NEW YORK: Saudi Arabia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dr. Khaled Manzlawiy, has affirmed the Kingdom’s keenness to promote peace, tolerance and dialogue. This came during the Kingdom’s speech at the high-level forum on the culture of peace, held at the UN in New York. Manzlawiy highlighted that the Kingdom has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter through its international efforts, based on its belief that promoting a culture of peace begins with individuals and their relations as global citizens with the local and international communities, in addition to the involvement of all segments of the local and international communities and their institutions. He added that the Kingdom always exerts efforts within this framework based on three main pillars: Justice, development and the protection of human rights. These efforts include fighting terrorism and violence and promoting tolerance and dialogue among different religions and cultures. “At the national level, Saudi Arabia has implemented many security and awareness programs to combat extremism and immunize against these ideologies,” he continued. “These programs include launching the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology (Etidal), which has received international acclaim.” Manzlawiy said: “At the same time, the Kingdom seeks to build bridges of dialogue and communication between religions and cultures through numerous national programs, represented by the King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue, as well as international programs through the King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue.” He highlighted that the Kingdom’s efforts include peacefully resolving regional and international conflicts through negotiation, mediation or international arbitration. He used the examples of historic reconciliation between Ethiopia and Eritrea, where Saudi Arabia contributed to ending a war that lasted 20 years through the signing a historic peace agreement between the two countries in July 2018 in Jeddah under the patronage of King Salman. He also cited the historic reconciliation agreement between the leaders of Djibouti and Eritrea in September 2018, ending a 10-year dispute and an impasse between the two countries. “These two agreements and reconciliations have had a direct positive impact on the stability of the Horn of Africa, which will effectively contribute to maintaining regional and international peace and security.” Manzalawi highlighted that the Kingdom has called for the need to work hard to achieve international peace and security, and for a political solution and dialogue for all conflicts. “Saudi Arabia has also called on the peoples and states of the world to establish the values of tolerance, and cooperate to renounce all forms of hatred and discrimination,” he added.