Save the Date: The 35th World Congress: August 2018, Washington DC
We are pleased to announce the Interfaith Conference that will incorporate the 35th World Congress of the IARF: Reimagining Interfaith Cooperation.
The Conference, to be held on 29 July – 1 August 2018 in Washington DC, USA, is a joint project of the IARF, the Unitarian Universalist Association, our member group, and our partners: the United Religions Initiative, the United Church of Christ and Religions for Peace. We’re very excited to be working with so many fantastic partners and hope to meet you all in Washington next year.
The venue of the Conference, one of local Universities, will be announced in October, which is also when registration will open. The registration fee is 325 USD per person and 100 USD for young adults (under 35), and includes meals as well as local transportation and conference kit. Updates, including names of speakers, detailed programme and helpful practical information, will be posted on the Conference’s website, www.reimagineinterfaith.org, as well as on our website – both will be regularly updated. You can pre-register to receive notifications hereor follow us on Facebookfor the latest news.
Please contact IARF Administrator with any questions at luke[at]iarf.net.
Statement by IARF Kenya Chapter concerning current events in the country
Our Kenya Chapter has released the following statement regarding the troubling events taking place in the country. We join them in prayers and hope for a peaceful conduct of elections and national reconciliation later on. You can read more about the situation in Kenya here.
Protesters in Nairobi.
1st August 2017
The International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) Kenya Chapter condemns in the strongest terms possible the continues killing of innocent prominent persons that are great developers for this nation. As the IARF community, we appeal to the president and the security agencies of this country to be sincere and tell Kenyans and the whole world why this is happening under their watch. These killings of innocent people or anybody else to serve the interests of some individuals should not be accepted under any circumstances. We are still mourning our lost heroes whom we laid to rest a few weeks ago, and similar events brining still more great losses continue to happen in our country. “Should we say hell has dropped from heaven to the earth called Kenya?” As an IARF community whose main agenda is to preach peace among the religions of the world, we strongly condemn the ’assassins’ who carry out such acts of cowardice. We strongly believe that this is not ‘ethicist war’, but one being waged by people who do not value human life, and who pretend to be rulers. We therefore ask religious leaders to come together and preach peace, and also to advise our community members to do the same. Let us share the sorrow of the loved ones who have been affected by these killings. We support the Kenyan people and its leaders, and commiserate with them during this time of loss, anguish and pain. We also call upon all Kenyans to exercise restraint and patience as we pray for peace for Kenya. We are also praying for security agencies who are currently investigating these killings which have taken our people hostage. We call upon all our religious leaders to ceaselessly pray for peace for Kenya, and also in other parts of the world. Lawrence Adera Secretary, IARF Kenya Chapter
In memory of Adv. Shabeer Ahmed
Adv. Shabeer Ahmed, a long-time IARF member and esteemed activist, passed away this month after a short illness. We extend our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues, as well as the whole India Chapter of the IARF.
Adv. Ahmed was involved in the Mysore branch of the India Chapter since its establishment. He served as its chairman and secretary, and devoted over 20 years to developing IARF in India and towards attaining its goals of fostering interfaith dialogue and cooperation and promotion of respect for human rights.
He shared his talents and devotion serving at different posts: of Human Rights Education Facilitator, Vice President and Secreatry of the India Chapter, member of IARF’s International Council and Chairman of the former South Asia Coordinating Council, among others.
2017 International Council Meeting
The International Council* of the IARF had its annual meeting on 19-20 April in IJmuiden, the Netherlands. It was an occasion to share experiences, concerns, ideas and moments of meditation, and savour the atmosphere of diversity, friendship and cooperation that characterizes IARF. This time several people joined the session by teleconference to make the meeting as productive as possible. Lawrence Adera, Secretary of the Kenya Chapter, talked about the challenges facing the chapter and the hopes he has for the future, while the RFYN (youth) council member from India joined the meeting this way as she was unable to attend personally.
