More than 70 grassroots peacebuilders from around the world convened at KAICIID from 24 November to 4 December for dialogue trainings, programme evaluation and the graduation of the 2016 class of the KAICIID Fellows Programme. These peacebuilders, the KAICIID Fellows, come from many walks of life, religious traditions and countries, but have one thing in common – their dedication to fostering a culture of peace and respect through interreligious dialogue.

The Fellows are active, passionate peacemakers who have tremendously interesting histories and lives and are on the forefront of promoting dialogue and fostering peace and social cohesion in their communities. Through the programme, they have completed extensive dialogue training and peacebuilding projects in their own communities with the support and guidance of KAICIID.

The 2016 Fellows implemented their initiatives that called on their individual talents to reach out to youth, women, young religious leaders or their communities to promote peace through dialogue. Some of them included projects that have boosted women into leadership roles as dialogue facilitators in Nigeria, promoted understanding between Confucians and Muslims in Indonesia, introduced students to different religious and indigenous communities in Northern Argentina, and even built a mobile phone adventure game requiring dialogue skills to overcome complex and engaging challenges.