Manama: A major inter-civilisations dialogue conference is set to open in Bahrain on Monday, bringing together representatives of a wide spectrum of religions, sects and cultures.
Shaikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the President of the Higher Organising Committee of the Conference of “Civilisations and cultures in the service of humanity,” said that he looked forward to the adoption by the participants of the Manama Document at the end of the three-day global gathering.
“The recommendations of the conference will be referred to HM the King, the patron of the event, to adopt them as part of the Manama Documents,” Shaikh Khalifa said. “The document would include the noble principles of the pluralism and diversity that serve humanity. The United Nations will be urged to adopt it as one of its formal documents. One recommendation is to designate Bahrain as a major hub in the universal process of dialogues among civilisations,” he told the media in the Bahraini capital Manama.
The conference emphasises the need for tolerance and respect for religious and intellectual diversity and for the protection of human rights, he added.
“It also promotes dialogue, understanding and peaceful coexistence among all civilisations, religions and cultures in all their diversity. The main themes focus on human rapprochement and its effect on the welfare of people and on the concept that civilisations should not conflict with one another. In fact, their divergences should lead to their alliances. The themes will also include the role of religious, academic and media institutions in strengthening bonds between humans and in consolidating co-existence and pluralism. The conference will also highlight how human rights and democracy are the outcome of civilisations,” he said.
Shaikh Khalifa stressed that the conference emphasises the need for tolerance and respect for religious, cultural and intellectual diversity and for the protection of human rights and freedoms.
“It also seeks to build mutual trust and to promote dialogue, understanding and peaceful coexistence among all civilisations, religions and cultures. Another goal is to stimulate joint efforts in protecting individuals and communities from the dangers of intolerance and religious or ethnic hatred,” he told reporters.
The conference brings together international organisations and institutions, thinkers and intellectuals from more than 15 countries as well as 350 political, academic, literary and cultural figures from Bahrain, he added.
“The conference will not be a repeat of slogans, no matter how attractive they may sound. We want to move forward and we want to make sure that our recommendations are supported by the expertise of the United Nations,” he said.
Shaikh Khalifa said that while the world started to focus on dialogues on a global scale in 2005, Bahrain had the merit of organising and hosting an interfaith dialogue in 2002.
“We had a conference for a dialogue between Muslims and Christians in 2002 and another conference for rapprochement between sects in 2003. We also had a dialogue among civilisations in 2005. The call by HM the King to host the global inter-civilisational dialogue was based on his commitment to consolidating the values of tolerance and dialogue between all civilisations, cultures, religions and sects. It is in line with the rich and deep-rooted traditions in Bahrain, a country that can boast of 5,000 years of civilisations and of commendable contributions to humanity, open communications and interactions between civilisations,” he said.
