REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will officially open the Sixth United Nations Alliances of Civilizations (UNAOC) in Bali on August 29, addressing the theme of "unity in diversity: celebrating diversity for common and shared value."
The Foreign Affairs Ministry's Director General of Public Information and Diplomacy Esti Andayani said at a press conference here on Friday as the host of the forum, Indonesia had the privilege of inviting state leaders to attend the event.
"President Yudhoyono sent invitations to eleven state leaders, who he considered represent each region on diversity issues," Esti noted.
The eleven state leaders who were invited include Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Qatar, Austria, Myanmar, China, India, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and South Africa.
"Myanmar is invited in its capacity as the chairman of ASEAN, even though it is not as yet a member of UNAOC's Group of Friends (GoF)," Esti said.
In addition to the eleven state leaders, the Sixth UNAOC's Global Forum will also be attended by 114 members of UNAOC's Group of Friends (GoF), 25 international organizations and 100 of UNAOC's youth delegations.
"It is an honor for Indonesia to host such an important conference for the civilizations, whereby the world also recognizes our efforts to promote harmony in our society through inter-religion and inter-media discussions," she said.
As the host of the Sixth UNAOC's Global Forum, Esti added that Indonesia is also keen to strengthen the understanding of pluralism, as the country has owned the concept of "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" or "unity in diversity" for a long time and then used it as the national motto.
"We aim to promote and forge a plan of action on how to accept and respect diversity as a blessing, instead of as a source of disunity," she said.
The UNAOC was initiated by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on July 14, 2005, and co-sponsored by former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The first UNAOC's Global Forum in Madrid, Spain, in 2008, was held for a common consideration in condemning extremist actions, such as bomb attacks in Bali, Madrid, Egypt, Istanbul and London.
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