The Alliance of Civilizations was established in 2005 under the auspices of the United Nations, at the initiative of the Governments of Spain and Turkey.    Support for the Alliance of Civilizations continued to grow significantly since 2005, bringing the number of members of the Group of Friends to more than 100 member states. Among the new members, some key International Organizations, such as the Council of Europe, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the European Commission, joined the Alliance thus reinforcing its sustainability.  The Alliance aims at strengthening the dialogue between cultures and religions in order to mitigate extremism and overcome distrust, fear and barriers between the West and the Islamic World.  The Czech Government has adopted the Action Plan of the Alliance of Civilizations in the Czech Republic for 2009 – 2010 on 29^th September 2009.