The Council reviewed last year’s work and evaluated our progress in key areas. Special emphasis was put on plans to increase our impact and efficiency. In order to facilitate this the Council worked on improving the financial prospects, updating the statutes to remove inefficiencies in the way IARF operates and better serve the current needs of the organization, as well as on expanding our activities by reaching out to new partners. The progress of various projects we fund and organize has been examined and new grants awarded to support the efforts of our member organizations and partners to further our goals: human rights education, facilitation of interreligious dialogue and collaboration, promotion of liberal religiosity and interfaith work.
A topic of special importance was of course the upcoming World Congress, which will take the form of a broader interfaith conference and will be held at the end of July/beginning of August 2018 in Washington D.C., USA. The Congress is being organized by our member group, the Unitarian Universalist Association, the US Chapter and the co-sponsors, the United Religious Initiative and Religions for Peace USA. It will be the sixth Congress in the United States (the last one was held in 1987 in Stanford, CA; see list of past Congresses here or read about our history here).
The Council reviewed the progress of preparations, which are being directed by the Host Committee presided by the council member from the United States, Eric Cherry, and members of our US Chapter, and made decisions that will enable us to publicly announce details of the Congress very shortly. As soon as the last details are agreed upon, most likely within a month, you will find extensive information on it on this website, our social media and in many other places. The Congress is shaping up to be a wonderful, inspiring event that will once again bring together the IARF community to worship, share, learn, train and take pleasure in each other’s presence. We’re looking forward to it with anticipation and a lot of enthusiasm for the work that must be done to make it a memorable occasion.
* The Council is our governing body elected at quadrennial World Congresses and currently comprising 11 members from all over the world: America, Europe, East and South Asia, and representing Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Shinto, Buddhist, and other religions, and thereby reflecting our commitment to diversity (read more on the Governance page).
IALRW Interfaith Seminar in Malaysia
The International Association of Liberal Religious Women, a branch of the IARF and one of the oldest interfaith women’s organizations in the world (founded in 1910), co-organized an interfaith seminar in Malaysia on 7-8 February. The seminar brought together women from Malaysia, Yemen, Myanmar, Cashmere, Sri Lanka, Japan and Europe, and included two public sessions: “Plight of Domestic Helpers: Interfaith Perspectives” and “Conflict and War: Direct Accounts.”
Rev. Esther R. Suter, IALRW Vice-President from Switzerland, summed up the sessions as follows:
Domestic helpers is a crucial topic in Malaysia with
mainly women (“maids”) coming from Indonesia, often immigrants without a legal status or documents. Faith communities such as Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian (Roman-Catholic) Sikh and Taoist exposed the situation and presented their approach on a spiritual as well as social, moral and communitarian level.
Although the women gathered in Kuala Lumpur had a variety of approaches, presented separately, they managed to formulate firm recommendations to be addressed to the government, for training, support and protection of workers; regulation of agencies providing staff; and fostering right relationships with workers within families, respecting them as human beings.
…
The topic “Conflict and War: direct accounts” was presented by four IIUM students. They came from Burma, Yemen, Kashmir and Syria. With the exception of the student from Kashmir, they all presented conflict situations involving Muslims and another faith group and exposed the political conflict as an intentionally created religious conflict, which exploits religions for political and power strategies.
Hereyou can read the full report by Rev. Suter published at oikumene.org, and here her more detailed account of the stories told by four participants of the seminar: women from Myanmar, Yemen, Cashmere and Malaysia from protestinfo.ch (in French).
EME Conference 2017
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IARF President’s New Year message for 2017
Dear Friends in IARF,
Peace among religions and freedom of conscience for all, that is our common goal in IARF.
Last year, my message was about the scope of our work to promote freedom for each individual to practice, teach, and be educated in the religion of his or her choice.
Moving on to a different aspect of our work, I would now like you to pay attention to our shared aim: to practice what we preach. Only if all faiths are respected equally, can there be peace among religions. Only if we strive to understand, can we hope to respect. That is why IARF throughout its history has promoted interfaith interaction on the highest level.
