Global Interfaith Youth Network

Transforming Conflict, Promoting Peace & Advancing Sustainable Development

NEWSLETTER | WINTER 2014

What’s Inside:

International- IYC Meeting in Tunisia Pg 1

International- Interfaith Sum-mit on Climate Change Pg 4

RfP LAIYN at COP-20 Pg 6

RfP EIYN Say No to Religious Intolerance- - Pg 7

RfP AIYN adopts new guide-lines- - Pg 8

Interfaith Calendar Jan-April 2015- Pg 9

@RfP_GIYN

Follow us!

1

Religious youth from all over the world convened in Tunisia to launch “Welcoming the Other” Initiative

Sep 30 – Oct 2, 2014| Tunis, Tunisia, Religions for Peace Global Interfaith Youth Net-work (RfP GIYN) held its annual International Youth Committee meeting in Tunis from September 30 to October 3, 2014 to launch a historic global multi-religious youth initiative “Welcoming the Other.” The initiative will address the rising hostil-ity towards “the other” and radicalization of youth across the globe. RfP International Youth Committee consists of 15 official youth representatives of the world’s major religious institutions and other outstanding religious youth leaders from around the world with profound knowledge and experience in inter-religious cooperation for peace at the national, regional and global levels.

This historic multi-religious youth initiative has emerged from last year’s Religions for Peace 9th World Assembly in Vienna, Austria where over 700 religious leaders from more than 120 countries, representing the world’s diverse religious traditions and every region of the globe, gathered to address the theme “Welcome the Other: Action for Human Dignity, Citizenship and Shared Well-being.” facebook.com/RfP.GIYN

At the opening ceremony on September 30, 2014, the President of the Republic of Tunisia, His Excellency Dr. Moncef Marzouki; the Vice President of the Constituent Assembly and fmr. Co-President of RfP, Madame Meher-zia Labidi- Maïza and the Grand Mufti of Tunisia, Sheikh Othman Battikh; among other distinguished guests and about 300 Tunisian youth in attendance showed their support for the launch of the initiative. The event was co-organized by the Tunisian organisation, Association Art and Democracy.

The Grand Mufti, Grand Rabbi and Archbishop of the Arch-dioceses of Tunisia sat together at the opening ceremony.

The Vice President of the Constituent Assembly and fmr. Co-President of RfP, Madame Meherzia Labidi- Maïza ad-dressed the audience by recounting her special connection working with Religions for Peace for the last 15 years as a Co-President, but also as part of the RfP Women of Faith network in France, “I was the other- the migrant, the Mus-lim, the women, the Arab, the African - I went into French society through a church door and became part of the Religions for Peace family and the interfaith movement.” Madame Labidi-Maiza further spoke about the situation in Tunisia after the 2011 uprising that overthrew the three decade long dictatorship of the Ben Ali regime, “We are striving for a country that is welcoming and generous” She then urged the youth to actively work together to promote a more peaceful world. “You are the children of life. You are the future that will make life better.”

Deputy Secretary General of Religions for Peace Rev. Kyoi-chi Sugino in his speech introduced Religions for Peace to the Tunisian audience and explained the methods and mechanisms of the world wide Religions for Peace family to promote peace and advance common action. He then further stated “Tunisia was chosen as the venue for the

launch of this historic, multi-religious youth lead initiative because it was the country that began the uprisings that reverberated throughout the region in the events known as the ‘Arab Spring’ and, in spite of a number of serious chal-lenges, its Constituent Assembly successfully negotiated a new and modern constitution for its citizens”

In his speech the Grand Mufti of Tunisia, Sheikh Oth-man Battikh emphasized the importance of peace in Islam “Peace is mentioned 140 times and war only 6 times in the

whole Koran so that shows its emphasis as a messenger of peace. The word peace is in our greetings and in our farewell.”

The President of the Republic of Tunisia, His Excellency Dr. Moncef Marzouki, in his opening remarks stated “Our country is a perfect example of religious cooperation. We’ve had challenges but there is a door of opportunity now that we should seize. What divides people in religion? It is politics. War or power struggles is the main reason of conflict but it uses religion as a tool. The solution is to free religion from politics. As a Muslim, I refuse the no-tion that Islam should be used as a political tool to behead people. We should not hate the other, or refute the other, but embrace them.

