UNAOC awards its designation: United Nations Chair for the Alliance of Civilizations

Meeting of Euromed University of Fez with Members of the United Nations Advisory Council on the Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC)

During the meeting of the UNAOC Advisory Council held on April 20 in Marrakech, the President of EUROMED University of Fez, Prof. Mostapha Bousmina, and the President of the Alliance of Civilizations Chair, Prof. Abdelhak Azzouzi, presented the Chair's activities to the heads of UNAOC, which were unanimously praised by the members of this UN body. This is a Unique Chair in the world, driven by the values of UNAOC and Euromed University of Fez.

Among the distinguished personalities present at the meeting were: HE Miguel Angel Moratinos, High Representative for UNAOC; HE Amre Moussa, President of the UNAOC High-Level Advisory Council, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt and former Secretary-General of the League of Arab States; HE Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, former President of the Republic of Croatia, as well as other eminent figures.

In light of its proven achievements and at the conclusion of the meeting, UNAOC decided to award its label to the Alliance of Civilizations Chair established at Euromed University of Fez and name it: "the United Nations Chair for the Alliance of Civilizations".

This is a major act, both in its meaning and its symbolism, establishing the Chair as an important academic actor for training and research in the field of the Alliance of Civilizations, which is also co-substantial with the history of Morocco and the values it upholds.

To ensure the full operational effectiveness and visibility required by its mission, the United Nations Chair for the Alliance of Civilizations has been equipped with an academic Master's program in "Conflict Management and Alliance of Civilizations," and a Doctoral program, both accredited by the Moroccan Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation. With the same objective, the Chair's leaders have made it, on the one hand, a vector for scientific production, as evidenced by the numerous books and journals recently published. The Chair has also established itself as a space for the exchange of ideas, dialogue, and debate where young students from over fifty nationalities engage in forward-thinking about the future of societies and living together. Thus, the Chair has organized several meetings, including the Euro-Mediterranean and African Youth Meeting, held on February 14, 2024, at the Moroccan Parliament on the sidelines of the General Assembly of the Parliament members of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM); meetings during which youth from thirty countries exchanged and debated the issues and challenges facing the Euro-Mediterranean and African region, resulting in the production and reading of a "Call for the Future" before the Presidents of the Parliaments of the UfM member countries.

The Chair also organized, on December 6 and 7, 2024, under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, conferences, debates, and exchanges on the subject of the Alliance of Civilizations with the participation of several personalities from various countries and approximately 1600 students.

In many respects, nothing could be more gratifying than the organization of these activities by the Chair, in perfect convergence and synergy both with Morocco's widely praised and attested peaceful vision, and with the strategy of the UN's UNAOC, translated into continuous actions for the promotion of values of mutual understanding and living together.
It is worth recalling that the creation of the "Alliance of Civilizations Chair" was decreed during the 9th UN Global Forum on the Alliance of Civilizations, held in Fez on November 22 and 23, 2022, on the occasion of the joint press conference of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, HE Nasser Bourita, and the United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, HE Miguel Ángel Moratinos.

This creation is rooted in the Royal Message sent to the participants of the said forum, in which the Sovereign stated: "That the Alliance of Civilizations meets in Fez is a natural occurrence. Was Morocco not privileged and honored to be among the founding members of the Alliance? Is Fez not the spiritual capital of a millennial Kingdom? Does its Al Qaraouiyine University not constitute the oldest university center in the world – the place where Muslim and Jewish scholars, and even a sovereign pontiff, perfected their knowledge? Is its Euro-Mediterranean University not building, today, a space for academic and intercultural dialogue between the two shores? Fez is thus, evidently, the very embodiment of a fruitful alliance between civilizations."

It is undeniable that this Royal Message clearly underscores that intercultural dialogue and the Alliance of Civilizations cannot be a matter of circumstantial narrative, but a paradigm to be built through and within university teaching and research.

The heads of UNAOC, led by HE Miguel Angel Moratinos, the High Representative for UNAOC, praised the continuous efforts made by the United Nations Chair for the Alliance of Civilizations and have endowed it with UN support for the success of its mission.