August 15, 2021

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

The world’s most representative multi-religious leadership coalition

Religions for Peace is the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition of representative religious institutions and communities, with national member associations, called “Inter-religious Councils” (IRCs) in nearly 100 countries, with an International Secretariat based in New York. The Religions for Peace Board – the World Council  – consists of some of the world’s senior most religious leaders representing all the world’s religious institutions; over 90 locally led national IRCs; 6 regional inter-religious IRCs; together with the interfaith Global women of faith and youth networks. Religions for Peace IRCs provide a platform for cooperative voice, as well as actions, addressing the most pressing common concerns of their nations, regions and the world.

Led by Secretary General Dr. Azza Karam – elected by and accountable to this Office by over 900 religious leaders and delegates from across the movement in 2019 – Religions for Peace works in cooperation with governments, intergovernmental organisations and civil society. Since 1973, Religions for Peace has been accredited as a non-governmental organization to the United Nations, and is engaged in facilitating multi-religious collaborative actions towards the realization of the global Sustainable Development Goals, namely peacebuilding, human development and human rights.

 

Peacemaker for over 50 years

Under the influence of the destructive violence of World War II and the nuclear threat of the Cold War, in 1961, representatives of different world religions began to prepare a “summit meeting” of religious leaders in order to mobilize the followers of as many religions as possible for joint action for peace. The first “World Assembly” took place in October 1970 in Kyōto and led to the formal establishment of Religions for Peace as an international independent non-governmental organization. At intervals of around five years, eight further World Assemblies have been held since in various locations: Leuven, Princeton, Nairobi, Melbourne, Rome, Amman, Kyoto, Vienna and most recently, Lindau, Germany. Meanwhile, the national and regional Interreligious Councils were also being established.

Since its founding, representatives of Religions for Peace have served as mediators in many global crises caused by conflict, including Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Burundi, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar, Iraq, the Holy Land, and Syria. Support was also simultaneously being provided on a systematic basis in natural disasters and crises such as Haiti, Nepal and Japan, and is today systematically enacted through the Multi-Religious Humanitarian Fund.

Religions for Peace garnered much attention when it mediated between the conflicting parties in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1996, Religions for Peace organized the first meeting of the four most important religious leaders of Bosnia since the outbreak of the war. After half a year, this meeting culminated in a joint declaration in which the Roman Catholic, Serbian Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish representative agreed on a joint moral aspiration and established the Inter-religious Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IRC-BiH). To this day, this multi-religious cooperation maintains an exemplary function for many other peace efforts of Religions for Peace.

Religions for Peace’s current work in Myanmar has also garnered the attention of international media. 　Religions for Peace, and its affiliate Religions for Peace Myanmar, responded to the critical lack of “open space” in which to safely meet, dialogue and discern a consensus on necessary actions, by establishing, in late 2018, a unique multi-religious, multi-stakeholder mechanism for dialogue and action entitled the “Religions for Peace Advisory Forum and its Standing Commissions on National Reconciliation and Peace in Myanmar.”　The Forum convened hundreds of essential stakeholders to address the issues of education, equal rights and responsibilities for all ethnic groups, women’s leadership, youth empowerment, and identity, diversity and common challenges in Rakhine State, supported by the Myanmar government, the United Nations and over 20 foreign states. The military coup in Myanmar has necessitated a halt in the activities of this Forum, while some of its members seek to discern relevant regional peacebuilding efforts, including through ASEAN and the United Nations.

The vision and method: The world’s religious communities cooperate effectively for peace

The mission of Religions for Peace is to advance common action among the world’s religious communities for peace while preserving and respecting religious differences. In addition to promoting just and harmonious societies, fostering integral and sustainable development, and protecting the earth, Religions for Peace supports joint peace efforts of religious communities around the world to transform violent conflicts. Specifically, Religions for Peace builds and expands inter-religious councils (IRCs) and is committed to leading efforts to advance effective multi-religious cooperation for peace on global, regional, national and local levels. These efforts follow the following principles: respect religious differences, act on the basis of deeply rooted shared values, preserve the identity of each religious community, honor the different ways religious communities are organized, support locally led multi-religious structures.

The method for common action developed by Religions for Peace is unique, practical and open to continuous innovation. It assists religious communities to correlate, or work out a connection, between their capacities for action and specific challenges, such as violent threats to peace. The method, while simple, is powerful. When applied, it discloses large, often hidden or under-utilized capacities for action that lie within the reach of religious communities. Importantly, it also identifies the unique advantages of multi-religious cooperation and what kinds of capacity building are needed for effective multi-religious action. Concretely, the method assists Religions for Peace to analyze specific problems, such as violent conflict; make an inventory of religious assets and the added values of cooperation; match these with needed problem-solving roles and identify areas of capacity building essential for common action.

