The International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) is proud to welcome our newest member of the Board of Directors, Dr. Kezevino Aram. Dr. Aram succeeds the distinguished Board Member Swami Agnivesh who served on the Board of Directors from 2012, the establishment of KAICIID, until May 2017.
Dr. Kezevino Aram is Director of Shanti Ashram, a Gandhian centre for international development, learning and collaboration. The Ashram serves over 250,000 people through its development programmes locally, and works worldwide with UN agencies, the Government of India, development organizations, faith-based initiatives and academic institutions.
She serves as co-moderator and executive committee member of Religions for Peace International; Chairperson of the International Interfaith Council for Children at Arigato International; Member of the Governing Council of the National Foundation for Communal Harmony; Union Ministry of Home Affairs, India; Distinguished member, Board of Management of the Gandhigram Rural University and Trustee, M.S. Swaminathan Foundation.
She is currently establishing an ‘International Centre for Child and Public Health’ in India which will combine primary health care with public health with the goal of improving health outcomes among vulnerable children.
An alumnus of the Harvard School of Public Health and the PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research; she has led critical child development initiatives in rural India; been part public health initiatives in the areas of HIV; child survival and health world-wide; served as international consultant on Unicef’s ‘violence against children’ and ‘children in world religions’ study; the Global Health Council’s Interfaith Initiative on Women, Religion and HIV; and the Multi-agency Women, Faith and Development Initiative. She serves as visiting professor teaching undergraduates and post-graduates, preventive pediatrics and international health.
Dr. Aram is deeply committed to the Gandhian spirit and on a bi-annual basis convenes at Shanti Ashram the Sarvo-Foco Roundtable. It brings together Gandhian organizations; faith based organizations, academic institutions and development organizations. Over the last 10 years, 21 such roundtables have been held.
She has publications and articles to her credit, including the Nagaland Human Development Report and the special edition dedicated to children of the World Council of Churches journal ‘Contact’. Active within the Gandhian movement, she coordinates a consortium of 20 Gandhian institutions around development collaborations and has been part of interreligious dialogue efforts for the past twenty years.
Academic awards and recognitions she has received include the Albert Schweitzer Award at the Harvard School of Public Health for commitment to public health practice; the Dr. Fan Chin Memorial Award for innovation in Child Health by the Harvard School of Public Health; the Best Junior Medical Officer award from the Masonic Medical Centre; the Dharma Chakra Award for contributions to Child Health; the Distinguished Alumni Award from the PSG Group of institutions; and the Outstanding Young Indian Award.
Widely travelled, she speaks 8 Indian languages.
She considers it an honour to have been a witness to the pioneering peace building work of her parents Dr. M. Aram, noted educationist and nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, and Mrs. Minoti Aram.
The KAICIID Board of Directors
KAICIID is the only intergovernmental organization with a Board of Directors of religious and faith leaders from different traditions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. The KAICIID Board of Directors determines and oversees all aspects of the Centre’s work, together with the Council of Parties: Austria, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the Holy See as a founding observer. The KAICIID Board of Directors is composed of nine religious leaders from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism.