The Shared Societies Project
Building a World Safe for Difference
Programs
- The Shared Societies Project
- The G20 in a Post Crisis World
- Women's Political Participation and Leadership
- Energy and Climate Change
- Global Leadership for Haiti Reconstruction
- Political Leadership for Democratic Transition in Kyrgyzstan
- Freedom of Association in the MENA
- The Political Dimensions of the World Economic Crisis
- Political Leadership for Democratic Development
- Democracy, Security and Terrorism
- General Assemblies and Annual Conferences
Archive
Matthew Hodes, Director of Programs of the Club de Madrid, addressed the audience of the V Congress "Dialogue and Action" organized by the Bertelsmann Foundation in Madrid (22 November). The congress reflected on the increasing diversity in our societies as an opportunity to enrich them and showcased some examples of inclusive policies that illustrate these ideas. Matthew Hodes talked about the relationship between well-being and social cohesion and the work the Club de Madrid is doing in building the economic rationale for Shared Societies. More
The Shared Societies Project organized a special session within the Club de Madrid’s General Assembly (Madrid, 5 November 2010). The session focused on the Economic Rationale for Shared Societies, a project strand dedicated to the exploration of links between economic well-being and the existence of a shared society. Backed with empirical evidence, the project strand aims to present the economic case for shared societies. For this purpose, the project convened a reference group of experts that, over the past eight months, has constituted a multidisciplinary committee to examine the link between economic development and shared societies. Furthermore, it aims to consider the best ways to present the economic argument for inclusion and appropriate policy options to leaders. This meeting served as a forum for the working group to present its reflections and recommendations to the Members of the Club de Madrid. The session was fortunate enough to have as a guest invitee Mr. Steve Killelea, founder of the Institute for Economics and Peace and the Global Peace Index, who addressed the audience to share the work of the Global Peace Index. He stressed the strong links and synergies between this index and the Shared Societies project. After presentations by Mr. Killelea, Dr. Clem McCartney, Content Coordinator of the Shared Societies Project and Werner Puschra, Director of FES New York and Member of the Reference Group of Experts, there was an open discussion that concluded with the members of the Club de Madrid endorsing the initiative. They also added some recommendations and expressed their wish for the Club de Madrid to continue working efforts on the issue. More
II Meeti
ng of the Working Group on the Economic Rationale for Shared Societies. The Members of the Economic Rationale Working Group gathered for the second time in London (6-7 October). The group followed up on the discussions of the first meeting (Santander, 24-25 June) which worked as a scoping exercise to identify what priority issues need to be examined in more depth and the possible ways to make these economic points clearer to current and future leaders. The members who had been currently working in sub groups on those issues, discussed the results of this work including the construction of a Shared Societies Index, and the calculation of a ‘Shared Societies dividend’, among others.
Cities of 
Migration. Wim Kok, Former Prime Minister of The Netherlands and current President of the Club de Madrid delivered the closing speech at the 2010 International Conference Cities of Migration (The Hague, 3-4 October). Wim Kok highlighted the inevitable rise in immigration and stressed the need to find ways of confronting the challenges that migration brings to societies in order to avoid tensions. He advocated establishing programs and policies based on the principles of the Shared Societies project: Respect, Equality of opportunity, Absence of discrimination and Democratic participation. Wim Kok closed his remarks by calling to action to stakeholders and global cities to build shared societies at all levels, based on greater tolerance for differences and good citizenship. More
EFC Fo
rum for Roma Inclusion. Following our previous participation at the II European Summit on Roma Population (Cordoba, 8-9 April 2010), the Project was invited to the European Foundation Centre meeting (Viena, 9-10 September) to discuss the social exclusion of Roma. The purpose of the meeting was also to exchange knowledge and strategies and review work undertaken during the first year of the EFC Forum and define next steps for moving forward. The Forum stressed among other issues the importance of political leadership to overcome situations of conflict showcasing the current situation in France and the late response from the EU institutions. A press release was drafted on the same lines of the European Parliament resolution of 9 September 2010 that expressed a deep concern at measures taken by France and other member states targeting Roma. This meeting served to keep us informed of the priorities and challenges regarding the Roma situation. By staying informed we can identify those spaces where we can provide political leadership and fill the gap that exists between grass roots organisations and political leaders to work towards Roma inclusion. More
The Andean Parliament joins the Call to Action for Leadership on Shared Societies. More
Mission to South Africa to explore avenues for project’s implementation - Dr. McCartney, Shared Societies Project Policy Coordinator, and Dr. Zelenev, Member of the Expert Advisory Panel will led the mission (South Africa, July 14-19) whose purpose is to make available to relevant stakeholders the tools the Club de Madrid’s Shared Societies Project has developed for leadership on social inclusion and identify possible avenues for on-the-ground implementation of the project in South Africa. This could take the form of a dialogue between leaders, decision makers and other sectors of society to reflect on the current situation in South Africa and how past choices at the time of the transition to majority rule have impacted and shaped the country.
