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network
United
Religions Initiative (URI)
The United Religions Initiative is an international
grassroots movement that inspires, supports and connects interfaith
cooperation and peacebuilding initiatives around the world. Its Global
Council includes trustees from 21 countries. Through self-organizing
groups made up of people from different spiritual paths who agree to
work toward goals inspired by the URI Charter, the URI embodies a new
model of global engagement. These grassroots groups, called Cooperation
Circles (CCs), are uniting peacebuilders from every faith to promote
enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously-motivated
violence, and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the
Earth and all living beings.
URI’s 200+ Cooperation Circles
are engaged in local actions for peace in 47 countries:
_ In Uganda, a religious leaders coalition works to mediate a cease-fire
agreement between the Lord’s Revolution Army and the Ugandan government;
_ In Israel and the Palestinian territories, Muslims, Christians, Druze
and Jews build trust as they share from the heart about their core beliefs
and practices;
_ In India, thousands of schoolchildren plant trees together in an area
devastated by deforestation and environmental neglect;
_ In Ethiopia, high school students learn skills in peacebuilding based
in different religious teachings to share with their community;
_ In Peru, an indigenous community shares its ways of life and environmental
stewardship practices with Roman Catholics;
_ In Bali, an interreligious support team forms to provide comfort and
assistance to the families of the victims of the Kuta Tragedy, October
2002;
_ In California, USA, an interfaith group educates members of Bay Area
congregations about energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable
energy.
URI CC members devoted an estimated 700,000 volunteer hours to fulfill URI’s purpose in 2002. URI’s members operate from a commitment to generate local resources and share resources across the global network, and to take authentic local actions that fulfill URI’s mission and serve the greater community. The success of URI’s CCs shows how a small investment can leverage significant global impact through interconnected grassroots efforts.
URI Organizing Agenda 2003-2005
From 2003-2005, URI will work to develop effective resources and build
organizational capacity in the following specific areas:
‡ Peacebuilding and Interfaith Action
URI is actively surveying its Cooperation Circles for examples of how
they have dealt constructively with religious differences in their communities.
These stories are being collected and integrated with field-tested interfaith
peacebuilding models to develop URI’s Action Guide for Interfaith
Peacebuilding – a practical guide for building peace in different
interfaith contexts. The curriculum will be shared across our Circle
network through community-based workshops to equip our CCs for practical
local action and conflict transformation. URI peacebuilding action projects
have been organized in the US, Philippines, Uganda, Brazil, Ethiopia,
Israel, Malawi, Argentina, and Zimbabwe.
‡ Grassroots Leadership Development
In 2004, URI will host Learning Exchanges to empower grassroots leaders
and facilitate intraregional collaboration and capacity 
building.
URI Learning Exchanges equip grassroots activists and religious leaders
with the skills, tools and confidence they need to take effective local
action in their communities and the world. These conferences feature
people-to-people exchanges and appreciative methodologies to draw out
the unique gifts, skills and experience of participants. In addition,
participants receive practical training and useful tools in areas essential
to the fulfillment of URI’s mission – interfaith peacebuilding,
global communications, grassroots fundraising and public relations.
Deepak Naik, representing URI in Oxford
‡ Public Impact and Partnerships
Through print, web and electronic publications, URI presents viable
models of interfaith cooperation that can bring peace to communities
and conflict zones around the world. By highlighting peacebuilding success
stories and noteworthy events, URI offers a positive alternative to
the generally negative messages of mainstream news media. URI plans
to develop and publicly present two videos that present a compelling
picture of what the world might look like if there was peace among religions,
and what steps are being taken today to create that reality.
URI shares its learnings and best practices with like-minded partners and the broader public, to inform and inspire other actions for peace. URI is an official Non-Governmental Organization of the United Nations. Currently URI is collaborating with Latin American partners Viva Rio (Brazil), UNESCO and Palas Athena (Brazil) to develop a peacebuilding kit Gente Que Faz a Paz (People Making Peace). URI has collaborated with organizations such as the World Peace Prayer Society, Pathways to Peace, Interfaith Youth Core, Prayer Vigil for the Earth, North American Interfaith Network, United Nations Environment Programme, Peace Discovery Initiatives and the Institute for Justice and Peacebuilding of Eastern Mennonite University, and is a member of the International Interfaith Network. URI’s peacebuilding methodologies are featured in such books as Positive Approaches to Peacebuilding (Pact Publications) and Interfaith Dialogue and Peacebuilding (United States Institute of Peace Press.)
Introduction / Parliament / IARF / IIC / Youth Core / Peace Summit / Minorities / Peace Council / Temple / SpiritualForum / URI / WCRP / WCF / WFDD / WFIRC
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interfaith organisations network 2003 |