wfn.org | Press Release: US-Indonesia Interfaith Cooperation Consultation

["WSC-AR" <contact@worldsikhcouncil.org>]

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[http://www.worldsikhcouncil.org/] World Sikh Council - America Region
(WSC-AR)

>P.O. Box 3635, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA

>Phone: 972.985.9591

>Fax: 925.299.9018

E-mail: [mailto:contact@worldsikhcouncil.org] contact@worldsikhcouncil.or g

Web: [http://www.worldsikhcouncil.org] www.worldsikhcouncil.org

>[http://www.worldsikhcouncil.org/]

US-Indonesia Interfaith Cooperation Consultation

Contact: Manmohan Singh, Secretary General, WSC-AR,
[mailto:contact@worldsikhcouncil.org] contact@worldsikhcouncil.org, Phone :
972-985-9591 (USA)

(Photos, suitable for printing in jpeg, format can be obtained by emailin g
[mailto:contact@worldsikhcouncil.org] contact@worldsikhcouncil.org. Photo s
are courtesy of WSC-AR.)
February 2, 2010

Left: Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr. Marty Natalegawa addresses the
opening ceremony at Pancasila Mansion in Jakarta, Indonesia, Right: Dr.
Tarunjit Singh Butalia with Indonesian Foreign Minister
The World Sikh Council ? America Region (WSC-AR) participated in a
landmark US-Indonesia bilateral interfaith conference in Jakarta, Indones ia
sponsored by the governments of the United States of America and Republic
of Indonesia.
The conference was one of the steps undertaken by the US government to
promote and foster multi-religious cooperation since President Barack
Obama?s historic speech in Cairo, Egypt last year. Indonesia was chosen
as the location for this first-of-its-kind interfaith cooperation forum
because of its diverse society and its constructive models for building
collaborative communities.
The meeting was facilitated by Religions for Peace, the world?s largest
and most representative multi-religious coalition for peace.

US Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume hosted a dinner for the
conference attendees at his home
Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia, Chairperson of WSC-AR?s Interfaith
Committee represented WSC-AR at the meeting held in Jakarta, Indonesia,
January 25 to 27, 2010. The meeting was attended by about 20 senior US
religious and civil society representatives, 20 senior Indonesian religio us
representatives, and 10 religious leaders from South-East Asian countries .

Left to right: Cardinal Theodore McCarrick (Archbishop Emeritus of
Washington, Archdiocese of Washington), Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia
(Chairperson of Interfaith Committee of World Sikh Council ? America
Region), Theophilus Bela (Secretary General of Indonesian Committee on
Religions for Peace)
The three-day consultation titled ?Building Collaborative Communities:
Enhancing Cooperation Among People of Different Faiths? focused on four
key areas of development: poverty, climate change, education, and good
governance.
At the conference, Dr. Butalia, also Moderator of Religions for Peace ?
USA, served as Rapporteur for a working group on poverty and climate chan ge
as well as a member of the Action Plan Committee.

>Action Plan Committee
>At the end of the conference, the
>[http://religionsforpeace.org/news/press/building-collaborative.html]
>Jakarta Declaration (prepared by the Action Plan Committee) was unanimous ly
>adopted. It declares that ?We?religious leaders and other civil socie ty
>actors from the Republic of Indonesia and the United States of
>America?are committed to taking common action on urgent challenges that
>confront us all. These challenges respect no borders.  They leave us,
>finally, only as secure as the least secure among us.  Even as we
>acknowledge our own complicity in and responsibility for these challenges ,
>we are motivated by our respective diverse religious and other heritages
>which also tell us that we can and must act together? We are committed  to
>working together across religious communities, with other civil society
>actors, and with governments in program partnerships? We commit ourselv es
>to a joint process to frame an agenda for future actions.?
>Mr. Ari Alexander, Representative of the US White House Office of
>Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships said in his closing remarks at
>the conference that ?Here in Jakarta, it has been my great privilege to
>have the opportunity to observe people from many different faiths and man y
>different nations discuss how to work together towards poverty eradicatio n;
>how to collaborate to respond to climate change; how to educate our
>societies for mutual respect, and how to foster good governance.  Bearing
>witness to these conversations is a critical component of the US
>Government?s commitment to promoting interfaith cooperation? We would
>like to see more faith leaders become interfaith actors.  The challenges
>that confront our world are too great for us to address in our separate
>communities.  We must act together.?

?The Jakarta conference was a unique opportunity for religious and
civil society representatives to envision a new future of multi-religious
cooperation and action between our two nations based on mutual respect fo r
religious differences? said Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia. ?Our
commitments to work together in moving from dialogue to action are
exemplary and we look forward to working with each other in realizing the se
goals.?
More information on the Jakarta conference and declaration can be
obtained at
[http://religionsforpeace.org/news/press/building-collaborative.html]
http://religionsforpeace.org/news/press/building-collaborative.html.
This message was sent by: World Sikh Council - America Region, POB 3635,  Columbus, OH 43210

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