URI's UN NGO Representative Monica Willard with UN Under-Secretary-General Ambassador Anwarul Chowhudry
The URI-North America (URI-NA) leadership council and the URI at the United Nations Cooperation Circle (URI-UN) hosted an interfaith gathering at the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York City on April 30. More than 75 people—URI, UN and religious leaders, and representatives of religious, interfaith, intercultural and social justice organizations from across the region—came to share and learn about the work of URI and honor the legacy of artist and cultural preservation advocate Nicholas Roerich.
“The spirit and philosophy of Nicholas Roerich is a singular thread that runs through the heart of all of the organizations that joined us,” said URI Global Council Trustee Rebecca Tobias, who helped organize the event. “The Roerich Pact directly and personally inspired President Roosevelt to put his faith and his political clout into what we know to be the UN and UNESCO today.”
Signed by twenty-one countries, including the United States, in 1935, the Roerich Pact designates important cultural sites and institutions as neutral zones and mandates their protection in wartime and in peace.
Deborah Moldow, who chairs URI-UN and was a founding trustee of URI, served as the Master of Ceremonies. After a reception and a few words about Roerich by museum president Edgar Lansbury and Ms. Tobias, Monica Willard, URI NGO representative at the UN, spoke about URI’s long-time collaboration with the UN. She presented special guest UN Under-Secretary-General Ambassador Anwarul Chowhudry with a certificate re-affirming URI-NA’s commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document championed by Eleanor Roosevelt, who was also inspired by Roerich, after her husband's death.
Also in attendance was Dr. Thomas Uthup from the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, which honored URI's Traveling Peace Academy as a top innovative project at its Marketplace of Ideas last year.
URI-North America Regional Coordinator Sandy Westin followed up with a discussion of URI-North America’s work and recent partnership with We the World in “11 Days/11 Ways,” a campaign from September 11 to September 21—the International Day of Peace—to highlight eleven dimensions of change needed to create a culture of peace. URI Associate Executive Director Debra Ballinger Bernstein also spoke about the work of URI global and the importance of forming far-reaching partnerships to combat all forms of intolerance.
The evening came to a close with a reading of URI's Preamble, Purpose and Principles, and an inspired call from Dot Maver of the National Peace Academy for us each to do our part in building a culture of peace and asking us if "peace is indeed a human right."
“It was a lovely, life affirming event,” said Ms. Tobias. “What was shared among these organizations was that each holds a deep and abiding reverence and respect for the humanity of the 'other.'”
