The Board of Trustees of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace convened its sixteenth regular meeting in Abu Dhabi from April 28 to 30, 2025, under the leadership of His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, with broad participation from council members around the globe.
This periodic meeting served as a significant opportunity to reflect on lessons learned and to explore strategic horizons for a decade of substantial achievements and dedicated efforts towards fostering a culture of peace and coexistence.
His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah noted that the forum was established in accordance with the vision set forth by our nation’s leadership, which focuses on promoting goodness, collaborating on righteousness, and extending peace to the world.
He added that over the past decade, the forum has accomplished numerous milestones, launched several historic initiatives, and issued foundational documents that have significantly contributed to enhancing the culture of dialogue on both regional and international levels, such as the Marrakech Declaration on the Rights of Religious Minorities, the Abu Dhabi Declaration on Comprehensive Citizenship, and the New Charter of the Alliance of Virtue.
His Excellency emphasized that in light of the contemporary challenges facing the world, there is a pressing need to intensify sincere efforts to nurture the peace that has been planted in Abu Dhabi, fostering it with love and brotherhood, to prevent it from being uprooted by conflicts. He further clarified that the forum aspires to broaden partnerships and diversify collaborators globally and functionally to achieve a deeper impact in promoting a culture of happy coexistence and to convey its benefits to wider communities worldwide through building institutions and providing meaningful content through educational curricula, artistic and technical media, and other means.
The board also reviewed the forum’s achievements in the areas of dialogue and intercultural cooperation. The members highlighted the importance of strengthening institutional efforts, presenting a series of proposals aimed at amplifying the forum’s impact, targeting youth, enhancing multilingual digital content, and creating international cooperation networks to support peace-building initiatives.
The Board of Trustees praised the commendable efforts of the late Pope Francis in supporting human dialogue, commending his initiatives for peace and fostering partnerships with various institutions within the Islamic world across numerous fields.