The summit, organized by Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI), underscored the enduring urgency of human rights amid stark global realities: undernutrition claims five million children under five annually (UN World Food Program), 150 million children aged 5–14 endure child labor (UNICEF), and 2.4 million people fell victim to human trafficking from 1995–2005 (International Labor Organization). Despite the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these crises demand renewed action—through education as the cornerstone of reform.

El Hamel, a dynamic Moroccan peace activist, actively participated in workshops, an interfaith conference, and a vibrant procession of flags, drawing parallels between the summit’s focus on human rights education and his organization’s mission to empower youth across cultures. “This gathering in Brussels—the seat of European institutions—reinforced that youth voices can bridge divides and drive systemic change,” El Hamel stated. “As founder of Youth for Peace & Dialogue Between Cultures, I connected with leaders from Sri Lanka, Russia, Ecuador, and beyond to expand our collaborative efforts in human rights advocacy and event coordination.”

The summit, organized by Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI), underscored the enduring urgency of human rights amid stark global realities: undernutrition claims five million children under five annually (UN World Food Program), 150 million children aged 5–14 endure child labor (UNICEF), and 2.4 million people fell victim to human trafficking from 1995–2005 (International Labor Organization). Despite the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these crises demand renewed action—through education as the cornerstone of reform.

El Hamel, a dynamic Moroccan peace activist, actively participated in workshops, an interfaith conference, and a vibrant procession of flags, drawing parallels between the summit’s focus on human rights education and his organization’s mission to empower youth across cultures. “This gathering in Brussels—the seat of European institutions—reinforced that youth voices can bridge divides and drive systemic change,” El Hamel stated. “As founder of Youth for Peace & Dialogue Between Cultures, I connected with leaders from Sri Lanka, Russia, Ecuador, and beyond to expand our collaborative efforts in human rights advocacy and event coordination.”

In the letter, the Holy See expresses gratitude for this thoughtful gesture, assures Mr. El Hamel of remembrance in the Pope’s prayers, and invokes upon him an abundance of the Almighty’s blessings. This recognition highlights the shared commitment of Youth for Peace & Dialogue Between Cultures and the Catholic Church to advancing peace, human dignity, and dialogue between cultures and religions.

For our organization, this message from the Vatican is a profound encouragement to continue promoting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, interfaith understanding, and youth leadership in peacebuilding across Morocco and beyond. It affirms the tireless efforts of our volunteers, partners, and young leaders who work every day to transform a culture of injustice into a culture of respect, mutual understanding, and non‑violence.

Youth for Peace & Dialogue Between Cultures extends heartfelt thanks to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV and to the Secretariat of State for this gesture of esteem. Inspired by this moral support, we reaffirm our dedication to empowering youth as architects of peace today, and to building bridges between communities, faiths, and cultures in a turbulent world.

 ‘’One of  the most important and difficult challenges facing the world today in the field of human rights is closely related to religion and belief. The lack of respect and failure to protect the freedom of conscience, the problem of religious intolerance, inciting religious hatred, as well as the widespread of misunderstandings on the nature of the relationship between religion and global freedoms all play a part in hindering the progress towards making the culture of human rights a reality in our societies’’.

Youth for Peace and Youth for Human Rights International organized an international symposium on Religions and Human Rights in the Interdisciplinary Hall at the Ibis Hotel in Oujda.  The seminar was moderated by Mr. Abdullah Lahsaini: Vice-President of the Youth for Peace Association and researcher in comparing religions.The seminar was attended by the head of the Church of Saint Louis Boujdah (Kerry Antoine). And the representative of the Imam Al-Junaid Center for Specialized Sufi Studies and Research of the Muhammadiyah Association for Scholars, Dr. Mustafa Bouzgheba, researcher at the Imam Al-Junaid Center for Specialized Sufi Studies and Research, with the title: Peaceful Coexistence in Our Contemporary Reality – A Sufi Reading-. And doctor Mohsen Al-Arousi who is interested in the Jewish history of the city of Oujda.

      Professor Zakaria El Hamel: President of the Youth for Peace Association, the Ambassador of Peace in Morocco, and Director of the Executive Office of the Youth Association for International Human Rights (Morocco) premised the activity as the chair of the session. Where he reminded of the aim of the activity, and stated that it falls within the annual tradition that was launched by His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan on interfaith harmony, which is based on the foundations of love of God and love of neighbor.