Federal Chancellor of Austria, Werner Faymann, welcomes the contribution of the Club de Madrid to build a fairer and more cohesive world More
Amin Maalouf, awarded with the 2010 Prince of Asturias Award for Letters.- The Libanese-born writer is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel. Read his Biography and the congratulations letter written by the Secretary General of the Club of Madrid
Economic D
evelopment and Social Cohesion: Incompatible or Interdependent Policies? - Guided by this provocative question, the Club de Madrid´s Shared Societies Project launched the first of a series of discussions in the nine-month process to develop an economic argument for inclusion by analyzing the relationship between social cohesion, economic growth and well-being More / Concept note / Agenda
Aceptar los derechos de otros grupos, factor clave para la Paz. El Índice Global de Paz (Global Peace Index en inglés) ha identificado la aceptación de los derechos de otros grupos como uno de los nueve factores clave y estructuras que contribuyen a la paz. Las sociedades pacíficas pueden ser caracterizadas por tener unas estructuras comunes y atributos sociales que se pueden identificar mediante el análisis estadístico. Cuando la paz es concebida como el conjunto de esas características y atributos, la palabra “Paz” puede ser considerada como un criterio para describir un conjunto de estructuras interrelacionadas. Estas estructuras y atributos son: el buen funcionamiento gubernamental, un entorno empresarial sólido, la tolerancia y el respeto de los derechos humanos, buenas relaciones con los Estados vecinos, altos niveles de libertad de información, la aceptación de los otros, altas tasas de escolarización primaria y secundaria, bajos niveles de corrupción y la distribución equitativa de los recursos. Mas
Employment and Poverty Reduction in Times of Crisis.- Following on its partnership with the Alliance of Civilizations, the Club de Madrid, in collaboration with the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights, organized a thematic session on Employment and Poverty Reduction in times of crisis: leadership action for Shared Societies in the framework of the III Forum of the Alliance in Rio de Janeiro May 27-29. More details
OpED: Political Leadership for Roma Inclusion. By Members Philip Dimitrov, Petre Roman and the President of Fundación Secretariado Gitano, Isidro Rodríguez
II European Roma Summit: Calling for Political Will for Roma Inclusion. The former Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Philip Dimitrov, addressed this forum (Córdoba, 8-9 April 2010) in a round table that examined the progress and challenges of European and national policies in addressing the Roma inclusion. More
Shared Societies Project’s language and principles are shared with delegations from the Philippines and Georgia. Clem McCartney, Co-ordinator of Policy and Content of the Project met with representatives from the high level delegations from the Philippines and the Government of Georgia, as part of programmes organised by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (United Kingdom) October 2009. McCartney met with two delegations from the Philippines: members of the Government Peace Panel for negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and a separate delegation of negotiators for the MILF. McCartney introduced the project to the Filipinos representatives as a useful tool that could be applied in their particular context. The other panel brought the opportunity to present the project to representatives from the Georgian Government, led by Temuri Lakobashvili, Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for Reintegration, in a discussion about alternative strategies for relating to their minorities, particularly the secessionist groups in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. There were also senior diplomats from the EU and western countries involved with the Georgian situation that received the materials and shared a side conversation with Dr. McCartney on the benefits of applying the Shared Societies’ principles to this particular situation.