 

THE FACTS

The Conference on Faith and Diplomacy: Generations in Dialogue will bring notable representatives from countries across the world to Lindau.  Representatives of the world’s historic religions as well as from civil society, governments, NGOs and multilateral institutions are expected. Assembly delegates include Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Indigenous, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh religious leaders.

The Religions for Peace Conference on Faith and Diplomacy will be global in scale, multi-stakeholder in composition and action-oriented. It will convene senior religious leaders from around the world who are strategically positioned to advance multi-religious action for the common good. It will also include representatives of governments, intergovernmental organizations, charitable foundations, and other civil society sectors and provide concrete opportunities to forge multi-stakeholder partnerships for the common good. Major successes in the advancement of peace, development and shared security will be responsibly shared and serve as a basis for further action.

“Deeply held and widely shared” moral concerns

What can the religions do in times of war to transform conflict, promote just and harmonious societies, foster sustainable development and protect the earth? What can religions do when a global pandemic has claimed the lives of millions around the world, as wealthy nations secure life-saving vaccines and developing nations go without? How can religious leaders and youth cultivate a society united in solidarity—united in the understanding that the security and dignity of each person is inherently linked to that of all other persons? How can they lead multi-religious cooperation that bears fruit in common, concrete action, motivated by these shared moral concerns?

Our convening in Lindau is a time of multi-religious action and dialogue across generations. At this year’s convening, we will highlight youth as peacemakers and as problem solvers. Together, religious leaders and youth will exchange best practices to become better equipped to take concrete action on the ground in their own countries. The Conference in Lindau affords a safe environment that provides a unique opportunity for Youth to engage and make their voices heard on some of the world’s most pressing concerns, including Covid-19, vaccine equity, climate change, political and armed conflict, and humanitarianism in the midst of a pandemic.

Lindau: Tri-State-area at Lake Constance

Lindau at Lake Constance, in the heart of Europe, was chosen deliberately as the location for the Conference, being located within the tri-State-area and thus somehow in a neutral zone. During prior conferences, the World Council of Religions for Peace experienced Lindau as an ideal, decentral location with short distances and a proximity to nature. In addition, all religions have a special affinity to water, and Lake Constance connects three countries: Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Furthermore, the Assembly will build on the civilizing heritage that was started by the monks that moved to this area 1400 years ago from Ireland and France. Guests from around the world will meet here in an international environment that, with its rich nature, reminds that climate protection is an essential component of peace.

Lindau is well experienced with large conferences and thus well prepared for an event of this size: the most notable regular forums include the nobel laureate meetings as well as the psychotherapy weeks. The newly renovated Inselhalle, which will house the Conference, offers perfect possibilities for hosting large events, intimate discussions, dynamic workshops and high-level consultations.

The Partners

The secretariat of Religions for Peace in New York, led by Dr. Azza Karam, Secretary General, creates and coordinates all aspects of the program for the Conference on Faith and Diplomacy, as well as the decentralized pre-meetings and ancillary events.

For the implementation of the conference (beginning with the World Assembly), the “Foundation Peace Dialogue of the World Religions and Civil Society” was established with Dr. Wolfgang Schürer serving as chair and Ulrich Schneider serving as managing director.

At the Federal Foreign Office, this year’s Conference on Faith and Diplomacy: Generations in Dialogue is supported by the “Religion and Foreign Policy” division. Its role in a world increasingly marked by war and insecurity is to engage the potential of religions to act as responsible agents for peace and to assume moral and social responsibility. Since fall 2016, within the context of the initiative “Peace Responsibility of the Religions” founded by then-Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Federal Foreign Office has been taking religious communities increasingly into account as strategic partners for peacebuilding, pursuing the goals of building trust, finding compromises, supporting the weak, establishing stability and promoting peace.

 

CONTENT

The Trilogy of Partnerships around Religion, Diplomacy and Peacebuilding

The Conference of the World Council of Religious Leaders on Faith and Diplomacy: Generations in Dialogue will be hosted in Lindau, Germany, from 4-7 October 2021. The Conference will be co-organised by Religions for Peace and the Foundation Peace Dialogue of the World Religions and Civil Society (Ring for Peace), supported by the German Federal Foreign Office (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). The Foundation Peace Dialogue of the World Religions and Civil Society (Ring for Peace) was founded in 2018 and its aim is to foster the peaceful coexistence between people and religions within Germany and Europe, to strengthen international understanding and cooperation and to promote the dialogue between the generations and nations.

Around 150 members of the World Council, women of faith, international religious youth leaders, diplomats and representatives from civil society, governments, intergovernmental organisations and religious institutions will be invited in person, with a broader group of participants to be invited to join virtually. This hybrid formula is reflecting the ongoing ramifications of the global pandemic caused by the spread of COVID-19.

