King Abdulla interfaith centre shifts headquarters to Lisbon

Jeddah: The King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue moved its headquarters from Vienna, Austria, to the Portuguese capital Lisbon, KAICIID announced, Arab News reported. After diplomatic talks were held on the proposal, an agreement was signed on Friday by the KAICIID Council of Parties, consisting of Saudi Arabia, Austria, Spain, the Vatican and officials from the Portuguese government.

KAICIID's secretary-general, Faisal bin Abdul Rahman bin Muammar, signed the agreement along with Portuguese Minister of State and Foreign Affairs Augusto Santos Silva.

Muammar expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the Portuguese government for hosting KAICIID's headquarters to fulfil its vision of encouraging global, humane, meaningful and responsible dialogue, strengthening ties between different religions and cultures. He underlined that KAICIID will continue its work for peaceful coexistence, common citizenship and will combat all forms of hatred and extremism.

KAICIID had launched the social media programme, Dialogue for Peace Program, to train leaders from 12 countries to fight hate speech and extremism through the internet. The Global Centre for Dialogue also contributed to addressing the social and economic repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Muammar said that KAICIID had organized the seventh G20 Interfaith forum hosted by Saudi Arabia in October 2020. He expressed his gratitude towards King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the care, support, follow-up, and attention Saudi provided.

KAICIID was inaugurated in Vienna in 2012 and joined nine other international organizations headquartered in Lisbon.