Sen. Francesco Maria Amoruso (Italy), Honorary President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), addressed the 1st Rotaract Mediterranean intercultural and interreligious dialogue on the theme “intercultural and interreligious dialogue to bring people together across the Mediterranean, to create new opportunities and to support stable and democratic institutions”, held in Naples, Italy on 9 September 2017.
Sen. Amoruso recalled how PAM has constantly dedicated particular attention to these issues, and through parliamentary diplomacy actions, sought to reach shared solutions to the challenges facing the Mediterranean region.
With reference to the Middle East, Sen. Amoruso said that the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process has always been high on PAM’s agenda. So much so, that in July a high level delegation representing 12 member parliaments of PAM, went on a mission to Jordan, Palestine and Israel to discuss the latest developments in the Syrian crisis, the refugee problem in Jordan and the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process. The parliamentarians visited the refugee camp of Zaatari in Jordan, where more than 80 thousand Syrian refugees have found shelter. “The outcome of the visit was very positive with the possibility to organise a second mission dedicated to the dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians on the way forward to achieve peace” PAM Honorary President said.
Sen. Amoruso said that PAM parliamentarians are convinced that the acceptance and understanding of the fundamental common values, such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law, are essential to reach a state where everyone can live together peacefully and fight xenophobia and extremism.
PAM is convinced that one of the major current priorities is to invest in youth and education, and offer them opportunities for discussion and dialogue, in order to face common regional challenges, such as radicalisation. To this end PAM has signed a number of cooperation agreements with Universities within the framework of the PAM Academic Platform, in order to facilitate student mobility, while in Malta the PAM Secretariat hosts throughout the year a number of students for periodical internships.
In his concluding remarks, Sen. Amoruso underscored the central role of intercultural education in the fight against hate and violence. “Education and training represent a space within which youth can be taught tolerance, dialogue and acceptance of openness towards others”. Sen. Amoruso concluded.