Dr. Ibrahim Al Naimi participates in the Conference of the World Council of Religious on Faith and Diplomacy: Dialogue across Generations

06 Oct Dr. Ibrahim Al Naimi participates in the Conference of the World Council of Religious on Faith and Diplomacy: Dialogue across Generations

His Excellency Dr. Ibrahim bin Saleh Al-Naimi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue, participated in the hybrid Conference of the World Council of Religious Leaders on Faith and Diplomacy: Dialogue across Generations, which was organized by Religions for Peace and Ring for Peace, from 4th to 7th October 2021 in Lindau – Germany.

The conference convened with opening speeches from Dr. Azza Karam, Secretary-General of Religions for Peace, Ms. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake, Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Youth, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, and Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Dr. Al-Naimi’s participation was the keynote address made virtually, for the session entitled “Building Peace through Interreligious Dialogue – Challenges and Opportunities”. He addressed the centrality of peace in practice in religious teachings and emphasized its importance in establishing stability in our societies and the world at large. Dr. Al-Naimi also stated that the instability of religious communities we see today are primarily caused by a global increase in hate speech, intolerance, racism, nationalism and extremism exacerbated social media algorithms. Thus, progress towards a society at peace heavily depends then on the extent of individual and institutional efforts to combat ignorance, enhance awareness, and to promote a culture of peace, tolerance and coexistence. He also touched upon the influential role of religious belief and conviction in inspiring followers and leaders to join hands in the face world crises; the most pressing of which was the crisis of the Corona virus that led to a sudden shift in the world’s priorities.

In his speech, Dr. Al-Naimi touched on the contributions of the State of Qatar. The State represented by the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue, he said, strives towards building peace explaining that at times of crises and problems in not just the Arab region but the world at large, Qatari efforts will always prioritize the spread of the culture of peace and the culture of dialogue. These efforts aid the role of strengthening international goals and objectives like that of the Alliance of Civilizations and Interfaith Dialogue, as well as affirm the Center’s accomplishments in this regard.

His Excellency concluded his speech by saying, “We need to RE-LEARN our values and priorities and RE-THINK our roles, as ambassadors of our faith, in its true spirit of peace”

It is worth noting that the conference is spread over four days, and its main sessions will focus on a number of the following topics: faith, diplomacy, public health, peace and security, environmentalism and human rights, and rethinking international peace and security after the Corona virus pandemic. The program also includes a number of Round tables that provide opportunities for exchange of dialogue and conversations between religious leaders as well as diplomats, youths, academics and professionals to discuss the challenges of the Corona virus crisis on security, peace and global health.