Forum Social Diplomacy in Transmediterranean Relations. Noordwijk (The Netherlands), 10-12 March 2010. Clem McCartney, Project Content Coordinator of the Shared Societies Project addressed the forum Social Diplomacy in Transmediterranean Relations where he introduced the project and advocated for the need of democratic leadership and dialogue to overcome social exclusion. His intervention contributed to the goals of the forum highlighting the project principles and language as useful tools within the field of Social Diplomacy to overcome obstacles to transmediterranean relations. Intervention of Mr. McCartney
The NGO Community Commits to Work for Shared Societies as Defined by the Club of Madrid. New York, February 02, 2010. The NGO community working for Social Development, convened in the Civil Society Forum of the UN Commission for Social Development, has committed itself to work for shared societies, making Club de Madrid’s concept its own. This vision favours the term social inclusion vs. social integration because as stated in the Global Forum on Leadership for Shared Societies (Rotterdam November 2008) “as long as one talks of integration is not in her/his mind that the other is already part of the same society”. More
"Leadership for Coexistence". Friday, January 22 at Brandeis University. Lunchtime presentation where it will discussed the origins of the Club of Madrid's Shared Societies Project and strategies for engaging with world leaders to build shared societies. More details
Mainstreaming social cohesion and Leadership Action for Shared Societies in the European Union. Brussels, 17 November. Prime Minister Kok opened this seminar organized by the Club de Madrid in partnership with the British Council Open Cities Project and the Network of European Foundations to make available the Shared Societies principles and tools to EU officials who work on and champion social cohesion.On a similar goal, Sean Carroll, Director of Programs, addressed over 60 EU practitioners within the I Include-Ed Conference (Brussels, Nov. 18).
Club de Madrid’s General Assembly. Madrid, 13 November. The Shared Societies Project hosted a side event reporting to Members project implementation to date and advance future developments. With the participation of 15 members of the Club de Madrid and over 20 international experts, a representative of Peru’s Ombudsman shared his experience in advancing leadership action for the positive management of diversity by providing indigenous people a place in Peruvian society by using the Commitments and Approaches for Shared Societies, thus showing the potential of an in-country implementation of project results.
Casa Asia’s East-West Dialogue. Barcelona, 10 November. Project Co-chair Prime Minister Shipley and President Kumaratunga addressed the East-West Dialogue organized by Casa Asia during a plenary session attended by over 100 people. The plenary session had been tailored to Project ideas and principles under the title “Migration and Diversity: New Challenges and Opportunities”. This participation contributed to the promotion of the project principles among Asian high-level officials as well as international practitioners and current Spanish political leaders.
Club de Madrid and Coexistence International sign a Memorandum of Understanding to bring Shared Societies Project tools and language to civil society organisations and leaders.
