What United Nations Alliance of Civilizations does

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is an intergovernmental initiative established in 2005 under the political sponsorship of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, co-sponsored by the Governments of Spain and Türkiye. Its mandate — affirmed by UN General Assembly resolutions A/RES/64/14 (2009) and A/RES/69/312 (2015) — is to reduce cross-cultural tensions, prevent violent extremism, and build bridges between diverse communities, with programs organized around five pillars: Youth, Education, Media, Migration, and Women as Peace Mediators. UNAOC convenes a Group of Friends comprising 160 members (130 UN member states and 29 international organizations), holds biennial Global Forums in cities such as Madrid (2008), Istanbul (2009), Doha (2011), Vienna (2013), Bali (2014), Baku (2016), Fez (2022), Cascais (2024), and Riyadh (2025), and operates from a small Secretariat in New York (11–50 staff) under High Representative Miguel Ángel Moratinos (Under-Secretary-General, appointed 2019).

UNAOC's core "products" are programs and convening platforms rather than commercial offerings. The portfolio includes seed-funding mechanisms (Youth Solidarity Fund — ten editions, $2.59M disbursed, 80 projects, 3.4M+ beneficiaries; Intercultural Innovation Award with BMW Group), exchange and capacity-building programs (UNAOC Fellowship Programme, Young Peacebuilders regional editions, Summer Schools with EF Education First reaching ~500 youth from 119 countries), media and technology initiatives (PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival with IOM, PEACEapp with UNDP, Digital Games for Peace Challenge with UNESCO MGIEP/UNOCT/Rubika, #SpreadNoHate), dialogue platforms (Intercultural Leaders with 600+ alumni, EDIN with UNOCT/UNCCT), and advocacy campaigns (#forSafeWorship, Women's Alliance for Peace with Fundación Mujeres por África). Digital infrastructure consists of community and content platforms (interculturalleaders.org, edin.uncct.unaoc.org, milunesco.unaoc.org, fellowship.unaoc.org) rather than proprietary technology stacks.

UNAOC's business model is non-commercial: it operates through a voluntary Trust Fund established by the UN Secretary-General, administered by the UN Secretariat in coordination with UNOPS, and funded by contributions from UN member states, international organizations, private sector entities, and foundations. Project management services are delivered via a memorandum of understanding with UNOPS; flagship private-sector partners include BMW Group (Intercultural Innovation Award, since 2011) and Accenture (supporting partner, 2026). Go-to-market is relationship- and event-driven: biennial Global Forums, Group of Friends meetings at ambassadorial and ministerial levels, and regional programming initiatives reach its stakeholder base across all five priority areas. Financial details are not publicly disclosed.

Name

United Nations Alliance of Civilizations

Legal name

United Nations Alliance of Civilizations

Website

https://unaoc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UNAOC is a UN entity that promotes intercultural dialogue and cooperation through programs in youth, education, media, migration, and women as peace mediators, serving 160 member states, civil society partners, and grassroots beneficiaries across 43+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Peacebuilding and Cultural Dialogue

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

United Nations System & Specialized Agencies (BPADAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Refugee, Crisis & Humanitarian Education Partnerships (EiE) (EDADALAG), Leadership, Debate & Model UN Camps (EDAMALAK)

Keywords

• Intercultural dialogue programs
• Peacebuilding education initiatives
• Youth development funding
• Cultural understanding programs
• Religious site protection

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Voluntary Trust Fund Contributions: UNAOC operates through a voluntary Trust Fund established by the UN Secretary-General, receiving contributions from UN member states, international organizations, private sector entities, and foundations. The Fund supports all UNAOC projects, activities, outreach, and core operational and human resources needs.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

UNAOC is a United Nations initiative that convenes governments, civil society, youth, media, and religious leaders to advance intercultural dialogue, understanding, and cooperation. It funds and operates programs across five priority areas—Youth, Education, Media, Migration, and Women as Peace Mediators—delivered through seed-grant funds, exchange fellowships, peace education projects, global forums, and advocacy campaigns.

Product overview

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is a UN platform for intercultural dialogue, understanding, and cooperation, operating across five priority areas: Youth, Education, Media, Migration, and Women as Peace Mediators. The organization offers a portfolio of programs including funding mechanisms (Youth Solidarity Fund, Intercultural Innovation Award), exchange and capacity-building programs (Fellowship Programme, Young Peacebuilders, Summer Schools), media and technology initiatives (PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival, PEACEapp, Digital Games for Peace, #SpreadNoHate), dialogue platforms (Intercultural Leaders, EDIN), and advocacy campaigns (#forSafeWorship, Women's Alliance for Peace). These programs work together to reduce cross-cultural tensions, prevent violent extremism, and build bridges between diverse communities globally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF) Provides seed funding to youth-led organizations dedicated to fostering peaceful and inclusive societies through innovative intercultural or interfaith dialogue projects, complemented by capacity-building and mentorship support.
• UNAOC Fellowship Programme
• Young Peacebuilders
• PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival Joint initiative with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) inviting the world's youth to submit original videos on migration, diversity, social inclusion, and prevention of xenophobia.
• Intercultural Innovation Award (IIA) / Intercultural Innovation Hub Global award in partnership with BMW Group recognizing and supporting innovative grassroots projects encouraging intercultural dialogue, with recipients receiving monetary grants and one year of mentoring support.
• Intercultural Leaders Platform
• #SpreadNoHate Initiative
• EDIN – Empowering Dialogue and Interfaith Networks Pilot project providing peer-to-peer learning space for young religious leaders and young media makers to build capacity to prevent sectarian violence and counter-terrorist narratives.
• Women's Alliance for Peace (WA4P) Initiative established with Fundación Mujeres por África to promote the role of women as negotiators and mediators in situations with cultural and religious dimensions.
• Digital Games for Peace Challenge supporting young people in co-designing and co-creating games as pedagogical tools for intercultural dialogue and social and emotional learning to prevent violent extremism.
• Summer Schools
• #YouthWagingPeace Programme developed with UNESCO MGIEP implementing youth-led activities to prevent violent extremism through education, using socio-emotional learning workshops.
• #forSafeWorship Campaign

Quantifiable outcome

• $2.59 million invested in Youth Solidarity Fund supporting 80 projects in 43+ countries with 3.4 million+ beneficiaries
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and flagship.

• AccenturemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026UNAOC and the BMW Group, with the support of Accenture, invite non-profit organizations to apply for the Intercultural Innovation Hub 2026, providing additional mentorship and support capacity.
• UNESCO MGIEP, UNOCT/UNCCT, and RubikamajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Joint initiative for Digital Games for Peace Challenge, supporting young people in co-designing games as pedagogical tools for intercultural dialogue, social and emotional learning, and preventing violent extremism in South East Asia.
• UN Office of Counter-Terrorism / UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNOCT/UNCCT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021UNAOC and UNOCT/UNCCT jointly implement EDIN (Empowering Dialogue and Interfaith Networks), a pilot project providing peer-to-peer learning space for young religious leaders and media makers to prevent sectarian violence and counter-terrorist narratives.
• Fundación Mujeres por AfricacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019UNAOC and Fundación Mujeres por Africa, a Spanish non-profit promoting women's empowerment in Africa, established the Women's Alliance for Peace (WA4P) to strengthen women's role as mediators and negotiators in situations with cultural and religious dimensions. H.E. Mr. Miguel Ángel Moratinos signed the MOU with Founder María Teresa Fernández de la Vega.
• UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partnership for #YouthWagingPeace programme taking the Youth-Led Guide on Preventing Violent Extremism through Education to grassroots communities. Jointly train youth leaders with skills for community-wide PVE through Education activities.
• UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Initial partnership for PEACEapp, a global competition organized with UNDP and Build Up to promote digital games and gamified apps as venues for cultural dialogue and conflict management. Additional partners include GamesForChange and Institute for Economics and Peace.
• EF Education FirstmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Partnership with EF Education First for Summer Schools bringing together youth from around the world to address pressing global challenges within the context of cultural and religious diversity.
• BMW GroupflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Global partnership with BMW Group for the Intercultural Innovation Award (IIA), recognizing and supporting the most innovative grassroots projects encouraging intercultural dialogue and cooperation worldwide. Recipients receive monetary grants and one year of mentoring support.
• International Organization for Migration (IOM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009Joint initiative with IOM for PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival, inviting the world's youth to submit original videos focusing on migration, diversity, social inclusion, and prevention of xenophobia.
• UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2005Project management services for UNAOC are provided through a memorandum of understanding between the United Nations and UNOPS. UNAOC can be contacted at [email protected] and the Trust Fund is administered in coordination with UNOPS.
• Government of SpainflagshipOthers · 1 January 2005Co-sponsor of UNAOC alongside Turkey. Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero proposed the Alliance of Civilizations idea in his 2004 UN General Assembly speech. Spain provides political support and co-chairs the High-Level Group.
• Government of TurkeyflagshipOthers · 1 January 2005Co-sponsor of UNAOC alongside Spain. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan joined Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero as co-sponsor of the Alliance of Civilizations initiative. Turkey provides political support and co-chairs the High-Level Group.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Anna Lindh Foundation: Euro-Mediterranean intergovernmental foundation dedicated to intercultural dialogue among civil societies — operates a directly comparable model but is geographically confined to the EU-MENA region.

Broad incumbents

• UNICEF: Shares UNAOC's youth-segment focus and convenes young people globally on rights and inclusion, but with a much larger operational and funding scale. Closest peer on the Youth pillar.
• UNHCR: UN refugee agency operating in adjacent territory to UNAOC's migration and refugee-focused programming (e.g., News Generation Against Hate), with far larger mandates on refugee protection.
• UNESCO: The UN's specialized agency for education, science, and culture — directly delivers many of the same intercultural and education priorities (e.g., YouthWagingPeace with UNAOC) and is a core implementation partner, making it the closest mandate-overlap peer.
• UNDP: UN's primary development agency and a UNAOC partner (PEACEapp). Operates a far larger global footprint and funding base, providing a benchmark for scale and a potential absorptive threat if UNAOC mandates are consolidated.

Direct peers

• International Organization for Migration (IOM): Co-implements UNAOC's PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival and shares the migration/diversity pillar. Operates as a UN-system organization with global mandate on migration, the closest functional peer to UNAOC's migration programming.
• King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID): Intergovernmental centre explicitly focused on interreligious and intercultural dialogue — the closest direct mandate peer to UNAOC, though narrower (faith-focused) and operating with a smaller footprint.
• UN Office of Counter-Terrorism / UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNOCT/UNCCT): Jointly implements the EDIN project with UNAOC and shares overlapping objectives on preventing violent extremism through intercultural and interfaith work, with a similarly political, UN-system character.
• OSCE: Regional intergovernmental security organization with explicit programmes on intercultural dialogue, tolerance, and freedom of media — a near-parallel model operating in the Euro-Atlantic/Eurasian space.

Emerging players

• British Council: UK cultural relations organization delivering intercultural dialogue, education exchange, and youth programmes globally. Comparable in mission to promote mutual understanding, though national rather than multilateral in character.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/unaoc
• YouTubeyoutube.com/unaocvideos
• Facebookfacebook.com/unaoc.org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/unaoc
• Instagraminstagram.com/unaoc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about United Nations Alliance of Civilizations