The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations will convene its third annual Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from May 27-29, 2010, under the theme “Bridging Cultures, Building Peace”. Over 2,000 participants, including political and corporate leaders, civil society activists, youth groups, faith communities, research centers, foundations and journalists, will come together to agree on joint actions to improve relations across cultures, combat prejudice and build lasting peace.

“The main objective of the Forum will be to help building new connections, new bridges between people of different origins, and encourage them to help to overcome their fear of the unknown”, said President Lula da Silva of Brazil.

High-level participants include President Lula da Silva of Brazil, Prime Minister Zapatero of Spain, Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Sampaio, High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, and President of Argentina Cristina Kirchner. The United States, which today joined the Alliance of Civilizations as its hundredth member state, will also attend the Forum.

This year’s forum will take place in Rio de Janeiro, a diverse city built on years of cultural exchanges, which will provide the perfect backdrop for efforts to address the complex challenges diverse societies face today.

“The reason why the Forum is in Rio is because of the global scope of the Alliance and because cultural diversity is a universal feature in our societies”, said UN Alliance High Representative President Jorge Sampaio.

The Rio Forum will bring together the knowledge, experience and energy of a wide range of partners, all committed to rethink the way in which we deal with tensions across cultures and to agree on concrete, practical initiatives to promote trust and understanding. Film makers such as Fanny Ardant from France, Tata Amaral from Brazil, Masbedo from Italy and Idrissa Ouedraogo will be among the participants.

The Rio Forum will be:

A Forum for innovation: the event will showcase some of the most cutting-edge initiatives using imagination and creativity to build cooperation among cultures.

A Forum for partnerships: the forum will create a global interface connecting youth activists with business leaders; heads of foundations with grassroots bodies; human rights advocates with policy-makers; ; heads of religious communities with academics, journalists and editors. Together, they will develop new thinking and agree on collaborative ventures.

A Forum for ideas: participants will tackle issues such as: the challenge of promoting integration in multicultural societies, the empowerment of women through education, the role of religious leaders in promoting peace and development, the impact of media on perceptions of other cultures.

A Forum for action: through roundtables, workshops and debates, participants will put their minds together to agree on joint actions and make pledges.

Contact : Stephanie Durand at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; +1 212.457.1851