KAICIID

KAICIID

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for 

Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue

KAICIID is an intergovernmental organization whose mandate is to promote the use of dialogue globally to prevent and resolve conflict, to enhance understanding and cooperation . Over a seven-year-long negotiation and development process, KAICIID’s mandate and structure were designed to foster dialogue among people of different faiths and cultures that bridges animosities, reduces fear and instills mutual respect. Intercultural and interreligious dialogue helps build communities’ resistance against prejudice, strengthens social cohesion, supports conflict prevention and transformation and can serve to preserve peace.

As an international organization, KAICIID supports the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The Centre also combats all forms of discrimination based on culture, religion or belief. We implement programmes to overcome stereotypes in a long-term process that leads to a culture of dialogue that enables greater understanding of people of other cultures and followers of other religions.Our work is the continuation of a journey to fulfill a vision to bring together religious leaders and governmental representatives in a sustained dialogue for peace.

In an unprecedented demonstration of multi-religious solidarity, leaders of Christian, Muslim and other religious communities from Iraq, Syria and the larger Middle East region meeting at the KAICIID Conference "United Against Violence in the Name of Religion" on 19 November 2014 denounced with one voice all violence in the name of religion, and have called on the international community to protect religious and cultural diversity in Iraq and Syria .

The KAICIID Dialogue Centre was inaugurated on 26th November 2012. Speaking at the inauguration, UN Secretary General welcomed the initiative of the Centre’s founding by the Council of Parties, the Holy See and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques: “Tonight we join forces to celebrate your efforts for cultural exchange and global harmony. We need to look no further than today’s headlines to see why this mission is so important.”

First-Ever Network of Arab Theological Insitutes

A first-of-its-kind meeting took place on 5 and 6 November 2015 at the International Dialogue Centre’s (KAICIID) headquarters in Vienna, to establish a network of religious institutes from the Arab World. A network of this kind is an important first step to imbed the culture of dialogue as a core value in religious education.

In the words of Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian Christian and pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, as well as President of Diyar Consortium: “There is a need  to form a network of Arab institutes and faculties as a first step in a long-term program designed to initiate academic dialogue between Muslim and Christian scholars. This will lead to the exchange of experiences between intellectual and religious leaders in faculties and universities and will form the basis for developing a scientific approach that promotes the culture of dialogue, diversity and respect for others, and education that fosters religious and cultural diversity.”The participating religious educators and scholars structured an initial concept and action plan for the development of a common approach for education for citizenship and pluralism that fosters cultural and religious diversity.

Prof. John Kurakar