Project Title: Fostering Intercultural Resilience: Cultural Heritage Protection and Youth Inter-Religious Dialogue Initiatives in the Kurdistan Region

Project Description: Supported by the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), this project delivered two six-month initiatives across Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok to reinforce social cohesion, religious pluralism, and community resilience. The 2024 phase, conducted with the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs and the General Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage, addressed the protection of religious and cultural heritage sites through legal analysis and consultations with diverse religious leaders to diagnose statutory preservation gaps. The 2025 phase focused on youth empowerment, delivering a series of intra- and inter-religious dialogue workshops for young men and women from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds to foster mutual understanding. Both phases produced and distributed awareness materials to encourage local heritage preservation and peaceful coexistence.