The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) was established in 2005, as the political initiative of Mr. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General and co-sponsored by the Governments of Spain and Turkey.

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations High Representative and Secretariat are based and operating from New York. The Alliance maintains a global network of partners including states, international and regional organizations, civil society groups, foundations, and the private sector to improve cross-cultural relations between diverse nations and communities.

In its 2006 report, the High-Level Group identified four priority areas for action: Education, Youth, Migration, Media. UNAOC project activities, fashioned around these four areas, which can play a critical role in helping to reduce cross-cultural tensions and to build bridges between communities. In 2019, Mr. Moratinos announced that he intends to propose adding “Women as peace mediators” as an additional pillar of UNAOC.