Education is one of the most powerful instruments of peace - HCHF Secretary-General

Dr. Al Ghaith said the world is in urgent need of peace, not merely understood as the absence of conflict, but as a value system embedded in everyday life, shaping how societies think, communicate, and relate to one another.

Describing the Abraham Accord as a platform for collective responsibility, he said global challenges must be addressed through dialogue and moral courage.

“The Abraham Accord represents a platform where the world’s challenges are met not with resignation, but with responsibility, and where future pathways are shaped through dialogue and courage,” he said.

Highlighting the Abu Dhabi Document of Human Fraternity, Dr. Al Ghaith said the document offers a moral and ethical framework for building lasting peace by emphasising human dignity, solidarity, and shared responsibility.

“Lasting peace must rest on human dignity, mutual understanding, and responsibility toward one another,” he said. “It must be rooted in shared values, guided by moral clarity, and sustained by communities that choose cooperation over hostility.”

He pointed to education as one of the most effective tools available to humanity for shaping both intellectual and moral foundations.

“While education prepares people to compete, it must also prepare them to coexist,” he said.

Warning against the persistence of fear-based narratives, Dr. Al Ghaith said many children around the world continue to grow up inheriting divisions they did not create.

“We cannot accept a world where the next generation is trained to mistrust the ‘other’ before they have even met them,” he said.

According to Dr. Al Ghaith, peace education must prioritise critical thinking, empathy, and dignity as foundational values.

“True peace begins when we teach young people not only what to think, but how to think and, most importantly, how to live with others in dignity,” he said.

As Secretary-General of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, Dr. Al Ghaith stressed that peace should be understood as a collective human endeavour rather than a purely diplomatic outcome.

“Peace is not only a diplomatic effort. It is a human project,” he said.

Dr. Al Ghaith added that platforms for promoting human fraternity exist in many forms, including diplomacy, economic cooperation, sports, and the arts. He stressed that such spaces must be used to deepen understanding and strengthen social cohesion, rather than to fuel division, rivalry, or exclusion.

He also noted a growing shift across regions and faith traditions toward practical cooperation and direct engagement, describing it as a meaningful departure from symbolic gestures.

Education, he added, is central to ensuring this momentum translates into lasting impact.

“By promoting curricula that emphasise shared humanity, empowering teachers, and giving young people opportunities to encounter one another as equals, we can build a generation for whom peace is normal, not exceptional,” he said.

Dr. Al Ghaith concluded by urging greater investment in education that strengthens empathy and moral responsibility.

“When we educate for peace, we do not simply prevent conflict,” he said. “We build the foundations of a world where every person can belong, contribute, and thrive.”