Coexister

Samuel started a movement promoting better living together through interfaith cooperation in reaction to the politicisation of France’s “La Laicite” law on secularism, which was being used as justification for Islamophobia targetted at Muslim women (1). It began in 2009 with Coexister which he established along with four Co-Founders. Coexister is a grassroots non-profit encouraging interfaith cooperation in French high schools.

Coexister uses the tactic of youth-led training, to teach young leaders to tackle their own diversities and in doing so provides them with ownership over the process. This makes the learning experience more deeply-rooted. It has about 50 local shelters on the ground. Each shelter runs approximately 30 activities a year. Each activity takes the form of a “chapter” which forms a safe space for approximately 50 young people. These young leaders are facilitated to design a peacebuilding curriculum, and through doing so develop an awareness and understanding of interfaith values. 

Supplemented by three national events, over 2,500 young French people have participated in Coexister’s activities and events. The organisation also runs workshops which implement the peacebuilding curriculum, which have reached over 25,000 students in over 500 high schools. 

Coexister is an organisation within an interfaith movement. It runs alongside an academic research group exploring solutions to interfaith conflict globally with a team of researchers from different faiths. 

Additionally, it is supported by Convivencia, an interfaith consultancy for big business, charities and public institutions. This is a social enterprise which funnels any profit into the movement, and the work of coexister.

Samuel participated in the Interfaith Dialogue at the One Young World Summit in London in 2019. In doing so, he had the opportunity to interact with other young leaders in the field, as well as a selection of the UK’s most senior religious figures.

Sources:

(1)  https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/09/france-insoumise-islamophobia-racism…