H. E. Mr. Nassir Abdul-Aziz Al-Nasser opened the UNAOC Annual Ministerial Meeting and elucidated that currently, we are facing some level of tension in every region of the world and world leaders have expressed their concerns on these important worries. Further, he said that the present state of global harmony is worrisome and current conflicts have cultural, religious or ethnic dimensions. The conflicts in Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe all have features of identity based divisions and the alliance is mindful of the disturbing facts. Moreover, he spoke of UNAOC’s 6^th Global Forum in Bali which was themed: Unity in Diversity.

At Bali, the UNAOC involved stakeholders such as, youth, civil society, religious leaders and politicians in an interactive dialogue that is urgent in the present-day geopolitical atmosphere. Most importantly, they advocated for the empowerment of young people to help solve some of the ongoing situation around the world because we will eventually inherent the problems the world is currently facing. Co-sponsors of the UNAOC, the Governments of Spain and Turkey, were represented by their Foreign Ministers as they echoed each other’s statements. They both spoke of the UNAOC’s mission and vision as a guide for all to follow.

Next, the Foreign Minister of Tunisia denounced the recent activities by the militant group in Algeria who are linked to ISIS. Following his statement, the Foreign Ministers of Algeria explain that 9/11 was an attack on human civilization. He then said that Algeria has suffered immensely from terrorism and the global community should stand together against the barbarism. Statements were made by numerous Foreign Ministers and the Deputy Secretary-General H.E. Jan Eliasson wherein they agreed on working together to defuse tensions while involving religious leaders, grassroots organizations, youth and women leaders. Near the end, the
Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan offered the capital city of his country, Baku, as the host of the 7^th Global Forum in 2016. The membership of the Group of Friends endorsed the offer by consensus.

Meeting Title: Open Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilizations (at the ministerial level) (organized by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC))
Date: September 26^th, 2014
Location: Conference Room 3, United Nations HQ, New York
Speakers: The United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations chairs the meeting, welcomes participants and delivers opening remarks under the theme “New and Emerging Ideological Threats to Global Peace & Co-Existence”; Remarks by the President of 69th Session of the General Assembly (tbc); Remarks by the co-sponsors (Spain and Turkey); Remarks by the Executive Director of the Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate; Remarks by the Director of the Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force; Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco, Bulgaria, Mangolia, Finland, Netherland, Lithuania, Spain, Algeria, Finland, Netherlands, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Bahrain.
Written By WIT Representative: Modou Cham
Edited by WIT Representative: Aslesha Dhillon