Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is distinct from syncretism or alternative religion, in that dialogue often involves promoting understanding between different religions or beliefs to increase acceptance of others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs.
The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, otherwise known as the Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, or HD, is a private diplomacy organisation based in Switzerland that assists in mediation between conflicting parties to prevent or end armed conflicts. Founded in 1999, the aim of the organisation is to promote and facilitate dialogue among the leadership of the main belligerents.
The Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA) is an Israeli-based non-profit organization. Its primary purpose is to foster dialogue between different religious groups within the Holy Land. This is done on a grass roots level and throughout Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Marc H. Tanenbaum (1925–1992) was a human rights and social justice activist and rabbi. He was known for building bridges with other faith communities to advance mutual understanding and co-operation and to eliminate entrenched stereotypes, particularly ones rooted in religious teachings.
Mohammed Abu-Nimer is an American expert on conflict resolution and dialogue for peace. He is a full professor at the American University School of International Service in International Peace and Conflict Resolution in Washington, DC, the largest school of international relations in the United States.
Josiah Atkins Idowu-Fearon is a Nigerian Anglican bishop. Since 2015, he has been Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council. He was previously the Bishop of Kaduna diocese and the Archbishop of the Province of Kaduna in the Church of Nigeria.
World Interfaith Harmony Week is a UN resolution for a worldwide week of interfaith harmony proposed in 2010 by King Abdullah II and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan. The World Interfaith Harmony Week falls in the first week of February of every year and aims to promote harmony between all people regardless of their faith.
The Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center is a non-governmental organization for promoting peaceful religious coexistence based out of Amman, Jordan. It focuses on fostering interfaith dialogue on a grassroots level and creating interreligious harmony. The JICRC is currently run by its founder and director, Father Nabil Haddad.
The Interfaith Center of New York (ICNY) is a secular educational non-profit organization founded in 1997 by the Very Reverend James Parks Morton. ICNY programs work to connect religious leaders and their communities with civil organizations and each other.
James Wuye is an Assemblies of God Pastor and co-director with Imam Muhammad Ashafa of the Interfaith Mediation Center of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Kaduna, Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria.
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, globally known by its abbreviation, KAICIID, is an inter-governmental organization that promotes inter-religious dialogue to prevent and resolve conflict. KAICIID was opened in 2012 by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Austria and the Kingdom of Spain, following the initiative of King Abdullah of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Holy See is a founding observer. KAICIID has attracted controversy over concern with Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and restrictive domestic religious environment.
Ephraim Isaac is a scholar of ancient Semitic Languages & Civilization, and African/Ethiopian Languages and Religion. He is the Director of the Institute of Semitic Studies and the Chair of the Board of the Ethiopian Peace and Development Center.
The Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group is a non-violent conflict resolution group established in 1992 in San Mateo, California. Its first meeting was held in a local neighborhood residence. As of September 2019, the group remained active and continued to meet monthly in members' homes. The one-to-one, face-to-face method of conflict resolution, modeled by this dialogue group, was increasingly looked to globally by educators, researchers, journalists, activists, trainers, and strategists including the U.S. Department of State, which distributes the dialogue group's instructive films in Africa.
Esther Ibanga is a Nigerian pastor and founder of the "Women Without Walls Initiative". She won the 32nd Niwano Peace Prize for promoting peace among people of different ethnic groups and religions in Jos, Nigeria.
Jamila Afghani is a feminist and an activist for women's rights and education in Afghanistan. She is the founder and executive director of Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization (NECDO). She is also an executive member of the umbrella organization, Afghan Women's Network (AWN).
Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding is a secular non-profit organization that works to promote mutual respect and understanding and fight religious prejudice in workplaces, schools, health care settings and conflict zones. Headquartered in New York, New York, Tanenbaum was founded in 1992 by Georgette Bennett in memory of her late husband, Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum. Tanenbaum's activity revolves around five programs: religion and diversity in the workplace, religion in education, religion and healthcare, religion and conflict resolution, and the religious roots of prejudice and interreligious affairs.
Hind Aboud Kabawat is a Syrian-Canadian international counsel, Director of Interfaith Peacebuilding at George Mason University's Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution and deputy head of the Syrian Negotiation Commission's Geneva Office.
The Religious Peace Initiative is an effort founded by Rabbi Michael Melchior to promote dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.
Intercultural dialogue (ICD) "occurs when members of different cultural groups, who hold conflicting opinions and assumptions, speak to one another in acknowledgment of those differences". It builds upon the concept of dialogue, which refers to at least two people holding a conversation. And it builds upon the term intercultural, which is typically used to refer to people communicating across differences in nationality, race and ethnicity, or religion. Dialogue has several meanings: it sometimes refers to dialogue in a script, which simply means people talking, but more often it refers to "a quality of communication characterized by the participants' willingness and ability simultaneously to be radically open to the other(s) and to articulate their own views. ... Dialogue's primary goal is understanding rather than agreement."