      This activity has included attending intellectual, collective, and human rights activists, which contributed to enriching the discussion on a crucial topic centered on tolerance between religions and the promotion of human rights. The lectures’ interventions revolved around the idea of coexistence between the Islamic and Jewish religions, and Reverend Antoine presented evidence from His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s speech upon his reception The Pope agreed that freedom of conscience and work to make religions a source of harmony and stability, as priest Antoine began his intervention on the legitimacy of human rights in religion by talking about the story of Abel and Cain in the Torah (the Old Testament) and mentioned that the Lord who interfered in the story of the death of Ibn Ad The killer and asked about his brother is evidence of  the interest of Christian and Jewish religions in human rights.

He mentioned verses in the New Testament about the Lord’s saying while holding some sinners accountable on the day of judgment ‘’I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me? Only to answer after people,s bewilderment that a man,s illness and exigency is that of the god’’ which goes to show that the right for care, medicine and life is the in the core of Christianity.

         He furthermore recited some verses from the Quran, such as : ‘’Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancour’’ and “O mankind, We have created you male and female, and appointed you races and tribes, that you may know one another” and he added that solidarity and humanitarianism is at the heart of the Qur’an’s concern. Thus, human rights are an inherent concept in the Islamic religion.

         Reverend Antoine mentioned his experience about the joint prayer between Muslims and Christians, as he dedicated a part of the church to Muslims for prayer. One day it coincided that Muslims prayed on one side of the church at a time when the latter was holding a religious service, which made the euphonious prayers create a wonderful neighborhood of religious harmony.

         He also mentioned the works of righteousness that his church performs for the needy without regard for their faith. He mentioned the condition of a sick Muslim who had been under his care for a long time and when the patient died, priest Antoine followed him to the mosque only to be disappointed that some of the muslim worshipers denied his entery to the mosque, which was considered a scratch in the character of tolerance. He also spoke about the Pope’s visit to Morocco and his speech while accompanied with his Majesty King Mohammed VI, and their affirmation of freedom of conscience. In parallel, a documentary film was presented showing the historical context of the human rights charter, in light of the wars that humanity has gone through, which has struck and continues to afflict the lives of innocent people and civilians.

       In his intervention  d. Mustafa Bouzagheba, a researcher at the Imam Al-Junaid Center for Specialized Sufi Studies and Research of the Muhammadiyah League of Scholars, said that the world today knows conflicts and struggles due to fear from the other. It desperately needs doses of love to extinguish the fire of hatred, and sufism for all it carries of values of beauty to make humanity return to its common sense that is based on security, safety, and peace. While Rabbi Abraham Toledano, who was born in the city of Meknes (a Moroccan city and one of the four imperial cities. Located in the north of the Kingdom of Morocco on the Sais Plateau, 140 km east of the capital Rabat), currently resides in Paris France, a religious guide for the Jewish religion in Morocco confirmed that Moroccan Jews are estimated in thousands. Most of them left Morocco in the sixties of the last century, but they return to it every time in the season of “Helula” or the “pilgrimage” season. He said that we are now in the city of Oujda to celebrate the tremors of the righteous guardian, Rabbi Cohen Sabar Sakly and a number of Moroccan Jews who visit these holy places, the season of Helula, is considered an opportunity to link the womb with their mother country, and also to renew their association with Morocco.

(… and the celebration of Moroccan Jews coinciding with the reverence of Rabbi Cohen Sabar Sakaly coincided with the occasion of the week of interfaith harmony as a humanitarian need in the time of terrorism and racism and in recognition of the Moroccan model in the field of peace and tolerance …) Added  Zakaria El Hamel.

       The works of this activity concluded with an educational tape that introduced human rights targeting groups of children and youth all over the world, to promote their values of tolerance and peace.

Zakaria El hamel President & Founder of Youth for Peace-International receives letter from Moroccan King Mohammed VI .
God bless our king!

  Anna lindh forum; when miracle come true.


