FIIDI-Canada is a registered charitable organization in Alberta, Canada. It is 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 they serve in Burkina Faso, Canada, and Sierra Leone. Members 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.
FIIDI has identified the following goals to accomplish over a five-year period in Burkina Faso, Canada, and Sierra Leone: (1) Fostering Community Engagement and Understanding Program, (2) Generals (Focal Points) for Peace Program, (3) Children & Youth Arts for Peace Program, (4) Capacity Building for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on relevant regional and international human rights mechanisms, (5) Community Outreach, (6) Intern and Volunteer Placement Program, and (7) Fundraising and Resource Mobilization Program.