CEC’s work on human rights and the project Safer and Stronger Communities in Europe (SASCE) was presented at a House of Lords event hosted by Lord John Alderdice in London. The event held on 6 July launched the UNESCO Inclusion, Rights and Dialogue Section Youth Academy for Transformative Leadership.
CEC Executive Secretary Dr Elizabeta Kitanovic contributed to the discussion, sharing about CEC’s work for human rights, including CEC Summer School on Human Rights.
Kitanovic shared how the SASCE project is developing training on security protection of the worship places. “This is a first European project where interreligious dialogue was transformed into an interfaith cooperation to protect worship places and religious communities,” she said.
She shared that SASCE is raising awareness about issues of security and safety of the worship places in 14 European countries, and is bringing religious communities together. It is strengthening interreligious cooperation on daily basis by giving an example to young people to work together for the protection of dignity, integrity and identity of religious communities in Europe.
The UNESCO initiative encourages meaningful youth engagement in collective healing, human rights, peace and justice issues. This initiative gained support from various stakeholders including Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace, Global Humanity for Peace Institute at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, KAICIID Dialogue Centre, Fetzer Institute, Pontifical Foundation Scholas Occurentes, Fratelli Tutti Political School, and other institutions.
At the event, Lord Alderdice joined by Anna Maria Majlof, chief of UNESCO Rights, Inclusion and Dialogue Section, in speaking about dialogue on the importance of learning to engage with diverse cultures, religions [with room for improvement in CEC], and traditional practices. It was stressed that such projects should be valued and systematically included in schooling, higher education, or young leadership programmes.
