Pakistani pop legend to speak at conference on tackling tensions between local communities

The Communities in Action conference, jointly hosted by the British Council and Institute of Community Cohesion (iCoCo), will bring together people working on the ground to build better community relations from across the UK and other countries, including Spain, Senegal and Pakistan.

The conference, which takes place from 28-29 January 2009, aims to share different approaches to promoting community cohesion from around the world. Participants will share good practice and build links with others tackling similar problems in very different countries.

British Council Programme Leader for Intercultural Dialogue, Mike Hardy, said: `Communities everywhere are changing rapidly with unprecedented levels of migration across the globe. This can create real pressure and tensions between settled and newer communities and highlights the need for greater levels of trust and understanding. All countries are facing change and need to address the challenges and tensions that this can bring. Communities in Action is a unique opportunity to look at good practice and understand different local solutions to a global issue’.

Themes to be explored during the two-day conference include young people, citizenship, employment, engagement in society, the role of education, culture and media in promoting community cohesion and the contribution businesses can make to the well-being of communities.

To mark the British Council’s 75th year, the Communities in Action conference aims to set up new international networks for those working on cohesion issues, explore issues that communities are facing globally, and provide an opportunity for delegates to share experiences and discuss international good practice on building community relations and cohesion.

The conference will also see the launch of the British Council’s Community Xchange initiative which, led by Abrar-ul-Haq, will see the Youth Parliament of Pakistan linking up with Manchester City Council for the first time.

The professional development programme aims to work with community leaders to encourage active citizenship and positive participation in communities across five districts in Punjab and Manchester. Working in partnership with local authorities, community groups and individuals, Community Xchange is designed to strengthen relations between communities in the UK and Pakistan through the cultural exchange of knowledge and ideas.

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For further information about the Communities in Action conference or Community Xchange, please contact British Council press officer, Antony Watson, at antony.watson@britishcouncil.org / +44 (0) 207 389 4972 or Jennifer Tankard, Strategic Communications Advisor, iCoCo, at cohesion@coventry.ac.uk / +44 (0) 7971510085

Notes to editors:

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We work in 110 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people. We work in the arts, education, science, sport and governance and last year we reached over 128 million people. Our total turnover in 2007/8 was £565m, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £197m. For more information, please visit www.britishcouncil.org

The Institute of Community Cohesion (iCoCo) was set up in 2005 to provide a new approach to race, diversity and multiculturalism. Its work focuses on building positive and harmonious community relations, using applied research to constantly develop practice and to build capacity of all the agencies and individuals involved. iCoCo is a not for profit partnership, which aims to build capacity at all levels and in all local and national agencies to promote community cohesion. Visit http://www.cohesioninstitute.org.uk for more information.

Abrar-ul-Haq is the founder and chairman of SAHARA for Life Trust, a charitable organisation that promotes health and education in remote areas. For more information, please visit: www.saharaforlife.org