International Interfaith Organisations Network

 Dr. William F. Vendley
Secretary General

Your Majesties, Highnesses, Excellencies,
Your Excellency the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Your Excellency the Secretary General of the United Nations

Peace and the mercy and blessings of God be with you

In the presence of this gathering of international leaders and representatives and members of the General Assembly—the conscience of the United Nations—arid in front of the whole world, we state with a unified voice that religions through which Almighty God sought to bring happiness to mankind should not be turned into instruments to cause misery. Human beings were created as equals and partners on this planet; either they live together in peace and harmony, or they will inevitably be consumed by the flames of misunderstanding, malice and hatred.

Dear Friends,
Throughout history, preoccupation with differences between the followers of religions and cultures has engendered intolerance, causing devastating wars and considerable bloodshed without any sound logical or ideological justification. It is high time for us to learn from the harsh lessons of the past and concur on the ethics and ideals in which we all believe, Matters on which we differ Will be decided by our Omniscient Creator on the Day of Judgment. Every tragedy suffered in today’s world is ultimately a result of the abandonment of the paramount principle enunciated by all religions and cultures: the roots of all global crises can be found in human denial of the eternal principle of justice.

Terrorism and criminality are the enemies of every religion and every civilization. They would not have appeared except for the absence of the principle of tolerance. The alienation and the sense of being lost which affects the lives of many of our young leading them to drugs and crime, became widespread due to the dissolution of family bonds that Almighty God intended to be firm and strong. Our dialogue, conducted in a constructive manner, should, by the grace of God, revive and reinstate these lofty ideals among peoples and nations- No doubt, God willing, this will constitute a glorious triumph of what is most noble over what is most evil in human beings, and will grant mankind hope of a future in which justice, security and a decent life will prevail over injustice, fear and poverty.

Dear Friends,
I wish to thank H.E. the President of the General Assembly for convening this meeting. I am also grateful to my friends, the world’s leaders from the East and the West, for attending. I take pride in their friendship and participation. On this occasion permit me to invite the participants in the Madrid Dialogue to elect a committee to represent them and undertake the task of conducting the dialogue in the coming days and years.

I can assure them and all the States of the world, their peoples, their leaders and their organizations, that our concern for the dialogue stems from our Islamic faith and values, and our compassion for the human condition, in order to overcome its miseries.

We will continue what we have commenced, extending our hand to all those Advocating peace, justice and tolerance.

In conclusion, I would like to remind all of you, and myself, of the words of the Holy Qur’an.: “O Mankind! We have created you from a single pair of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that ye may know each other. Verily, the most honored of you in the sight of God is he who is the most righteous of you.”

Peace and the mercy and blessings of God be with you.

 

Your Majesties,
Heads of State and Government,
Distinguished Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Brothers and Sisters,

Our world is experiencing an extremely difficult period, the worst since the founding of the United Nations.  In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the future of humankind depends on our ability and willingness to take advantage of the lessons and opportunities presented by today’s multiple and interrelated crises. It is a time of numerous bankruptcies, but the worst is the moral bankruptcy of humankind’s self-proclaimed “more advanced societies”, which has spread throughout the world. It is not only Wall Street that needs to be bailed out.  We need to bail out all of humankind from its social insensitivity.  From now on, solidarity must guide and direct all human activity. In other words, morals and ethics must be given the central place they should occupy in our lives.

Based on scientific evidence, we are now aware of the accelerating destruction of the life-sustaining capability of Earth and the real possibility of the disappearance of the human species. Both are attributable to irresponsible human behavior and to the unbridled greed and irrational consumerism that characterize developed societies. We must choose between allowing these values to dominate our societies or taking the necessary steps to ensure that solidarity and social responsibility become the guiding principles of human activity, including in the economic and political spheres.

In the inaugural address I delivered two months ago, I attributed this critical state of affairs in our world to what I called “insane and suicidal selfishness”.  But I also said then that this crisis could and should be turned into an opportunity to take the kind of courageous actions that are needed to ensure new levels of cooperation between humans and between people and nature, and thereby ensure a better world for present and future generations.

 

One of the most burning problems that we face today is the shameful reality that, despite the fact that we have the knowledge and the financial and technological resources to prevent it, half of the human population subsists at levels of hunger, malnutrition and poverty that are wholly incompatible with their inherent dignity and rights. This is not only shameful, it is, to use religious terminology, downright sinful.

