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ABOUTUS WHATWEDO WHEREWEWORK OURAGENCIES PRESSCENTRE

SPEECH

HisHighnesstheAgaKhanaddressestheNorthSouthPrizeCeremonyintheSenateHallofthe
PortugueseParliamentasHisExcellencyAnbalCavacoSilva,thePresidentoftheRepublicof
PortugalandPresidentoftheAssemblyoftheRepublic,MariaAssunoEsteveslookon.
AKDN/JosManuelBoavidaCaria

NorthSouthPrizeCeremony,SenateHall,
Parliament,Portugal
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
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totheParliamentaryAssemblyoftheCouncilof
RELATEDINFORMATION
Europe
Eventsummary
ChairoftheExecutiveCommitteeoftheNorthSouth
Pressrelease Centre
Video Fellowlaureate,SuzanneJabbour
Photographs Excellencies
LadiesandGentlemen
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Itisasingularpleasureformetobeherewithyou
NorthSouthCentrewebsite
andtotellyouhowdeeplyhonouredIambythis
remarkableaward.

Thisceremonyisparticularlymeaningfulformefor
severalreasons.

Thisaward,firstofall,hasspecialsignificancebecauseofwhosharesitMadameSuzanneJabbour.Her
dedicationtothosewhoaretorturedisanexamplethatinspiresusall.IknowshewillagreewhenI
mentionthelistofthosefrombothSouthandNorthwhohavereceivedthisawardsince1995.Itisa
movingexperiencetohaveonesworkrecognizedalongsidetheirs.

Inaddition,ofcourse,thisprizehasparticularmeaningbecauseofthosewhoorganizeitthemenand
womenoftheNorthSouthCentreoftheCouncilofEurope,whocontributesomuchtoadvancing
democraticcitizenshipinourworld.TheAgaKhanDevelopmentNetworkhasbeenproudtojoinwiththe
CentreindistinguishedprojectssuchastheannualLisbonForumheldattheIsmailiCentre.

Thesignificanceofthisawardisalsoenhancedformebythefactthatithasbeenpresentedbythe
PresidentofPortugal,inthepresenceofsomanyeminentleaders,andinthissplendidParliamentary
setting.

TheIsmailiImamatandtheAgaKhanDevelopmentNetworkhavehadalong,closerelationshipwith
Portugal,builtonsharedvalues.Overmanycenturies,Portugalhaswelcomedandintegratedpeopleof
diversecultures.ItwashereontheIberianPeninsulathatAlAndulusflourishedforsolongasamodelof
effectivepluralism,ahomeforChristianandJewishpeoplesthatwasalsopartofanIslamicempire.This
issurelyanappropriateplaceforcelebratingthevaluesassociatedwiththisaward.

TheNorthSouthprizeaffirmsprincipleswhichhavelongbeenanimatedandsustainedbytheworkofthe
AgaKhanDevelopmentNetwork.OurNetworkseeksinmanywaystoimprovethequalityofhumanlife,in
health,education,inculturalandeconomicdevelopment.Butourcoreconvictionisthathumanprogress
dependsonhumancooperation,evenacrossdifficultlinesofdivision.

AsIobservetheworld,Iamstruckbytheinsufficiencyofwellinformeddebate,ofricherdialogue,of
deepereducationinourquesttoavoidhumanconflict.Thatinsufficiencyoftenplaguesrelationsbetween
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theNorthandtheSouthandincreasinglybetweentheNorthandtheIslamicworld.Somehavecalledthis
ustogiveyouthebestbrowsingexperiencepossibleandmean
No,Iwanttofindoutmore
aclashofcivilizationsIthinkitis,essentially,aclashofignorances.Whatitmeans,inanycase,isthat
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institutionssuchastheNorthSouthCentrehaveneverbeenmoreimportant.
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acceptouruseofcookies.

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Arelatedproblemisthefailureofsomanytorecognizethatpluralismisnotonlyagrowingfactoflifebut
alsoablessingfortheircommunitiesanopportunitytobewelcomedratherthanathreattobefeared.

Sinceancienttimes,greatcultureshavethrivedbecauseoftheiropennesstodiversity,andnotbecauseof
theirexclusivity.ItwastoaddressthisissuethattheGovernmentofCanadaandIcreatedanewGlobal
CentreforPluralisminOttawain2006.

RecentlytheGlobalCentrehelditsThirdAnnualPluralismLectureaplatformforgloballeaderstoreflect
onthistopic.OurfirsttwoLecturersin2012and2013weretheformerPresidentoftheKyrgyzRepublic,
RozaOtunbayeva,andtheformerUnitedNationsSecretaryGeneral,KofiAnnan.Thisspringourguest
lecturerwasAntonioGuterres,UnitedNationsHighCommissionerforRefugeessince2005.OnereasonI
mentionhimhere,ofcourse,isbecausehewas,forsevenyears,thePrimeMinisterofPortugal.Before
that,asmanyofyouknow,healsoplayedakeyroleintherefugeeaffairswiththeCouncilofEurope,and
itsParliamentaryAssembly.HisrecentLecturedescribed,eloquently,theunprecedentedscaleand
severityoftheworldsrefugeecrises.Headdressed,passionately,themoralchallengethiscrisispresents,
thetragicimpulseofsometoexploitit,andthecriticalimportanceofstandingtogetheronbehalfofhuman
tolerance.IcommendhiswordstoyoutheyresonatepowerfullywiththepurposesoftheNorthSouth
Centre.

Weinhabitanovercrowdedandinterconnectedplanetandyetweshareacommondestiny.Aweaknessor
paininonecornercanrapidlytransmititselfacrosstheglobe.Thepervasiverejectionofpluralisminallits
formsplaysasignificantroleinbreedingdestructiveconflicts.

AnexampleisthecurrentsituationintheMiddleEast,whereconflictishavingaprofounddestabilising
impactintheregionbutalsowellbeyondincludinghereinEurope.

Instabilityisinfectious,butsoishope.Andthatitiswhyitissoimportantforustocarrythetorchofhope
asweseektosharethegiftofpluralism.

Pluralisticvalueshavebeenarticulatedsinceancienttimes.Profoundexpressionsaboutourcommon
humanityareembeddedintheworldsgreatreligioustraditions,includingmyown.Butnowitisforusto
rearticulatethosetraditions.Aswedoso,oursupportforoneanothercanbeasourceofrenewedand
growingstrength.

Itisironicthatasenseofintensifiedconflictcomesatatimeofunprecedentedbreakthroughsin
communicationtechnology.Attheverytimethatwetalkmoreandmoreaboutglobalconvergence,we
alsoseemtoexperiencemoreandmoresocialdivergence.Thelessonitseemstomeisthattechnologies
alonewillnotsaveusthecriticalvariablewillalwaysbeandwillalwayslieinthedispositionofhuman
heartsandminds.

That,itseemstome,iswhattheworkoftheNorthSouthCentreisallabout,includingourgathering
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