Distinguished Heads of State and Religious Leaders, Ladies and Gentlemen -Peace be upon you, and the love of the Lord, Creator of All
Mr President, I would like, first of all, on behalf of the Kingdom of Sweden to welcome warmly this noble initiative taken by H R H King Abdallah bin Abdel Aziz al-Saud.No doubt, future historians will record these two days, dedicated to a dialogue full of wisdom and good will, in the book of the history of peace.
As we all know, behind this distinguished session in the UNGA, we find many preparatory steps and great efforts spent by committed colleagues – women and men – who work with the realities on the ground.
Mr President, by way of example, allow me to refer to a project of utmost importance, a joint activity between the UN and faith-based organizations, namely the new interreligious forum established by the UNFPA last month, in Istanbul, under the wise leadership of Dr Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the successful Executive Director of the UNFPA.
In addition, we may recall one of the UNESCO programmes: “Image of the Other in School textbooks” – targeting, in particular, European and Arab textbooks – which is run in cooperation with the League of Arab States and a number of European partners.
Mr President, we seize this opportunity to express our deep appreciation for the work done by the UN in order to rebuild the trust between the peoples of the world, not least through the encouraging initiatives which are now forthcoming from the Muslim world.
I thank you for your kind attention. Peace be with you.
(The above is a translation. The speech was delivered in Arabic.)