 

We are all aware of this shameful reality.  We also know that we have the means to do something about it.  What is obviously lacking is the political will to move from a rhetorical acknowledgment of this reality to concrete, sustained and coordinated action at the local and global levels. Allow me, in a moment, to propose some ways to apply our values to concrete actions.

Great spiritual and moral strength is necessary for the kinds of actions that are required. And that is precisely why we have gathered here today: to join forces, as people of faith and/or of deep ethical convictions, to tap into our vast reserves of moral strength and awaken from our indifference to the fate of others. The United Nations has very appropriately elaborated a complex agenda for making the world a better place. But progress is too slow. We are running out of time, and do not seem to have the energy and conviction required to move any faster. We must not hesitate to draw on the moral force of our values of faith and ethical convictions to today’s challenges.

 

Excellencies, before going any further, let me say that I feel very privileged to be presiding over this meeting, the purpose of which is to use our values that are based on faith and deeply held ethical convictions to seek solutions to the most burning issues of our time and which are reflected in the agenda of this General Assembly. I would be remiss if I did not likewise acknowledge the profound gratitude I feel for our brother, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for calling to our attention the need to hold this meeting.  There is absolutely nothing more important at this time in the odyssey of human experience than to place our faith-based values and ethical convictions at centre stage in our efforts to cope with the convergence of crises that we are now facing on a global scale.

In order for this two-day session of the General Assembly to achieve the hoped for results, we must make it absolutely clear that we are not gathered here to talk about religion or theology. This would not be the appropriate forum for such discourse. We are here today to pledge to place our reserves of moral strength at the service of the goals of the United Nations. A similar exercise was undertaken 63 years ago and the outcome was one of the most glorious achievements of humankind – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today, confronted with the many problems that beset humankind, it is more than ever necessary to summon up these same ethical and moral values in order to move from declarations to actions that respond effectively to the numerous problems of our time. Making declarations is fine, but the time has come for action, for us to demonstrate that we believe in our declarations.

We know that nothing short of heroic decisions and actions can awaken us from our moral coma.

 

Although social responsibility is a basic law in each of the world’s religions and in all ethical and philosophical traditions, we have allowed ourselves to become contaminated by the spirit of selfishness and individualism, which are the principal values, or rather, anti-values of the globally dominant culture.

 

This culture declares ethics and morals off limits to economic and political activity. It claims that “the business of business is business” and that the concepts of justice and fairness have no place within it. The principles of justice, mercy and compassion are not applicable to economic activities and are deemed to be completely irrelevant. 

Unbridled greed and social irresponsibility have thus become the main driving force of the dominant culture.  The result is that we have been turned into veritable moral invalids.

This is the reason why wealthy nations have not been able to muster the political will to comply with even the minimal commitment to give 0.7 % of their GDP to help eradicate hunger and poverty from the world.

 

In order to stop polluting the environment, to stop being the irresponsible predators of nature that we have become, to love all of our brothers and sisters without exemption or exclusion, we urgently need to return to the values that are based on our faith and on our ethical-philosophical traditions.

 

We have openly rebelled against our mission to act as stewards of creation and have arrogantly declared ourselves its proprietors, arrogating to ourselves the right to squander and abuse the marvels of nature. By being thus unfaithful to our most sacred values and principles, we have also endangered not only the survival of our own species but also the very capacity of the Earth to sustain life.

In spite of all our current difficulties, our Earth is fortunate to have been blessed with the presence of a host of great spiritual prophets, saints and sages, who have offered their values to human society over the millennia.  This divine wisdom or faith-based values are embodied in texts such as the Torah, the Bible, the Qu’ran and the Vedas, in the noble teachings of the Buddha, Lao Tzu and Confucius and in the wonderful beliefs and values of the indigenous peoples of all the continents of our Earth. The great spiritual values espoused in these teachings can be seen as constituting the “spiritual assets” of humankind. Today, we have gathered to acknowledge these values and to recommit ourselves to respecting them.

 

Without the inclusion of these spiritual assets, not even the best-planned programmes for the eradication of hunger and poverty in the world and for the attainment of peace on Earth can succeed.  We need the inner strength—the moral energy and inspiration that we can get from our ethical values—to overcome our selfishness and individualism.

We have these powerful spiritual assets at our disposal. Unfortunately, we have opted to put them aside and decided instead to worship greed and we are now beginning to suffer the consequences of this infidelity to our deepest held beliefs and convictions.

