Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Common Citizenship

[ 69 ] — PANEL DISCUSSION TWO — are strategic partners for KAICIID. Also joining us today are representatives from non-governmental organizations. These include the Network of Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, the Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development, the World Organization of the Scouts Move- ment, and Religions for Peace. I want to take a moment to talk specifically about Reli- gions for Peace, because that institution goes back to the origin of KAICIID. We see the example set by Religions for Peace in many of the initiatives that we implement at the Centre. I want to pay tribute to their experience and knowledge, as well as to their Secretary General, Dr. Wil- liam Vendley. I’m very proud to say that today, and over the past fewmonths, we have been in the process of implement- ing a common initiative in Latin America. Today, we are speaking about intergovernmental organ- izations, non-governmental organizations, and also about religious leaders. I want to highlight that the combination of those three actors is what summarizes the vision and the approach of KAICIID. That is very much embedded in the structure of KAICIID through the governing bodies of the organization: the Council of Parties, the Board of Directors and the Advisory Forum. We’re very proud to speak with you all today because we think that the active involvement of those three main actors will have a very positive impact in society and in the world as a whole. We hope we will be able to work together in that field. I would like to finish by saying something that has been said already by my good friend, UN Special Adviser, Adama Dieng, who talked about the conditions in Syria, Myanmar, and in all of those other countries in which religion has been manipulated to justify violence. We know that there have been many casualties and we want to denounce the situation in those areas and to show solidarity with the vic- tims of those attacks. Those sentiments have been reflected many times in statements from our Board of Directors but I wanted to close today by affirming them once more. Ambassador Alvaro Albacete KAICIID Deputy Secretary General From February 2014, Ambassador Albacete served KAICIID as special adviser to the Secretary General for public diplomacy. Since then he has been a leader in developing and implementing KAICIID’s use of interreligious dialogue for peacebuilding in particular in the Central African Republic and Nigeria. Previously, Ambassador Albacete was Ambassador at Large dealing with interreligious and intercultural dialogue for the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has worked for the European Commission in Bosnia-Herzegovina as an adviser in the area of good government for the Presidency of the State and the Ministry of European Integration between 1999 and 2002. He has also worked for the Inter-American Development Bank in Argentina, Bolivia, Panama and Paraguay, and has been a guest professor of the École Nationale d’Administration of France. He was trained in Driving Government Performance by the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Ambassador Albacete has served in diverse positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain, including the Division for the United Nations, Director of Parliamentary Affairs, Deputy Director of the Minister’s Cabinet and Ambassador. As Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Albacete develops and coordinates KAICIID policy and action at the wider international level, in close cooperation with the European Union, the United Nations and other international organizations. At the same time, he promotes dialogue and cooperation with non-Member States and designs and implements KAICIID’s membership enlargement strategy. We are speaking about intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and also about religious leaders. I want to highlight that the combination of those three actors is what summarizes the vision and the approach of KAICIID