Opening of the fifth edition of the Interreligious Dialogue by the organizers Dr. Stefanie Brinkel (KAS, top left), Dr. Moquet César Flan (CRPA, top right), Konan Bertin Kouadio (Minister of Reconciliation and National Cohesion, bottom left) and Leo Vinovezky (Ambassador of the State of Israel in Côte d'Ivoire, bottom right)
Group photo with guests of honour from left to right: Ingo Herbert (Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Côte d'Ivoire), Leo Vinovezky (Ambassador of the State of Israel to Côte d'Ivoire), Yasmina Ouegnin (Member of the Ivorian National Assembly for the constituency of Cocody), Dr.Moquet César Flan (Head of CRPA), Konan Bertin Kouadio (Minister of Reconciliation and National Cohesion), Dr Stefanie Brinkel (Head of the Regional Programme Political Dialogue West Africa (PDWA)), Youness Ahmadi (Political Attaché, Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco) and Alexandra Salomonsova (Attachée to the European Union in Côte d'Ivoire)
Music unites all religions, Moncia Manaker-Vinovezky and Toumani Diabaté
On the topic of religion as an actor in peacebuilding, representatives of different religions discuss on the four panels. Above: Ambassador Leo Vinovezky, Imam Dosso Amadou (lawyer, Imam of the ARTCI mosque and member of COSIM), Kambou Dabilla (pastor and vice-president of the Forum of Religious Confessions of the Gbêkê Region), Victor-Emuel Ekwa-Bebe III (moderator and staff member) and Prof. Koffi Aza (President of the National Council of Indigenous Cults of Benin, connected via video conference);
below: Imam Dosso Mamadou (CNI), Dr. Kouamé Felix Grodji, sociologist and lecturer at the University of Alassane Ouattara in Bouaké), Victor-Emmanuel Ekwa-Bebe III (moderator and KAS staff member), Rabbi Yerahmiel Bensaid and Père Colbert Goudjinou (connected via video conference from Cotonu).
After the individual panels, the participants took an active part in the discussions. On the second day, there was lively debate in the working groups to come up with various proposals for solutions
On the 8th and 9th of March 2022, the fifth edition of the Interreligious Dialogue, which is jointly organised by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Regional Programme Political Dialogue in West Africa (PDWA), the Centre de Recherche Politique d'Abidjan (CRPA) and the Israeli Embassy, took place in Abidjan. At this year's edition, the topics discussed included:
- Religion as an instrument for peace
- What strategies are there against religious extremism?
- Religious discourse on the test bench of coexistence
In addition to the numerous discussions with religious representatives, the participants were able to work out strategies in workshops to redefine the role and tasks of religions as actors of social cohesion.