Within the efforts of CEOSS to promote cultural pluralism and community peace, the Cultural Dialogue Forum organized a number of activities in Aswan Governorate last November as part of the Community Cohesion Program, which is to be implemented by the Forum over the years 2022-2023. A group of youth religious leaders, NGOs and academics in the two governorates of Aswan and Assiut, contributed in this program.
And the activities were as follows:
– “Our Peace in Our Dialogue” initiative: with the aim of building the capacities for conflict resolution of a group of community and youth leaders in Aswan Governorate. A group of academics was hired to study scientifically the nature of Aswan society and how to avoid any kind of conflict there.
– “Persuasion and Influencing Skills” workshop: The workshop targeted 25 participants from young academics, civil society and religious leaders in the governorates of Assiut and Aswan through applying the self-learning experience through research, constructing valid arguments, debate and effective presentation. During the workshop, the dialogue revolved around a number of current issues such as climate change, cultural rights, the principle of equal opportunity and other issues related to supporting dialogue within society.
– “Dialogue with the Environment” initiative: This initiative comes as one of the outcomes of the Forum’s work on the issue of environmental citizenship during this year, in light of the international and local interest in climate and environmental issues. The initiative was implemented by a group of young people participating in the Community Cohesion Program through a number of Sports activities, which illustrates the relationship between harming the environment and the possibility of conflicts and disputes. Field visits were carried out to natural places in Aswan Governorate, such as Ferial Park, to illustrate the importance of preserving the environment. This initiative comes along the ‘Environmental Citizenship’ Opinion Paper released by the Forum and presented at the Climate Conference – COP 27 to show the Forum’s efforts in this field.
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A number of field visits were carried out to the Philae Temple and the village of West Suhail in Nubia to promote awareness among the program participants of the cultural diversity in the Egyptian heritage that unites all Egyptians.
It is also worth noting that the coordination and implementation of the activities came with the participation and cooperation of the Peacemakers Association in Aswan, which is also participating in the program.
