Date posted: May 29, 2015

African Heads of states and religious leaders have launched the ‘African Initiative on Education for Peace and Development through Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue‘ in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.



The International conference is sponsored by the Republic of Benin Ministry of Education with the support from the African Union , ECOWAS and UNESCO. The two day conference opened by President Boni Yayi, of the Republic of Benin at the Palace De Congress in Cotonou, Benin. Over 100 religious leaders across Africa have converged on Cotonou, the Republic of Benin’s capital for the symposium.

Launching the initiative on behalf of African leaders, President Yayi Boni, of the Republic of Benin , who is also the African Union Chairman urged member states and it’s people to use inter religious and cultural dialogue to resolve the conflicts ravaging Africa and the world at large. He said the current spate of religious and racial conflicts across Africa are great concerns to African leaders.

The UN Secretary General , Ban Ki Moon delivered a message to the symposium. In his own remark , he called for tolerance and mutual harmony among various religious and cultural groups as basic solutions to tolerance and peaceful coexistence. Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church expressed dissatisfaction over the rate of fanaticism and extremism among religious and cultural groups in Africa. He applauded the African leaders for the initiative to launch education for peace development through inter religious and cultural dialogue.

Mr. Huseyin Hurmali; Vice President of Journalists and Writers Foudation attended to symposium and delivered his speech on The Role of Hizmet Movement in Promoting Culture of Peace by Interfaith Dialog: Journalists and Writers Foundation. He called the world leaders unite among mutual understanding against ignorance.

He presented the activities of the Foundation in terms of the role of interfaith dialogue in maintaining the culture of peace. He also talked about Mr.Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet Movement as the theoretical background of the Foundation.

During his speech he noted that The Journalists and Writers Foundation expanded its scope of intercultural dialogue activities with the United Nations ECOSOC General Consultative Status. The Foundation started to co-operate with different offices all over the world. Representative offices were opened in New York, Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi and recently in Addis Ababa. Some of the featured events of the foundation realized under the department of Global Affairs.

Source: The Journalists and Writers Foundation , May 28, 2015

Tags: Africa | Education | Journalists and Writers Foundation | Peacebuilding |