IRD Activities

• Interfaith Dialogue in Sri Lanka

  Since 2008, the Centre for Peace Building and Reconciliation (CPBR) has been developing strong relationships with leaders from Sri Lanka's diverse religious and ethnic communities, focusing on cultivating their capacity for personal and inter-personal transformation through intrafaith engagement. These efforts paved the way for interfaith encounters later in 2010, and the establishment and staffing of interfaith dialogue centres in 2012 in six regions of Sri Lanka in order to promote a culture of cooperation and inclusivity in these communities and to support an interfaith network that spans the country. Since then, CPBR has been strengthening the capacity of religious, community, women, and youth leaders to engage their communities in dialogue and mobilise them towards social advocacy. In this latter phase, the Salam Institute has contributed to CPBR's impressive efforts by offering intensive training in interfaith dialogue and advocacy to its religious, community, and youth leaders, representing Sinhalese Buddhists and Christians, Tamil Hindus and Christians, and Muslims

• Peace through Development I

  Within the context of educational reforms and capacity building of Arabic schools in Chad, civic education for peace and diversity has been identified as a tool to prevent ethnic and religious tension and to enhance existing practices of tolerance and coexistence. The cultivation of divisions between ethnic groups, which is prevalent within the education system, needed to be directly addressed to foster lasting peace and mutual understanding. In 2010 and 2011, the Salam Institute was a partner in the USAID-funded Peace through Development I project in Chad and Niger implemented by the Academy for Educational Development. As part of this project, the Salam Institute executed five complementary projects--Introducing Civic Education for Peace & Diversity in ISESCO's Arabic Schools in Chad/ Building local capacity in Inter-Faith Dialogue in Chad/ Training of Trainers for Imams in Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution in Chad/ Introducing Civic Education for Peace & Diversity in Nigerien Quranic Schools/ Regional Conference to Support Reform and Modernization of Nigerien and Chadian Quranic Schools

• Peace through Development II (PDev II)

  Building off the success of the first project phase, the Salam Institute is currently involved in the project's second phase, Peace through Development I. This innovative project is implemented in Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso and aims to Empower Youth/ Increase Moderate Voices/ Increase Civil Society Capacity to Address Community Issues/ and Strengthen Local Government. As part of PDEVII, the Salam Institute is undertaking a series of complementary activities including Introducing civic education for peace and diversity in Quranic schools of Chad, Niger, and Burkina Faso/ Building the capacity of teacher training centres in delivering a civic education for peace and diversity curriculum/ Conducting trainings for Imams and religious leaders in faith-based peacebuilding and conflict resolution/ Facilitating intra and inter-faith dialogue workshops/ Establishing a rapid response clergy council to mitigate against escalating sectarian violence/ and Fostering the development of a regional network of Islamic peacebuilders

• Domestic Inter-faith Dialogue

  In partnership with the Fuller Theological Seminary, the Salam Institute organised and facilitated a series of interfaith dialogue workshops between American Muslims and Evangelical Christians. These dialogue sessions covered the full spectrum of views and opinions held by American Muslims on peace and dialogue with Evangelicals, and included an outreach component to different members of the community living in the United States. Toward this aim, the Salam Institute has entered into a collaborative partnership with the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Graduate School of Islamic Social Sciences (GSISS), and the Mohamed Said Farsi Chair of Islamic Peace at American University.

Main Focus Countries of Activities

Sri Lanka - Chad - Niger - Chad - Niger - Burkina Faso - USA