International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022)

The International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (IDRC) builds on the strong momentum created by and the achievements of both the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010) and the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2010).

The current surge of flaring conflicts, acts of violence and intolerance demands urgent actions. Peoples and nations have to join forces for the development of a universal global consciousness free from stereotypes and prejudices. The International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures is to be understood as a commitment for addressing this pressing need to take into account and clearly demonstrate new articulations between cultural diversity and universal values.

The “rapprochement of cultures” implies that international security and social inclusion cannot be attained sustainably without a commitment to such principles as human dignity, conviviality and solidarity which are the corner stones of human coexistence, in all faiths and secular ideologies.