The International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) will train peacemakers and educational institutions across the Arab world in a significant expansion of its Fellows Programme. The KAICIID Fellows Programme is a training programme that connects interreligious dialogue (IRD) practitioners all over the world and supports them with dialogue training and introduces them to the international network of IRD practitioners.

Practitioners of interreligious dialogue will join a network of over 100 KAICIID Fellows. Over the course of a year, they will work closely together with people from other religions and cultures, learning about promoting dialogue and coexistence, as well as gaining other skills they can use in their communities through face-to-face and online trainings. Based on training and guidance from KAICIID experts, the Fellows also develop and implement small-scale local or international projects through micro-grants. Projects have ranged from leading local dialogues to developing educational curricula, books on dialogue, and religious site visits. In the past two years, the KAICIID Fellows 60 initiatives, funded through KAICIID microgrants,  reached over 3,600 individuals around the globe.

KAICIID Secretary General Faisal Bin Muaammar said: “Around the world, and in the Arab World, there is an urgent need for voices of peace and dialogue. Confronted with growing violence in the name of religion, we need more role models, more experts who can teach the benefits of interreligious dialogue, and through their actions and teachings, can spread peace among religious communities. Nowhere is this more true than in the Middle East.

Through the Fellows programme, and through our other programmes and activities, we hope to build bridges between religious communities.”

About the Fellows Programme

The Fellows are mid-career interreligious dialogue practitioners and educators who aim to build peace and social cohesion in their communities, many of which are in conflict zones or are at the risk of conflict due to deteriorating social cohesion. Dialogue, both inter- and intra-religious, helps bridge the growing divisions between communities and individuals and transforms prejudices and misconceptions into mutual appreciation and acceptance.

The Fellows Programme seeks to reach out to educators of different religions from around the world for in-person and online training in dialogue, mediation and peacebuilding over the course of the year-long programme by KAICIID experts. The Fellows programme equips participants with the skills to educate others about interreligious dialogue; become active facilitators and leaders in interreligious dialogue; and to train others in conflict transformation to be active peacemakers in their respective communities.

The network of Fellows, based in thirty-four countries, comprises more than 100 interreligious practitioners and scholars from major religions. The network is a platform to exchange experience and good practices regionally and globally that will continue to evolve, grow and offer the Fellows opportunities for training and development.

Every year, the programme comprises two cohorts: The International Fellows cohort and a Regional Fellows cohort, with annually rotating regional focus. i.e. in 2016, the Regional Fellows came from South East Asia, while this year next to the International Fellows cohort is the Arab Region Fellows cohort. In addition to its annual international cohort, the 2018 Programme’s regional cohort will be recruited from African practitioners.

Interested applicants are encouraged to apply at www.kaiciid.org/fellows.