Under the patronage of H.E. Mehriban Aliyeva, First Lady of Azerbaijan the “Youth for Alliance of Civilizations” International Movement was launched on 28 October 2007 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The inauguration ceremony was chaired by the Secretary-General of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation Mr. Elshad Isgandarov with the participation of the First Lady of the Republic of Azerbaijan H.E. Mehriban Aliyeva, Wife of the Emir of Qatar H.E. Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, H.E. Jorge de Sampaio UN Secretary General’s High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, former President of Portugal, H.E. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, ISESCO, Mr. Ali Sarikaya President of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation and representative of the Council of Europe Ralph Rene Weingaertner. The conference was received letters of greeting from UNESCO Director-General H.E. Koichiro Matsuura, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference H.E. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu and Administrator of the United Nations Development Program Mr. Kemal Dervis.
The Movement aimed at furthering the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations objectives, and brought together influential policy-makers and youth leaders, who went on to adopted the Intergenerational Baku Declaration on the Youth for the Alliance of Civilizations.