The ALF Forum took place from June 18 to 20 in Tirana, Albania, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the organization that promotes dialogue in the Mediterranean.
The Anna Lindh Foundation (based in Alexandria, Egypt) is a network of networks that includes hundreds of organizations from the 43 countries of Europe and the Mediterranean. It works, within the framework of interstate agreements, to promote intercultural dialogue and Euro-Mediterranean knowledge.
The ALF is a membership organization composed primarily of nonprofit cultural, academic, and social organizations, including universities, cultural institutions, and research centers. It promotes culture as a tool for dialogue and exchange among social leaders, young people, thinkers, artists, and journalists from all the Mediterranean countries.
These were three intense days of presentations, workshops, cultural events, and informal gatherings, where we were able to interact with a small portion of the more than 800 people who attended the forum, held at the National Theatre, the Tirana Hotel, and Skenderbeg Square (main city square).
Experts shared practices and experiences on topics such as cultural diplomacy, entrepreneurship, the challenges of mobility participation, advocacy, and the creation of stories through artistic techniques. This allowed us to learn about initiatives promoting intercultural diversity and combating polarization and discrimination.
We were able to hear the passionate speech of Mr Miguel Angel Moratinos, head of the UN Alliance of Civilizations program and a firsthand expert on the Barcelona Process (or the prodigious decade of dialogue and cultural exchange in the Mediterranean), as well as the former prime ministers of Greece (Mr. Giorgos Papandreou) and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the prime-minister of Albania (Mr. Edi Rama), and the Director General of the European Commission for Collaboration with Arab and Mediterranean Countries, Mr Stefano Sannino. The event was also attended by the president of the FAL and event host, Her Excellency the Jordanian Royal Highness Rym Al Alí.
The entire group was welcomed by the Albanian government (Prime Minister Mr. Edi Rama) and the mayor of Tirana, who organized cultural performances, a dinner, and a party in the city’s main square, which was enlivened, of course, by Arabic music and the spontaneity of the dancing participants.
We met the people behind the organizations and esteemed colleagues from partner organizations (from Egypt, Turkey, North Macedonia, etc.), and we met people from organizations with whom we hope to collaborate in the future.
It’s worth noting that the Spanish delegation, coordinated from Barcelona by the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMED), was one of the largest, also in terms of the presentations and artistic events held during the forum.
(Hundreds of participants were unable to participate due to the indiscriminate attacks in Palestine and Lebanon and the denial of visa applications, reminding us all of the current situation in the region; in this sense, many of us have missed a strong and united stance against the genocide in Gaza (Palestinians and Lebanese).
In any case, for the FCV, the Mediterranean is a space of the highest priority in every sense, and meeting so many people who, each in their way and very different ways, work for peace and collaboration, from a common Mediterranean vision, gives us the strength to continue our work, promoting a culture of peace, mobility, and cultural exchange from this Mediterranean perspective. The FCV has been a member of the FAL since its inception, and thanks to its support, it published the “Peace Bag for EuroMed Youth” manual 14 years ago. We encourage you to consult it because it remains relevant (see this link).
Over these two decades, the FCV has received small grants from the Spanish FAL network (REFAL) to organize workshops in educational centers (in Sabadell, Granollers, and Barcelona) and to conduct a mobility program in Cairo.
