In a video message marking the launch of the Tangier Dialogue, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres thanked Project Aladdin and its partners for creating an innovative platform for exchange and reflection on the state of global affairs and relations between the West and the Middle East and Africa. He described Tangier, a crossroads of cultures and centuries-old hub of knowledge as the ideal place for these exchanges.
The UN Secretary General said that international cooperation, multilateral action and global solidarity must be the only credible response to the torrent of threats facing the world: “History shows time and again that prosperity emerges when societies embrace diversity, cross cultural exchange, and interreligious dialogue. The history of the Mediterranean is no exception – cooperation and exchange produce prosperity and progress.” He warned that on this common path, “we must resist those that seek to divide us. Let us recognize diversity as a richness and reaffirm our common humanity. Let us return to reason. And let us reach out and together realize a future of dignity for all.”