Unity Earth and EcoPeace Middle East are partnering with other URI members for the celebration of the 2020 World Interfaith Harmony Week in the Middle East. The event will take place from 2-7 February 2020 under the theme of Holy Land, Living Water. Unity Earth & EcoPeace Middle East are URI Cooperation Circle member organizations.
The celebration will bring around 70-100 international delegates for the series of week-long events. The delegates will be comprised of religious, Indigenous and spiritual leaders, ecological advocates, diplomats, artists, social entrepreneurs, leading academics and media. Approximately 25 Palestinian, 25 Jordanian and 25 Israeli delegates will join the international delegates.
As you know water plays a central role in the practices and beliefs of many religions and is considered a purifier in most religions. The Jordan River Valley—with its great length, central location, and shared locale for the genesis of the three Abrahamic faiths’ narratives—is home to half of humanity’s sacred sites.
The event aims to amplify the impact of interfaith voices nationally and regionally, in order to uphold a common conviction held by the monotheist Abrahamic faiths: a binding obligation on all to practice responsible stewardship, in reverence for our common home.
Global climate change presents challenges on many fronts, and the region faces severe ecological degradation. Therefore, having an event on the theme of Holy Land, Living Water will offer a unique opportunity to highlight a more positive way forward by celebrating intercultural and interfaith harmony and wise ecological stewardship. We feel that the potential of the great partnership of UNITY EARTH, URI and EcoPeace Middle East can deliver something profoundly meaningful for the region.
It is to be recalled that, in answering to the call of the General Assembly of the United Nations to promote Interfaith Harmony Week, Unity Earth and other URI Cooperation Circles organized a celebration of World Interfaith Harmony Week in 2018 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the African Union and in 2019 in New York. It is in the same spirit that Unity Earth and EcoPeace Middle East join hands with other URI members in the celebration of the 2020 World Interfaith Harmony Week in the Middle East.
May Peace and the Golden Rule Prevail on Earth.
In peace and gratitude,
Amb. Mussie Hailu
Director of Global Partnership & Representative at the UN and
Africa Union and Regional Director for Africa, URI
See more ways the URI community celebrated World Interfaith Harmony Week 2020.