This global conference follows the successful implementation of two major global efforts. The first of these was the 10^th World Assembly of Religions for Peace, in August of 2019, where more than 1,000 religious actors from 125 countries joined governmental, inter-governmental and civil-society partners to deliberate shared concerns, launch a global Interfaith Rainforest Initiative, and focus discussions on scaling up successful multifaith and multi sectoral efforts around peace and security regionally and nationally. The second convening of religious leaders, multi-lateral actors and diplomats took place virtually in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, to give voice to women leaders inspired by their faith traditions from around the world. The “Women, Faith and Diplomacy” Assembly took place in November 2020, and was (virtually) attended by 1500 participants from around 60 countries. This Assembly also served to identify challenges, nuance responsibilities, and showcase successes in the field of multi-religious peacebuilding as well as international development and foreign policy.

Building upon these interactions, Religions for Peace and Ring for Peace will convene the third event of what is in effect, a trilogy of their partnership: the Conference of the World Council of Religious Leaders on Faith and Diplomacy: Generations in Dialogue. While youth leadership itself is not a new or emerging phenomenon, this convening aims to highlight intergenerational dialogue as a means to strengthen and engage youth leadership and diplomacy, within and beyond religious institutions. Religions for Peace has systematically engaged youth throughout its 50-year history on local, national, regional, and international levels. Indeed, the Religions for Peace global Interfaith Youth Network was established at the 2006 World Youth Assembly in Hiroshima, Japan, harnessing the energy and commitment of youth leaders all over the world to advance the mission of multi-religious cooperation for comprehensive and holistic peace.

Background

The World Council of Religions for Peace is its governing body and consists of around 60 religious leaders (men and women) representing diverse religious institutions, faith communities, from all regions of the world. This Conference will provide an opportunity for participants from governmental, intergovernmental and civil society to engage with the World Council members as well as wider members of the Religions for Peace movement, including women of faith, interfaith youth and national and regional representatives of Religions for Peace’s signature Interreligious Councils.

The Conference of the World Council of Religious Leaders on Faith and Diplomacy: Generations in Dialogue will focus on three key themes: Peace and Security, the Environment and Humanitarianism, including global public health. The following provides an overview on why facilitating a multi-religious, multi-stakeholder and intergenerational dialogue on these themes is crucial to increase understanding, identify points of collaboration and create synergies in creating a more just, peaceful, and inclusive world.

In recent years, the understanding of human influence on the global environment has spurred increasing recognition of the urgency of ecologically responsible action. Religions for Peace, among them many youth actors, has joined a global chorus of young people of faith and good will, reclaiming their relationship with a living environment and proclaiming our collective responsibility to nurture and sustain it. Inspired by other environmental youth actors and activists, such as Greta Thunberg, Luisa Neubauer, Clara Mayer, and the countless individuals who joined their movements, youth everywhere have become the signature actors of the environmental movement.

The devastating humanitarian crisis that resulted from the global COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into stark relief both the vulnerability and agency of youth actors.  Youth occupy a unique position in the COVID-19 crisis: indeed, youth are not the prime victims of the disease and maintain an apparent resilience to the symptoms of COVID-19, and yet, youth are also not intentional or active agents of the virus’s spread, only passive carriers in no greater quantity than any other sector of society. Though select examples emerge of reckless behaviour by adolescents, youth are largely following the regulations and guidelines of global health officials, maintaining practices to ensure the safety of their communities, and advocating for policies that will help reduce the risk of these outbreaks in the future. With their proficiency in technology and communication, youth have been aiding in the societal transition from in-person meetings to virtual correspondence. Youth are creative in their outreach, utilizing non-tradition and social media to connect and engage isolated communities.

Conference Objectives

Honouring Religions for Peace’s strategic priorities identified by over 200 faith leaders, recognising unfolding dynamics of peace and security, and building on the findings and advocacy of the former Assemblies, this Conference of the World Council of Religious Leaders on Faith and Diplomacy: Generations in Dialogue will have the following objectives:

• Showcase the broad variety of successful multi-religious collaboration in different fields around the world, from the past and in ongoing projects.
• Identify the strategic value-added of multi-religious collaboration in multi-stakeholder efforts to confront the combined and simultaneous challenges of a global pandemic, environmental degradation and diverse forms of conflict that threaten peace and security around the world.
• Highlightthe multiple forms of youth leadership within Religions for Peace and beyond: particularly showcasing the aptitude of interfaith youth representatives to create innovative synergies, enact concrete strategies, and convene global actors for multi-religious collaborative efforts, despite the implications caused by the global pandemic.
• Provide a unique networking and learning platform for multi-faith leaders dedicated to peace: thereby convening voices, perspectives, and experiencesof religious leaders and youth from diverse faith backgrounds, to exchange and dialogue with other agents of peace from diplomatic corps, civil society, international development sectors and media.

