NEW YORK, April 26: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday appointed former Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio as the first United Nations High Representative for the “Alliance of Civilisations”, an initiative set up in 2005 to promote reconciliation between religions, cultures and nations.

Mr Ban designated Mr Sampaio in the post after consulting with Spain and Turkey, the co-sponsors of the alliance, which was created to try to tackle fear and suspicion, bridging divides and overcoming prejudices and polarisations between Islam and the West.

“The High Representative will provide the vision and leadership required, especially to promote the Alliance of Civilisations as a credible and viable attempt to diminish the dangerous tensions between diverse societies and their threat to international stability,” Mr Ban’s spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters.

Last year the Alliance’s

High-Level Group issued a report calling for a series of measures in education, media, youth and migration to build bridges between different communities and promote a culture of respect.

Spain and Turkey set up the alliance amid concern that events in recent years have exacerbated mutual suspicions, fears and misunderstandings between Islamic and Western societies, and that a new global effort is necessary to overcome those divisions.