World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

Cultural rights are ‘universal, indivisible and interdependent’ with respect to human rights

With the Day of 21 May, proclaimed in 2002, the United Nations implements the principles expressed in the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2001. In these documents, there is a strong reference to Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 13 and 15 of the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, according to which cultural rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent with human rights, and all people have the right to free expression and respect for their cultural and linguistic identity.

“Everyone shall have the opportunity to express himself, to create and disseminate his works in the language of his choice and, in particular, in his mother tongue; everyone shall have the right to quality education and training that fully respects his cultural identity; everyone shall be able to participate in the cultural life of his choice, and to exercise its forms, within the limits imposed by respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms”. (Unesco Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, Art. 5)

Indeed, in these dark times of ours for dignity and the right to diversity, the freedom of action that should characterise individuals in any civilised society does not always allow them to experience diversity as a choice, and not as a fault. Diversity, the different, usually frightens because it confronts something that cannot be catalogued in the schemes of the predictable and the usual, contributing to numerous questions and raising uncertainties and fears. One only has to think of the walls and all the migrant rejection operations with which ‘Fortress Europe’ – and Western countries in general – invests more in repression than in valuing diversity.

Photo: www.osservatoriorepressione.info

Photo: www.amnesty.it

LET US BE INSPIRED MORE THAN EVER BY THE TESTIMONY
SPIRITUAL AND APOSTOLIC WITNESS OF OUR FOUNDRESS

WE PUT INTO CIRCULATION A ‘RIGHT’ RELATIONAL
STYLE WITH RESPECT TO CULTURAL DIVERSITY
THAT IMBUES OUR DAYS IN THE MISSION
AND IN THE PERSONAL SPHERE

Be open
Be open to different people, cultures, traditions, values and ways of life.

Ask
Ask yourself: “What are my personal prejudices?” Challenge one’s own prejudices by asking partners, guests, friends, family and neighbours to share their different opinions and perspectives

Respect
Respect everyone for what they bring to the service organisation, cultivating an environment where we all feel we truly belong.

Appreciate
Appreciate and value partners, guests, friends, family and neighbours for who they are. Show them the same respect and acceptance that we expect to be shown to ourselves.

Learn
Learn and grow by questioning, reflecting and sharing opinions with partners, guests, friends, family and neighbours by including their knowledge.

Listen
Listen to those different from us. Listen to their stories and value their experiences.(Image: www.smurfitkappa.com)

Photo: At Domus Nostra, a moment of appreciation for intercultural coexistence

Image: www.unesco.org