Conference Themes  

Peacebuilding 

Religions for Peace’s Strategic Plan 2020-2025, using the Sustainable Development Goals agreed to by 193 countries as a strategic backdrop, aligns with SDG 16, and speaks to “promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies”. In fact, this builds on the movement’s 50-year legacy to transform violent conflict, build peace and advance human development. Peacebuilding reflects the core of what diplomacy aims to achieve, and thus sits at the heart of the work of Religions for Peace. At the same time, traditional diplomatic means have long been viewed as the business of ‘older’ statesmen, religious leaders, and institutions, thus ignoring the myriad efforts of youth and youth-led initiatives and experiences – and voices. Indeed, there is an assumption that when youth raise their voices, it is activism, but when their mentors and leaders raise their voices, it is diplomacy.

Environment 

A further strategic priority of Religions for Peace is nurturing a sustainable environment. Religious communities recognise the dynamic inter-relationship and dependency between all forms of life, which has also been substantiated by modern science. Religions for Peace has committed to work to ensure that multi-religious collaboration is geared towards nurturing a sustainable environment for all living species.

One of Religions for Peace’ close partners is the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative (IRI), which is an international, multi-faith alliance that works to bring moral urgency and faith-based leadership to global efforts to end tropical deforestation. It brings the commitment, influence and moral authority of religions to efforts to protect the world’s rainforests and the indigenous peoples that serve as their guardians. More recently, IRI has expressed their interest in expanding their youth engagement.

In 2022, Religions for Peace International is planning to partner with the Manresa City Council and Religions for Peace Spain-GTER. The intention is to organize three days of meetings, reflections and workshops in the city of Manresa in celebration and commemoration of the historic event of St. Ignatius of Loyola, staying in Manresa while on route to Jerusalem. The partnership is looking to a future of multi-religious collaboration and focusing on the engagement of youth actors. Under the theme, “At a Crossroads: A Multireligious Intergenerational Response to the Social and Environmental Crises,” this event seeks to gather and spark an intergenerational movement to convert all humanity into a new creation that can nurture a better environment.

 

Humanitarianism 

The global pandemic caused by the spread of the lethal virus COVID-19 has shifted and transformed our way of being and operating in the world. All parts of society have been deeply affected by the implications of the pandemic and the counter-strategies to fight the further spread of the virus. The pandemic created a severe humanitarian crisis across the globe, affecting those members of society who are already vulnerable, even more severely.

To respond to this crisis and to provide seed funding to multi-religious project initiative, Religions for Peace initiated the Multi-Religious Humanitarian Fund (MRHF). Supporting and cultivating humanitarian interfaith action lies at the core of the Multi-religious Humanitarian Fund, an initiative forged during the COVID-19 pandemic — but built to outlast it. The Fund supports and encourages diverse religious communities to work together in their frontline efforts to respond to humanitarian crises.

Various youth members of Religions for Peace like in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Philippines have applied for and have been granted funding from the MRHF to implement their projects in response to the global pandemic.

Diplomacy Roundtables
To ensure interactive sessions provide participants with the opportunity to have in-depth exchanges and conversation between the various diplomats, religious leaders, and experts, several “Diplomacy Roundtables”, will take place on two consecutive days during the Conference program in parallel sessions.  Each Roundtable will be co-moderated by a Diplomat and a faith leader. Each participant is invited to share their expertise, consider intersecting interests and concerns, and assess possible collaboration options.

Objectives of the Diplomacy Roundtables 

• Ensuring mutual exchange of knowledge, experiences and insights between diverse religious actors and diplomats.
• Deepening discussions on specific areas which were raised (or not) in the larger plenaries.
• Identifying common objectives and/or areas of interests which can constitute potential areas of collaboration, to further diplomacy through multi-religious collaboration.

Session Rules 

• Discussing both challenges and opportunities surrounding each of the Roundtable topics.
• Each participant should be encouraged to make interventions but do so in a way which enables interaction -so no long or elaborate speeches. Moderators are tasked to ensure this takes place, and also discourage any interruptions.
• Rapporteurs should be encouraged to summarise any suggested action points or follow up before presentation
• A briefing session for all conveners will be organized beforehand.

 

Conference Modalities and Outcomes

The Conference will aim to avoid panel presentations and instead secure interactive discussions, including featuring a debate. An Advisory Group for the World Conference is set up, which features representation from across various walks of life, representing the many sectors being convened: foreign affairs, religious leaders, youth leaders and humanitarian actors.

The programme will further secure innovation by ensuring a systematic inclusion of the voices and the roles of interfaith youth in discussions with religious leaders, diplomats and intergovernmental partners, around all aspects of the above themes.

