Dagestan to host III International Youth Interfaith Forum

Makhachkala, July 30, 2016. The first change of the III International Interreligious Youth Forum will take place today, July 30, in the recreation center "Sunny Beach" in Dagestan. The Forum will last till August 3, the spokesperson of the Committee on Freedom of Conscience, Cooperation with Religious Organizations of the Republic of Dagestan Gyulahmed Mallaliev said.

"This year's Forum will be held in three shifts in the three republics of the Northern Caucasus - Dagestan (July 30 - August 4), Chechnya (August 16-20) and Ingushetia (August 23-26). The forum will be attended by about 400 young people aged 18 - 30 from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia-Alania, the Chechen Republic, Krasnodar Territory, Stavropol Territory, as well as from Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Azerbaijan and other countries", - the source informs.

According to Mallaliev, the Forum is aimed at strengthening inter-ethnic and inter-religious harmony in youth, education benevolent perception of ethnic cultural diversity of the North Caucasus and Russia as a whole.

The program of the 1st change envisages scheduled activities aimed at personal development of the participants, meetings with prominent religious, political, sports and public figures, discussion platforms, sports, intellectual games and a VIP-lecture.

The Forum organizers are the Government of Dagestan, Makhachkala diocese, Mufti of the republic of Dagestan, the Council of Jewish Communities of the Republic of Dagestan, Interregional Youth Laboratory on the problems of the Caucasus, with the support of NBF "Foundation for the Support of Islamic Culture, Science and Education" and the religious and youth organizations of North Caucasian Federal District.

The Committee on Freedom of Conscience, Cooperation with Religious Organizations of the Republic of Dagestan, on behalf of the Government of Dagestan acts as a moderator of the event. About 150 young people, representing the Orthodox, Islam and Judaism applied for the participation in the first change of the Forum. Besides, the Forum organizers invited religious figures, specialists in the field of state-confessional relations and known public figures as the experts of the Forum.