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