Events

KAICIID regularly hosts local workshops, regional conferences, webinars and global fora to inspire global engagement and to shape solutions to the defining challenges of our times. Through small, focused events and larger public gatherings, we build connections between religious actors, policymakers and dialogue practitioners.

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To commemorate World Refugee Day, for this episode of “On Dialogue” we spoke with Hayat Amiree, a refugee from Afghanistan who is living in New Delhi, India. Hayat is a peace and conflict resolution trainer, a TEDx speaker and a trainer of the joint KAICIID and the World Organization of the Scout Movement Dialogue for Peace programme. As a dialogue and non-violence activist, Hayat has trained 3,000 young people in conflict resolution and helped improve their skills for finding peaceful ways to resolve conflict.   

Born during the civil war in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, the 28-year-old has been a refugee for most of his life. His family was forced to flee the country in 1999 and to relocate to the refugee camp in Karachi, Pakistan.

“When people ask me about my childhood and ask one good thing I remember about life back then, I always have to pause and think about it,” Hayat said. “All I remember is how people begged for food, how we walked for months and years to travel from one country to the other. All I remember is how we suffered during the civil war in Afghanistan.”

Despite the hardships and challenges (including being forbidden to attend school by his parents) Hayat managed to get an education. He later received a scholarship to study in India, where he was able to develop a career as a peace trainer and support his family. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put his plans for work and personal development on hold, compounding his already precarious life as a refugee.

“Before COVID-19, I was very hopeful. Although the challenges were still there, I had drafted a plan of how many people I would impact in the next 12 months. The moment the COVID-19 halted our lives, things changed.”

Though his career, personal development and refugee application in Canada are on hold, Hayat is determined to continue fostering a positive change in the people around him.

“I'm not changing the world, I'm inspiring my surroundings”, he said.

The podcast follows Hayat’s past, present and future aspirations and sheds light on the challenges refugees face while living, studying, and looking for work in the country of settlement. Listen and subscribe below.

Listen to the podcast here.

24 June 2021
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Youth
We Convene

At KAICIID, we are dedicated to building peace through interreligious and intercultural dialogue. By convening conferences and fora and establishing networks and platforms across the globe, we create spaces where diverse stakeholders including religious leaders, policymakers, and civil society can collaborate to address the world’s most pressing challenges. These efforts align with our mission to foster understanding, reduce conflict, and build cohesive communities. 

Global Networks 

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Muslim Jewish Leadership Council (MJLC)

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The Muslim Jewish Leadership Council (MJLC) was founded to serve the need to counter prejudice, disinformation, attacks, and violence against those who practise faith. It brings together actors from Europe’s Muslim and Jewish communities, who are equally represented on the Council, to address rising Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, as well as advise on policy related to freedom of religion and belief. The MJLC aims to improve relations between European Muslim and Jewish communities and to strengthen their voices when they make common cause to campaign for the rights of minorities to be respected by European policymakers.

As the only intergovernmental organization with a sole mandate to promote interreligious dialogue, KAICIID saw in the MJLC a unique opportunity to fill an important gap in the relations between religious communities in Europe. The Centre has lent it support and capacity building from its first steps in 2015

Through the MJLC, which was officially established as an Austria-based NGO in 2018, Muslim and Jewish leaders work together to build strong communities and safeguard religious freedom and pluralism in Europe.

We Build Capacity

At KAICIID, we believe that sustainable peace and social cohesion require individuals and institutions equipped with the skills to foster dialogue and collaboration. Our capacity-building initiatives are designed to empower leaders, policymakers, and civil society actors to address conflicts, promote understanding, and create inclusive societies. By providing training, resources, and expertise, we help communities build the foundations for lasting peace and cooperation, aligned with our mission to advance global peace through interreligious and intercultural dialogue. 

Global Capacity Building 

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We Work Regionally

KAICIID is dedicated to impacting every corner of the world with the transformative power of dialogue. In places torn apart by discrimination and conflict, we recognise that it is often religious leaders and faith-based organizations who serve as trusted mediators and ambassadors of peace. In our field programmes in Africa, the Arab Region, Asia and Europe, we host trainings and workshops which purposely bring opposing parties to the table in order to support them with dialoguing across difference and finding shared values. Our local platforms and networks also provide opportunities for collaboration, knowledge-sharing and resources, as well as training in dialogue facilitation. We believe that when we are united together, we can accomplish so much more.

We work regionally
Platforms

KAICIID’s dialogue platforms, based on interreligious partnerships, address the main drivers of conflict through policy and advocacy, as well as local dialogue initiatives at the grassroots level. Our regional platforms convene diverse high-ranking religious leaders, harnessing their authority, influence, and vast numbers of followers. They also bring together members of grassroots organizations, with a focus on women and young people, to multiply our reach and turn dialogue into action.

Platforms
Conferences

Our global conferences and fora convene, among other relevant stakeholders from a variety of fields, religious leaders, policymakers and representatives of civil society organizations to address global challenges and threats to peaceful, cohesive communities. From our annual European Policy Dialogue Forum to the G20 Interfaith Forum, we have gathered thousands of participants to discuss issues such as combatting hate speech, using dialogue to support global development, and tackling violent extremism and the manipulation of religion to justify violence.

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