Throughout 2016 IARF members have been active in interfaith settings. In all kinds of places, from simple board rooms to spacious conference centers, even in the open air, we have organized and taken part in interfaith encounters. Multiculturalism, with IARF, is standard, as is gender equality.
We must now look to the future. Building on the success of its 2016 Macedonia conference, IARF Europe and Middle East has announced a similar event in Poland. Preparations for the 2018 World Congress have started. It will focus on activism and building the skills of interfaith activists throughout the world needed to do their work in their local communities.
As everyone who has been active in IARF knows, learning about each other in an open, free setting is fascinating and enriching, and simply great fun, too. Maybe it is that, more than anything, which makes IARF endearing to so many people. Let this be our aspiration for the coming year: to ‘brand’ all our events and all our undertakings with the hallmark of IARF: to form warm relationships across cultural divides, no matter what befalls us.
Wytske Dijkstra
IARF President
EME Regional Conference 2016: Programme and Registration
The quadrennial conference of the EME, IARF’s Europe and Middle East region, will be held on 22-25 August 2016 in Tetovo, FYR Macedonia. It will be hosted by the Bektashi Community and the Evropa Centre for Human Rights.
The theme will be Religion and Conflict Prevention.
You will find the programme and other details here. You can register online hereor fill in this form and submit it to our Administrator at [email protected].
President’s New Year Message 2016
Dear friends in IARF,
Acts of religiously motivated crimes have been dominating the news during 2015. The fanaticism with which oppression and war are being pursued is viewed by many to stem from religious zeal. Now, more than ever, there is a need for IARF to speak out on peaceful coexistence for religions. IARF does not stop there. It seeks to practise what others preach.
This means IARF is inclusive, promoting equality among people, whatever faith, gender, or position in life they take. In the past year, as ever, IARF has shown this through the diversity of the membership of its governing bodies. It has practised it in international and other interfaith encounters, and promoted it through human rights awareness trainings and HR education.
IARF is looking forward to continuing this policy in 2016, expanding the scope of its HR advocacy through diplomacy, education, and interfaith encounters.
I would like to thank all IARF members who have been active on behalf of our core values: religious harmony, diversity, and equality, within IARF or in society. Sometimes all it needs is speaking out. Together, we have a voice. It is up to you to make it sound out loud throughout the world.
I wish you all a happy New Year.
Wytske Dijkstra, IARF President.
Persecution of Unitarians in Burundi
Rev. Fulgence Ndagijimana (right) and Rev. Eric Cherry, member of IARF International Council and Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s International Office.
was arrested from the church at gunpoint, taken into police custody and interrogated severely, regarding the activities of his church …. was threatened with physical harm and death [and] at the moment remains in custody, with other members of the church also being questioned.
The ICUU has issued an emergency statement on the situation, which you can read on its website, calling upon the government of Burundi
to immediately cease and desist the persecution of the Unitarian Church of Burundi and its members stemming from reasons of their faith. We call for the immediate release the minister of that congregation, the Rev. Fulgence Ndagijimana, from police custody.
Joshua Eaton’s article on UU World provides interesting background information on the situation in the country and the Burundi Unitarian community, as well as a more detailed account of Rev. Fulgence’s present ordeal and the efforts of the international Unitarian community and its allies to aid him.
The IARF stands in solidarity with Burundi Unitarians and the world Unitarian community in these troublesome and uncertain time, and joins in the appeal to the Burundi government to respect religious freedom and cease all unlawful actions. We are hopeful that the crisis will soon be resolved and the congregation will be allowed to continue its work and worship untroubled. To show your support you may consider joining the Standing With UU-Burundi initiative on Facebook.
Below you can watch a short video about Burundi Unitarians.
the whole India Chapter of the IARF.
freedom for each individual to practice, teach, and be educated in the religion of his or her choice.
Now, more than ever, there is a need for IARF to speak out on peaceful coexistence for religions. IARF does not stop there. It seeks to practise what others preach. 
situation in the country and the Burundi Unitarian community, as well as a more detailed account of Rev. Fulgence’s present ordeal and the efforts of the international Unitarian community and its allies to aid him.