The new Alliance of Virtue holds consultative meeting in Washington

The new Islamic Alliance held a consultative meeting in Washington, DC, chaired by His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Ibn Bayh, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum, in the presence of the Alliance's Board of Directors and several representatives of elite organisations and institutions working in the field of peace and tolerance in the United States, as well as the Special Assistant to the President of the United States for Legal Affairs.

Participants in the consultative meeting praised the gracious patronage of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and noted the UAE's vision of promoting peaceful coexistence between religions and cultures around the world.

At the beginning of the session, Ibn Bayh welcomed the attendees, explaining that this meeting came to discuss the new pact of virtue, noting that this pact was drafted by representatives of various religions and cultures, signed by hundreds of religious and non-religious leaders and organisations, and launched from Abu Dhabi, the capital of tolerance and peace.

He said that this meeting follows the registration of the Alliance as a non-profit organisation in the United States of America, making the Washington office the legal framework through which the Atlantic Alliance works to publicise its Charter, activate its clauses and achieve its objectives in spreading the values of peace, coexistence and tolerance in the world.

He added: "We have worked over the past four years to discuss the Islamic alliance through our conferences in Washington and Abu Dhabi, and many religious leaders, especially Jews, Christians, Muslims and other religions, jurists and intellectuals have contributed to the establishment of this alliance and the drafting of its charter".

H.E. Sheikh Abdullah noted that the meeting came amid an international situation that increases the level of challenges facing humanity, considering that all these challenges emphasise the importance of the Atlantic Alliance and the urgent need for it more than ever.

He pointed out that humanity today is in great need of an alliance of curiosity and virtue, an alliance that crosses ethnicities and religions, and transcends traditions and cultures, an alliance that is based on the great heritage of religions and the supreme product of humanity over the centuries, an alliance that seeks the good of all, and wants to consolidate peace on Earth and instil hope in hearts and tranquillity in souls, emphasising that he sees in the new Alliance of Virtue a model for this alliance he described and an image of the example he seeks.

He explained that this institution, which will start working from Washington, will contribute to activate the Charter of the Alliance of Virtue and move it from the theoretical space to the reality of incarnation through its various activities and creative programmes, starting from the definition of this Alliance and its Charter to contribute to achieve its objectives in spreading the values of peace in the world.

The attendees listened to interventions that included proposals and ideas on the activation of the Alliance of Virtue and the perspectives of cooperation and alliances that should be worked on to achieve a greater impact of the various efforts of peace and coexistence.