A/HRC/31/18 mutual appreciation. Not only were there religious dignitaries, but also ordinary community members, including young people, who expressed their rejection of violence committed in the name of religion, in a theatrical performance. One should not underestimate the impact that such ceremonies — in particular when conducted on a regular basis and with broad participation — can have on the climate of interreligious conviviality in a country. In Lebanon and in Jordan, the Special Rapporteur visited private schools run by various religious communities, which accommodate refugee children across all denominational boundaries at their own expense. Those admirable examples of practical interreligious cooperation send much-needed rays of hope in a region currently torn by violent conflicts with obvious sectarian components. 41. In Sierra Leone, the Special Rapporteur was highly impressed by the constructive role that the Interreligious Council plays in rebuilding the nation after the traumatic civil war. He also learned that the tangible atmosphere of interreligious “open-heartedness” in Sierra Leone was not least facilitated by public and private schools, in which students from different religious backgrounds — Sunnis, Shias, Ahmadis, Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists among others — meet on a daily basis and learn together, thus building trust from early on. In Kazakhstan, the Government organizes regular interreligious meetings, with the purpose of strengthening the forces of religious moderation. While at the regional level, such meetings are open to broad public participation, the big ceremonial conferences held every second year in the capital mainly bring together world and traditional religious leaders. 42. During a follow-up visit to the Republic of Moldova, the Special Rapporteur witnessed clear signs of improvement in the interaction of religious communities. In Cyprus, the enhanced interreligious communication between Christian and Muslim leaders has led to recent breakthroughs, including the re-opening of churches and mosques that had been inaccessible for decades owing to the protracted conflict on the island. Religious leaders have initiated emergency measures and cleaned up each other’s places of worship, thus creating an atmosphere of goodwill and trust. Some interreligious encounters in Cyprus have been open to participation beyond the traditional religious communities, including Evangelicals, Baha’is, Buddhists and others, thus building awareness on the further emergence of religious pluralism. 43. Those and numerous other examples testify to the peacebuilding potential of interreligious communication, which often remains politically underrated. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the diversity of formats in which interreligious dialogue projects can take place and the various specific goals that they may pursue. It is certainly useful to allow for broad ownership in order to solidify regular communication beyond the narrow circles of “dialogue experts”. Women often remain underrepresented in many of those projects and that situation should change. Internal diversity of positions and assessments is important and may help eliminate stereotypical perceptions of religious communities as monolithic blocks. 44. When convening or facilitating interreligious encounters, government agencies should ensure that their communicative outreach is inclusive, by also involving members of small communities, representatives of new religious movements or non-believers.13 Besides “formal” interreligious dialogue projects, in which people explicitly meet as representatives of their respective religious communities, “informal” communication should also be encouraged, as it allows the active participation of persons who are less used to expressing 13 12 Of course, there may be reasons to reserve certain “bilateral” or other meetings to participants from specific communities only. What counts is that the general communicative policy is inclusive (see A/66/156).