Dr. Ibrahim Al Naimi participates in the Eighth Meeting of the United Nations Istanbul Process

25 Feb Dr. Ibrahim Al Naimi participates in the Eighth Meeting of the United Nations Istanbul Process

His Excellency Dr. Ibrahim bin Saleh Al Naimi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue and Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, participated in the Eighth Meeting of the United Nations Istanbul Process, which was held on Wednesday 16 February 2022 by the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the landmark UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution 16/18 on “Combating Intolerance, Negative Stereotyping and Stigmatization of, and Discrimination, Incitement to Violence and Violence Against Persons Based on Religion or Belief” adopted in 2011.

Dr. Al-Naimi was invited as speaker as the Chairman of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue representing the State of Qatar, to mention the activities and landmark efforts in progressing interfaith harmony and combating religious hatred. He highlighted the urgent need for the active implementation of the Istanbul Process Action Plan given the instability of religious communities over the past few years caused by the increasing global spread of hate speech, intolerance, racism, nationalism and religious extremism, which has collectively hampered progress towards international cooperation. He stated, “…religion needs to be exonerated and differentiated. It should be part of the peacemaking process instead. And it lies in our hands to see it in action”. In his speech, he also touched on the Center’s activities which includes the annual International Conference on Interfaith Dialogue the most recent of which is upcoming in Doha on the 24th and 25th of May 2022 entitled, “Religions and Hate Speech: Between Scripture and Practice”.

The Center also holds round tables that discuss issues related to communities in Qatar. At the local level, the Center regularly organizes training courses for students and teachers in independent and private schools with the aim of training on dialogue and communication skills with different religions and cultures, in addition to issuing the “Adyan/Religions” journal in Arabic and English, periodical newsletters, translated books, and selected letters, and publications related to the center’s activities. On the international level, Dr. Al-Naimi mentioned that the center has numerous symposia and international conferences outside Qatar focused on promoting a culture of dialogue and peaceful coexistence.

It is worth noting that the Istanbul Process focuses on concrete, positive measures that states can take to combat religious intolerance while protecting the freedoms of religion and free speech. The Eighth Meeting as such was themed as ‘Looking Back and Moving Forward’ and was attended by around 200 high-level representatives of States, inter-governmental organizations, civil society, faith and community leaders.

The conference was inaugurated by His Excellency Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan. In his speech, he presented a preventive and action-oriented strategy to counter religious hatred and especially islamophobia, which has been on an alarming rise in recent years. The Foreign Minister of Turkey, His Excellency Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also addressed the meeting along with the OIC Secretary General H.E. Hissein Brahim Taha, the UK Minister of State for the UN H.E. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at the U.S. Department of State H.E. Uzra Zeya, the President of the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, the High Representative for UN Alliance of Civilizations and the former OIC Secretary General Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

The agenda of this year’s meeting discussed the world’s most pressing concerns over growing hate and conflict directed towards religious communities and presented initiatives and success stories along with their case studies that has since enabled communities to effect positive change in combatting hatred and hate speech, ten years after the 16/18 resolution. The State of Qatar represented in the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue is committed to bringing about a culture of peace, tolerance and inter-faith harmony and continues to take steps for its achievement.