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Theme 2006
Each year, a new theme of the award will be chosen, inspired by the values of the Barcelona Declaration. For 2006, the Presidency of the Jury has chosen the theme:
Mutual respect among people of different religions or any other belief
This theme is in line with the Barcelona Declaration’s call for ensuring "respect for diversity and pluralism in our societies" and "greater understanding among the major religions present in the Euro-Mediterranean Region", in order to facilitate greater mutual tolerance and cooperation. Dialogue and respect between cultures and religions are in fact a necessary precondition for bringing people and the peoples closer. We are all invited to overcome a dual and exclusive vision of two or more separate religious communities, fostering hospitality and inclusion in a culturally diverse environment as the Euro-Mediterranean Region should be. In light of the rise of extremist identity-based movements and racist violence to the North and South of the Mediterranean, all of us are therefore encouraged to develop "not just the perception, but also the feeling of a shared destiny", where people´s feelings of belonging work as intersecting circles (Report of the High Level Advisory Group on Dialogue between Peoples and Cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean Area, established by M. Prodi, 2003). The Euro-Mediterranean Study Commission has also highlighted that combating racism and xenophobia, including when they concern people of different religions, "has not been specifically set forth as a Euro-Mediterranean Partnership aim, and initiatives in this domain have therefore been lacking" (EuroMeSCo, Vers une Communauté euro- méditerranéenne d´Etats démocratiques, 2005). With this award, the Anna Lindh Foundation wishes to address the issue.
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