Mawlana Hazar Imam invited Her Excellency Roza Otunbayeva, former President of the Kyrgyz Republic, to launch the Global Centre for Pluralism lecture series. Mark Holleran

Mawlana Hazar Imam was in Ottawa on 28 May for the inauguration of the Global Centre for Pluralism's Annual Pluralism Lecture series. As Chairman of the Centre's Board of Directors, Hazar Imam introduced the speaker, Her Excellency Roza Otunbayeva, former President of the Kyrgyz Republic, whom he had invited to launch the lecture series.

“Her Excellency Roza Otunbayeva is a woman of courage, and conviction, whom I have come to admire and respect greatly,” said Mawlana Hazar Imam. “As a leader, President Otunbayeva understood and championed the democratic aspirations of her peoples, guiding the country, in all its diversity, through the region's first peaceful and constitutional transfer of power - a remarkable achievement with tremendous implications for governance inside and outside Kyrgyzstan.”

Mawlana Hazar Imam was at the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in Ottawa on 28 May for the inauguration of the Global Centre for Pluralism's Annual Pluralism Lecture series. Mark Holleran

Hosted at the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, the event was attended by over 150 guests. The distinguished audience included Global Centre for Pluralism Secretary General John McNee, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, Ministers John Baird, Bev Oda and Jason Kenney, and several senators.

The Global Centre for Pluralism is an international institution based in Ottawa that was founded by Mawlana Hazar Imam and the Government of Canada. It is dedicated to helping divided societies value their own diversity.

“Finding ways for diverse societies to live peacefully together is one of the principal challenges of the contemporary world,” said Hazar Imam. “Pluralism as an ethic of respect for diversity is an essential building block of successful and prosperous societies.”