Side Events at UN HRC 2014
Two events organised by IARF at the 25th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), March 2014
Side Event ‘Rise of Religious Intolerance’
Monday, 10 March 2014 – 2:00 to 4:00 PM
Room XXV, Palais des Nations, Geneva
UN HRC Side Event ‘Rise of Religious Intolerance’ – Flyer (PDF, 1 page)
Discussion on the rise of violence attributed to religious intolerance in various regions of the world where antipathy toward members of religious minorities is used to justify targeted hatred, assaults, restrictions and violent attacks on their religious institutions.
Held in conjunction with the Annual Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) – part of the Programme of Work of the 25th Session of the HRC; complements the Special Rapporteur’s presentation of his Annual Report, which this year is titled “Tackling manifestations of collective religious hatred“.
Report in Pakistan newspaper The News
Report in Pakistan magazine Business Standard
Video report
Thursday 13 March
Room XXI, Palais des Nations
In collaboration with the CoNGO Sub-committee on Freedom of Religion or Beliefs:
Open/Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Beliefs
NGO Joint Oral Statement
As a practitioner of Human Rights Education in South Asia, IARF at the UN is member of the NGO Working Group on Human Rights Education & Learning within the structure of CoNGO (the Committee of NGOs).
At this session of the HRC, IARF facilitated a workshop which delivered the following Joint Oral Statement regarding the Third Phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (2015-2019):
2014 HRC25 – NGOJointOralStatement ITEM 3 – WPHRE P3
Interreligious Harmony Week 2014 – Dhaka rally
Interreligious Harmony Rally
Campus of the University of Dhaka
2 February 2014
Dear Peace-loving brothers and sisters of the world,
Please accept my greetings of peace.
On the occasion of Interreligious Harmony Week declared by the United Nations,
The Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (CIID) of the Department of World Religions and Culture of the University of Dhaka, in collaboration with International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF), United Religions Initiative (URI), Religions for Peace(RfP) and Warm Heart Association Bangladesh (WHAB), held an INTERRELIGIOUS HARMONY RALLY on February 2, in the campus of the University of Dhaka.
The Rally was inaugurated by Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique,the Vice Chancellor of the University.Speaking on the occasion were:
Professor Hirendra Nath Biswas,President of National Hindu Reformation Society; Professor Sumonkati Barua, a reputed Buddhist scholar; Bhai Manjit Singh of Gurudwara Nanakshahi, Dhaka; Professor Father Tapan De Rozario of the Departmet of World Religions; Professor Muhammad Elius of the same Department; and Professor KAM Saaduddin, a renowned sociologist of Bangladesh.Many distinguished professors including Professor Azizun Nahar Islam, Professor Nusrat Sultana and Professor Mahbubur Rahman, and hundreds of students joined this Rally.
Professor Kazi Nurul Islam conducted the whole programme.
Different electronic and printed media gave massive coverage of this Rally.Please pray to God so that we can continue our endeavour to promote world peace and harmony.
With regards to all of you.
Yours in peace
Kazi Nurul Islam
[Chair of IARF Bangladesh Chapter]
Kenya Chapter press conference
IARF’s new Chapter in Kenya held its first press briefing with reference to the Westgate
shopping mall attack in Nairobi on 21 September 2013, by Somalia-based Al-Shabaab.
The Chapter’s particular concern is a possible Islamophobic backlash against members of
Kenya’s Somali community. It hopes to establish a media presence that advocates the
principles for which IARF and other interfaith workers stand, against any possible religion-
based targeting of individual or communities.
The guest of honour was the former Mayor of Nairobi, Professor Nathan Kahara, who is a
pioneer of interfaith in the East Africa region.
Please see the report here (PDF 4 pages, illustrated): Kenya Chapter press conference Nairobi 30nov13
RFYN new News Bulletin
In August, IARF’s India-based young adult network RFYN launched a new headquarters outside Bangalore.
See the reports here.
The first edition of their newsletter was released as a follow-up:
- RFYN July-Sep 2014 News Bulletin (PDF 38 pages, illustrated)
Statement on the Westgate Mall attack, Nairobi
Kenya Chapter statement on the Westgate Mall attack, Nairobi
23 September 2013
The International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) Kenya Chapter condemns in the strongest terms possible, the terrorist attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Westlands, Nairobi that has left many of our loved ones dead and injured.
It is an attack on innocent people that recalls the Nairobi US embassy bombings of 1998 – a similar great loss to our country.
As an IARF community whose main agenda is to preach peace among the religions of the world, we strongly condemn the attackers who have carried out an act of cowardice targeting innocent lives.
We strongly believe that this is not a ‘religious war’, but one being waged by people who do not value human life, and who pretend to profess religious faith.
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 their sorrow with our loved ones who are affected in this attack.
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 in the world.
We are also praying for our security agencies who are currently trying their best to free hostages still being held by the terrorists.
We call upon all our religious leaders to remain in prayers for peace in this our beloved country Kenya, and also in other parts of the world.
