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Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I must join in expressing my personal gratitude for this important initiative of
the Philippines government which has been so enthusiastically supported by so
many governments including my own as well as by the United Nations and Civil
Society, as a historic tripartite initiative.
2. I have listened through a number of thoughtful and inspiring statements this
morning including the message conveyed by Her Excellency the distinguished
President of the Philippines.
3. The need to promote dialogue and cooperation among religions and cultures is
no longer an option for our contracting world. It is a political as well as a
moral imperative. The promotion of peace, security and prosperity at the dawn of
the 21st Century depends more than ever before on the promotion of
understanding, accommodation and cooperation among people of different faiths,
cultures and backgrounds.
4. The greatest paradox in the world is that while it has brought people closer
together and created vast networks of connectivity and inter-dependence, it has
also spawned divisions and frictions among and within societies. Many of these
divisions and frictions are manifested in religious tones and terms. In this
post-Google world, the proliferation of the sources and the channels of
information have, instead of promoting a better understanding among peoples,
quite often reinforced stereotypes and deepened misperceptions. Despite the
surfeit of information, instantly available, the gulf of misunderstanding among
faiths and civilizations seems to have grown wider. There is both a “knowledge
deficit” and “understanding deficit”.
5. Many would agree that the root causes of friction between cultures and
civilizations are not primarily religious differences. The central message of
all religions is almost identical. The root causes are often a clash of
political and economic interests. Clearly, responses to conflicting political
interests may be often be cast in religious terms but this is only an expedient
disguise for those pursuing narrow political and national objectives.
Excellency,
6. There have been some commendable initiatives taken in the past to address
this challenge. The UN’s Declaration for a Culture of Peace; the proposal of
Iran for a Dialogue among Civilizations, Pakistan’s proposal for Enlightened
Moderation; advanced by President Musharraf here at the United Nations more than
a year ago; the Spanish proposal for Alliance of Civilizations; and this
initiative of the Philippines to promote Interfaith Dialogue on a tripartite
basis.
7. As a result of our discussion today, we have the opportunity to promote the
maximum possible progress in advancing the goal of peace and harmony by
capitalizing on the momentum generated by these convergent initiatives.
8. I fully agree with those who have emphasized the importance of
inter-religious and interfaith dialogue. This must continue to involve – as
today – governments, civil society and international organizations. It must
secure the support of the entire international community and the leaders of the
world as well as the people of the world.
9. Yet, we should be fully aware that dialogue alone is not enough. We need to
leverage and tap the widespread desire for dialogue to translate this into
concrete action and in tangible results that advance the objectives of peace and
harmony and ameliorate the sufferings of those who are the victims of
intolerance and interfaith friction.
10. What we should seek to promote is a comprehensive strategy for action at the
international and national level. Such a strategy should be based on accepted
principles and parameters:
Firstly, it should be promoted through dialogue and cooperation and eschew the
option of coercion and intimidation;
Secondly, it should emanate largely from the internal decisions and motivation
of governments and their peoples and not be externally imposed;
Thirdly, it should be comprehensive i.e. involve governments, civil society,
private sector, media and international organizations; and
Fourthly, it should be supported by adequate financial resources from
governments and the private sector.
11. The elements of such a strategy, of course, need wide debate and
contributions from various sources. I would wish this afternoon to advance some
elements which could be incorporated into such a strategy for action.
12. At the international level, such a strategy for interfaith harmony and
cooperation should cover political, socio-economic, religious and cultural and
institutional aspects.
13. At the political level, it is apparent that interfaith harmony and indeed
justice and morality require the resolution of political injustice to which
people are often subjected due to their faith or belief. The protection of
religious minorities is a pervasive problem that exists in all societies both
poor and rich. It is necessary to analyze the situation of religious minorities
on a case-by-case basis and to develop thorough national and international plans
to assist these communities in achieving their just and fundamental political,
economic and social rights. In certain societies where migration has created a
sudden mixture of faiths and culture, conscious processes for gradual and
peaceful integration, co-existence and cooperation is necessary. A start could
be made with the adoption of confidence-building measures that can overcome the
hate and negative stereotypes that some have allowed to occur.
14. Similarly, and perhaps even more urgently, it is necessary to secure early
resolution of conflicts and disputes where relations with different religions
and faiths are directly involved. I have no hesitation in mentioning that such
conflicts include Palestine and the Middle East, Kashmir and similar problems
where Muslim peoples feel that they have been the objects of historical
injustice. To this end, from the political negotiations which are taking place
among the parties concerned, it would be useful if interfaith dialogue were to
lead to the creation of contact groups, with a similar tripartite structure on
major political issues.
15. In the context of promoting economic and social development, the
international community needs to take a conscious decision to extend development
support to societies which are challenged by the problems of interfaith friction
or extremism. Such development support should include helping poverty
eradication and generation of economic growth through financial assistance and
trade opportunities. The promotion of human development, good governance and
support for popular participation in national affairs are other ways in which
such challenging societies could be supported re-establishing harmony, peace and
prosperity.
16. Action is also required in the context of cultural and religious affairs. To
this end our dialogue should include religious leaders and scholars from across
faiths and cultures even those who hold extreme views and are at present
un-enlightened about the virtues of engagement with other faiths and cultures.
17. We should also consider a number of institutional actions to advance our
objectives. These could include:
(i) the establishment of a Commission on Eminent Persons by the UN
Secretary-General to promote interfaith cooperation. A proposal is already under
consideration in response to Spain’s initiative for an Alliance of
Civilizations;
(ii) such a Commission should be accompanied by the creation of an Office for
Interfaith Cooperation at the United Nations. I trust that adequate funding
would be available for this worthy purpose;
(iii) we should consider the establishment of a common school for training of
nationals, officials and diplomats from nations representing different faiths,
e.g. in Middle East and South Asia;
(iv) scientific institutions could be set up for joint research with the
participation of scientists from across the interfaith alliance such as from the
Arab and Islamic world and the West.
18. International action should be accompanied by action at the national level.
Solutions for the promotion of tolerance and a culture of peace will have to be
country specific and respond to particular national situations. National actions
could include the following:
First, conscious action to counter extremism within societies. Each government
and people would need to promote their own special solutions to address such
manifestations at the national levels;
Second, the promotion of domestic discussion among various religious groups and
sub-groups with a view to promoting reconciliation and harmony among faiths and
different strands of religious beliefs;
Third, conscious policy measures for the protection of rights of religious
minorities and the promotion of their full integration into the national
mainstream;
Fourth, policies to redress the social and human resource deficit in many
“challenged” societies through poverty eradication, education and appropriate
curricula, promotion of skills etc;
Fifth, strategies for economic growth, trade and job creation in particular
steering young away from the politics of desperation.
Sixth, the creation of a corps of national volunteers for interfaith cooperation
within and across national boundaries; and
Seventh, the involvement of civil society groups to engage in the promotion of
interfaith cooperation and dialogue.
19. I trust that some of these suggestions for an action strategy will find
reflection in the concluding document of this Conference.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.