From the 4^th to the 7^th of March 2010  had attended the Anna Lindh Forum 2010.The Anna Lindh Forum 2010 is a major civil society gathering for the promotion of intercultural action across the Mediterranean region organised by the Anna Lindh Foundation in partnership with the European Institute of the Mediterranean, Head of the ALF Spanish Network.Taking place in Barcelona, the Forum aims at giving new momentum to the cooperation among civil society organizations committed to intercultural dialogue in the Union for the Mediterranean region and to enrich the activities of the forty-three National Networks of the Anna Lindh Foundation.

Youth for Peace and Dialogue between Cultures presented in the Forum with an information booth. This was a significant opportunity for Youth for Peace and Dialogue between Cultures to share with the other civil society organizations, working in the Mediterranean region, our methodology and best practices. Zakaria el hamel chairmen of Youth for Peace and Dialogue between cultures and Ambassador for Peace had a great opportunity to meet young people from different cultures because for him,languages,cultures,ethnicities exist so that we can come together to learn from not to fight each others because according to Islam Allah said in the holy Quran:
O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware.
Qur’an [49:13] 

The gathering of around 700 representatives of civil society organisations as well as high-profile speakers from the political, cultural and economic field from the entire Union for the Mediterranean region had also serve as inspiration for the development of regional cooperation and as a tool to influence policy-making in the field of intercultural dialogue.

The programme of the Forum is built on two key pillars: the ‘Agora’, which is dedicated to plenary debate and workshops with experts, and the ‘Medina’, which brings together members of the Anna Lindh Networks and regional partners to share ideas and build new partnerships and initiatives.

The Forum is supported by the European Commission, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Barcelona City Council and the Diputació de Barcelona. The Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs will collaborate and be actively involved in the Forum’s activities.

Speaking at the closing of the Forum, André Azoulay, President of the Anna Lindh Foundation said:

“There can now be no limit to our ambition for bringing people together for dialogue. In terms of the level of collective participation, as well as the quality of the debates and proposed action, the Anna Lindh Forum has been a success beyond our expectations and represents an inspiration to all of us working for a common Mediterranean future.”

Muslim and Jewish Youth leaders come together for panel discussion At the Foundation Mouminoun Without Borders..

Morocco offers a model for Muslim-Jewish friendship

RABAT.MOROCCO

As part of the global celebrations around the World Interfaith Harmony Week, this year members of “MIMOUNA”, which is a Jewish Association, such as Abdo Ladino and Rena Soumia joined the Youth for Peace panel discussion. The panel also included the President of “Youth for Peace” Zakaria El Hamel along with Ichrak Touri who is the Director of Public Relationship at AMIDEAST. The meeting was held in Mouminoun Without Borders institution in order to highlight the importance of interfaith harmony.

Every year, in the first week of February, religious leaders from all faiths and from all over the world organize interreligious activities. Such activities aim at showing their solidarity, strengthening bonds and building bridges within the global interreligious movement. “World Interfaith Harmony Week” (WIHW), it is an initiative that provides a platform for people to engage in interreligious activities and seeks to spread the message of harmony, tolerance and peace.

Youth for Peace-International, in partnership with Youth for Human rights International, Mimouna Association, Amideast and Mouminoun without Borders.  ………………………………………………………….

On the 2^nd February, Youth for Peace will have the honor to host Prof. Tariq Ramadan, Cheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, at Youth for Peace HQ. These guests will talk about the significance of interreligious dialogue, and its role in solving the problems we face today such as Terrorism is the greatest challenge to world peace. Tariq Ramadan and Cheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah and other International Speakers will be welcomed to Youth for Peace-International by the Secretary General and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Jordan to Morocco

Youth for Peace Board Members Zakaria El hamel and Honorary Members Mr. André David Azoulay who is Senior Advisor to His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco, President of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures, President of the Executive Committee of the Foundation for the Three Cultures and the Three Religions, based in Seville, Spain, a founding member of the C-100 Davos Forum for the Dialogue of Civilizations and religions and Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Shimon Peres Center for Peace will join Youth for Peace in celebrating World Interfaith Harmony Week in February 2017.

