Namwembe will serve as one of eight distinguished international speakers at the Finnish Social Forum. The event, part of the World Social Forum movement, is an effort to promote dialogue and cooperation among different social movements. Namwembe’s visit to Helsinki will be coordinated by former URI trustee Heidi Rautionmaa.
Namwembe, a member of the Faith Without Borders CC,has served as a social worker and an activist for peace, women’s rights and the environment in addition to her work for URI.
Her efforts to promote understanding among religious groups have sometimes placed her on the front lines of conflict: in 2010, when an insurgent group exploded four bombsin the city of Kampala, Namwembe was seated in a café – right next to a fifth, unexploded bomb. She worked with Hindu, Muslim and Christian leaders to convene an interfaith prayer service for the victims of the bombing attack one week later.
Namwembe will follow her two days of participation in the Forum with visits to several of Finland’s other civil society and human rights organizations. On April 23, she will meet with members of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures, a network of more than 3,000 organizations dedicated to improving mutual respect between cultures.
On April 24, Namwembe will visit the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Lindh’s former post – and enjoy brunch with members of OrtAid, a voluntary development aid organization associated with the Finnish Orthodox Church.
She will also attend the Culture of Coexistence seminar, an international roundtable on peaceful coexistence, faith-based and volunteer social movements. The event will be sponsored by the Finnish Ministry of Culture and Sports and organized by the Finland Dialog Association and The Fountain, a U.S.-based magazine.
Namwembe will visit KIOS, the Finnish NGO Foundation for Human Rights, on April 25. The agency is a consortium of 11 Finnish agencies working for human rights and development issues, including the Finnish Peace Committee, Service Centre for Development Cooperation and the National Committee for UN Women in Finland.
During the final day of her visit, April 25, Namwembe will visit Helsinki’s international Orthodox parish and a Shia Muslim mosque. She will also participate in a global dialogue on faith and civil society at KEPA, an organization of more than 300 Finnish civil society organizations that work in development or global affairs.