Rev. Lawrence Adera
Secretary, IARF Kenya Chapter
Conference Report: Religious Freedom & Responsibility for Planet & People
IARF Peace Commission / World Congress of Faiths / Horsham Interfaith
Report on 2013 Conference “Religious Freedom and Responsibility for Planet and People”
@Unitarian Church in Horsham, Sussex
20-23 August 2013
Report: Horsham hosts international conference (PDF 4 pages)
PAPERS (available as a print publication)
- French, Prof. Hal – The Genius of Interfaith
- Gehrmann, Dorle – Doing the Splits
- Hunter, Rev. Dr. Doris – Religion and Violence
- Matsui, Prof K. – Teaching Conflict Resolution Processes through Animation Resource Materials
- Manoja, Dr. Kishan – Apostasy and Conversion
- Kannanchira, Fr. Roby – Celebrating Diversity
- McKanan, Dr. Dan – Ethics and Magic
- Stolov, Dr. Yehuda – Peace in the Holy Land
- Yamamoto, Guji & Ochiai, Rev. – Shinto Shrines & Reverence for Nature
Video: Dr. Yehuda Stolov – “Peace in the Holy Land: It can be done“
Video: Rev Dr Marcus Braybrooke – “A Widening Vision (Interfaith Pioneers)”
Video: Music interlude, Stuart Coupe
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Thomas Mathew at UUA GA
IARF South Asia Co-ordinating Council chairman Dr. Thomas Mathew represented IARF at UUA General Assembly on June 19-23, 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
A personal account of his participation: An outsider became an insider (PDF 2 pages illustrated)
Hiroshima-Nagasaki Day 2013, Vishakhapatnam
6 – 9 August 2013
Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
IARF member group Bala Vikas Foundation for Peace & Harmony is organising commemorative meetings around the city with the goal of inculcating an anti- nuclear mindset in the public, especially the student community.
A photo exhibition showcasing the Hiroshima and Nagasaki explosions is also part of the events.
- On 6th, at Andhra University’s Gandhian Studies Center, AU Vice-Chancellor Prof GSN Raju will inaugurate the 4-day commemorative meetings.
- On 7th, a special meeting will be held at Dr VSK Govt Degree College, at which Prof VBM Das, former vice Chancellor of Acharya Nagarjuna University, will join as chief guest.
- On 8th, a special meeting will be held at St. Josephs College for Women, at whichProf Ravi will deliver a talk on the dangers of the Atom Bomb.
- On 9th, Nagasaki disaster day at IIAM managemnt college where ESSARMA IAS will join.
Congress 2014 venue familiarisation
6 July 2013
Rev. Yoshinobu Miyake, representing IARF’s president Most Rev. Mitsuo Miyake, visited Birmingham together with IARF Treasurer Jeff Teagle and British Chapter committee member Derek McAuley (Chief Officer of the Unitarian General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches), as guests of Shaykh Muhammad Amin-Evans, Chair of the Congress Host Committee.
They were given a broad overview of the prospective setting and hosting arrangements in Birmingham city centre and the University of Birmingham campus.
Since it was a Saturday most of the campus buildings and services were closed, but a walk around the grounds took in a visit the Chaplaincy Centre at St Francis Hall and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, and a look over four-star accommodation at one of UoB’s conference buildings.
A small early-evening reception at the nearby Al-Mahdi Institute introduced Yoshinobu-sensei to some local faith representatives and supporters of Congress. Sensei made a short inspiring talk to introduce IARF and express the aims of Congress.
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Council meeting 2013
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REPORT: 2013 International Council meeting at the Konko Church of Izuo in Osaka, 17-19 April 2013
Preceded by the annual Executive meeting – hosted once more by our Osaka member group Shitennoji Temple – the two-day annual board meeting ended on Friday (19 April), in general agreement that this was the most positive so far during the presidency of Rev. Mitsuo Miyake, which ends next year at the General Meeting to take place within our 34th World Congress, in 2014.
This meeting was tasked with considering three different proposals for a location for the congress within IARF’s Europe & Middle East (EME) region. (By historical tradition the event cycles between our four regions. It now takes place every four years).
Very keen and compelling motivations were put forward by our Israeli member group the Interfaith Encounter Association (for Jerusalem as a site) and our Swiss member group Libref (for Geneva), but in the end most votes went to a last-minute bid by the British Chapter for an event in the multi-faith city of Birmingham, supported by the city’s council and a range of interfaith organisations there. So in the last week of August 2014, Britain will attempt to match the success of the last, 33rd IARF world congress held in India and featuring the Dalai Lama.
Much more information to follow once the Host Committee gets to planning, which has begun already since the event is now only just a little over a year away.
Other major decisions taken were: to reduce the size of the governing board, and to introduce from next year a membership fee that will cover support costs in a sustainable manner.
A Nominating Committee was appointed to choose the slate for the next Council (2014-2018); the IARF Bylaws were modified for the approval of the General Meeting next year; project work in India & Israel was commended, along with our representatives’ work at the UN in Geneva; and new membership was approved from groups in Austria, Bahrain, Ghana & Malawi – with additional new chapters under formation in Kenya, Togo & Benin receiving conditional acceptance.
A budget will be presented to the board for discussion and approval very shortly.
Altogether, IARF has restored its fortunes considerably since the mid-2010s, and looks forward to welcoming its membership to a vibrant congress in Birmingham next year – an event that will assure them of our place among the handful of liberal internationalist organisations that are confronting, within their means but with serious intent, the human rights agenda of a troubled world – and in particular, as always, the now-burning issues of freedom of faith and interfaith awareness-raising.