On 23 November 2010, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the historic Resolution 65/5 proclaiming the first week in February to be observed annually as World Interfaith Harmony Week. This resolution “encourages all States to support, on a voluntary basis, the spread of the message of interfaith harmony and goodwill […] based on love of God and love of one’s neighbour […], each according to their own religious traditions or convictions.” The Week is an example of a UN observance. UN observances, celebrated around the world, aim to stimulate interest in United Nations activities and programmes, and promote awareness of and action on important political, social, cultural, humanitarian or human rights issues.

Thus, in February 2011, World Interfaith Harmony Week was inaugurated. In 2012, the President of the 66th General Assembly, in partnership with Member States, UN agencies, and NGOs, hosted an event in the UN General Assembly celebrating the Week, entitled “Common Ground for the Common Good”. This year, on Thursday, 14 February 2013, World Goodwill was fortunate to attend the second celebration of the Week. The event, entitled “United for a Culture of Peace through Interfaith Harmony”, was presented by the President of the General Assembly, Mr Vuk Jeremić, UNESCO, and the Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN, and co-sponsored by the missions of Guatemala, Jordan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, and New Zealand, with the support of the missions of Libya, the Philippines, Samoa, Zimbabwe, and also of the NGO the World Peace Prayer Society. Also cooperating were the Global Movement for the Culture of Peace, the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns-NY, the NGO Committee on the UN International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the Spiritual Caucus at the UN, and the Values Caucus at the UN.

This long list of participating organisations shows that the UN, Member States, and civil society clearly take this issue of Interfaith Harmony seriously, which is an encouraging fact. The General Assembly hall was crowded with representatives of different faith and spiritually based communities and there was a real sense, particularly during the Peace Prayers, of a group invocation, calling on higher powers to support human efforts to serve the purposes and principles enshrined in the UN Charter. The General Assembly President, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, captured this spirit in his opening remarks. Quoting from a verse in the Book of Psalms he noted: every religious tradition has a version of this teaching—that man is right to put his faith in the Almighty, in His divine plan and redemptive power. For millennia, such beliefs have helped to sustain the human spirit, through conflicts and strife, famine and pestilence.

The event itself had three elements. First, representatives from the UN and civil society shared their reflections on the role of interfaith harmony in the peaceful settlement of disputes. Topics covered ranged widely, from global nuclear disarmament, to the remembrance of the Holocaust, and from protection of religious minorities, to ending violence against women. In a moving statement the Permanent Representative of Iraq to the UN, Ambassador T. Hamid Al-Bayati, affirmed: All religions, all holy books, all prophets and messengers, come from the same source, which is the same God we worship when we go to the mosque, to the church, to the synagogue, to the kampong … In the second phase, a Symphony of Peace Prayers, there were moments of unusually profound alignment and invocation as representatives from Indigenous, Bahá'í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and Zoroastrian peoples offered affirmations and prayers, with musical accompaniment. The final phase was the World Peace Flag Ceremony: the flag of each Member State and Observer Mission was presented, carried where possible by a national representative. As each flag was presented, the name of the country was announced and all were invited to repeat, “May peace be in [that country].” At the close, all flags were held aloft in the hall, and the concluding affirmation was voiced, “May peace prevail on Earth.” The event served as a joyful affirmation of the unity in consciousness which the UN aspires to promote, and the positive role which interfaith work can play in promoting right human relations and peace.