The UAE and Morocco top the first international honors in the US Senate

The United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Morocco topped the first international honor announced as part of the United States’ celebrations of the 250th anniversary of its independence, by announcing the granting of the first founding session of the “Founders’ Promise” award on the occasion of the 250th jubilee of the independence of the United States of America, during an official session hosted by the US Senate building in Washington, DC.
The announcement came at the conclusion of the “America 250: Building on the Legacy and Promise of Religious Freedom” forum, which was organized by the Peacebuilders Forum for Religious Freedom over two days, where the Bible Museum hosted the first day’s activities, while the US Senate hosted the closing day’s sessions, with the participation of senior US officials, members of Congress, US State Department officials, religious leaders, diplomats, decision-makers, and international experts.
The award is the first international honor given within the America 250 celebrations, and was created specifically for this historic occasion to honor countries that have made exceptional contributions to promoting religious freedom, equal citizenship, preserving human dignity, protecting the rights of minorities, and consolidating a culture of coexistence and peace.
The organizing committee, headed by the founder and CEO of the International Secretariat for Religious Freedom, Greg Mitchell, confirmed that the selection of the United Arab Emirates came in recognition of its pioneering national model, which succeeded in transforming the values ​​of tolerance, coexistence and interfaith dialogue into policies, institutions and initiatives with global impact, and contributed to strengthening humanitarian diplomacy and building bridges of trust and cooperation between peoples and cultures.
The selection of the Kingdom of Morocco also came in recognition of its historical legacy in its relationship with the United States of America, and its role in consolidating religious moderation, promoting citizenship, and preserving religious and cultural diversity.
The opening session of the forum witnessed speeches by the US Senator from Oklahoma, Senator Jim Lankford, the Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jim Risch, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Riley Barnes, and a member of the British House of Lords, Dr. Rals Rock, which gave the occasion high political, diplomatic and institutional weight.
The Secretary-General of the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum, Ambassador Sheikh Al-Mahfouz bin Bayyah, participated in the opening session, where he delivered a speech in which he reviewed the Forum’s efforts in consolidating the principles of protecting religious minorities and promoting equal citizenship, highlighting the experiences of the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Morocco as two pioneering models in transforming common human values ​​into initiatives and institutions that promote peace and coexistence.
He pointed out that the historic Marrakesh Declaration, which was issued in 2016 at a joint initiative between the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum, and was adopted by the thirteenth session of the Islamic Summit Conference held in Istanbul in 2016, represents the first contemporary institutional revival of the reference of the Medina newspaper that was established by the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace when establishing the first civil society, and which established the principles of citizenship, religious pluralism, peaceful coexistence, rights and duties. Shared among the components of society, the Declaration has become a prominent international reference in promoting religious freedom and consolidating societal peace.
He added that the Emirati and Moroccan experiences confirm the ability of the Islamic world to present contemporary civilizational models that employ authentic Islamic values ​​in preserving human dignity, consolidating a culture of coexistence, promoting equal citizenship, protecting religious diversity, and confronting hate speech and extremism, in a way that contributes to building a more secure, stable, and prosperous future for humanity.
This honor embodies a joint international message of appreciation for two countries that have succeeded in combining the authenticity of their identity with the effectiveness of their global presence, and transforming the values of peace, tolerance, pluralism, preserving human dignity and guaranteeing their right to a decent life into national policies and international initiatives that are respected by the international community, in a new recognition of the position that the United Arab Emirates occupies as a reliable international partner and a global center for dialogue and peacemaking, and of the pioneering role played by the Kingdom of Morocco in consolidating religious moderation and promoting the values of Citizenship and coexistence.