![]() ![]() "The challenge for UNFPA is to help countries as we always have with no agenda of our own with sensitivity towards unique cultural values with an infinite willingness to work with whatever is positive and with a determination to help countries and people turn universal principles into concrete action." "e are reviewing our experience to enable us to respond to the cultural challenge: to help countries, communities and individuals interpret universal principles, translate them into culturally sensitive terms and design programmes based on them, programmes that people can really feel are their own." But that does not mean the values themselves are incompatible from one society to another." It follows that each society will express the values of tolerance and justice in a different way: for example, systems of administering justice differ very widely. In other words, tolerance and justice are not abstract concepts but expressions of culture in practice. Tolerance and justice are not merely morally desirable ends, but tools which underpin society and enable it to function. ![]() All cultures worth the name protect support and encourage diversity and justice is the practical mechanism which enables them to do so. "I believe that strong and vibrant cultures themselves nurture tolerance and justice. Mona Khalifa, Assistant Representative-UNFPA Egypt Office "There are no sensitive issues in reproductive health, but there are insensitive approaches to reproductive health issues." Nafis Sadik, former UNFPA Executive Director "What culture worth the name would deny women the right to safe motherhood? What value system would send young people ignorant into the world, when a little knowledge might save their lives?" Wolfensohn, World Bank President UNFPA on culture "In this time of globalization, with all its advantages, the poor are the most vulnerable to having their traditions, relationships and knowledge and skills ignored and denigrated, and experiencing development with a great sense of trauma, loss and social disconnectedness." We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings." We can love what we are, without hating what – and who – we are not. "People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups. Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations "Tolerance, inter-cultural dialogue and respect for diversity are more essential than ever in a world where peoples are becoming more and more closely interconnected." ![]() International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action, para 1.15 "The Programme of Action will require the establishment of common ground, with full respect for the various religious and ethical values and cultural backgrounds." ![]() from Our Creative Diversity: The UN World Commisssionon on Culture and Development Report "The relationship between culture and development should be clarified and deepened in constructive and practical ways." from Our Creative Diversity: The UN World Commisssion on Culture and Development Report It includes creative expressions, community practices and material or built forms." "Culture is the whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterizes a society or a group. Thoughts from the international community ![]()
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