Dialogue Summary Shared memory 14th May

Shared memory
The Nobel Prize Laureates Meeting at the Shared Memory dialogue advocated the role of shared memory as a tool for promoting a cultural resistance in order to break away from a single system of values that hinders dialogue. It also underlined the important role that education and culture have to play in this process of change.
The dialogue Shared Memory, which was held within the framework of the Forum, and in which several Nobel Peace Laureates participated, ended on the optimistic note that another world is possible. As Miguel Roca i Junyent concluded, utopias alone have made humanity progress, so lets continue along this path. For this to occur, it is crucial for peoples to look back into their past, into their history. Shared memory is one of the keys to promoting a cultural resistance which will break with the single manner of thinking that impedes dialogue. And as this presupposes equity and respect among participants something which can only occur in the context of a democracy the current world order must change, declared Nobel Peace Laureate, Rigoberta Mench, for the silenced to be heard. As far as the reconstruction of shared memory is concerned, all the participants in the Dialogue coincided in highlighting the important role that education and culture have to play in this process of change. Education is crucial for the future of peoples. It is the key to breaking the poverty line, and the best possible investment that societies can make, pointed out Karin Sham Poo, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director. Nobel Prize Laureate Adolfo Prez Esquivel strongly criticized the cannibalistic capitalism imposed by the United States and economic terrorism, whose claws cause more deaths every day than any war. Both Esquivel and Alyn Ware, Vice President of the International Peace Bureau, expressed their wish that those who impose power in an authoritarian fashion, thus destroying the democratic system, such as George Bush, the US President, and Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, be tried for their role in the war crimes committed in Iraq. True participative democracy at both a local and international level are vital in this process of change and in the establishment of a new world order. This model of democracy can be established with the participation of citizens. Individuals must become the social actors of change. We must make ourselves heard, put an end to silence, and prevent people from being silenced.
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Dialogue Summary Shared memory 14th May

Democracy must be the voice of the people, who in turn must take an active role in modifying the path we are currently following, stated Federico Mayor Zaragoza. For this change to a participative democracy to occur on a worldwide scale, the speakers highlighted the need for profound changes within international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. The system of electing the representatives of the United Nations must be changed so that the voice of all peoples can be heard, stated Adolfo Prez Esquivel. Special emphasis was placed on the role Europe can play in leading a new model based on dialogue among peoples. Europe must assume the challenge of change and become the nexus of a new model of dialogue that breaks with hegemonic power. The reconstruction of shared memory will allow peoples to understand and reflect on the origins of war and thus equip them with the necessary knowledge to prevent future conflicts and find solutions for present-day problems. Batrice Mgevand, Delegate General for Europe and the Americas of the Red Cross International Committee expressed similar views. Danielle Mitterrand called for the need to recover natural resources, pointing to the fact that a quarter of the worlds population did not have access to drinking water. The importance of ensuring this basic and vital right formed the centerpiece of her speech. Shared Memory produced a number of clear conclusions: Another world is possible if the silenced are given a voice, if we do not allow people to silence others, and if we stop the silent, i.e. individuals, organizations and institutions with the power to protest, from opting to remain silent. Another world is possible if we put an end to intolerance and indifference; if mere spectators are replaced by social actors who favor change. Another world is possible if we work to achieve a new social order led by solidarity. Another world is possible if society becomes aware of the world around it, and adopts a critical vision which defends the role of civil society in bringing about a democratic and participative change; if we succeed in designing a common global agenda headed by a new Europe based on dialogue; if we preserve shared memory as the basis for diversity and respect for pluralism. Another

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Dialogue Summary Shared memory 14th May

world is possible, concluded Rigoberta Mench, if we rebel, and protest. If we sew the seeds of hope.

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