Apart from USCIRF, US Congress-funded USIP organises meet in dharamsala

NEW DELHI: It was not just United States Commission of International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) whose representative was present in Dharmashala last week for an inter-faith meet of anti-Beijing dissidents, US Congress-funded US Institute of Peace (USIP) simultaneously organized a meeting between Dalai Lama and youth from 14-violence hit countries across Asia and Africa in the same Himachal Pradesh town.

The Tibetan Spiritual leader was the common factor in both the conferences held away from the public glare and media lenses. While ‘Strengthening Our Alliance to Advance the Peoples’ Dream: Freedom, Justice, Equality and Peace’ was the initiative of Citizen Power for China (CFC), USIP brought youth from 14-violence affected countries across Asia and Africa -- Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Uganda -- to hold dialogue with Dalai Lama.

India has key economic and strategic interests in some of these countries including Afghanistan, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt besides growing energy interests in Iraq and Sudan and security interests in Syria.

"The U.S. Institute of Peace and His Holiness the Dalai Lama have joined in a project to strengthen the abilities of youth leaders working to build peace in the world’s most violent regions... This dialogue will help them build practical skills and personal resilience they need to work against the tensions or violence in their homelands," said a note by USIP.

In Dharamsala, the youth leaders from 14 countries shared their experiences and ideas on improving their communities’ abilities to manage conflict nonviolently, by drawing on human values of compassion and their communities’ own resources. They held morning dialogues with the Dalai Lama on ways to build inner strength for their work. Afternoons included exchanges with local youth and discussions on the roles of spiritual values in peacebuilding, of prejudice and extremism in conflict, and of effective interfaith engagement, according to USIP.

Participants in this program, in their 20s and early 30s, are peace-builders from 14 countries: Many have faced war or been uprooted by it. Some have lost friends or family to bloodshed; others have lived in exile as refugees. Their work in their includes mediating in conflicts and training others to do so; helping refugee communities; and documenting human rights violations and war crimes, according to USIP.

The USIP is an independent, nonpartisan institution established and funded by Congress to increase US capacity to manage international conflict without violence.