The good thing is that we have an opportunity to integrate these values into the work of the United Nations, which can instill in us the moral strength and conviction that we need to take action that is capable of ensuring the success of our efforts to eradicate poverty, guarantee genuine human security for all, take seriously our commitments to human rights and become faithful stewards of our beleaguered planet.

To cite one example, the High-level Follow-up Conference on Financing for Development, which is to begin shortly in Doha, will be filled with references to improving human life and to the ideals of justice, peace, progress, freedom, cooperation, solidarity, tolerance and preferential treatment for the poor and vulnerable. Of course, these are principles that all beliefs and humanist ethical systems fully share.

 

I wish to encourage delegations to take advantage of this important Conference to join forces in a way that is consistent with the values that inspired our Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and work together to make meaningful progress towards solutions to the most urgent issues on the agenda of the Doha Conference. The Conference offers us the opportunity to translate these values into action.

 

In the section of the agenda concerning the mobilization of domestic resources, the outcome document now being negotiated begins with a reference to the need for human beings to be at one and the same time the main beneficiaries of development efforts and active participants in those efforts. It also refers to the need to elaborate appropriate policies in the fields of education, health, employment and social protection that are targeted to the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of the population, including women, children, the elderly and the disabled.

 

The agenda highlights the goal of decent work for all and the importance of building inclusive financial sectors and microfinance structures.

 

There are also references to the goal of improving international cooperation in tax matters, since it has been determined that billions of dollars that could be used for development are lost annually due to the failure of individuals and corporations to pay taxes. I believe we can all agree that it is the social and legal duty of citizens to contribute to the common good.

 

Likewise, there are calls for more vigorous efforts to combat corruption, a scourge that plagues societies both in the North and in the South, and to promote respect for the rule of law, human rights, inclusive democracy and good governance.

 

In the section dealing with international private capital flows, corporations making investments in developing countries are reminded of their duty of “corporate social responsibility” and non-predatory practices, which they sometimes take seriously in the North but not in the South. Similarly, in the section on international trade, all countries are held to their commitment to make the current round of multilateral trade negotiations a development round focused in particular on the needs of poorer countries.

 

In the section dealing with international official development assistance, donor countries are urged to respect their oft reiterated commitment to allocate at least 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product to cooperation assistance to developing countries, a goal that is still far from being met. This should be seen as another essential moral duty of social justice, in other words, a way in which humankind as a whole could contribute to the common good. Those countries that have set targets for achieving this goal should accelerate their compliance, and those that have not set targets should do so. There are calls for the further exploration of various innovative sources of financing that may prove to be very useful for bringing us closer to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, to compliance with commitments to Africa’s development needs and for the adoption of measures to deal with new challenges, such as climate change and the scarcity of food and energy.

 

In the section dealing with external debt, there is the proposal to identify more effective and just solutions to this distressing problem that threatens to destroy the prospects for growth and development in so many countries of the South.  Solutions that have been put in place so far have been found to be insufficient and selective.  For example, they only target countries with very low per-capita incomes and unjustly do not include the so-called middle-income countries, where most of the world’s poor people actually live.

 

Finally, in the so-called systemic issues section of the Doha document, there is a call for a thorough review and revamping of the international financial structures and institutions, which are clearly not equipped to deal with the realities, problems and challenges of the 21st century. What is more, they do not adequately include developing countries in the global economic governance and decision-making processes. 

 

This appeal reflects a fundamental concept of justice, solidarity and representative democracy, which must be applied at the international level, just as it is so passionately defended at the national level.  The ongoing financial crisis has now become one of the central issues to be addressed in the Doha Conference. For this reason, it should not escape our attention and our strong collective support as people of faith and as a testimony of our love of God and of our neighbour.  Solidarity must be the star that guides us all to the Peace that we must strive with our utmost commitment to attain.

 

May the compassionate, all-loving and merciful God enlighten our minds in our deliberations and strengthen our hearts so that, as people of faith and/or of deep ethical-philosophical convictions, we may rise to the occasion and take the courageous and heroic actions that are needed to save us from the grave consequences of the crises that threaten all of us, rich and poor, from the North and from the South, though, as it has always been, the greatest threats are faced by our dispossessed brothers and sisters throughout the

world.

