Regional Interfaith Dialogue, Connecting and Cooperating for Peace and Harmony In the Asia-Pacific region
News about World Interfaith Harmony Week Events
5 February 2016, Palais des Nations, Geneva – Diplomats from permanent missions, staff members from United Nations entities, leaders from NGOs and representatives of major religions gathered at the event, “Dialogue on Faith, Peacebuilding & Development,” to discuss the role of faith in peace-building and how faith-based organizations can support social and economic development in synergy with the new 2030 Agenda.
World Interfaith Harmony Week (WIHW) couldn’t have come at a better time. With the recent US travel bans against countries that are predominantly Muslim and persecution of faith groups including Christians at an all-time high; it sometimes feels like there is a war on religion as a whole.
UNITED NATIONS – Pakistan has called for action to combat the forces of Islamophobia and warned that if timely steps are not taken to check this disturbing trend, it could threaten regional and global peace and security. The Pakistan Ambassador to the United Nations organised a side event at the UN on occasion of World Interfaith Harmony Week.
On 6 February 2016, as part of World Interfaith Harmony Week, the United Nations General Assembly conducted a special event – in partnership with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, and with the Committee of Religious NGOs. The event consisted of discussion panels on innovative approaches that develop a spirit of partnership among religious communities.
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and The Committee of Religious NGOs at the U.N. presented a special event focussed on the transformative agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) at the United Nations on 3 February, 2016.
Doyeon Park, Won Buddhist Teacher, Chaplain at New York University and Religious Life Adviser at Columbia University writes about being Buddhist and Interfaith Harmony.
(Vatican City) The annual meeting between the officials of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) and the staff of the Office for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation (IRDC) of the World Council of Churches (WCC), took place from 3 to 4 February in Geneva, Switzerland. Appropriately this was during Interfaith Harmony Week.
The World Interfaith Harmony Week was first proposed at the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2010 by H.M. King Abdullah II of Jordan. Just under a month later, on October 20, 2010, it was unanimously adopted by the UN and henceforth the first week of February will be observed as a World Interfaith Harmony Week.
Today I can share with you significant work done within the United Nations itself, which I have been privileged to be involved in, and which has produced, among many other joint endeavours and even some paradigm shifts, a mechanism within the UN, which is the Inter-Agency Task Force on Engaging with Faith Based organizations for Sustainable Development (IATF-FBOs) told Dr Azza Karam to the UN Special Event on World Interfaith Harmony: Multi-religious Partnership for Sustainable Development.
The interfaith movement is a rich mosaic of efforts, ranging from theological discourse to practical coalitions. Some interreligious harmony work is built on ethereal, ethical, and theological foundations. And some is grounded in an earthy, urgent common interest or in response to a crisis or threat, said Katherine Marshall to the UN Special Event on World Interfaith Harmony: Multi-religious Partnership for Sustainable Development.