Transcript Slide 1

Building Interfaith Cooperation for Peace…
URI Preamble & Principles:
 The URI is a bridge-building organization
uniting to build cultures of peace by
working across continents with people of
all spiritual values and beliefs.
 Respecting and sharing the sacred
wisdom of each religion, spiritual
expression and indigenous tradition.
 Encouraging members to deepen their
roots in their own traditions while
respecting differences amongst other
religions and spiritual expressions.
 Building and nurturing safe spaces for
conflict resolution and healing.
• Individuals gain membership into URI through
either joining or forming a group called Cooperation Circles (CC).
• Each CC has at least 7 members who represent
at least 3 different religions, spiritual expressions
or indigenous traditions.
• Worldwide there are approx. 450 CCs
in 72 countries.
• CC’s promote cross-cultural learning and
exchange through music, dance, sports, food.
• Members meet virtually in monthly chat
discussions, annually in a Regional Assembly
and every three years in a Global Assembly.
Highlights of Young Leader participation in URI Events & Projects 2009:
Bridge-Builders Program in Argentina brings together Christian, Muslim and Jewish youth to learn about their traditions and create collaborative projects.
Young leaders from 7 countries participate in Korea Interreligious Youth Camp (above right); two of our young leaders from the USA and Malawi collaborate on
a project called Youth and Elevation for Life, using donated laptops from the U.S. to set up a computer training center in Malawi (mid right); youth
representatives join Leadership Council at North American Regional Assembly, North Carolina, USA (lower right)
Bridging gaps through
Interfaith Dialogue!
Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Approx. 33 young leaders (ages 18-30) from 14 countries.
The countries are: Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Malta,
Romania, Spain, Turkey, UK, USA + Youth Ambassadors from MENA.
Participants represent a variety of faiths and include a good balance of gender
participation.
Build the capacity of youth in Europe and MENA to:
-Positively engage in the religious and cultural diversity of their own
communities.
-Develop mutual understanding and solidarity between youth from
different countries, cultures and religions/ secular views.
-Provide practical guidance on how to build inter-regional and
interfaith coalitions
-Create a learning laboratory where young people lead the
workshops and trainings themselves and are provided the space to
contribute their own input directly.
Methodology
Program will include the following planned activities:
• Workshops: “Skills for Interfaith Dialogue &
Communication” and “Working with Faith Communities”
•Intercultural activities integrating movies, music, dance and
art of traditions represented
•Team-building activities (eg. Interfaith sports match)
•Intergenerational Interfaith Cooperation with elders who join
the youth after the training program for the common Interfaith
Conference (October 27-31)
•:Excursions with visits to different faith communities, houses of
worship and discussions with university students, interfaith
activists, religious figures (Imams, Priests, etc)
Press release to local media in host country.
Create footage of a short movie to be shared with the general public on
`uriglobal´ - URI‘s Youtube Channel.
Preparation of Audio-Visual documentation by youth and dissimination of
CDs with tracking number for stimulation of online Interfaith/Euro-Med
Intercultural Feedback and Dialogue on www.uri.org
Ways you can assist, contribute or participate:
 Spread the Word! Help publicize our upcoming project
 Sign up for the URI Global Youth Email Exchange, a virtual dialogue connecting 500+ youth
activists in 68 countries. To join, send an email to [email protected].
 Participate in our monthly online live discussions. For details visit www.uriyouth.com/chat.aspx
 For queries, suggestions, sponsorship/partnership proposals contact:
•
Sarah Talcott, Youth Programs Director [email protected] or call +1 (415) 561 – 2300
•
Karimah Stauch, Coordinator URI Europe, [email protected] or call + 49 (0) 228-23 0476