United Nations A/63/L.24/Rev.1
General Assembly
Distr.: Limited
11 November 2008
Original: English

Sixty-third session
Agenda item 45
Culture of peace

Angola, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eritrea, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Madagascar, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and Yemen: revised draft resolution

Promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue,
understanding and cooperation for peace

The General Assembly,
Reaffirming the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,( 1 Resolution 217 A (III).) in particular the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, Recalling its resolutions 56/6 of 9 November 2001, on the Global Agenda for Dialogue among Civilizations, 57/6 of 4 November 2002, concerning the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, 57/337 of 3 July 2003, on the prevention of armed conflict, 58/128 of 19 December 2003, on the promotion of religious and cultural understanding, harmony and cooperation, 59/23 of 11 November 2004, on the promotion of interreligious dialogue, 59/143 of 15 December 2004, on the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, 2001-2010, 60/167 of 16 December 2005, on human rights and cultural diversity, and 62/157 of 18 December 2007, on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief,

Recalling also its resolution 62/90 of 17 December 2007 on the promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace, and the declaration of 2010 as the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures,

Recognizing that cultural diversity and the pursuit of cultural development by all peoples and nations are a source of mutual enrichment for the cultural life of humankind,

Taking note of the various initiatives at the national, regional and international levels to enhancing dialogue, understanding and cooperation among religions, cultures and civilizations, which are mutually reinforcing and interrelated, inter alia, the fourth Asia-Pacific Dialogue on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace and Harmony, held in Phnom Penh from 3 to 6 April 2008, (See A/62/949.)  the Third Global Inter-Media Dialogue held in Bali, Indonesia, on 7 and 8 May 2008, the Fourth Asia-Europe Meeting Interfaith Dialogue, held in Amsterdam from 3 to 5 June 2008, (See A/63/510.) the World Conference on Dialogue, held in Madrid from 16 to 18 July 2008, (See A/63/499.) the Sixth General Meeting of the World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations”, held in Rhodes, Greece, from 9 to 13 October 2008, the Second Alliance of Civilizations Forum, to be held in Istanbul in April 2009, the Special Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development, to be held in Manila from 26 to 28 May 2009, the Fifth Asia-Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue, to be held in Australia in 2009, the Parliament of the World’s Religions, to be held in Melbourne, Australia, in December 2009, and the Third Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, to be held in Astana in 2009, with the participation and technical assistance of the United Nations system,

Affirming the importance of sustaining the process of engaging all stakeholders in the interreligious, intercultural and intercivilizational dialogue within the appropriate initiatives at the various levels, Recognizing the commitment of all religions to peace,

1. Affirms that mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue constitute important dimensions of the dialogue among civilizations and of the culture of peace;

2. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace; (A/63/262.)

3. Also takes note of the work of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on interreligious dialogue in the context of its efforts to promote dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, as well as activities related to a culture of peace, and welcomes its focus on concrete action at the global, regional and subregional levels and its flagship project on the promotion of interfaith dialogue;

4. Reaffirms the solemn commitment of all States to fulfil their obligations to promote universal respect for, and observance and protection of, all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights1 and other instruments relating to human rights and international law, the universal nature of these rights and freedoms being beyond question;

5. Encourages the promotion of dialogue among the media from all cultures and civilizations, emphasizes that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, and reaffirms that the exercise of this right carries with it special duties and responsibilities and may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall be only such as are provided by law and necessary for respect of the rights or reputations of others, protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals;

6. Encourages Member States to consider, as and where appropriate, initiatives that identify areas for practical action in all sectors and levels of society for the promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue, tolerance, understanding and cooperation, inter alia, the ideas suggested during the High-level Dialogue on Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding and Cooperation for Peace held on 4 and 5 October 2007, including the idea of an enhanced process of dialogue among world religions;

7. Takes note of the plenary meeting of the General Assembly on the culture of peace, held on 12 and 13 November 2008, during the sixty-third session of the Assembly, in which the President of the Assembly had invited participation at the highest possible level;

8. Requests the Office for Economic and Social Council Support and Coordination in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, which plays the focal point role on interreligious, intercultural and intercivilizational matters, to coordinate with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in facilitating consideration of the possibility of proclaiming a United Nations decade for interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace;

9. Takes note of the Third Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace, held on 25 September 2008 in New York;

10. Invites the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in consultation with Member States, and through extrabudgetary resources, to play a leading role in the preparations for the celebration of the International Year for Rapprochement of Cultures, in 2010, taking into account General Assembly resolution 61/185 of 20 December 2006 and the relevant provisions of General Assembly resolution 62/90;

11. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session on the implementation of the present resolution.