This inclusive, participatory and intersectional modality will also be enacted in parallel “Roundtables on Diplomacy and Religion.” These will also feature interactive discussions around several related concerns, such as Covid-19 vaccine access and resistance, the linkages between population demographics and humanitarian needs in contexts of climate change, and gender equality and women’s empowerment, among other themes.

The Conference will be recorded by video, professionally photographed, and a report on the key discussions and outcomes will be made available thereafter. The Report will provide concrete recommendations, to governments, intergovernmental and civil society organisations, to further multi-religious collaboration, given Religions for Peace’s abiding conviction – based on its legacy – that this is one of the tipping points in addressing contemporary simultaneous challenges.

 

 

THE RING FOR PEACE

An Interfaith Symbol of Peace

The Ring for Peace sheds light on the guiding theme of the 10th World Assembly and is introduced as a permanent symbol of peace between the religions. The ring stands as a connecting element, which is not fixed to one religion or excludes another. In many world religions, the ring symbolizes loyalty, truthfulness and honesty. The Buddhist Wheel of Life, the signet ring of the Prophet Mohammed in Islam, the Ring of Solomon in Judaism or Lessing’s Ring Parable, are only a few examples.  As a “round whole”, equal and absolute in itself, the ring symbolizes the complementary and mutually completing nature of world religions, whose unity embodies the entirety of the consciousness.

The Design

The Templin wood designer Gisbert Baarmann will build the 7.5 meter high wooden ring in the form of a Moebius strip. The ring will be built from larch wood; 36 types of wood from all over the world and from certified cultivation will be integrated into the large sculpture. The sculpture will be erected in early August in the Lindau Luitpoldpark, directly on the shores of Lake Constance.

The Ceremony and the Campaign

To mark the opening of the World Assembly, an interfaith and spiritual ceremony with all delegates and many guests will take place on 20 August in Lindau at the Ring for Peace on the island in Luitpold Park. From here, a greeting of peace from each religion will be sent around the world. The ring will remain there permanently and will also provide a place for interfaith ceremonies and meetings in Lindau in future.

Ring for Peace is the campaign of the Foundation for the Peace Dialog of World Religions and Civil Society together with the 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace.

 

PRESS CONTACTS

For further information:

Press Contact General: press@rfp.org

Press Contact: Suzanne Toma, stoma@rfp.org

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

1. What is Religions for Peace?

Acreditted to the United Nations, Religions for Peace is the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition advancing common action among the world’s religious communities for peace.

Religions for Peace builds peace by working to transform violent conflict, promote just and harmonious societies, advance human development, protect the earth and advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

Religions for Peace consists of a World Council of senior religious leaders from all regions of the world, six inter-religious regional councils, ninety national councils, the Global Women of Faith Network and the Global Interfaith Youth Network.

2. When was Religions for Peace founded?

The origins of Religions for Peace date to 1961, when a handful of senior leaders from the world’s major faith traditions began to explore the possibility of organizing a “religious summit.” They felt the urgent need for believers around the world to take action toward achieving world peace.

Religions for Peace was officially founded when those leaders convened for the first time in Kyoto, Japan, from 16 to 21 October 1970. For nearly fifty years, Religions for Peace has continued to bring together people of faith to cooperate for peace.

3. Which religions are represented by Religions for Peace?

The Religions for Peace network represents faiths in every region of the world.

4. How many people are involved with Religions for Peace?

Religions for Peace works to facilitate collaboration among religious communities.  Therefore, the tens of thousands of persons involved with Religions for Peace help to represent the genuine concerns of their entire communities.

5. How is Religions for Peace funded?

Religions for Peace is funded by religious communities.  This includes both cash subsidies and indirect contributions of volunteers and through the use of religious buildings.  Religions for Peace is also generously supported by foundations, governments, multilateral agencies and by personal philanthropists designated as Religions for Peace International Trustees.

6. What are the goals of Religions for Peace?

Religions for Peace advances common action among the world’s religious communities for peace by working to transform violent conflict, promote just and harmonious societies, advance human development, protect the earth and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

• Religions for Peace builds and equips inter-religious councils at the local, national, regional and global levels.
• Religions for Peace mobilizes religious communities locally, nationally, regionally and globally to cooperate as key actors for peace.
• Religions for Peace has a strong track record of fostering effective inter-religious collaboration in the most challenging situations worldwide.

 

Our Six Key Priorities include

1. Peaceful, Just, and Inclusive Societies
2. The Environment
3. Interreligious Education
4. Gender Equality
5. Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion
6. Global Partnerships7. How can religions contribute to important current issues such as the
   Covid-19 pandemic?

