For any society, and for humanity as a whole, the way we treat minorities is not one more issue among many; it is, together with the way we treat women, one of the most revealing indicator of ethical progress or relapse. A world in which human diversity is ever more respected, in which all citizens can express themselves in their own language, in which they can all profess the own creed and assume their own origins without being exposed to hostility and bad naming either from the authorities or the people, that would be a world in progress, a world moving forward, taking off. On the contrary, when tensions among different identities prevail, as it currently happens in most countries, in the northern as well as in the southern world, when every day it is more difficult for each of us to be who we really are and use our language or practice our creed in peace, how can we not talk about relapsing?
From the book "Le dérèglement du mond. Quand nos civilisation s’épuisent" By Amin Maalouf
The Shared Societies Project is a Club of Madrid global initiative that provides leaders with greater understanding of the benefits of social cohesion and the incentives and means to act to advance it. The project supports democratic development through leadership for dialogue, diversity and social cohesion.
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PROJECT NEWS
"Leadership for Coexistence". Friday, January 22 at Brandeis University. Lunchtime presentation where it will discussed the origins of the Club of Madrid's Shared Societies Project and strategies for engaging with world leaders to build shared societies. Click here for details
Mainstreaming social cohesion and Leadership Action for Shared Societies in the European Union. Brussels, 17 November. Prime Minister Kok opened this seminar organized by the Club de Madrid in partnership with the British Council Open Cities Project and the Network of European Foundations to make available the Shared Societies principles and tools to EU officials who work on and champion social cohesion.
On a similar goal, Sean Carroll, Director of Programs, addressed over 60 EU practitioners within the I Include-Ed Conference (Brussels, Nov. 18). More
Club de Madrid’s General Assembly. Madrid, 13 November. The Shared Societies Project hosted a side event reporting to Members project implementation to date and advance future developments. With the participation of 15 members of the Club de Madrid and over 20 international experts, a representative of Peru’s Ombudsman shared his experience in advancing leadership action for the positive management of diversity by providing indigenous people a place in Peruvian society by using the Commitments and Approaches for Shared Societies, thus showing the potential of an in-country implementation of project results.
Casa Asia’s East-West Dialogue. Barcelona, 10 November. Project Co-chair Prime Minister Shipley and President Kumaratunga addressed the East-West Dialogue organized by Casa Asia during a plenary session attended by over 100 people. The plenary session had been tailored to Project ideas and principles under the title “Migration and Diversity: New Challenges and Opportunities”. This participation contributed to the promotion of the project principles among Asian high-level officials as well as international practitioners and current Spanish political leaders.
Club de Madrid and Coexistence International sign a Memorandum of Understanding to bring Shared Societies Project tools and language to civil society organisations and leaders. More
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