Carlos Fuentes, world renowned Mexican writer, and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Turkish scholar and Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, are the guest speakers of the next edition of the Geneva Lecture Series to take place on 16 September 2010, at the Palais des Nations. This 5th lecture followed by an open debate with the Geneva public will focus on the following subject: “Building bridges: intercultural dialogue, identities and migration”. The debate with the public, in English and French, will be moderated by the presenter of TSR news, Darius Rochebin, and will be broadcast live on www.un.org/webcast.

It is generally recognized that cultural identities and modern societies are undergoing a qualitative change in the age of globalization. However, the character and dimension of this transformation have not been fully assessed so far, so is the scope of challenges associated with it. One of the main vehicles of current globalization processes, the increased mobility has a powerful impact on attitudes, self-perceptions and sense of belonging of human beings, profoundly redefining modern societies. Cultural anthropologists, political scientists, and practitioners, all, are increasingly interested by the multi-faceted nature of the migration phenomenon, including its repercussions on identities and the notion of cultural diversity, the issues of integration in modern societies, and the kind of linkages that can boost migration-development gains including through an enhanced impact of social remittances.

The promotion of intercultural dialogue in an increasingly complex and interconnected world is one of the challenges that the United Nations has been actively working to address including through the creation of an Alliance of Civilizations, in 2005, and numerous initiatives launched this year when the international community is celebrating the International Year of Cultural Rapprochement.

Carlos Fuentes’ literary and scholarly contributions to the subject of identities, as reflected in his numerous writings from an early “La región más transparente “ to “Aura”, “The death of Artemio Cruz”, and “Old Gringo”, make him one of the world leading experts in the area. Founding Director General of the Research Centre for Islamic History, Culture and Arts (IRCICA) in Istanbul and current Secretary-General of the OIC, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglou has largely contributed to the debate on intercultural dialogue, in particular, in the area of rapprochement between Muslim and Western worlds.

16 September 2010 when the 5th edition of the Geneva Lecture Series will be held will also mark the 200th anniversary of the independence of Mexico, a country that symbolizes best the importance of the topic of the lecture.

The Geneva Lecture Series is an initiative jointly conceived by the United Nations Office at Geneva and the United Nations Institute for training and research. Among the previous speakers of the initiative are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Nobel Prize winners Shirin Ebadi, Wole Soyinka, Mikhail Gorbachev, UU Messenger of Peace Jane Goodall.

To have more details and to register for the lecture, please see GLS website www.unitar.org/gls.