KACIID Conducts Meeting with Religious Representatives and the Core Group of the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions

Vienna, 16 October 2018: KAICIID convened Christian, Muslim, and Jewish religious leaders and members of the core group of the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions to discuss the Network’s academic collaborative project on ‘Religion and Conflict Prevention in the OSCE Context and Involving Religious Leaders and Congregations in Joint Efforts’. This session was part of a two-day workshop in Vienna, organized by the OSCE Network of Thinks Tanks and Academic Institutions with the support of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID).

KAICIID Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Alvaro Albacete, expressed continued support to the OSCE Network, and welcomed its members to the KAICIID premises in a follow up meeting to the Workshop on Religion and Conflict/Religion and Peace under the auspices of the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions, which took place in Maynooth on 13 April 2018. Amb. Albacete said: “We are pleased to bring religious leaders to the dialogue table with policymakers to receive their input and address key questions raised in the study on ‘Religion and Conflict Prevention in the OSCE Context and Involving Religious Leaders and Congregations in Joint Efforts’.

The discussions, moderated by KAICIID Senior Advisor Mohammed Abu-Nimer, focused on receiving feedback from religious leaders on several areas, including: how the constructive cooperation between policymakers and religious leaders can be strengthened, the methodology of engagement between religious leaders and intergovernmental organizations, and the relevant challenges.

Participants took part in a brainstorming session on key issues pertaining to the cooperation of religious leaders and policymakers, which provided a basis for the draft report at the end of the workshop. The organizers collectively agreed: “The contributions of the religious leaders present are instrumental in drafting the final recommendations of the OSCE Network project.”