21 May is the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

A celebration that aims to support cultural diversity and to enhance cooperation among people coming from different cultural realities.

Cultures offer an extraordinary range of costumes and habits, which preserve varied traditions that could seem absurd yet highly fascinating in the eyes of people belonging to other civilisations. 

nativi americani

Ethnocentrism often raises wrong judgements on other cultures’ “primitive” traditions, critics that tend to spurn cultural diversity. Such diversity actually represents a great resource and, as such, it has to be preserved. In order to make progresses people have to cooperate, and diversities will make the cooperation more productive, in a way that new and nonconformist ideas will be generated.

A sole culture would make the world futile and more static; still it seems to be an ongoing trend. Western lifestyle is increasingly spreading, sometimes without being an actual desire, but a lack of alternatives. In fact, many civilizations find themselves at a turning point: adapt or disappear.

inuit

In order to enhance cultural diversity, in December 2002 the General Assembly of the United Nations declared May 21 to be the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, with the objective of increasing people’s awareness on the importance of dialogue among different cultures.

“Our cultural diversity is a stimulator of creativity. Investing in this creativity can transform societies. It is our responsibility to develop education and intercultural skills in young people to sustain the diversity of our world and to learn to live together in the diversity of our languages, cultures and religions, to bring about change,” said Irina Bokova, UNESCO general director.

culture

UNESCO invites people all over the world to act in favour of dialogue and cultural diversity. Opening our mind and fighting stereotypes is everything but complicated: for example, we could listen to songs of another country, cook a traditional dish of different cultures, or learn proverbs and greetings in a foreign language.

Translated by

Siamo anche su WhatsApp. Segui il canale ufficiale LifeGate per restare aggiornata, aggiornato sulle ultime notizie e sulle nostre attività.

Licenza Creative Commons
Quest'opera è distribuita con Licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 4.0 Internazionale.

Related articles
19 November is World Toilet Day, what it is and why access to sanitation is so important

The 19th of November is World Toilet Day (WTD), an international day aimed at raising awareness and mobilising individuals around the world on issues of sanitation. Established in 2001 by the World Toilet Organisation, the campaign has since gained increasing global recognition. In 2013 the United Nations passed a resolution (UN Resolution A/67/L.75), marking it

22 May is the International Day for Biological Diversity

The word biodiversity recalls lush forests inhabited by countless animal and plant species. Life, thanks to its blind determination, blossoms in a myriad of stunning environments: from deserts and volcanoes to mountains covered up by perennial ice. The most extreme and inhospitable ecosystems can host animals and plants that adapted in the name of survival.

Saving Lives at Birth, innovative ideas to fight mortality meet in a global contest

53 promising ideas to defeat mortality were shared in the final stage of the this year’s Saving Lives at Birth Grand Challenge. All finalists met in Washington, DC between the 25th and 27th of July, learned from each other, interacted with potential collaborators, and participated in a number of discussion groups and one-on-one meetings. Engineers and entrepreneurs, scientists and students gathered for

Niue, a debt free paradise island in the heart of the South Pacific Ocean

The island nation of Niue, perched on a coral atoll in the South Pacific Ocean and with a population of around 2,000, has paid off all its national debt, which amounted to 4 million dollars (2,000 per inhabitant). Premier Toke Talagi has declared that Niue will no longer be accepting loans but rather will focus on