News
The World Council of Churches (WCC) joined the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and Responsibility to Protect (UNOGPRtoP) and other partners to host a meeting on Fostering Inclusive Societies in South Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, 29-30 November.
The meeting was organized with regional and country foci on Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh, highlighting the role of religious leaders and actors in enhancing respect for the dignity and fundamental rights of all peoples as tools to prevent incitement to violence and protect populations from atrocity crimes.
“The vast well of religious and cultural history and resources in South Asia offers us an important opportunity to deeply listen and support the work of faith leaders and actors in fostering just, inclusive, and sustainable societies,” said Jillian Abballe, WCC representative in the event and advocacy officer at the Ecumenical United Nations Office, in New York.
The Bangkok meeting was a follow-up to the fifth regional meeting of the “Fez Process,” an initiative led by the UNOGPRtoP in partnership with the KAICIID Dialogue Center, the WCC and the Network of Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, that led to the creation of a Global Plan of Action for Religious Leaders and Actors to Prevent Incitement to Violence that Could Lead to Atrocity Crimes, launched this past July.
It is a first occasion on which to explore the ways in which the resources of faith are being used for peace and human dignity in a specific regional setting using the Global Plan of Action as a framework for our engagement and as a starting point for specific recommendations and partnerships.
The event on Fostering Inclusive Societies in South Asia was jointly organized with the KAICIID Dialogue Center, Muslim Hands, and the Network of Religious and Traditional Peacemakers.
A multi-stakeholder meeting on the implementation of the Global Plan of Action is being planned for February 2018, in Geneva, Switzerland. This meeting will include faith-based organizations, civil society organizations, religious leaders and actors, UN agencies and other multilateral organizations, and member states.
