The “Global Council for Tolerance and Peace” and ” The League of Arab States” Organize an International Conference to Discuss Efforts to Combat Hatred and Intolerance

In Cairo, October 17, the News Agency – WAM

stated that the League of Arab States and the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace organized a high-level international Conference entitled “Tolerance, Peace and Sustainable Development in the Arab World”, under the patronage of His Excellency Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States in Cairo.

The Conference was chaired on behalf of the Council, by His Excellency Ahmed bin Muhammad Al-Jarwan, President of the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace, and on behalf of the League of Arab States, by the Ambassador Dr. Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, in the presence of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and His Beatitude Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for the Maronite Church, and the Ministers of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs in the Arab countries.

The Conference aims to shed light on the efforts of international governmental and non-governmental organizations in combating hatred and intolerance and spreading a culture of tolerance, analyzing the legislative reality of anti-hatred laws in national and international law, discussing visions for their development, monitoring obstacles and challenges facing the fight against hatred and intolerance, and working on the development of an Arab strategy for tolerance and peace.

In his speech at the opening of the plenary session, Al-Jarwan stressed that the Conference aims to foresee a future vision for spreading the culture of tolerance and consolidating its principles for sustainable peace and development in the Arab world by discussing the role of religious, legislative, journalistic, media, educational and cultural institutions. The Conference will also discuss the development of an Arab strategy for tolerance and peace that contributes to the sustainability of the promotion of the values of tolerance and peace in order to sustain development in the Arab world.

This Conference was held in light of the recognition of the fact that extremism and intolerance in all its forms have become the most serious scourge affecting both developing and developed societies as such phenomena threatens the sustainability of peace and development, destroys the fabric of the state’s society, and impedes its economic progress and social development. In the era of open skies and direct contacts between people around the globe, no country will be able to confront these scourges without coordinating efforts with other countries and agreeing on an international future vision to confront them.

The Conference will be attended by a number of official delegations of Arab countries headed by the Ministers of Culture, Information, Endowments and Religious Affairs, in addition to the participation of a group of international organizations such as UNESCO, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Organization.

The Conference will discuss during the rest of its sessions the role of art and the press in spreading the values of tolerance and the sustainability of community peace as well as ways to combat hatred in national legislation and international law and the role of international organizations in consolidating the principles of tolerance in society. Additionally, The Conference will address the theme of combating hatred and promoting a culture of tolerance in religious discourse between reality and hope and discuss the relationship of tolerance to the sustainability of development at the regional and global levels and the responsibility of educational and research institutions to address hate issues and spread the values of tolerance, in addition to combating hatred and spreading a culture of tolerance in post-conflict societies.