Interfaith NGO meeting at the UNESCO in Paris

On the 3th and 4th of July, representatives of New Humanity NGO met in Paris at the UNESCO headquarters for a meeting organized at the initiative a group of faith based organisations engaged in the work for interfaith cooperation and dialogue, in which New Humanity NGO has been a longstanding partner.

Monday 3 July, the Ambassador of the Permanent Delegation of the Sultanate of Oman to UNESCO, mr. Hamed Alhamami, officially opened an exhibition entitled “Tolerance, Understanding, Coexistence: Oman’s Message of Islam”. The exhibition, which has been promoted by the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in Oman since 2009, has travelled around the world and has visited 39 countries . The exhibition, about religious life and society in the Sultanate of Oman, aims to promote interfaith dialogue, with special emphasis on religious tolerance, mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence.

The following day, the representatives of New Humanity NGO, met with other NGO’s and some institutional actors to learn more about the work of Baraza NGO, a new participant to the NGO interfaith working group, which presented its UNITY programme for school in a.o. Germany and India. The other participants to the round table also shared their expertise and experiences in the field of peace education through interfaith dialogue. A contribution for New Humanity NGO was made by Mrs. Maria Teresia Siniscalco on the work of the NGO in the field of (peace) education.

Other NGOs in attendance at the meeting were Pax Christi International, International Council of Jewish Women, the International Fellowship for Reconciliation and the World Fellowship of Buddhists. Other individual guests were in attendance including Jan Figel – former European Commission Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion outside the European Union, Monsignor Guillaume Bruté de Rémur – Rector at Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Lebanon, Beirut and Prof. Dr Anke Weber – Head of Studies for Intercultural Business Psychology at the University of Applied Sciences, Hamm-Lippstadt in Germany.

Central to the enfolding discussion was the importance of a genuine interfaith dialogue both for the work of (international) public institutions, such as UNESCO, and the life of civil society. The meeting between the various faith based organisations presents a sign of hope and opens up perspectives for future collaboration.