As Dr. Karam, Secretary General of Religions for Peace noted, “The world is facing an unprecedented crisis brought about by Covid-19, and religious actors are first responders in humanitarian crisis. Religions for Peace is determined to support the multi-religious humanitarian efforts in these crisis times because we know that multi-religious collaboration in times of crisis, guarantees social cohesion at all times.

Supporting and cultivating humanitarian interfaith action lies at the core of our mission. For that reason, Religions for Peace launched the Multi-religious Humanitarian Fund (The Fund), an initiative forged during the COVID-19 pandemic — but built to outlast it. The Fund supports and encourages diverse religious communities to work together in their frontline efforts to respond to humanitarian crises.

8. What are some past successes of Religions for Peace?

Religions for Peace’s national, regional and international multi-religious networks provide an effective mechanism for implementing projects and activities from the grassroots to national, regional and global levels. This multi-level approach is uniquely comprehensive, flexible to respond quickly to changing circumstances, and highly efficient in terms of utilizing local resources and sustaining community-led actions.

 

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES OF RELIGIONS FOR PEACE’S WORK

 

Conflict Transformation

Through the years Religions for Peace has amassed a solid record of engagement in a number of conflict areas, including: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Burundi, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the Mano River and Great Lakes African sub-regions, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, Iraq, Israel and Palestine and Syria. Its network members are leaders and representatives of religious communities who are well connected through their often widely spread constituencies and have firsthand knowledge of local contexts. As such, Religions for Peace is well connected with many of the prime actors and is in a position to link religious leaders to political processes.

Religions for Peace’s conflict program strategy focuses on equipping religious leaders to mobilize people in their communities to participate in peace building activities, demonstrate that religions can be positive forces for peace and reconciliation and show that dialogue alone is insufficient without concrete programs that create a new atmosphere for peaceful coexistence.

 

• Shared Security

The Arms Down! Campaign for Shared Security was launched by the Religions for Peace Global Youth Network in late 2009. Youth leaders from the world’s great religious traditions convened on 4 October to deliver the 20 million signatures that they had collected on the Arms Down! petition to the United Nations Secretary-General’s High Representative for Disarmament.  The petition calls on all governments to officially pledge to cut their military budgets by 10% and re-allocate those funds toward development.  The handing ceremony—co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations—was attended by nearly 300 guests including religious and civil society leaders, representatives of United Nations Member States, and international youth leaders.  Under this campaign, the youth implemented more than 100 multi-religious trainings, consultations and advocacy actions across the globe. Arms Down! generated support from Heads of State; the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; 200 parliamentarians and senior religious leaders.

Campaign-related actions overall helped to notably increase the level of attention from international policy makers and the general public to the linkage between disarmament and development and strengthened public understanding of the impacts of and responses to conventional weapons. Significantly, it contributed to the formal adoption of “Youth, Development and Peace” as the official theme for the 2010 International Day of Peace.

 

• Disarmament

Disarmament and security concerns have been central to the mission of Religions for Peace since its founding during the Cold War in 1970. Thus, it has given high priority to reducing the need for and supply of weapons in our world.  To that end, Religions for Peace works to eliminate nuclear and conventional weapons, to educate the public about the human costs of militarization, and to redirect military expenditures toward human development. It has focused on global advocacy as well as community-based initiatives that foster multi-religious cooperation to raise awareness and provide education on a range of security and arms issues, particularly in Cambodia, Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Democratic Republic of Congo and Pakistan.

 

• Peacebuilding

Regional Efforts: West Africa and the Great Lakes

The conflicts in West Africa, like many of today’s challenges, extends beyond the borders of any one state. In response, Religions for Peace built an alliance among the Inter-religious Councils (IRCs) of Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to share information and to coordinate advocacy campaigns, trainings and joint projects that have included election monitoring, and demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers.

Today, the West Africa Inter-religious Coordinating Committee (WA IRCC) is building relationships and collaboration with regional economic and political bodies such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Mano River Union (MRU). The committee also carried out rapid response missions to Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea and Liberia to mitigate conflict and crisis situations as they arose in those countries.

Drawing on the model pioneered in West Africa, Religions for Peace and its affiliated inter-religious councils of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda have laid a foundation in the form of the Great Lakes Inter-religious Network (GLIRN) for long-term cooperation to address the complicated conflicts that continue to plague the sub-region. With Religions for Peace’s assistance, they have engaged in solidarity visits to conflicted areas, trained religious communities and engaged in various actions in areas such as trauma healing and reconciliation.

