Check against delivery FORUM ON MINORITIES ISSUES Agenda Item 5: Promotion of Constructive Interfaith Dialogue, Consultation and Exchange (27th November 2013) Madame Chair,. Italy is convinced that interfaith dialogue must be part of any strategy aiming at promoting peaceful coexistence, protecting. human rights and preventing conflicts. Mutual acknowledgment is indeed crucial for mutual respect. This is why we welcome the paragraphs of draft recommendations document devoted to this issue. Within the country, Italy has promoted interfaith dialogue by setting-up many institutional frameworks and launching numerous ad hoc tools. At international level, Italy has taken several initiatives in order to stimulate dialogue and mutml understanding among cultures and religions. In Febmary 2013, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized a workshop entitled "Promoting religious freedom and peace through cross-cultural dialogue", in which academics and media operators from all over the world .participated. The cl9bate, reflected in a summary report, was extremely rich and innovative. Some ideas that emerged during the workshop seem relevant to our discussidn, though they do not necessarily represent Italian views: - Today, different conception of religious experience coexist: religion may be primarily conceived as a matter of conscience and individual choice, or as something to which individuals belong to, something akin to family, ethnicity, or nationality. Such as- coexistence may create tensions that need to be managed. However, in the current situation of cultural tension and growing religious intolerance, religion itself does not represent the main problem. On the contrary, religion can and should be part of the solution; Therefore, more cross-cultural and interfaith dialogue is needed to combat cultural misunderstanding and mistrust, and strengthen peaceful coexistence. In this respect, the role of academy and media is extremely important. Religious literacy