FIIDI-Canada is a registered charitable organization in Alberta, Canada. We are affiliated with The Foundation for Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue Initiatives (FIIDI) – a non-profit, non-religious, non-partisan and non-political community based organization working in Port Loko District of Sierra Leone, and Foyer pour les Initiatives de Dialogue Interculturel et Interreligieux (FIIDI) – a civil society organization working in Burkina Faso. Each organization operates independently but the vision and mission remains the same.

Arising out of a commitment to end religious and ethnic violence, FIIDI has taken an awareness (education) based approach to address and prevent religious and ethnic challenges affecting the communities we serve in Burkina Faso, Canada, and Sierra Leone. We believe that education, including education for tribal, ethnic, and religious leaders and actors, as well as youth, increase mutual respect; tolerance, and understanding while diminishing the risk that individuals could be manipulated for political purposes. We don’t give aid; we strive for dialogue and tolerance, empowering communities to stand up for peace.

Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013), a Black nationalist and the first Black president of South Africa once said “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”. FIIDI’s mandate and promotional activities stem from this quote. Our goal is to give meaning and actuality to Mandela’s words.