News
2011 Is the International Year of Forests
Forests are the most biologically-diverse ecosystems on land, home to more than half of the terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects. Forests also provide shelter, jobs and security for forest-dependent populations. Yet despite all of these priceless ecological, economic, social and health benefits, we are destroying the very forests we need to survive.
Report on the 65th Session of the UN General Assembly (2010)
During the opening session of the Assembly, President Barack Obama cited the importance of civil society proclaiming that “Civil Society is the conscience of our communities, and America will always extend our engagement abroad with citizens beyond the halls of government. We will call out those who suppress ideas, and serve as the voice for the voiceless.”
Birtukan Mideksa, Ethiopian Political Leader, Released from Prison
Professor Ephraim Isaac, member of the Temple of Understanding Board of Trustees, headed a Coalition of Ethiopian Elders that helped cause Ms. Birtukan Mideksa to be released from prison.
Report: Summit on the Millennium Development Goals
The MDGs adopted by the United Nations Millennium Declaration in 2000 committed nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty with timebound targets to be accomplished by 2015.
Report on NGO Committees – 63rd UN DPI/NGO Conference
Sr. Joan Kirby, former chair and member of the Executive Committee, attended the 63rd annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference in Melbourne, Australia, on September 1, 2010.
Ibrahim Abdil-Mu’id Ramey’s Interview in the Daily Trust
Nigeria: Adamawa Religious Leaders Parley On Peace, 24 June 2010 Yola — As part of efforts to ensure peaceful co-existence among Christians and Muslims, the Nigerian Inter Religious Council (NIREC) Adamawa State chapter yesterday started a meeting to discuss and …
Eco-Justice Now, by Joan Kirby, RSCJ
Because the world’s richest nations have contributed more to climate change, we have a greater responsibility to take action – and to do it quickly. It is time to cry out for ecojustice.
Nuclear Abolition, Sustainable Development, and Human Rights
Ibrahim Abdil-Mu’id Ramey’s plenary address to the International Civil Society Conference on nuclear
abolition, sustainable development, and human rights was attended by some 1,200 disarmament
activists from around the world.
Losing My Religion for Equality, by Jimmy Carter
Women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the word of God.
Papal Address to Interreligious Dialogue Organizers
Papal Address to Interreligious Dialogue Organizers – We See the Possibility of a Unity Which Is Not Dependent Upon Uniformity
Faith and Values Organizations Form Coalition to Advance UN Decade for Inter-religious Cooperation for Peace
Forty-five religious, interfaith, and value-based organizations from five continents agreed to form a coalition to advance a “United Nations Decade for Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding, and Cooperation for Peace.”
‘Speaking Truth to Power’: An important statement by the Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama has made an important statement about his role and Tibet’s future in which he admits that his faith in the present Chinese government is ‘thinning’. He also advances a historic precedent for a Dalai Lama by stating that Tibet’s future is “for the Tibetan people to decide, not for me as an individual.”