H.E. Adama Dieng and Valarie Kaur among note keynotes.
3 June 2019, Stanford, CA, USA – Our world is experiencing unprecedented levels of pollution, depletion of natural resources, and scarcity of clean drinking water. Hate crimes are on the rise and houses of worship go up in flames. Women’s rights are under attack. Communities are in turmoil, with neighbors living in fear of neighbors. There’s no denying the world is at a turning point. But an interfaith peacebuilding community is pushing to turn it in the right direction.
Responding to the increased fear and stress generated by current events, The United Religions Initiative (URI), the world’s largest grassroots interfaith peacebuilding network, is hosting an international conference at the Hoover Institution on the Stanford University campus on June 26-27. Accelerate Peace: Interfaith Action in Global Peacebuilding, which is open to the public, will gather representatives of the world’s religious, spiritual, and Indigenous traditions to explore interfaith strategies for addressing humanity’s most pressing issues and find actionable solutions.
Key speakers will include:
- H.E. Adama Dieng, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the Prevention of Genocide; and Azza M. Karam, Senior Adviser at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Coordinator of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development; addressing ending religiously-motivated violence
- Valarie Kaur, Founder of the Revolutionary Love Project, delivering the Call to Action Keynote to combat the rising fear, Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism, hate speech, and violent crimes that divide communities
- Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, Secretary-General of the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, addressing Women’s Empowerment and Environmental Sustainability in a time of global crisis for both
- The Right Rev. William E. Swing, Founder and President of URI, former Episcopal Bishop of California, and General James N. Mattis, former United States Secretary of Defense, will be delivering a Keynote Conversation entitled, “A Bishop and a General Talk About Peace”
- Young leaders from around the world addressing the immediacy of youth impact on international events in “From NextGen to GenNOW: Young Leaders Bringing Interfaith Action to the World”
See a full list of conference speakers here.
For ticket information, sponsorship opportunities, and more details, visit the Accelerate Peace conference webpage: https://uri.org/acceleratepeace
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ABOUT THE UNITED RELIGIONS INITIATIVE
The United Religions Initiative is the largest grassroots interfaith peacebuilding network in the world. It cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities. We implement our mission in 109 countries through local and global initiatives that build the capacity of over 1000 member groups and organizations, called Cooperation Circles, to engage in community action such as conflict resolution and reconciliation, environmental sustainability, education, women’s and youth programs, and advocacy for human rights.
URI holds the prestigious distinction of being a non-governmental organization (NGO) with consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and has long-standing partnerships with several other UN agencies.
Learn more at URI.org.
Media Contacts:
David Perry (415) 676-7007 / [email protected] (onsite at conference)
Erin Saberi (916) 952-5080 / [email protected] (onsite at conference)
Gaea Denker (415) 561-2300 ext. 2022 / [email protected]
