The founding states of the Centre are the Republic of Austria, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Kingdom of Spain, with the Holy See as a founding Observer, constituting the Council of Parties that is responsible for overseeing the work of the Centre.
Prominent representatives from five major world religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism) make up the nine-member Board of Directors. The Board designs and supervises the Centre’s programs, ensuring its relevance across many religious communities.
Addressing Contemporary Challenges through Dialogue
KAICIID brings together religious leaders and policy makers to address contemporary challenges. The ultimate goal is to create opportunities for religious leaders, policy makers and other stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue, aimed at strengthening mutual understanding that ultimately leads to positive change –this change may be “top-down,” through change of legislation for example, and/or “bottom-up,” through change in the perceptions and attitudes of individuals and small groups.
For instance, the inclusive and diverse initiative “United against Violence in the Name of Religion (UVNR)” fosters cooperation between religious institutions and governments to counter violence carried out in the name of religion, particularly in Syria and Iraq. The initiative was launched at a conference in Vienna in November, 2014. There, leaders of Muslim, Christian and other minority religious communities from Iraq, Syria and the larger Middle East region jointly issued the Vienna Declaration, denouncing, in one voice, violence in the name of religion.
Since then, the initiative has continued to grow, with more and more voices joining the chorus of peace and tolerance. In May, 2015, KAICIID organized the first follow-up UVNR event in Beirut, Lebanon, where participants agreed to continue to work together to identify concrete actions to implement the vision of the Declaration.
The next UVNR event will take place in Athens in September, where senior Christian and Muslim religious leaders will explore ways to safeguard the rights, lives and livelihoods of Christian minorities in the Middle East.
Also in September, KAICIID and partners will support religious and cultural pluralism in the Arab Region by helping participants at a training in Amman, Jordan, to find ways to use social media as a space for unfettered and authentic dialogue between worldviews, cultures and religions.
Building Peace on the Ground and through Education
KAICIID – with partners like the Network – is also developing and conducting programs on the ground in the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Indonesia, Iraq and Syria to support peacebuilding in conflict areas. This means helping communities develop dialogue skills and building capacity to foster cooperation and reconciliation.
We support the growing field of interreligious dialogue worldwide through programmes like the Fellows programme, which trains Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim teachers from religious educational institutions to prepare their own students to become peace builders and leaders in interreligious dialogue. The PeaceMapping Programme is a tool for students, researchers, policymakers and dialogue experts to learn about several hundred organisations that are committed to interreligious dialogue: be it conflict resolution, upholding human rights, education or development.
To learn more, visit www.kaiciid.org, or follow KAICIID on Twitter, @KAICIID.