The Club de 
Madrid has been invited to participate in the Annual EDG Conference on Globalization, Urbanization and Ethnicity: Ethnic Politics and Governance in Cities, (3-4 December, Ottawa). The conference will count on an interesting participation of international scholars and presents a good opportunity to disseminate the Shared Societies Project principles and tools. Agenda
The Shared Societies Project will participate at the IDB VII Inter-American Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility (1-3 December, Punta del Este). A breakout session is scheduled to seek good practices in promoting inclusion and lessons learnt that could advance government’s leadership action for social cohesion from the experiences of corporations. Agenda
PM Shipley at OAS' Lecture Series of the Americas - Prime Minister Jennifer Shipley, co-chair of the Shared Societies Project, delivered the XXXVII Lecture Series of the Americas at the Organization of American States' headquarters in Washington, DC, on September 22th. Prime Minister Shipley's lecture focused on “Peace, Security and Participation: The Case for Shared Societies”. Watch video
The Shared Societies Project is organizing in Brussels on November 17 the seminar Mainstreaming social cohesion and Leadership Action for Shared Societies in the European Union that aims to stir a debate on specific policy actions and practices to mainstream social cohesion and constructive management of diversity at EU level. The seminar will make the case for social inclusion and call on European leadership engagement towards building shared societies as something needed and possible. Agenda
Organization of American States' XVIII Policy Roundtable on "Learning to live together: Fostering integration, tolerance and diversity in the Americas". The Club de Madrid's Programs Director, Sean C. Carroll, participated in the panel on Promoting Tolerance and Social Inclusion on September 11th in Washington DC. Watch video
Alejandro Toledo: "To recognize ourselves in the same mirror as a society helps us to acknowledge our diversity and to respect our legitimate differences" - The Former president of Peru and a Member of the Club of Madrid reflects on institution building in Peru and the role of the Inter-American system in defending human rights and democracy in an article published by Americas Quaterly on Summer 2009.
Download here the report of the Global Forum on Leadership for Shared Societies, held last November in Rotterdam. The Report reminds us that the question of how to live together and manage ethnic, cultural, religious and other identity differences while protecting and preserving human dignity may be the most important conversation of our time.
18 June 2009. The World Youth Movement for Democracy has announced its 6th annual Global Essay Contest. This year’s questions focus on youth’s perspective on and engagement with democracy to connect them to larger democracy movements. The Shared Societies Project invites youth to participate and bring the idea of Shared Societies with the theme of the contest. For more information on the contest click here
The Shared Societies Project is happy to share the new website the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has launched to promote the Third edition of Diversity Day. Celebrating diversity, promoting equality and fighting discrimination will take centre stage at this event, open to young people, teachers, NGOs, institutions and associations and organised by the FRA in co-operation with the City of Vienna and the Viennese School Authority on 3 December at Vienna City Hall. Additional events will take place in cities throughout the EU during 2009.
The Club de Madrid Invites World Leaders and Civil Society to Mark International Day of Cultural Diversity, celebrated worldwide this coming Thursday, 21 May, by supporting its Call for Action on Leadership for Shared Societies. This requires leaders to intensify efforts at the national and local level to ensure that social cohesion and shared societies become a key priority in how they lead and govern.
The Town Council of Córdoba unanimously voted in plenary session to adhere to the Club of Madrid’s Call to Action on Leadership for Shared Societies. Madrid, 6 May 2009. The Town Council of Córdoba unanimously voted in plenary session to adhere to the Club of Madrid’s Call to Action on Leadership for Shared Societies that seeks for social cohesion and a safer world for diversity.
Club of Madrid at UN's Durban Conference: “Non-discriminatory societies do not just happen, the responsibility lies with national leaders and too often they fail to resist populist chauvinistic tendencies”- Madrid, 23 April 2009 - The Member of the Club of Madrid Abdulkarim Al-Eryani highlighted the organization’s Shared Societies Project outcomes and development at a Panel organized by OHCHR and UNESCO, at the UN’s Durban Review Conference, which follows-up on the 2001 World.
Leadership to Manage Diversity and Build Shared Societies. Club de Madrid - II Forum Alliance of Civilisations (Istanbul). Breakfast Session Summary. Madrid, 21 April 2009. The breakfast session on Challenges for Leadership to Manage Diversity and Build Shared Societies organized by the Club de Madrid the past April 6th examined the conundrums that lie at the heart of the relationship between leadership and development.