National Efforts

Iraq: In Iraq, just two weeks after the occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Religions for Peace met with senior religious leaders in Iraq and laid the groundwork for their first face-to-face meeting in decades. Since that time, Religions for Peace has organized and funded their discussions in such safe havens as England, Jordan, Korea, and Japan. It has also equipped them to help war-injured Iraqi children, including sending the most critically injured to Korea for reconstructive surgeries. In addition, 20 Iraqi doctors, chosen jointly by the leaders of the different religious communities, were sent for specialized surgical training in Korea, where they learned how to treat the specific injuries children can sustain in armed conflict. While such humanitarian efforts have their own inherent medical value, they have an even larger symbolic impact, demonstrating the real possibility and benefit of multi-religious harmony.

Liberia: The Religions for Peace Inter-religious Council of Liberia (IRCL) was founded in 1990 by religious leaders of Liberia drawn from the Christian and Muslim communities and staffed by members of each community. Their effort set up a basis for mediation and dialogue which eventually culminated in the ECOWAS Peace Plan for Liberia and the 1997 general elections. President Charles Taylor announced his stepping down through the Council.

Sierra Leone: Armed conflict began in Sierra Leone 1991, when fighters of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) launched a war against the government and civil society, committing brutal acts of violence, ravaging villages and mutilating innocent victims. With the guidance of the Religions for Peace, religious leaders formed the Religions for Peace Inter-religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL). Sierra Leone’s religious leaders, Muslims and Christians working together, helped to stop the bloody civil war and mediated negotiations between the government and the rebels. The Council became a conduit in the peace process, negotiating the release of fifty child hostages in 1997, and playing a key role in the Lomé peace talks. In the next three following years, IRCSL conducted a human rights and peace education project designed to contribute to a nationwide dialogue on human rights and the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Later, the president of IRCSL, Bishop J.C. Humper, was appointed the chairperson of Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Syria: As violence escalated in Syria, Religions for Peace has been convening a wide range of Syrian religious leaders to establish the Syrian Religions for Peace Council. The religious leaders resolved to prevent sectarian violence, advance reconciliation and provide humanitarian assistance. Religions for Peace has supported in establishing child friendly spaces in six war-torn regions of Syria, to provide educational support, nutrition and a safe haven to thousands of children and their families from the ravages of the war.

Just and Harmonious Societies

Religions for Peace has been advancing peace through promoting justice, human rights and reconciliation; assisting in social reconstruction and healing in post conflict societies; confronting social and cultural violence and promoting peace education.

Empowering Women: Religions for Peace is advancing Restoring Dignity, a global initiative dedicated to engaging faith-based organizations, religious leaders, communities and individuals of faith for common action to end violence against women. This initiative included the adoption of restoring dignity statement by the Religions for Peace Executive Committee; the launch of a global campaign engaging religious youth to say NO to violence against women; organizing of spiritual services, prayer or retreat; advocating to the UN and local and national government leaders; sharing survivors’ stories; holding of educational or awareness raising events; implementation of small projects in seven countries and the wide dissemination of the Restoring Dignity toolkit developed by Religions for Peace.

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Following the Dayton Agreement and beginning in 1996-97, the Religions for Peace Inter-religious Council of Bosnia-Herzegovina (IRC-BH) facilitated communications across religious communities, served as a liaison between the religious communities and the many international NGOs working in the post-conflict environment and provided a venue for regular engagements with the government.  Over time, the IRC’s working committees addressed issues of security and economic development.  Among other outcomes, the IRC-BiH advocated for religious freedom and helped to draft the national law on civil society organizations, which eventually passed in 2004, as part of the country’s reconstruction.

Burundi: Religions for Peace worked to overcome obstacles to peace building and reconciliation in Burundi. The religious communities were equipped to tackle the issue of land, refugees and integration of communities. With the skilful negotiation and encouragement from the religious communities, conflicting parties of inhabitants and refugees have amicably settled their land disputes. Out of the 16,848-land conflict recorded by the National Land Commission, 8,101 people amicably agreed to share the land, many of these peaceful settlements came about as a result of the religious leaders’ interventions.

Haiti: In 2011-2012, Religions for Peace Haiti (Religions Pour La Paix Haiti), mediated the “standoff” between the executive and legislature on the formation of a permanent electoral council that plunged Haiti into months of political crisis. It brought the parties together and facilitated the signing of the memorandum of understanding on 24 December 2012. Both parties requested Religions for Peace Haiti to lead the talks needed to enable the Superior Council of the Judiciary to solve problems associated with the appointment of its representatives in the electoral institution.

 

Myanmar: In Myanmar, Religions for Peace has developed a multilevel, multi-stakeholder approach to supporting efforts to end violent conflicts, including decades-long conflicts between the military and armed ethnic groups, and the deadly clashes between Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims. At the diplomatic level, a high-level international delegation was invited by Cardinal Charles Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, and other members of Religions for Peace Myanmar, to visit the country and deliver the ‘Letter to the Peoples of Myanmar’ carrying a call for the establishment of the Religions for Peace Advisory Forum on National Reconciliation and Peace in Myanmar.

