Astana, April 1, 2026
The International Center for Interfaith and Interreligious Dialogue (ICIID) hosted an international online conference titled “The Role of Religious Leaders in Achieving Sustainable Peace and Development.”
During the event, the Center presented two concept documents to its international partners: the “Ethical Code for the Use of Artificial Intelligence” and “The Role of Religions in Combating Climate Change.”
The conference brought together representatives of religious organizations, academic institutions, expert communities, and international organizations from Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, Russia, Argentina, Thailand, North Macedonia, and India.
Discussions focused on implementing the 2025 Astana Peace Declaration and the Development Concept of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions for 2023–2033.
Opening the conference, Maksat Ramankulov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Religious Affairs under the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, highlighted the importance of state-confessional partnership. He noted that the Kazakhstani model demonstrates how civil peace demands joint efforts from secular institutions and religious communities.
Gulsana Kozhabay, Chair of the Center's Board, emphasized that while faith-based diplomacy does not resolve every conflict, it helps to preserve dialogue during periods of acute tension. Referring to the VIII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, held in Astana in September 2025, she noted that Jewish and Muslim representatives remained at the same table and continued engagement despite heightened sensitivities regarding developments in the Middle East.
She also stressed the need to transition faith-based diplomacy into practical action. Among them, she named establishing ethical frameworks for artificial intelligence and mounting a collective response to climate change — two issues addressed by the Center’s current initiatives.
Marwan Sarwar Gill, President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Argentina, spoke about the universal understanding of peace in the Islamic tradition. Citing the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, he emphasized that human dignity must not depend on race, nationality, or origin. Imam Gill rejected the notion of selective peace and argued that such an approach provides crucial foundation for global security.
Yulia Shapoval, Acting Professor at the Department of Religious Studies at L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, highlighted the rise of digital radicalization. She noted that religious and expert communities must keep pace with emerging challenges in the information age, arguing that educational and peace-oriented content must become more visible in order to counter destructive narratives in the digital space.
Ivan Ivanov, Chairman of the Board of the International Center “Alliance of Civilizations,” underscored the importance of critical thinking in preventing ethnic and religious violence. In his view, education should go beyond transmitting cultural identity and cultivate conscience, empathy, and responsibility. Philosophy and ethics, he argued, deserve a more prominent place in educational curricula.
Dr. Matthias Bodi of the University of Oxford's Faculty of Theology and Religion observed that deep faith and open dialogue are not in conflict. Intellectual honesty and respectful interfaith engagement, he stated, help build a culture in which disagreement does not become hostility.
Several speakers, including Rostislav Novgorodov, Head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kazakhstan; Tokzhan Kozhakhmetova, representative of the Baha’i Community of Kazakhstan; and Rudraksha Sakrikar, Rector of Somaiya Vidyavihar University emphasized the special role of youth. They emphasized that youth should be regarded not only as beneficiaries of education but also as active contributors to positive social change, mutual trust, and intercultural cooperation.
Sergei Melnik, Head of the Department of Philosophy at the Russian Academy of Sciences, proposed organizing an international roundtable in 2027 to mark the twentieth anniversary of the landmark document “A Common Word Between Us and You.” The initiative aims to further strengthen Christian-Muslim dialogue and deepen trust between religious traditions.
Concluding the conference, participants agreed on the importance of moving beyond interfaith dialogue toward practical cooperation, identifying sustainable peace, ethical governance of new technologies, climate responsibility, education, and the prevention of radicalization as key areas.