The Economic Arguments for Social Cohesion-The political costs of ethnic, cultural and/or group-based violence are clear. Less clear, until now, have been the economic costs. This Background Paper suggests that where tensions lead to civil war, national income can be reduced by up to 50 per cent. Even more minor incidents of conflict can also severely limit economic growth. Consider this: Those societies which began the last decade with stronger norms of trust and social cohesion saw as much as 18.6 per cent increase in GDP over the course of the decade.
The Club of Madrid Commemorates International Day of the Roma - Madrid, 8 April 2009 - April 8 is International Roma Day and it is a good opportunity for Europeans to take stock of how they treat Roma people. Unfortunately the record is not good. Are they accepted as equals, with respect and dignity or are they treated as lesser beings who are tolerated at best, only accepted if they conform to the majority’s ways and customs and at worst discriminated, victimised and pushed out of the community?
The Club of Madrid participates in the Cordoba Declaration “For the furtherance of Interculturality” - Cordoba, 19 March 2009 - Launched within the First International Forum on Diversity and Interculturality, celebrated from 17 to 19 March in Cordoba, it affirms that the progressive increase in cultural diversity within cities as a consequence of globalization requires the creation of new forms of coexistence based on the respect for diversity, equality, and dignity of all human beings.
OPENCities for Shared Societies: New perspectives of local development- A roundtable organized by the Club of Madrid, the British Council and Madrid Global with Diego Hidalgo (President, FRIDE), José María Figueres (Former President of Costa Rica and Member of the Club of Madrid), Peter Finnegan (International Relations Director, City Hall of Dublin), Ignacio Niño (General Coordinator, Madrid Global ) and Nuria Lores (Director, Cidalia). Next March 12, 2009 at 09:30h (C/ Almagro 5, Madrid) Program
Read Clem McCartney and Sean Carroll's article for Global Social Policy: "Building a World Safe For Difference"- Our capacity to deal with social division continues to be one of the major challenges facing the world today. The issue has been around for a long time and sometimes it gets pushed aside by new challenges such as global warming. But too many people in too many parts in the world are still marginalized and excluded because they are different.
The Club de Madrid, at UN meeting, calls for political leadership to promote social inclusion and build “Shared Societies” in the face of the current financial crisis - United Nations, New York, February 4-5 2009 - Former Prime Minister of The Netherlands Wim Kok led a Club de Madrid delegation to the UN Commission for Social Development’s 47th Session at UN Headquarters in New York to present the Shared Societies Project before Member States and civil society leaders.
Call to Action to World Leaders To Intensify Efforts Towards Socially-Cohesive and Shared Societies - The members of the Club of Madrid issued a call to action to world leaders to intensify efforts at the national and local level to ensure that social cohesion and shared societies become a key priority in how they lead and govern. The Club of Madrid, made up of 72 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 51 countries, issued the Call to Action at the conclusion of its General Assembly gathering in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on 12 November 2008 English / Arabic / French / Spanish / Russian / Chinese
Read Richard Simeon's article for the Ethnicity and Democratic Governance Newsletter- Wet, windy, and wintry. Rotterdam, The Netherlands, November 12-14, 2008, a great seaport city virtually flattened in World War II, now rebuilt and re-born, with a claim to be the most ethnically diverse city in Europe. Perhaps the perfect venue for a major international conference devoted to Global Leadership for Shared Societies, a project of the EDG partner organization, Club de Madrid... Read article
Leaders Must Do More To Manage Ethnic, Cultural and Religious Identity Differences - Club of Madrid and the City of Rotterdam, with the support of the Comunidad de Madrid and the U.S.-based Alan B. Slifka Foundation, concluded the first Global Forum on Leadership for Shared Societies: Building a World Safe for Difference.
Nelson Mandela supports the Shared Societies Project - Nov 2008- "I congratulate the Club of Madrid for taking a lead on this important matter, and wish you the best as we move forward together to build shared societies and a world made safe for difference. That is a world we all want, and that will truly make us all free..." Read letter