|
On
29th October 2009,
Mahidol University organized
the
International Conference
on "The Role of Religious
Leaders in Conflict Transformation
and Peacebuilding", by the
cooperation between Mahidol
University Research Center
for Peace Building and Inter-religious
Councils of Thailand. The
participants were religious
leaders about 120 persons
from all over the world such
as Sri Lankan, Japan, Australia,
USA, etc.
Rev.
Kyoichi Sugino, Assistant
Secretary General, the
World Conference of Religions
for Peace, stated that
in the country where people
believed in various religions
such as, Thailand, Sri
Lankan, or other countries,
it might cause the social
conflicts. Therefore, religious
leaders in communities
should play an important
role to create understanding
among each group to contribute
to the peace building.
For example, some countries
such as Bosnia and Mexico
had achieved to implement
the mentioned method in
a practical way. In this
international conference,
the Inter-Religious Councils
acted as a forum to build
the network of cooperation
in religious, social, and
cultural issues in the
future. Furthermore, this
was a part of the connection
among major international
organizations around the
world. In addition, the
conclusion of the conference
led to the reciprocal declaration,
as follows:
"About
120 senior religious
leaders and others representing
Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim,
Christian and other traditions
from Sri Lanka and Thailand
gathered in Bangkok on
the 29 October 2009 to
present their unique
initiatives in building
an inter-religious instrument
for high-level advocacy
and action to resolve
conflict and advance
peace.
As
majority Theravada Buddhist
countries, both Sri Lanka
and Thailand are endeavoring
to overcome challenges
arising from social political
situations and other
tensions. To address
such challenges and to
advance national unity,
fostering mutual trust
and cultivating a habit
of common action among
different ethnic and
religious communities
are urgent. Religious
leaders and their communities
have an important role
to play in this process.
The
encounter between Sri
Lankan and Thai religious
leaders was organized
by the World Conference
of Religions for Peace
(WCRP/Religions for
Peace),
the world’s largest
multi-religious organization
accredited
with the United Nations
and headquartered in
New York. Religions
for Peace has facilitated
the building of mechanisms
for multi-religious
cooperation
for peace called "Inter-religious
Councils (IRCs)" in
many countries affected
by
conflict. Such an IRC
led by senior representatives
of religious communities
serves as the multi-religious
voice of the country,
offering the possibility
of mediation, rejecting
extremist tendencies,
and educating the public
on the positive, socially
transformative power
of religions and their
close collaboration.
The
Sri Lankan delegation
represents the IRC
Sri Lanka and the
local host
is the IRC-Thailand.
So today meeting
is in fact the first
encounter
of IRC-Sri Lanka
and IRC-Thailand augures
well for the cooperation
of the two IRCs in
their
efforts bring peace
through religions
in
their respective
countries."
This
conference took place
at Hotel Tawana Ramada
Surawong Road, Bangkok.
Post
Date : November 4,
2009 |
