Participants view a visual montage linking the Zayed Prize ceremony in Abu Dhabi, the Sant’Egidio interfaith forum in Rome, and the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana, symbolizing the emerging “rehearsal space” where religion, civil society, and state diplomacy converge. (Credit: INPS / Illustrative image)
By Katsuhiro Asagiri
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Feb 24 2026 (IPS)
As wars drag on and the international order becomes increasingly unstable, Abu Dhabi has been offering a different kind of narrative. It sought to recognize early reconciliation efforts, bring religious leaders together in the same space, and place former adversaries under the same spotlight. At the center of the Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity ceremony on February 4, 2026 was an attempt to make visible, in a public environment, the choice to move in the direction of alleviating the conflict.
Pope Francis and Ahmed el-Tayeb sign the Document on Human Fraternity. Credit: Vatican News
The ceremony, timed to coincide with the United Nations-designated International Day of Human Fraternity, attracted heads of state, religious leaders and civil society representatives. The award has its origins in 2019. Document on human fraternitysigned in Abu Dhabi by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb. The document is widely regarded as a historic declaration that establishes a global call for interfaith dialogue and peaceful coexistence.
Seven years later, the international landscape has become even more fragmented. Still, organizers have framed the ceremony not simply as an awards event, but as a symbolic platform meant to encourage a modicum of restraint when politics becomes turbulent.
Propping up a fragile peace
The moment that drew the most attention this year was the recognition of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for their peace agreement. After decades of confrontation, the prize functioned as a form of international support for a still fragile peace process in the South Caucasus.
Zayed Prize 2026 to Armenia and Azerbaijan Credit: Vatican News
Peace agreements are often most vulnerable immediately after they are reached. Domestic political backlash and deep-seated mistrust can easily undermine implementation. In that sense, bringing the two leaders to the same stage was not a declaration that the trip was complete; It was an attempt to “reinforce” diplomatic progress. By recognizing leaders who chose dialogue at an early stage, the award appears to aim to widen the political space for compromise and make it more difficult for opponents to overturn the agreement.
The award, however, extended beyond state leadership. The 2026 honorees also included Afghan girls’ education advocate Zarqa Yaftali and the Palestinian nonprofit Taawon, honoring efforts to continue humanitarian and development work under conditions of conflict and political instability. It also underscores the prize’s intention to unite “top-down politics,” such as peace agreements, with “bottom-up peacebuilding” that supports communities on the ground. The underlying message is clear: even with treaties and agreements in place, peace cannot take root if the schools, health care, and local support systems needed to sustain society remain fragile.
A dialogue circuit that links Rome and Astana
The closing ceremony was held against the backdrop of the ancient Roman ruins, the Colosseum. Credit: Community of Sant’Egidio
The Abu Dhabi ceremony is not an isolated event. In October 2025, Rome hosted the annual forum “Religions and cultures in dialogue for peace”, organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio. Inheriting the spirit of the 1986 Assisi meeting, the forum serves as an ongoing platform that brings together religious leaders, political figures and civil society representatives. The Holy See (the Vatican) is a central participant, exercising its moral authority to connect ethical calls with debates in international politics.
Further east, Kazakhstan has institutionalized interfaith engagement through the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions held in Astana. Both the Holy See and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar have constantly participated, helping to sustain the congress as a place for structured interreligious dialogue.
Seen from this perspective, Rome, Astana and Abu Dhabi are not mere separate events; they emerge as nodal points in a broader space of dialogue that links religion and diplomacy. Put another way, they operate as a regular service designed to keep the lines of communication open, ensuring that the ability to meet and talk does not go silent.
Religious actors across borders
On February 4, a Soka Gakkai delegation led by Vice President Hirotsugu Terasaki attended the 2026 Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity ceremony in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. At the invitation of @ZayedAward, the delegation joined global religious leaders. On February 3, the delegation met with Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam, Secretary General of the Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity, and delivered a letter from Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, His Eminence Ahmed Al-Tayeb. Credit: SGI
Not only the states support this network. Like the Holy See and religious leaders around the world, Hirotsugu Terasaki, Director General for Peace Affairs of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), an organization with some 13 million members worldwide, has participated in dialogue spaces in Abu Dhabi, Rome and Astana.
Before the Abu Dhabi ceremony, Terasaki met with Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam, secretary general of the award, and delivered a letter from Minoru Harada, president of the Soka Gakkai, addressed to Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb. The two exchanged views on the need to further strengthen “sincere dialogue” that transcends religious differences.
The scenarios created by the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan – which emphasize “spiritual diplomacy” – are more than mere events. What gives these environments moral authority and ethical weight as arenas for peacebuilding is a sustained architecture of dialogue, underpinned by relationships that religious and civil society leaders have cultivated over many years. Put another way, it is a system for meeting regularly and ensuring the lines of communication don’t go silent. Even when interstate relations become strained, religious and civil society networks can keep channels of dialogue open, serving as a buffer against breakdown.
The fact that Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev participated in this year’s awards ceremony through a video speech, and that Director General Terasaki has toured dialogue sites such as Abu Dhabi, Rome and Astana, discreetly suggests the presence of these types of networks where religion and diplomacy intersect. Likewise, the Holy See has also been one of the actors continually involved in these three scenarios.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on receiving the Sheikh Zayed Award for Human Fraternity in a video address. Credit: Akord
Shared words, different realities
The vocabulary repeatedly invoked in these forums is surprisingly consistent: fraternity, coexistence, dialogue and human dignity. At a time when multilateralism is faltering and traditional channels of mediation are weakening, this language also serves a political purpose: to allow states to signal, at home and abroad, a preference for dialogue over force and to project the image that they are not stoking confrontation, but rather providing a venue in which tensions can be managed.
However, the distance between ceremony and reality does not disappear. Celebrating a peace agreement does not necessarily guarantee its implementation. Honoring efforts in girls’ education does not mean that classrooms automatically reopen. Proclaiming coexistence does not stop violence overnight. Awards can foster engagement and bless dialogue, but they are not mechanisms that can demand results.
Still, governments and religious and civil society networks continue to participate in these spaces (through attendance, public statements, and sustained participation) because they remain among the few public arenas where opposing parties can appear side by side. There are not many spaces where actors in strained relationships can be in the same room, where moderation is openly affirmed, and where interfaith ties can function as informal diplomatic channels.
A place to “rehearse” peace
A woman makes a mosaic depicting a dove of peace in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan. Credit: UN Women/Christopher Herwig
The Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity, the peace commemorations in Rome and the interfaith congress in Astana, together, reveal the growing reach of a diplomatic approach that advances not through force or pressure, but through convocation, dialogue and the constant maintenance of relations. It is a framework that can sometimes be symbolic, but capable of exerting a silent influence.
They also point to the emergence of a new diplomatic sphere where religion, civil society and state interests converge.
In today’s international environment, it is precisely these small touchpoints that can have real importance. Before peace is institutionalized as a policy, there are only limited spaces where its form can be publicly “rehearsed.”
The Abu Dhabi ceremony is one of those rare stages. It did not resolve a conflict or erase suspicions. Still, choosing dialogue – and continuing to make that choice openly visible – constitutes an act in itself: a clear sign, in an era of polarization, of a commitment to moderation over enmity.
This article was presented by INPS Japan in collaboration with Soka Gakkai International, which has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
INPS Japan
IPS UN Office
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