KAICIID Secretary General Faisal Bin Muaammar today met with the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Thomas Greminger. The meeting continues an ongoing collaboration between KAICIID and the OSCE.

Ambassador Greminger was accompanied by Ambassador Paul Bekkers, Director/ Office of the Secretary General and Mr. Emiliano Alessandri, Senior External Co-operation Officer. They were received by the KAICIID Secretary General, the Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alvaro Albacete and the Director General, Fahad Abualnasr.

The Secretary General congratulated Ambassador Greminger on the appointment to the post of Secretary General of the OSCE. Ambassador Greminger and Mr. Bin Muaammar discussed how interreligious dialogue could contribute to peace and security worldwide, and how their two organizations could collaborate in this regard, in particular on topics of shared interest, such as the promotion of social cohesion.

The OSCE and KAICIID jointly organized an Interfaith Dialogue Expert workshop in 2017, where experts from both organizations came together to discuss the positive role religious figures and institutions can play in conflict prevention and peace building. Staff members of the OSCE and the Centre were joined by civil society representatives, academics and leaders of religious and faith communities to discuss how an active promotion of interfaith/ interreligious relations can contribute to social solidarity, stability and security.

“The success of this activity reaffirms my belief that international co-ordination and cooperation is crucial in the achievement of our goals”, said Bin Muaammar.

The exchange between KAICIID and the OSCE began in 2015 with a meeting between former OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and KAICIID Secretary General Faisal Bin Muaammar. KAICIID was also part of the OSCE Security Days 2015 in Vienna that explored the root causes of extremism and radicalization, as well as possible measures and actions to counter extremism and radicalization that lead to violence. The two organizations also collaborated at the Union of the Mediterranean’s high-level meeting on intercultural and interreligious dialogue in Barcelona in 2015.