Representatives from a number of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries celebrated Sunday night the 10th anniversary of Anna Lindh Foundation for Inter-Cultural Dialogue at the Arabic Music Institute. The event began with opening remarks by Ayman Okail, Head of the Egyptian National Network affiliated with Anna Lindh Foundation, who stressed the major role of Anna Lindh in dealing with social crises, instability and violence in the region. Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Union Abou Bakr Hefny attended the celebration and expressed the state's support for the foundation. A number of political and public figures also participated in the event including former deputy prime minister Yehia El-Gamal, and former president of the Journalists Syndicate Makram Mohamed Ahmed. The Arabic Music Institute screened a documentary film summarizing the efforts of the foundation during the last ten years in exchanging proposals and seeking ways to coordinate efforts at the international level to write a new chapter in Euro-Mediterranean dialogue. Anna Lindh Foundation is a non-profit non-governmental organization which promotes knowledge, mutual respect and inter-cultural dialogue between the people of the Euro-Mediterranean region, working through a network of more than 4,000 civil society organizations in 43 countries. Since was established in 2005, the Foundation believes that development, democracy and respect human rights could be only achieved through the dissemination and implementation of peace. On the other hand, the Anna Lindh Foundation will hold its 2014 ‘Moltaqa Dawrak' - Encounter in English – which is the first major gathering for civil society organizations, as well as major actors in the intercultural dialogue field from the MENA region. Moltaqa will take palce in Alexandria from Monday 1st of December to Tuesday 2nd of December, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Finland and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina at the Foundation's international headquarters.
