Equal Access International – Philippines, represented by its Country Director, Mr. Exan Sharief, is among the 1,000+ delegates from around 40 countries joining the first International Conference for Cohesive Societies (ICCS) in Singapore on June 19-21, 2019.

The conference is a historical move as its inauguration was halted when Singapore President Halimah Yacob pushed to “put forward the idea of unique interfaith forum with the status and prestige, as how the Shangri-La Dialogue is attended by defense ministers and military chiefs from major world powers” in May, last year.

King Abdullah of Jordan is the keynote speaker for this year’s ICCS. His majesty himself is a peace advocate and mover whose efforts to promote dialogue, interfaith harmony and understanding across different cultures around the world have been well-supported.

EAI, as an INGO working in 12 countries, strongly supports peace-building events such as the ICCS, as it is in line with its mission to strengthen community resilience and engage grassroots members, with its desire to prevent and transform violent extremism.

Mr. Sharief is also joined with 10 other participants from the Philippines. ICCS is yet anotheropportunity for leaders and peace-builders to participate in interfaith discourse and address pressing challenges relating to social cohesion. In the island of Mindanao, Philippines, EAI is establishing Messaging Hubs that resonate social behavior change and positive messaging that aims to empower and convey the community’s strength in creating and implementing peacefulsolutions.