez Pin (Spain), PhilosopherAdela Cortina (Spain), PhilosopherDayan Jayatilleka (Sri Lanka) Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to UNESCODominique Müller (France), Psychoanalyst Pilar Álvarez Laso, Assistant Director General of UNESCO for Social Sciences

IV. Communication and Humanism: “The question of the transparency of information: what is the role of social networking and the impact of Wikileaks upon global communication?”José Ignacio Gabilondo (Spain), Journalist and TV News Anchor at CNN+Janis Karklins, Assistant Director- General of UNESCO for Communication and InformationIsabel Aguilera (Spain), former Director of Google Spain Fabio Gandara (Spain), Militant, May 15th Movement François Malye, Journalist at Le point Mercedes Milá (Spain), Journalist Sameer Padania (United Kingdom), Human Rights specialist

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21st Century, Towards the New HumanismOrganized by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to UNESCO, the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and for International Humanitarian Cooperation Mission Rossotrudničestvo in France, Russian Centre for Science and Culture, with the support of UNESCO, the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and the European Humanist Federation Russian Humanist Society

Russian Centre for Science and Culture, Paris, 23 January 2012

Programme

I. OpeningDayan Jayatilleka (Sri Lanka), Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to UNESCO Hans d’Orville, Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning of UNESCOIon de la Riva Guzman de Frutos (Spain), Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCOJean-Luc Nahel (France), Councilor, Conference of Presidents of French Universities Efim Pivovar (Russian Federation), President of the Russian State Humanitarian UniversityValery Kouvakine (Russian Federation), Professor at the Lomonosov Moscow State University and President of the Russian Humanist Society

II. First Round TableDmitry Leontiev (Russian Federation), Professor of psychology, the Lomonosov Moscow State University; Head of the research laboratory of positive psychology and quality of life studies, Higher School of Economics, MoscowAlexander Razin (Russian Federation), Professor, Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityYaroslav Golovin (Russian Federation), Professor, Moscow State Open UniversityOlga Pastushkova (Russian Federation), Vice-President of Russian Humanist Society (Russia)Julia Senchikhina (Russian Federation), Vice-Director General, Institute for Humanist Studies FoundationAlexandra Otchirova (Russian Federation), Philosopher

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Farit Moukhametshine (Russian Federation), Head of the Federal Agency ‘Rossotrudničestvo’III. Second Round Table

Jean-Pierre Desclés (France), Doctor of Mathematics, Professor Emeritus of Computational Linguistics at the Institute of Applied Human Sciences of the Université Paris-Sorbonne, Member of the International Academy of Philosophy of ScienceInna Merkoulova (Russian Federation), Doctor in Linguistics, Visiting Scholar at the Institute of Applied Human Sciences at the University Paris-SorbonneSonia Eggericks, President of the International Union of Humanism and EthicsPierre Galand (France), Vice-President of the European Humanist FederationPaul Kurtz (United States of America), President of the International Academy of humanismFloris van den Berg (Netherlands), Vice-president of the Dutch Free Thought Organization, and Director of Centre for Inquiry Low Countries

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Confucianism and New Humanism in a Globalized World Paris-Nishan ForumOrganized by the Nishan Forum China and UNESCO UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, 16 April 2012

Programme

Opening sessionIrina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCOJean-Pierre Raffarin (France), Senator, former Prime Minister of the French RepublicXu Jialu (China), Professor, Founder of the Nishan Forum, former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s CongressXu Lin (China), Executive Director of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, Co-founder of the Nishan Forum

Harmony through Diversity and the Exigencies of a Globalizing World

Michel Camdessus (France), Honorary Governor of the Banque de France, former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)Jean-Patrick Connerade (France), President of the European Academy of Sciences, Arts and LiteratureImre Hamar (Hungary), Director of the Confucius Institute at the Eötvös Lóránd UniversityZhou Hong (China), Director of the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

Harmony through Difference and the Dialogue among CulturesDayan Jayatilleka (Sri Lanka), Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to UNESCOJacques Attali (France), Professor, author, President of Planet Finance, former Adviser to the President of the French RepublicSabiha Al-Khemir (Tunisa), Artist, Art Consultant, Founding Director of the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, QatarWard Graham (United Kingdom), Professor of Theology and Ethics at the University of Manchester

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Tong Shijun (China), Professor of philosophy, Chair of the Academic Committee of East China Normal University, former Vice-President of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS)

Harmony through Diversity and the New HumanismKatalyn Bogyay (Hungary), President of the 36th General Conference of UNESCO, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Hungary to UNESCOAminata Traore (Mali), President of the “Forum pour un autre Mali”, former Minister for Culture and Tourism of MaliCao Weidong (China), Professor at the School of Chinese Language and Literature and Deputy Director of the Institute for Advanced Study of the Humanities and Religion (IASHR), Beijing Normal UniversityXu Jialu (China), Professor, founder of the Nishan Forum, former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress

Closing SessionWu Jianmin (China), Vice-Chairman of Organizing Committee of the China Nishan Forum, Vice-President of the European Academy of Sciences, Arts and LiteratureHans d’Orville, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Strategic Planning

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Strengthening the Euro-Arab Dialogue: Contribution to a New Humanism International Conference of National Commissions for UNESCOOrganized by UNESCO and the MBI Al Jaber Foundation Vienna, 31 May 2012

Opening CeremonyEva Nowotny (Austria), President of the Austrian National Commission for UNESCOSheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber (Saudi Arabia), Founder and Chairman of MBI Al Jaber FoundationIrina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCOMustafa A.G. Abushagur (Libya), First Deputy Prime Minister of LibyaSebastian Kurz (Austria), State Secretary in the Ministry of Interior of Austria

Learning to live together: in school and beyondClementina Acedo Machado, Director of International Bureau of Education (IBE)Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, Director-General of Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO)Mohamed-El Aziz Ben Achour, Director-General of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO)

Promoting cultural exchanges and scientific cooperationYadh Ben Achour (Tunisia), Lawyer, specialist in Islamic political theories and public lawMustapha Cherif (Algeria), Professor at the Alger UniversityKatérina Stenou, Director for UNESCO Intersectoral Platform on a Culture of Peace and Non-ViolenceMostafa El Feki (Egypt), Chairman of the foreign Affairs Committee of the Egyptian Parliament and Member Supreme Council of CultureHalina Grzymala-Moszczynska (Poland), Professor of Psychology and Religion

Cooperation with institutional and civil society partnersAna Perona-Fjeldstad (Sweden), Director of European Wergeland CenterDenis Huber (France), Director of North- South CentreWael Said Abbas Ghonim (Egypt), cyber activist

Documents

Envisioning a New Humanism for the 21 Century - UNESCOunesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002278/227855e.pdf · Envisioning a New Humanism for the 21stst ... early stage and to draw on