ABU DHABI/WASHINGTON – The Muslim Council of Elders (MCE), in collaboration with Georgetown University and the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, launched a joint program to familiarize university students with the values of human fraternity and provide a global network and platform for students around the world to generate creative ideas for advancing intercultural and interreligious solidarity in practice. 

Taking the Document on Human Fraternity—signed by MCE Chairman His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Professor Ahmed Al-Tayeb and His Holiness Pope Francis in 2019 —as a point of departure, the Global Student Dialogues are an opportunity for students at colleges and universities to address these questions in dynamic virtual conversations with their global peers. 

The Global Student Dialogues on Human Fraternity will virtually convene students around the world for 90-minute conversations (in English) to share their impressions of the Document on Human Fraternity, discuss its relevance to their local contexts and campus communities, and brainstorm solutions to human fraternity challenges such as poverty, social inequality, violence, and climate change. 

The program builds upon the Building Interreligious Solidarity Global Student Conference held at Georgetown University in September 2022, which was co-organized by the MCE. The Secretary-General of the Council Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam said, “With the Global Student Dialogues on Human Fraternity, MCE aim to foster a culture of coexistence among the future generation of leaders in our world – students that represent a rich diversity of national, religious, and ethnic identities,”.

“This program with Georgetown University is another example of how the Document on Human Fraternity continues to transform societies since its launch to the world from Abu Dhabi in 2019,” he added.

The Dialogues will begin in February 2023 and conclude in May. Any student currently enrolled at an institution of higher education is eligible to apply. 

Applications for the Global Student Dialogues on Human Fraternity are now open. The deadline to apply is Friday, February 4, 2023 – the UN-recognized International Day of Human Fraternity. Interested students are invited to apply at:

https://humanfraternitydialogues.georgetown.edu/