UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addresses the Alliance of Civilizations forum in Istanbul. Picture by George Weyman.

International society urgently needs more face-to-face communication across cultural barriers to stave off the threat of increased communal tension and extremism, UN chief Ban Ki-moon told civil society leaders in Istanbul on Monday.

Radicalization of the poor in the midst of global economic crisis could only be tackled through cooperation and dialogue, the UN Secretary General said in an address at the Alliance of Civilizations Forum.

Ki-moon also urged assembled world leaders, including the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to share ‘the spirit of goodwill’ in the worst global economic downturn since the 1930s.

Initiatives for peace within and between societies could also enable economic growth by encouraging stability and investment, he said.

Speaking Ban Ki-moon said: “The explosive nature of our world is not just about communal tension, but the unresolved challenges of climate change, poverty, repression and injustice.”

“To solve all these challenges at once, we need to be able to put our best foot forward.”

He added: “What unites is so powerful it could easily overcome what divides us.”