Thuwal, September 30: King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has donated $10 million to the International Messengers of Peace Project. This was announced by Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah Bin Muhammad, Minister of Education and President of the Saudi Arabian Boy Scouts Association, at the Second Messengers of Peace Camp at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology here Wednesday evening.
The Messengers of Peace program is an initiative by 161 member countries of the World Scout Bureau to involve individual scouts and scout organizations in peace activities. It is funded by an initial generous grant from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It will give training in activities such as conflict solving and supporting young people in conflict zones by encouraging scouts to undertake projects involving their schools, religious organizations, social organizations or scout units.
In his address Prince Faisal summed up the camp’s mission statement: “Peace is the end and dialogue is the means.”
“The Messengers of Peace are the advocates of this noble message. In this troubled world, we need more than at any time to adopt such Islamic values to achieve world prosperity and peace,” he said.
“In this blessed country, the cradle of Islam, we believe in the Divine Revelations which unify and do not divide, build and do not destroy, so we adopted this concept of national dialogue introduced by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, in 2003. This dialogue which addresses the minds before hearts paves the way for us to discuss frankly and transparently all the elements of our unity.”
King Carl Gustav of Sweden, the Honorary President of the World Scout Finance Fund, lauded the recent efforts of the scout movement in Saudi Arabia and the 22nd World Jamboree Scout Camp held in Sweden.
The launch ceremony was also attended by Dr. Abdul Aziz Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, and several dignitaries from outside and inside the Kingdom.
The project will run for 10 years with 31,000 boy scouts all over the world becoming messengers of peace.
Courtesy: Saudi Gazette