Bahrain celebrates International Day of Human Fraternity

New York , Feb. 5 (BNA): Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Jamal Faris Al-Ruwaei, affirmed that the Kingdom of Bahrain, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and with the follow-up of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, always seeks to consolidate the values of tolerance and openness among all people and cultures. He stressed Bahrain’s drive to adhere to the noble human values and the values of tolerance, brotherhood and coexistence adding that the Kingdom has chosen peace as an approach and dialogue as a strategic choice. This came during the participation of the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations in New York in the celebration of the International Day of Human Fraternity. The event was organized by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the permanent missions of the United Arab Emirates and the Arab Republic of Egypt via video communication on Friday. Ambassador Al-Ruwaei expressed the Kingdom's pride in participating with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Arab Republic of Egypt in presenting Resolution No. 75/200, which declared February 4th as the International Day of Human Fraternity. He said that Bahrain is home of cultural pluralism and land of tolerance between religions, sects and cultures, where everyone can practice their rituals and enjoy all their rights regardless of their beliefs, highlighting the inauguration of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia in December 2021. He noted that the Kingdom has undertaken many initiatives to transmit its culture rooted in tolerance, peace and peaceful coexistence, which includes the establishment of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence, which is a leading centre in promoting religious freedom, interfaith dialogue, peaceful coexistence, human diversity and combating terrorism and extremism, violence and hatred. He highlighted the establishement of the King Hamad Academy for Cyber Peace, the King Hamad Chair in Inter-Faith Dialogue and Peaceful Coexistence at the Italian Sapienza University, and the Declaration of the Kingdom of Bahrain. He noted the Isa Award for Service to Humanity, which aims to recognize and reward the contributions of those who want to change the world for the better through their knowledge, hard work, dedication, and innovation that helps restore confidence in the charitable human spirit, and achieve a better world for future generations. On the other hand, the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations in New York, in cooperation with the Permanent Missions of the Kingdom of Morocco, Canada, the Republic of Sierra Leone and the Holy See, co-sponsored an event on “Faith and Spiritual Leadership to Combat Stigma and Conflict while Recovering from the Pandemic”, which was organized last Thursday. The Permanent Representative explained during the event that the pandemic has created great and multiple challenges, especially with regard to access to education, public health and technology in the world. He stressed the need for countries to promote collective and multilateral work in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, including religious and spiritual leaders, and to affirm the values of tolerance, dialogue and peaceful coexistence among different religions and cultures. He said that the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence organized the first annual conference on the role of education in peaceful coexistence under the slogan “Ignorance is the enemy of peace” in December 2021, which was attended by regional and global institutions. He added that this conference comes at a time when it is imperative for all of us to take proactive steps to protect our children and youth from extremist ideologies and hate speech, through education and promoting the values of tolerance and peaceful coexistence.