The Enhancing Faith Institutions (EFI) team attended the 3rd European Policy Dialogue Forum on Refugees and Migrants from 19-21 October, 2021 in Lisbon. The Forum was hosted by The International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), the Network for Dialogue and the European Council for Religious Leaders/Religions for Peace Europe (ECRL/RfP Europe). This year, the Forum was also supported by the OSCE (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights).
While the first two days of the Forum this year had the theme “Fostering social inclusion and enhancing participation of refugees and migrants in host societies”, the last day was dedicated to the rising phenomenon of hate speech and how cross-sector collaboration could be the way forward in fighting it.
There were a range of important speakers and participants at this year’s forum including: Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission for Promoting our European Way of Life; Cláudia Pereira, Secretary of State for Integration and Migration of Portugal; Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon; as well as various faith leaders from multiple faith groups across Europe, such as Nedžad Grabus, Grand Mufti of Sarajevo and Co-Chair of the Muslim-Jewish Leadership Council (MJLC), Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis, and Lakshmi Vyas, President of the Hindu Forum Europe.
The EFI team was actively engaging with all the members of the Forum, sharing the important work being done on the SOAR Project in strengthening the security and resilience of at-risk religious sites and communities all across Europe.
