LISBON — The King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), currently based in Vienna, has decided to relocate to Lisbon.

KAICIID’s Council of the Parties and the Portuguese Government have agreed on transferring the Centre's headquarters from Vienna to Lisbon.

An agreement to this effect was signed on Friday in Lisbon, by the Centre's Secretary-General Faisal Bin Muaammar and Portugal's Minister of State and Foreign Affairs Augusto Santos Silva.

Elham Alshejni has been appointed interim Deputy Secretary-General of the Centre, in order to ensure the relocation process and the continuity of the Centre's work.

The King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue aims at promoting dialogue and understanding among different religions and cultures, encouraging respect for diversity and pursuing justice and peace among nations and peoples, as well as combating the misuse of religion as a justification for violence and persecution.

The Centre comprises a Council of Parties composed of representatives of the founding member states (Saudi Arabia, Austria, Spain, and the Holy See as founding observer member) and a Board of Directors composed of representatives of various religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.

With the transfer of the KAICIID headquarters to Lisbon, Portugal will have nine international organizations and will see its international stature strengthened particularly in the area of intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. — SG