wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Coalition to advance UN Decade for Inter-religious Cooperation for Peace

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World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

>For immediate release - 11/03/2009 10:36:35

FAITH AND VALUES ORGANIZATIONS FORM COALITION TO ADVANCE UNITED NATIONS  DECADE FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS COOPERATION FOR PEACE

Some forty-five religious, interfaith, and value-based organizations from  five continents agreed to form a coalition to advance a "United Nations  Decade for Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding, and  Cooperation for Peace." Coalition members expressed the hope that the UN  Sixty-Fourth General Assembly, which will begin its deliberations in  September 2009, will approve a resolution establishing such a decade from  2011-2020.

The meeting took place at Maryknoll, New York, on 2-4 March. Participants  included Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Shinto, Sikh,  Zoroastrian as well as indigenous traditions.

A provisional steering committee promoted the decade with UN member states  during 2008. The UN General Assembly took the first step on 14 November  2008 by adopting resolution 63/22 which calls for exploring the feasibility  of such a decade. The resolution was co-sponsored by 78 states.

On Monday, the president of the UN General Assembly, Miguel D'Escoto  Brockmann, reiterated his previous calls for a "new spirit of solidarity  and a powerful injection of moral and ethical values into our business and  political lives." He urged the religious leaders to work together with the  United Nations since these concerns require "life-long commitment" and  religious institutions have the "staying power in the face of these  challenges."

The coalition elected a steering committee - composed of organizations  representing religious communities, interfaith and value-based civil  society organizations - to strategically promote the decade idea among  member states of the UN.

>An opportunity to work for peace

Stein Villumstad, deputy secretary general of Religions for Peace (  http://www.wcrp.org ), the world's largest and most representative  multi-religious organization, will chair the coalition steering committee.  "This is a unique opportunity for religious traditions, so easily hijacked  for destructive purposes, to work with the United Nations and jointly  mobilize their communities and organizations for urgent and compelling  actions for peace," he said. "Time and space created by the decade should  make a difference for the poor, marginalized, and oppressed peoples of the  world."

The World Council of Churches (WCC) - host of the initial gathering of  this coalition in Bossey, Switzerland in January 2008 - continues to  promote this initiative, said Shanta Premawardhana, WCC director for  Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation. "Our churches, through the  Churches Commission on International Affairs (CCIA) have a long history of  working with the UN and its agencies on a variety of projects that  contribute to sustainable peace," he said.

The coalition will meet next in the context of the Parliament of the  World's Religions in Melbourne, Australia, in December 2009. Dirk Ficca,  the executive director of the Parliament, himself a member of the steering  committee welcomed the initiative.

Coalition members hope the proposed UN decade will be launched on 21  September 2010, the International Day of Peace. This would immediately  follow the current 2001-2010 International Decade for a Culture of Peace  and Non-violence for the Children of the World and the 2010 International  Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures.

WCC Programme on Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation:
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/programmes/interreligiousdialogue.html

>Parliament of the World's Religions:
>http://www.parliamentofreligions.org

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363media@wcc -coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness  and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of  churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,  Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million  Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman  Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from  the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.