2

Three of the IYC members, Ms. Catherine Njuguna, Ms. Rori Picker Neiss and Mr. Thomas Gilet concluded the ceremony but speaking on behalf of the IYC and the entire RfP Global Interfaith Youth Network by stating: “Our entire Religions for Peace movement must equip itself to help ensure that our mosques, churches and temples become centers of informal education on “welcoming the other.” Welcoming the other” calls each religious believer to go beyond tolerance by standing in solidarity with the dignity of the “other,” with the full force of his or her religious commitment. This means self-giving and self-sacrificing for the protection of the other.

This is what we, as religious youth, are committed to do:-We promise to work to advance shared values and virtu-ous behaviors essential to “Welcoming the Other;”-We promise to work to eliminate all forms of intolerance by states, by non-state actors, by civil society, by religious groups and leaders, and by individuals;-We promise to speak out on behalf of vulnerable individu-als and groups;-We promise to stand in solidarity with the human dignity of all persons by working to advance their genuine flour-ishing as co-builders of shared well-being; and for a more robust notion of citizenship.”

The youth, as well as the senior religious leaders, were then invited to have dinner with the President of the Republic of Tunisia, His Excellency Dr. Moncef Marzouki, at the Carthage Palace. The intimate dinner allowed the youth to pose questions to the President and the senior religious leaders to familiarize themselves more intimately with the Tunisian political and religious landscape and to discuss global issues. During the three day meeting the religious youth produced an action plan for the Religions for Peace Global Interfaith Youth Network. As part of its deliberation on the RfP Global Action Plan, religious youth leaders promised to in-

tensify their efforts at national, regional and international levels to tackle intolerance, discrimination and other forms of social hostilities, and promote the culture of “Welcom-ing the Other” for our shared well-being.

The youth also issued a statement declaring “We are con-cerned about rising hostility around the world and ma

festation of intolerance towards the “other”, which far too often results in violence. We believe all communities should be free from discrimination, acts of racism, xenophobia and stereotypes. We, as youth, feel passionate about contributing to building communities that uphold fundamental human rights, respect and value diversity… We commit to building and developing interfaith youth networks. We appeal to governments, religious leaders and civil society to facilitate their development at local and national levels. We believe that this will empower young people across the globe to become active agents of change for promoting peace. In themselves interfaith networks are powerful mechanisms for learning about the ‘other’ and initiating joint actions to build just and harmonious societ-ies.

We express gratitude to our gracious hosts – the people of Tunisia. We deeply share your aspirations for shared well-being, selflessness, commitment to dialogue, promoting participation and inclusiveness. We commit to support and stand in solidarity with Tunisian youth as they participate in building a more virtuous society.”- IYC Tunis Statement

3

“ The world has enough for everybody’s need but not for everybody’s greed” ~ Ghandi

Interfaith Summit on Climate Change Personal Reflections by Merylene Chitharai

New York, US | September 21-22, 2014 The Inter-faith Summit on Climate Change was held in New York September 2014 in conjunction to the UN Climate Sum-mit organized by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon. Hosted by Religions for Peace and World Council of Churches, the summit brought together religious lead-ers from around the world of various faiths; including youths and indigenous people. The conference addressed many categories of discussions or events namely; the statement signing of the climate declaration where I had the humbling task of reading part of the declaration and being a signatory. We also participated in a mini-march in solidarity with the People’s Climate March that had an attendance of over 310 000 people who marched in New York alone, and over 610 000 people worldwide.

A multi-faith service ‘Religions for the Earth’ was held where we had the opportunity to pledge our commitment by offering a white stone as earth keepers in the fight against climate change. The numerous seminars involved long brainstorming sessions of questions, reflections and concerns, where we tried as faith leaders to unravel the many complex layers of issues on climate change in rela-tion to the various plenary categories namely; ethics and spirituality, divestment and renewable energies, climate resilience for indigenous and vulnerable people, respon-sibility, multi-faith and multi-sectoral approaches and the way forward as religious leaders. I also attended a seminar called ‘strengthening faith leaders’ messaging on climate change’ which I found to be very informative and educational.

It provided lessons on how to be more reflective than reactive when engaging with the media or the public through television, radio, social networks, blogging etc.

