ANNA LINDH FOUNDATION FOR THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN CULTURES

The purpose of the Anna Foundation is to bring people together from across the Mediterranean to improve mutual respect between cultures and to support civil society working for a common future of the Region.

Since its launch in 2005, the ALF has launched and supported action across fields impacting on mutual perceptions among people of different cultures and beliefs, as well as developing a region-wide Network of over 3000 civil society organisations.

Through its action and reflection the ALF aims to contribute to the development of an Intercultural Strategy for the Euro-Mediterranean Region, providing recommendations to decision-makers and institutions and advocating for shared values.

The main scope of the ALF is overcoming the misunderstandings and stereotypes which affect relations between and within the societies of the Region, a task which became of utmost importance in the last decade. As a contribution to the creation of a space of prosperity, coexistence and peace, the ALF works to restore trust in dialogue and bridge the gaps in mutual perceptions, as well as promoting diversity and coexistence.


ALF‘S Programme

The ALF facilitates and supports the action of civil society of the Euro-Mediterranean Region in priority fields which affects the capacity for individuals and groups to share values and live together.

The programme of the Foundation is focused on activities in fields which are essential for human and social dialogue:

Aware of the necessity of a scientific and social assessment on the challenges of intercultural dialogue in the Union for the Mediterranean, the ALF also assumes a monitoring task on the evolution of values and intercultural trends in the Region.


Facilitating actions in the field

In each of its priority fields, the Foundation develops large-scale programmes in collaboration with international partners, and grants support for projects which bring together members of its 43 Civil Society Networks through its open Calls for Proposals. The Foundation also facilitates the development of common actions and projects between its members at the national or regional level, and supports local activities aimed at promoting intercultural dialogue between people at the grass-root level.


Launching region-wide campaigns

The ALF launches region-wide initiatives involving its Networks in the model of “1001 Actions for Dialogue” (2008) and “Restore the Trust, Rebuild Bridges” (2009), as well as gathering more than 700 people in Barcelona for the very first Anna Lindh Forum (2010). Long-term international and regional partners of the ALF include the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations, the League of Arab States, the Council of Europe, UNESCO, ALECSO, ISESCO, EMUNI and the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assebly.

The ALF runs the largest and most diverse Network of civil society organizations involved in the promotion of intercultural dialogue across the Mediterranean. From its very beginning, the ALF was conceived as a Network of National Networks, established in each of the 43 countries of the Union for the Mediterranean and bringing together more than 3000 civil society organizations who share the values of the Foundation. Each Network is headed by an institution or civil society organization who participates in the development and implementation of the Foundation’s programme.


Joining the Anna Lindh

Civil society and groups working in one of the 43 Union for the Mediterranean countries have the possibility to apply through the ALF website to become a member of the National Network in the country where they operate. Membership of the Network entitles them to have access to partners around the Region and to apply to take part in the ALF activities and grant schemes for local and transnational projects, as well as shaping the work of the National Network.

Networking Opportunites
The Anna Lindh Network is a meeting point of many hundreds of civil society groups, non-governmental organizations and institutions in search of partners and friends in other Euro-Mediterranean countries. Partnership is developed through the information provided by the Anna Lindh website portal, the participation in training seminars and in regional and thematic meetings, and the development of projects through the grant schemes.

The values of the Anna Lindh Foundation are those adopted by the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership from the Barcelona Declaration to the Paris Summit: acceptance of pluralism and cultural diversity, mutual respect between societies, religions and beliefs, acknowledgment of rule of law and fundamental freedoms.

Those values inspire the work of the Foundation within the civil society and the collaboration with its partners at the national and regional level, as well as the relations between its members and the relation of the Headquarters with the Networks.

Co-finananced by the forty-three countries of the Union for the Mediterranean and the European Commission, the ALF is ruled by a Board of Governors composed by representatives of those countries.

The Board, which is chaired by Veronika Stabej (Slovenia) and has a Deputy Chair in Mohamed Mahjoub (Tunisia), is responsible for approving the ALF programme and budget. The President of the Foundation is André Azoulay (Morocco) and the Executive Director is Andreu Claret (Spain)

The countries which form the Union for the Mediterranean, whose Heads of State and Government were co-signatories of the Paris Declaration for the Mediterranean, are: Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

For more information: http://www.euromedalex.org/