UNICEF Intercultural Competences

Approaching cultural diversity requires that thebroadest possible range of competences be identified and promoted, especially those that societies have devised and transmitted throughout succeeding generations. Because intercultural interactions have 

become a constant feature of modern life, even in the most traditional societies, the very manner in which individuals and communities manage encounters with cultural others is under scrutiny. Hence the growing awareness among policy-makers and civil society that intercultural competences may constitute a very relevant resource to help individuals negotiate cultural boundaries throughout their personal encounters and experiences.

Intercultural competences aim at freeing people from their own logic and cultural idioms in order to engage with others and listen to their ideas, which may involve belonging to one or more cultural systems, particularly if they are not valued or recognized in a given socio-political context. Acquiring intercultural competencesis a thrilling challenge since no one is, naturally, calledupon to understand the values of others. Tis challengeis a unique opportunity in the history of human kind.

The present publication seeks to address this topic of growing interest to many audiences in all the regions of the world, intercultural competences. What are they? Why should do they matter so much today – and why will they matter even more tomorrow?

The content and the structure of this pub-lication is to provide everyone with a pool of ideas and keysd. The flexible organization of the booklet allows the reader to espouse constellations of concepts and guidelines, the ultimate coherence and relevance of which is to be found in their context of meaningful application.

It will provide a goodstart on the basic terminology needed in order to develop intercultural competences and to permit intercultural dialogues, as well as outlining a series of minimallynecessary steps to take in sharing this knowledge withthe largest number of others, across the greatest selectionof contexts, possible.