As a first time signatory, I found the conference to be pro-gressive, reflective and honest in relation to the difficult questions being asked about the challenges and realities we face in the fight against climate change. We were speaking a similar language, tolerant of each other’s faiths and view-points. When we ask the right questions, it provides an op-portunity for original and creative dialogue and problem solving. Concerns were expressed on how religious leaders need to be more vigilant about the messages they give to their communities, so that these are geared towards trans-forming our “green talk” into profound green action bymobilising the masses through awareness. Dealing with climate change was recognised as a deep and com-plex problem of morals,ethics and responsibility; on a governmental, community andindividual level. Reli-gion and spirituality however were identified as pow-erful tools to educate and mobilize the masses as it is expressed in every religion, in early scriptures free of dogma to care for mother earth and the animals.

4

5

I especially enjoyed Dr. Rajwant Singh’s (Ecosikh) speech where he expressed teachings from the Hindu faith that worship is not in buildings, but in nature. He had said, “The moon and stars are diamonds that shows us the presence of God. You cannot experience God if you have an ego leading to attachment, greed, anger and the need to possess things. The air is the Guru which will take you from darkness to light, the water is our father; an essential ingredient to come into existence, the earth is mother; howcan we dishonour our mother? Each human being has a destiny to reach a higher potential. If we destroy this planet or leave it in a bad state we are taking away this right for many people. Responsibility lies in our hands; we need to mobilize our-selves into action in our communities.”

While the conference addressed these issues of morality bridgingthe gap between religion, spirituality and climate change, I felt it could have been more productive if it included alliances in all sectors of society in order to consolidate dy-namic alliances and partnerships between faith leaders, gov-ernment, architects, scientists, NGO’s working at grassroots levels, the indigenous people and the youth. Climate Change requires political, economic, technological and spiritual so-lutions. When I attended the UIA 2014 Architectural Con-ference held in Durban South Africa, it covered all the tech-nological and sustainable aspects of climate change from an architectural point of view in terms of resilience, ecology andvalues. However, it lacked the spiritual values, whilst at thisinterfaith conference; it required the technological and practi-cal implementation aspects. Further, it was inspiring to see the indigenous people be given a platform to share their thoughts and solutions. I had met traditional indigenous leader Fran-cois Paulette; who had attended the UN conference on Indig-enous Peoples and Climate Change and he made the follow-ing remarks; “It seemed that the world leaders were all trying to put out a big fire that’s out of control. It seemed that they

were standing around this fire and blowing on it to put it out. If they were smart they would work together in unity. But theywant to keep the fire burning so the rich can benefit.” His comment sparks critical reflection on the intentions and sincerity of government and private sectors in their com-mitment for climate change. Are they all talk and no action? I also felt there could have been greater youth involvement in the summit because there was a higher attendance of adults. The youth are after all the future generation that will inherit the leftovers of a destroyed planet from the current generation, so it is important that they remain engaged, involved and are heard. Therefore, more young people must be at the table of negotiations and talks as these. I liked the remark that was made “there is no future without the youth” and likewise, there is no future without the wisdom of the elders, provided we all are working together.

The task that lies ahead is a challenging and urgent one. The UN summit was a stepping stone and it has a paved a way forward for us to reflect and engage in possible strategies but there is lot of work to be done. Reflecting on the book ‘Small is beautiful’ by E. F. Schumacher, there is an urgent need to challenge existing unjustifiable policies and systems and revert to a balanced way of life which is within our con-trol and our understanding, and that provides space for hu-man interaction that will enable environmental and human sustainability. Our competitive egobased global economy is destroying our planet. A new era is struggling to emerge where our conscience is telling us that, now more than ever, something is amiss. Something about our global economic system that feeds this man-made climate disaster is broken. It is broken because it is based on continuous resourcedriv-en growth with no recognition of scale limitations - and we have to start somewhere before we reach a point of no re-turn; maybe through a revolution in humanity’s conscious-ness. We must search with an open mind for wisdom for creative responses to transform our economic system onto a justifiable path grounded in ecological certainty.

