Excellency,

As an active group of Indonesian citizens, belonging to different religious affiliations and aspiring
to promote interreligious cooperation, we are honored to write to you in order to invite you to
consider an active engagement of our homeland, the Republic of Indonesia with the International
Dialogue Centre (KAICIID).
KAICIID was established in 2012 as an intergovernmental organization, founded by Austria, Saudi
Arabia, Spain and the Holy See as founding Observer, forming the Council of Parties. KAICIID is
unique among all inter-governmental organizations in that it is governed by both sovereign states
and religious leaders. In addition to its Council of Parties, KAICIID’s Board of Directors is
composed of nine religious leaders from the leading religions of the world (in alphabetic order:
Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam). This unique setup allows KAICIID to successfully
build bridges between religious leaders and policymakers and to emerge as a key player in
promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue to foster respect, understanding and
cooperation among people and to counteract the abuse of religion to justify oppression, violence,
and conflict.
As KAICIID Fellows, we have had the chance to participate in the one-year capacity-building
Fellowship programme, which brings together leaders and educators from Buddhist, Christian,
Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and other religious backgrounds from around the world and provides
training in dialogue facilitation, intercultural communication and promoting social cohesion.
As active and proud citizens of Indonesia, we work to uphold and further promote the culture of
peace which is an inherent part of our society, rich in diverse religious and cultural communities.
In this context, we would like to emphasize the importance of KAICIID’s work and its relevance
for, which we see as multifold.
On the one hand, we had the chance to promote the leading example of Indonesia as a model of
interreligious and intercultural cooperation. On the other hand, active engagement with KAICIID
allowed us to further develop our skills on interreligious dialogue and disseminate our knowledge
in our own communities, facilitating thus dialogue and multiplying the peace messages across our
country and beyond. For your convenience, a summary of activities we implement in our local
communities to foster tolerance and co-existence is attached to this letter.
Excellencies, taking into consideration our experience with KAICIID, and the ever-present need
to promote messages of peace and interreligious and intercultural cooperation in today’s world
challenged by intolerance and violence, we invite you to consider engaging in a partnership with
KAICIID.
With the assurance of our highest consideration,
Sincerely,

Zon Vanel, S.S., M.Si.

Jl. Slamet Riyadi. No. 580, RT 003/ RW 03, Jajar, Laweyan, Kota Surakarta (Solo) Jawa Tengah, Indonesia
Email: lembagaperdamaianindonesia@mail.com. Website: lpi-indonesia.org