World Interfaith Harmony Week

World Interfaith Harmony Week was established by UN resolution in 2010 and is based on the Common Word Initiative, which was created in order to engage Muslim and Christian leaders in dialogue to promote peace. WIHW encourages religious leaders to commit once a year to coordinating IRD activities and unites religions while respecting their uniqueness and independence without compromising any of their own religious tenets. WIHW serves people of all faiths, and those with no faith, to foster peace and harmony in the world.

It started at the time of the Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings be upon him)

The peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Jews began at the time of the Prophet.

Zakaria El hamel notes that Jews welcomed the Prophet when he arrived in Madinah at the time of Hijrah (migration), along with the rest of the city’s inhabitants.

But the Prophet had begun the step towards good relations with Jewish and other communities in Madinah even before getting there.

After receiving an invitation to Madinah from one of the city’s tribes that had accepted Islam, the Prophet signed treaties with the city’s Jewish, Christian and polytheist tribes before he arrived there.

These treaties clearly laid out the responsibilities of each of the parties. It was based on these that the Prophet established the Mithaq al Madinah, the constitution of Madinah.

Zakaria El hamel says this was the first constitution of the world and one of the greatest political documents ever prepared by any human being. It is the oldest surviving constitution of any state.

Under this constitution, any Jew who followed the Muslims was entitled to their assistance and the same rights as anyone of them without any injustice or partisanship.

It was said that the Jews are an Ummah (community of believers) alongside the Muslims. The Jews have their religion and the Muslims theirs. In addition, it was noted that each will assist one another against any violation of this covenant.

Morocco was once home to a very large community of 250,000 Jews, the largest in the Arab world. Moreover, they had been living there for the past 2,000 years. In other words, together with Muslim Moroccans, they were an inseparable part of Morocco, its culture, history and civilization and both helped build and shape Morocco to make it what it is today. For centuries, these two communities existed side by side in harmony and friendship. They lived in similar houses, led similar social activities, attended the same schools, worked and had the same jobs and spent great time together as friends. King’s Advisor Says, “Morocco, which enjoys an extraordinary spiritual diversity, is a land of peace, tolerance, and fraternity that respects differences.”

Abdo Ladino a Moroccan jew and member of Mimouna Association;  a group of Moroccan Muslim students striving to preserve and promote the history of Morocco’s ancient Jewish community. Founded in 2007 at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI), the MIMOUNA takes its name from the original “Mimouna,” a symbol of the heritage shared by all Moroccans. We seek to educate the Moroccan people about the Jewish culture that used to flourish in the country, and encourage harmony between Jews and Muslims. MIMOUNA members study Hebrew and Jewish history, as well as organize cultural events. Thousands of people have attended our annual “Moroccan Jewish Days” and recently launched “Moroccan Jewish Caravan.”

Abdou said that We’ve heard so many people claiming that religions are the cause of all this craziness in the world, but I personally believe that all religions, and the Abrahamic / Monotheistic religions in particular, are the source of the universal peace. All religions promote peace. When I hear the word Judaism, the first word that comes to my mind is “shalom”. Spreading peace in Judaism is a Mitzvah (commandment). In Christianity, we have this beautiful verse in the book of Matthew “if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also”. This saying shows self-control, rationality and peace. The word “Islam” is derived from Salam which is peace in Arabic, and G-d in the Quran says “Humanity is a single brotherhood, so make peace with you brethren” 49:10.

All these religions promote peace, but all peace and all rationality fly out the window when have this notion of I am right, you are wrong and the two of us cannot live with each other.

I strongly believe that we should put more emphasis on things that unite us rather than things that divide us.

Mr. Laghmam also mentioned the Palestinian case and said that the conflict there is also political and not religious one. When we look at the history of this region we find that Muslims and Jews lived in peace with each other , there were no problems. However, when politics intervened and therefore some powers wanted to exercise their domination over the others, problems began.

Mr. Laghmam insists on the fact that dialogue and communication should be the basis for any successful relation between religions. Dialogue contributes to the reinforcement of social and religious bonds between different sects and groups. He concluded by saying that we all should be prepared and should work hard in order to establish a culture of respect and tolerance, and to cultivate a culture of human rights and peace.

Its our  second participation ,in 2010 we participated in the first forum which was in the first time in barcalona,and this year we will make it a great event,sharing our ideas and project with other NGO.

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