December, 2014| Peru The Religions for Peace Latin America and Caribbean Youth Network organized the Meeting “Welcoming the other: Faith, human rights and climate change”, held on December 7-9, with the participation of Members of its Executive Team and youth religious leaders from Peru. The event included a day of activities at the COP20 venue, with working sessions in charge of distinguished speakers.The recent World Assembly of Religions for Peace called on religious leaders and people of faith to address the causes of climate change. This was followed by a powerful Statement of the Executive Committee on 21 September 2014. Taking another important step, the RfP Latin American and Caribbean Regional Council-RfP and the Inter-Religious Council of Peru-RfP organized a series of events during the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP20) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN-FCCC), held in Lima, Peru (1-12 December). A highlight occurred in COP20 side event, the "The COP20: Perspectives from the South," held in partner-ship with RfP Latin American and Caribbean Regional Council-RfP, the Inter-Religious Council of Peru-RfP, the Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University and the Association of Jesuit Universities Entrusted to the Society of Jesus in Latin America. The keynote address was delivered by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, [International Trustee of RfP]. Professor Sachs outlined both the dimensions of the climate chal-lenge and the key roles of the religious communities in addressing it. The role of religious leaders working together is essential through networks such as RfP" Sachs remarked.

RfP Latin America Interfaith Youth Network (RfP LAIYN) participated in the UN Climate Change Confer-ence of Parties (Cop-20) which will lead up to the Paris Climate Change Agreement in 2015. The religious youth organized a youth lead workshop on December 9th , 2014 educating their peers on the harms of climate change, they participated in a panel discussion on religious imperatives for climate justice and they were able to increase the role and visibility of RfP LAIYN by providing Southern Youth inputs on climate change policies. The youth were also able to organize a executive committee meeting restructuring the core group of RfP LAIYN by inviting new members into the committee.

RfP Latin America Interfaith Youth Network (RfP LAIYN) participates in the UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (Cop-20) in Peru

6

Europe: Action Day against Islamophobia and Religious Intolerance

September 21, 2014 | EIYN joined as a partner the Action Day against Islamophobia and Religious Intolerance on September 2 (day celebrated every year as International Day of Peace). Organized by the No Hate Speech Movement, the Action Day called for actions and speaks up against religious intoler-ance with a special attention to islamophobia. According to the online survey conducted by the Youth Department of the Council of Europe in 2012 Muslims appeared as the second most affected group targeted by hate speech.

It was an online campaign, that started at the beginning of September and culminated on September 21. EIYN joined the campaign’s activities by posting articles, reports, pictures, memes on islamophobia and religious tolerance, on their website and social media (facebook and twitter).

7

RfP African Interfaith Youth Network held its strategic meeting

September, 2014 | Kenya African Council of Religious Leaders (ACRL)- RfP together with RfP AIYN has found it necessary to realign the framework and structure of RfP AIYN to ensure its efficiency in providing support to the youth in religious communities.

To facilitate this, ACRL-RfP organized a meeting which brought together youth leaders from the regional and na-tional religious bodies. The youth leaders brainstormed and held discussions on the leadership of the network and the guideline that will ensure efficient running of AIYN. Participants were drawn from youth in East, Central and South-ern Africa from regional religious bodies and national inter-religious councils totaling 15 participants overall. Dr. Francis Kuria, Secretary General of ACRL briefed the meeting on the changes that have occurred at ACRL over the last year. The changes include the resignation of the previous Secretary General; the fact that ACRL network - youth and women have weakened over time and thus the need to restructure and strengthen them.

The youth agreed on the formal structure and membership of AIYN and constitute an Executive Committee from among the members and they adopted the AIYN guidelines, which will be essential in guiding the processes and op-erations of the network moving forward.

RfP EIYN at event called: "Young voices, young agents for change”

November 2014| EIYN was represented by Thomas Gilet -member of IYC, at an event called: "Young voices, young agents for change: spotlight on inter faith activity and education developed with and for young people", that took place at the Coin Street Conference Centre in Central London, UK.

Different interfaith organizations met on November 13 to to highlight inter faith activity and education with and for young people. EIYN was invited to take part in this event, to present the network and it’s activities through dis-play material (poster and flyers). It was a good opportunity for networking between organizations and for establish-ing new contacts with other interfaith organizations in UK, and for letting others know about EIYN.

