Thank you Madam Moderator. Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, my name is Sina Varaei from the Brussels Office of the Baha’i International Community, which represents the worldwide Bahá’í community to the European Institutions. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a few elements and lines of action.

The first point relates to freedom of conscience, religion or belief, and its importance to the flourishing of a society. Human beings are not only economic and social creatures, they are endowed with free will and it is through ensuring freedom of religion or belief that they can express their innate capacity to search for meaning and truth.

My second point concerns the importance of interreligious endeavours. If we wish to uproot misconceptions and prejudice, it is crucial to go beyond merely coexisting side by side and engaging in occasional dialogue with each other. How can we nurture deep bonds of friendship and cordial collaboration between religious communities? Today, in increasingly diverse societies, these aspirations for more peaceful surroundings cannot be realised unless they are pursued jointly by faith communities. 

We also need to acknowledge the power of narratives: how do we think about each other? How do we talk about each other? And how can we avoid all forms and nuances of “othering” parts of the population or particular religious groups? This “othering” can be subtle, and even unconscious, affecting language, tone and attitudes adopted in policy-making. 

Religious leaders also have a powerful role but it is far from enough for them to simply make condemnations or appeals for mutual tolerance. We need to think: what narratives are helpful, and which ones do not foster true friendship among different religious group? How can we move from repeatedly highlighting differences in doctrines, rituals or legal codes to gaining a deeper understanding of what unites different religions and aspirations? 

That brings me to my last point, and one of the keys to a better rooted freedom of conscience: education. What efforts are needed at the level of education to appreciate religious diversity as a wealth, to engage with members of other beliefs with humility and eradicate conceptions - however subtle - that can give the impression of being superior to other believers. In brief, educational systems must foster recognition that different religious communities have valuable insights to gain from each other.