Enabling Intercultural Dialogue

Using Intercultural Dialogue to support peacefulness, conflict prevention and human rights

About the initiative

Over history, dialogue processes have been established to solve a wide range of problems, in a wide variety of contexts. But despite its diverse application, systematic knowledge on the skills, structures, and values that need to be in place for Intercultural Dialogue to be an effective means of building peaceful, cohesive, and resilient societies remains scarce. This knowledge gap has been a major impediment to the effective use of Intercultural Dialogue, hampering long-term political and financial commitments, and leaving practitioners without the evidence they require to meaningfully monitor needs and priorities.

UNESCO, in partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace, has created the Initiative for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue to overcome this knowledge gap and support more effective dialogue. Through the Initiative, UNESCO has produced the Conceptual and Technical Architecture for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue, the UNESCO Framework for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue, and a global analytical report ‘We Need To Talk’.

Intercultural Dialogue - We Need To Talk

UNESCO Framework for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue

Recognizing the importance of improving data and analytics on Intercultural Dialogue to strengthen its relevance as a practical tool for addressing the drivers of misunderstanding and conflict, UNESCO developed the Framework for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue to measure the enabling environment needed to support effective dialogue.

Built around two interconnected levels, the structural domains and the supporting domains, the Framework develops an integrated approach for monitoring the strength of the structures, processes, values, and skills which make Intercultural Dialogue effective as a tool for advancing inclusion and peace.

The Structural and Supporting Domains

The Framework is comprised of nine domains and is measured through twenty-one indicators.

Five structural domains work on the Macro-level and represent the systemic elements of society at the social and institutional levels, defined by policies and legal frameworks:

Freedom of Expression;
Governance and Citizenship;
Horizontal Equality;
Social Cohesion;
and Stability and Non-Violence.

Four supporting domains work on the Micro-level and represent the principles, values and competencies that impact actions, policies and activities of Intercultural dialogue based on individuals’ interaction and engagement, as well as Intercultural Dialogue working ‘on the ground’:

Inclusion and Representation;
Leadership and Organization;
Linkages and Coherency; and
Skills and Values.

Using the Framework

By studying the data contained in the Framework, policymakers and practitioners are equipped with the insights needed to craft better legislation, policies, programmes, and activities to support intercultural dialogue. Furthermore, they will have the knowledge needed to understand the concrete impact that such support for intercultural dialogue can bring about for preventing conflict, enhancing the protection and promotion of human rights, and building and sustaining peace.

A Conceptual and Technical Architecture was published in 2020, explaining process by which the concepts behind the Framework were developed, and the indicators to measure it were selected.

An Online Platform presenting country-level data for the UNESCO Framework for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue has been developed, covering some 160 countries in all UNESCO regions.

We Need to Talk: Measuring Intercultural Dialogue for peace and inclusion

Analyzing the data from the UNESCO Framework for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue, We Need to Talk presents the structures, processes and values needed to support intercultural dialogue, examining the dynamics and interlinkages between them to reveal the substantial benefits that investment in dialogue can bring for peace, conflict prevention and non-fragility, and human rights.

Building upon the ground-breaking data, the report highlights key policy and intervention opportunities for Intercultural Dialogue as an instrument for inclusion and peace, presenting case studies from high-performing countries in each of UNESCO’s regions, and reflection from experts on the implications of the data for supporting dialogue processes through education, culture and the arts, political negotiation, media and information technologies, and urban governance.

We Need to Talk - Measuring intercultural dialogue for peace and inclusion

Featured in

A global launch took place releasing the Framework and report in September 2022 with ministerial representation and expert participation. Since launching, the Initiative has garnered global attention with features in Al Jazeera and World Economic Forum Blog. The work has been highlighted at a wide range of events across the world, including, among many others, the International Youth Forum in China, the UNESCO Chair Gathering on Cultures of Peace in Spain, LitFest in Zimbabwe, and the Global Forum of the World Council on Intercultural and Global Competences.

UNESCO has also organized regional launches in Beirut (for the Arab States) with the support of Anna Lindh Foundation, Colombo (for Asia-Pacific), Nairobi (for Africa), and Panama (for Latin America and the Caribbean) with the support of the Pan-American Health Organization and Ministry of Culture of Panama.

Looking forward

A comprehensive package of country-level support is being designed to assist Member States to strengthen the potential of intercultural dialogue, leveraging the data to make smart investments in priority areas.

Three initial policy dialogues are being planned to mobilise the evidence into action, the first of which took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka in June 2023. Consisting of a two-to-three-day workshop, these policy dialogues will engage government stakeholders and civil society actors take a deep dive into the country data, identifying the practical actions and programmes that can be taken to enhance the support for effective dialogue.

Through these policy dialogues and other outreach engagement, concrete opportunities for ambitious follow up initiatives are already being developed:

In Sri Lanka, a project to strengthen intercultural dialogue to ensure equitability and inclusion across ethnic groups in the context of the ongoing economic reform of the country is soon to start with ILO and UNFPA, funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund.
A project is being developed across Central America to build intercultural awareness and sensitivity for health equity and inclusion.
A global project has been launched, in partnership with Harvard University, to bolster intercultural skills as a means of combatting discrimination against migrants.
Several major global private companies are using the Framework as a core reference around which to design intercultural awareness trainings (as a core component of their diversity, equality, and inclusion commitments) for employees.
Several universities are using the Framework as a organizing reference in their intercultural communication, peace studies, and liberal arts programmes.