Why Establish a Global Centre for Pluralism?
The Global Centre for Pluralism is a new international initiative of His
Highness the Aga Khan, 49th hereditary Imam of Ismaili Muslims. Dedicated to the
creation of successful societies, the Centre is founded on the premise that
tolerance, openness and understanding towards the cultures, social structures,
values and faiths of other peoples are now essential to the very survival of an
interdependent world. Pluralism is no longer simply an asset or a prerequisite
for progress and development. It is vital to our existence.
The need for such an institution has never been greater. The end of the Cold War
in 1991 rekindled the flames of ethnic nationalism in many parts of the world,
causing inter-group tensions in some multinational and polyethnic states to boil
over into armed and, in some cases, genocidal conflict. At the same time,
unprecedented levels of international migration to Europe, North America and
Australasia, precipitated in part by the globalization of capital and markets,
have raised pressing questions about the relationship of ethnic, linguistic and
religious minorities to majority cultures. Finding ways to accommodate
difference without division has become one of the greatest challenges of our
time.
Origins of the Idea
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, His Highness the Aga Khan began asking
Canadian leaders to explain the key to Canada’s success managing its own
diversity. In July 2001, a formal Pluralism Initiative was launched to
understand how and why Canada’s unique experiment works and how its lessons
might be shared with other culturally diverse societies around the world. A
research program and a series of consultations with Canadian leaders, officials,
academics and cultural groups as well as world leaders led to the decision to
establish in Ottawa a major new international institution dedicated to the
promotion of successful pluralist societies in collaboration with the Government
of Canada and Canadian institutions.
Mission and Mandate
The mission of the Global Centre for Pluralism is to promote pluralism as a
fundamental human value and cornerstone of peace, stability and development.
Ensuring that every individual – irrespective of cultural, ethnic or religious
differences – has the opportunity to realize his or her full potential as a
citizen is a vital part of this mission. To this end, the Centre will function
as a global repository and source for knowledge and know-how about fostering
pluralistic values, policies, and practices in a variety of settings.
Stakeholders and Beneficiaries
Because the challenge of managing diversity is one shared by countries around
the world at every stage of development, the Centre will engage with culturally
diverse societies in industrialized as well as developing countries. It will
also seek to learn from and share the lessons of countries such as Canada, India
and Malaysia, each of which has evolved its own “diversity model”. The Centre
will engage with a wide range of potential partners, among them national and
local governments, civil society organizations, research institutes, and
academic institutions. Its programs will be demand-driven, relying on local
knowledge and responding to the needs and aspirations identified by partners.
Where possible, the Centre will also collaborate with multilateral
organizations, bilateral development agencies, private foundations and think
tanks, and academic institutions.
Programs
The Centre will serve the global community as an international centre of
excellence for the study, practice and teaching of pluralism. Its core functions
will include research, curriculum development and reform, continuing education,
dialogue and exchange, governance reform, and cultural events. The diagram below
highlights the Centre’s core functions.
Global Centre for Pluralism – Core Functions
The Centre’s varied programs will share a common purpose: to bring together
change enablers and opinion-makers of all kinds – legislators, jurists, public
servants, educators, researchers, development practitioners, journalists,
activists and advocates – from different countries and sectors to share their
own expertise and to learn from the experiences of others.
Long-term Impact
Successful pluralist societies are civic communities which have evolved
institutional mechanisms to manage conflict through political means. Supported
by liberal democratic institutions of governance, and guided by a culture of
compromise, such successful pluralist societies foster the equal participation
of all people in political, economic, educational and sociocultural life –
encouraging individuals and groups to retain their cultural, linguistic and
religious heritage within a framework of shared citizenship. Fostering change of
this magnitude will not happen overnight. Each society must negotiate not only a
shared vision of the future but also a renewed understanding of the past. The
Centre is therefore committed to long-term, generational change that builds
human capacity and security; promotes the adoption of new values and ways of
relating to other people; creates new economic opportunities; fosters equality
and a shared perception of justice; and spawns civic cultures that value and
represent the diversity of the entire society.
Commitment to Success
The Global Centre for Pluralism will be located in Canada – a country that
epitomizes what can be achieved through a commitment to pluralism. As an
expression of this commitment, the Government of Canada is providing significant
financial and intellectual support to the Centre, with a contribution of $30
million to the Centre’s endowment fund. His Highness the Aga Khan is also
providing up to $30 million, which will be used to augment the endowment fund
and for the refurbishment of the former Canadian War Museum as the Centre’s
permanent facility.
Governance, Leadership and Human Resources
Registered under Canadian law as a non-denominational, bilingual, non-profit
organization, the Centre will be guided by an independent Board of Governors
made up of leading Canadians and high profile individuals from other regions of
the world. The Board will be jointly constituted by the Aga Khan Development
Network and the Government of Canada. His Highness the Aga Khan will lead the
Board as Chairman. Once constituted, the Board will select a chief executive
officer who will form and lead an entrepreneurial professional team based in
Ottawa.
Global Reach
Pluralist societies are not accidents of history. They are products of choice
that require enlightened education and continuous investments by governments,
civil societies and individual citizens in recognizing and celebrating their own
diversity. Every multicultural society faces its own particular set of
challenges, depending on whether the diversity of the community predates the
formation of the state or has come about through immigration. For some, managing
diversity is a historical obligation to address the claims of one or more
national minorities. For others, such as the newly independent states of Central
Asia or European countries struggling to accommodate ethnic and religious
minority communities, it is a relatively new preoccupation.
The Global Centre for Pluralism will help governments and civil societies
around the world make informed choices about how to reinvent themselves as
successful pluralist societies or to strengthen existing policies and practices.
With its global reach, the Centre will draw on the expertise and resources of
the international community to pool the experiences of different countries and
societies to make their knowledge and know-how available to all.
Global Centre for Pluralism October 18, 2006
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