On the 27th and 28th of April, IPDAL held the third edition of the only conference dedicated to peace diplomacy in Portugal, the «Mafra Dialogues».

The meeting was attended by the Ministers of Defense of Portugal and Brazil, the NATO Special Representative for Human Security, the Bishop of Bangui, in the Central African Republic and also the President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, José Ramos- Vegetable garden.

The Holy See continued, for the third consecutive year, its participation in this peace discussion platform through a video message from the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

The theme of this edition was interreligious dialogue and the initiative dedicated a panel exclusively to this theme, bringing together Rabbi Daniel Goldman, President of the Institute of Interreligious Dialogue of Argentina, Ambassador Arif Lalani, former representative of Canada at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Ambassador Adelino Silva, Director of the North-South Center of the Council of Europe and Agustín Nuñez, Program Manager for Africa at KAICIID.

The main challenges to global peace were also addressed, focusing on the war in Ukraine and the tension between China and Taiwan. The President of the Parliamentary Union, Duarte Pacheco, Ban Ki Moon’s former chief of staff, Susana Malcorra, the Director of the Toledo Center for Peace, Ambassador Emilio Cassinello and academics such as Serge Stroobants, Hanna Shelest and Jyun-yi Lee analyzed the challenges felt in these regions of the globe.

The event also had the support of Cascais City Council, KAICIID, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center and the Luso-American Development Foundation.

Photographs: Mafra City Council