JANUARY 2015• 1 - Mary, Mother of God - Catholic Christian - Feast of St Basil - Orthodox Christian - Gantan-sai (New Years) - Shinto • 5 - Twelfth Night - Christian - Mahayana New Year ** - Buddhist- Guru Gobindh Singh birthday - Sikh• 6 - Epiphany - Christian - Feast of the Theophany - Orthodox Christian - Dia de los Reyes - Christian- Nativity of Christ - Armenian Orthodox Christian• 7- Feast of the Nativity - Orthodox Christian• 11- Baptism of the Lord Jesus - Christian• 13 - Maghi - Sikh • 18 - Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins - Christian- World Religion Day * - Baha'i (begins sun down on 17 )• 19- Timkat - Ethiopian Orthodox Christian• 24 - Vasant Panchami ** - Hindu • 25- Conversion of St. Paul - Christian

FEBRUARY 2015• 1 - Triodion begins Orthodox Christian- Four Chaplains Sunday- Interfaith • 2- Candlemas - Christian- Presentation of Christ in the Temple - Angli

can Christian- St Brighid of Kildare - Celtic Christian- Imbolc - Lughnassad * - Wicca/Pagan - northern and southern hemispheres (begins at sundown on 1 )• 3 - Setsubun-sai ** - Shinto • 4 - Tu BiShvat * - Jewish (begins sundown on 3 )• 14- Saint Valentine's Day- Christian• 15- Nirvana Day ** - Buddhist - Jain- Transfiguration Sunday - Christian- Meatfare Sunday - Orthodox Christian• 17- Shrove Tuesday - Christian• 18- Ash Wednesday - Christian • 19 - World Religion Day - Baha'i - Chinese New Year - Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist• 22- Cheesefare Sunday - Orthodox Christian• 23- Clean Monday - Great Lent begins - Ortho dox Christian• 26 - March 1 - Intercalary Days * - Baha'i (begins sundown on 25)

MARCH 2015• 1- Orthodox Sunday - Orthodox Christian- Saint David of Wales - Christian• 2 - 20- Nineteen Day Fast * - Baha'i (begins sun down on 1 )• 5

2015 Interfaith Calender

9

• 6- Holi ** - Hindu- Hola Mohalla - Sikh• 17 - St Patrick's Day - Christian - Maha Shivaratri ** - Hindu• 19- Saint Joseph's Day - Christian• 20 - Equinox- Ostara * - Wicca/Pagan northern hemisphere (begins sundown on 19 )- Mabon * - Wicca/Pagan southern hemisphere • 21 - Naw Ruz (News Year) * - Baha'i (begins sun down on 20 )- Norooz (New Year) - Persian/Zoroastrian - New Year - Hindu• 21-28 - Ramayana ** - Hindu • 25- Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Christian• 28 - Ramanavami ** - Hindu - Birth of Prophet Zarathushtra ** - Zoroastrian• 29

- Palm Sunday - Christian

APRIL 2015 • 2- Maundy Thursday - Christian• 3- Good Friday - Christian- Mahavir Jayanti ** - Jain• 4-11 - Pesach (Passover) * - Jewish (begins sundown on 3)• 4 - Therevadin New Year ** - Buddhist- Hanuman Jayanti ** - Hindu- Lazarus Saturday - Orthodox Christian• 5 - Easter - Christian - Palm Sunday - Orthodox Christian• 10 - Holy Friday - Orthodox Christian • 12- Pascha (Easter) - Orthodox Christian• 14 - Baisakhi - New Year - Sikh - Yom HaShoah * - Jewish (begins sundown on 15)

Different Faiths, Common Action.Since its founding in 1970, Religions for Peace has been

guided by the vision of a world in which religious communities cooperate effectively for peace, by taking concrete

common action.

Religions for Peace is committed to leading efforts to advance effective multi-religious cooperation for peace on global, re-

gional, national and local levels while ensuring that the religious communities organized on these same levels assume and exer-

cise appropriate leadership and ownership of these efforts.

Send us your news and work, and we’ll include it in the next newsletter!

Questions, comments, or news?

Kindly contactMs. Elida Jbeili

Youth Program Officer Religions for Peace–International 777 United Nations Plaza, 9th Fl.

New York, NY 10017 +1 (212)687-2163 | ejbeili@rfp.org

10