The Advisory Forum brought together senior religious leaders, officials from the United Nations, the Myanmar government and the military, parliament and ethnic organizations. To respond to the critical lack of “open space” for dialogue and cooperation among all stakeholders, this program aims at building a unique multireligious and multi-stakeholder mechanism for dialogue and action. conflict transformation. The government has publicly acknowledged the critical role religious leaders play in transforming people and conflict and pledged to support future Religions for Peace work on dialogue and multi-religious cooperation.

At the grassroots level, a number of projects and programs have built the capacity of Religions for Peace Myanmar members, and supporting dialogue and multi-religious activities have deepened understanding and brought communities back together after violent conflict. Evaluation evidence has shown that the projects have had a profound and positive impact on many participants, especially women, and have helped build peace and reconciliation in the project areas.

Human Development

Religions for Peace further advances peace by working for human development through promoting the rights and well-being of children, promoting the rights of women, advancing poverty alleviation strategies and responding to HIV/AIDS and major new or sudden threats related to building peace.

Child Survival: Religions for Peace launched The Ten Promises to Our Children, a global initiative to improve child survival. Each year, millions of children die before their fifth birthday, often from entirely preventable causes. While good health care systems are essential, families can also adopt life‐saving practices—such as breastfeeding infants and ensuring that children are immunized—that can save children’s lives. This initiative empowers people of faith to promote these life‐saving practices in the communities where they live and work.

 

Protecting Children Affected by Conflict: Through the global partnership with UNICEF, Religions for Peace worked in the Philippines, Liberia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Iran, and other countries to protect children under conflict situations and reject violence against children. It focuses on providing services to children and their family and strengthening the capacity of religious communities to work effectively in protecting children. As part of this multi-year project, UNICEF and Religions for Peace also organize consultations that bring together experts and key external actors to discuss the role of religious communities in protecting children affected by conflict and outline concrete actions to strengthen their collaboration with child rights organizations.

 

Responding to HIV and AIDS: Religions for Peace catalyzed interfaith efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in Latin America, South Asia, and many regions of Africa. With funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Religions for Peace worked to scale up faith-based responses to HIV/AIDS in Tanzania and Ethiopia. In Uganda, Religions for Peace helped launch a successful program for orphans and vulnerable children, which has since garnered substantial resources to expand its work. In several other countries, Religions for Peace affiliates offer home-based care and job training that enables people living with HIV/AIDS to maintain their dignity and independence.

 

Ethiopia: The Religions for Peace Ethiopia (Ethiopian Inter-faith Forum for Development, Dialogue and Action – EIFDDA) is a national faith-based inter-religious coalition with membership across the country’s major religions and their faith-based development organizations. EIFDDA is a strong national network, and its capabilities extend to the regions, zones, woredas (districts) and kebeles (neighborhoods). EIFDDA’s key programmatic focus areas have included caring for people living with HIV/AIDS as well as orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), and reducing AIDS related stigma and discrimination.  EIFDDA draws on the collective expertise of its constituent FBOs, some of which have over 20 years’ experience managing relief and development programs. It has reached more than 500,000 people with its services and support.

 

With an annual budget of $8.0m, more than 30 professional staff, thousands of volunteers throughout Ethiopia, EIFDDA is a major contributor in national policy bodies including the Global Fund CCM, National AIDS Control Councils, OVC task forces, etc.

 

Poverty Alleviation: Religions for Peace has made combating poverty a priority focus through advocating for the Legal Empowerment of the Poor and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and now the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Religions for Peace works as the global UN partner to advance positive change. It is also working in partnership with national affiliates to implement projects on the ground that would enable the basic conditions of identity, voice, information and organization to achieve legal empowerment for the poor.

 

Protecting the Earth

 

Climate Change and Natural Disasters: In response to the natural disasters in Haiti, Japan and Nepal, Religions for Peace worked with the religious communities in the affected areas to assist them in relief and recovery efforts. This entailed, among others, providing grief counseling, distributing emergency supplies and establishing multi-sectoral referral system for urgently needed services provided by different sectors of society.

 

Religions for Peace also engages religious communities in advocacy for a strong global climate treaty through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It works to support and multiply this and other efforts, and to amplify the voices of the faithful in climate policy discussions at the local, regional and global level. In 2015, Religions for Peace launched its Faiths for Earth campaign (http://faithsforearth.org/) in 195 countries to bring the voices of faith to bear on the all-important issue of climate change and environmental degradation——especially by urging world leaders to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy by 2050. More than 300,000 people from around the world signed the Faiths for Earth campaign petition which was presented to UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Ms. Christiana Figueres and the President of France, H.E. François Hollande at the Paris Climate Summit.