The 12th Doha Conference for Interfaith Dialogue in Doha, Qatar.
The Dialogue Institute (DI) has been named one of three organizational winners of the 3rd Doha International Award for Interfaith Dialogue 2016. The award, which came with a $15,000 prize, is presented annually by the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID) to honor and appreciate prominent, productive and creative individuals and organizations for their work in the field of interreligious/interfaith dialogue.
The winners were officially announced during the opening ceremony of the 12th Doha Conference for Interfaith Dialogue, held February 16–17, 2016 in Doha, Qatar. DI Founder and President Leonard Swidler was on hand to accept the award and share a presentation about the DI and its accomplishments over the past 35-plus years.
"On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff at the Dialogue Institute, we are grateful to DICID for choosing the DI and for honoring its programs and the work of Professor Swidler in this way," said DI Board Chair Majid Alsayegh. "The award will provide the DI with meaningful additional resources to continue its efforts to educate leaders from around the world in the skills of dialogue, critical thinking and global citizenship—skills that are much needed today."
The theme of this year's Doha Award was "Strategies for Protecting Spiritual and Intellectual Freedom and Security in a Society." In that spirit, the DI's application emphasized its Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI) for Student Leaders on Religious Pluralism, a core program it's been running since 2010 in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State. Highlights of some of the DI's other programs and activities—including the Asia Interreligious Development Network—can be found in the most recent annual report.
