By Daniela Malec, EIYN

coordinator

The European interfaith

youth summit brought

together European and

Arab youth leaders to

respond to global chal-

lenges and advance

youth-led interreligious

cooperation

The Religions for Peace

European Interfaith

Youth Network (EIYN)

held an European Inter-

faith Youth Summit in

Lillehammar, Norway on

19th -24th of June, 2012.

35 young leaders from

Europe, Middle East and

North Africa, represent-

ing the largest European

faith-based organizations

as well as social activists

and journalists from

Egypt, Lebanon and

Morocco, took part in

the four day long Dia-

logue Seminar, focusing

on three subjects: dia-

logue for solving con-

flicts, Arab Spring and

the global financial cri-

sis. The seminar was

followed by a two day

long annual summit of

the Religions for Peace

European Interfaith

Youth Network.

EIYN established four

working groups that

focused on interrelig-

ious collaboration in

regards to education

towards peace and co-

existence, ecology, the

economy and the mass

media.

Arab and European Youth Respond to Global Challenges

October 2, 2012 Volume 1, Issue 1

THE GLOBAL INTERFAITH

YOUTH NEWSLETTER

Inside this

issue:

EIYN Summit 1

Participant Per-

spective 2

Muslim-Jewish

Conference 2

Restoring Dig-

nity in Argen-

tina

3

Restoring Dig-

nity Workshop

for Teens

4

Abuja Interfaith

Youth Forum 4

Great Lakers/

Horn of Africa

Youth Meeting

5

The members of EIYN at the summit

Young religious leaders committed

themselves to increased cooperation in

those four areas and to change the way

the media usually portrays relations

between religions in a conflicting and

negative light.

You can read more about the summit

on EIYN‘s website by clicking here

Youth Peace

week in Nai-5

LAIYN at the

Rio+20 summit 6

Natalie Pylypiv is a Greek-

Catholic from the Ukraine.

She has been involved in

Religions for Peace since

May 2012, when she was

elected as a member of the

International Youth Commit-

tee.

Natalie shared with us her

personal experience of par-

ticipating at the EIYN sum-

mit.

―We were kindly hosted by

the Nansen Humanistic

Academy, which was

founded in 1938 as a protest

against growth of totalitarian

ideologies in Europe, and

ever since has seen its mis-

sion in the promotion of

democracy and human

rights. One of the structures

there is Nansen Peace Cen-

tre, which has been created

to promote dialogue as a

tool for peace-building. The

professionals working there

have unique experiences of

working in inter-ethnic/ inter

-religious conflicts in Pales-

tine-Israel, Bosnia-Serbia,

etc. In 1998 the Nansen

Academy received Honor-

able Mention of the

―UNESCO Prize for Peace

Education‖ for its achieve-

ments. What I personally

loved about the place was

the special atmosphere there,

because people working

there are actually living ac-

cording to the values that

they teach.

Secondly, the program of

the seminar was very inter-

esting. During this week we

have tackled so many issues

- conflicts, Arab spring, eco-

nomic crisis – and all

through the prism of dia-

logue. The discussions we

had were very insightful and

though provoking. Almost three

months have passed after the

seminar, but every time I open

my seminar notes – new ideas

came to my mind.

Finally, it was really amazing to

have such a variety of people in

the group. The majority of par-

ticipants were from Europe, but

also there were a number of

participants from Middle East –

Morocco, Egypt and Lebanon.

This also implied great religious

variety, which was fascinating

indeed! For me it was the first

time that I could personally

speak to the representatives of

Zoroastrian, Bahai and Hindu

faith. The opportunity to share

our religious views was very

enriching and actually provided

a great chance to practice dia-

logue, based on understanding

and acceptance.‖

EIYN Summit in Lillehammer, Norway—Participant Perspective

By Jane Braden-Golay, RfP EIYN

core group member

In July, 80 young Muslims and

Jews from all corners of the

world travelled to Bratislava,

Slovakia, to break down stereo-

types, engage in intensive com-

mittee work, develop initiatives

and projects, and find friend-

ship and partnership in a con-

ference of six days.

The goals of the Muslim Jew-

ish Conference (MJC), an an-

nual conference now in its

fourth year, are to provide the

next generation with a learning

experience for life and a posi-

tive outlook for establishing

intercultural relations and sus-

taining Muslim-Jewish partner-

ships. This happens through the

exchange of knowledge, ideas,

and experiences as well as the

search for courses of action and

jointly structured and planned

projects.

As a truly global grassroots

group, 35 team members,

young academics and profes-

sionals from all around the

world and various faiths; living

in 16 different countries and 4

different time zones, worked

Muslim Jewish Conference 2012: Young Jews and Muslims gathered in

Bratislava to talk to each other; not about each other.

Page 2

tirelessly over the course of

the year to create a confer-

ence that would inspire par-

ticipants to bring back their

experiences, thoughts and

feelings to their home com-

munities.

There were six committees

working on different topics

at this year‘s MJC, they in-

cluded ―Positive Narratives

on Jewish-Muslim History―,

―Faithful Citizenship―,

―Sustained Community Dia-

log―, ―Anti-Semitism and

Islamophobia―, ―Muslim

and Jewish Business and

Social Entrepreneurship‖

and ―Women in Religion―.

For the first time there was

also a special arts track, with

Muslim and Jewish artists

coming together to discuss

art‘s role in dialog, and to

hold a special exhibition.

The young leaders at the

MJC received a formal

written greeting from former

U.S. President Bill Clinton.

―A major focus of my

Presidency was the pursuit

of peaceful resolutions to

ethnic and religious conflict

in the Middle East and

Eastern Europe,” Clinton

wrote. ―it’s especially

wonderful to see a new

generation determined to

break down the barriers of

ethnicity and religion that

too often divide us.”

For more information, click

here

or write to

register@mjconference.org

bean Interfaith Youth Net-

work (LAIYN) in the Pro-

vince of Córdoba, Argenti-

na, held a September 1st,

2012 for a workshop with

teens awareness of gender

violence, especially in the

family and during courtship.

The workshop was held in

the Parish "Divine Child

Jesus" our Home III and

counted with the participa-

tion of Ms. Adriana Domin-

guez Director of the Natio-

nal Institute against Discri-

mination, Xenophobia and

Racism in the Province of

Córdoba and Dr. Marta Lo-

pez Guerreño Union of

September, 2012,Córdoba,

Argentina,

By Soher el Sukaria,

LAIYN Co– Coordinator

September 1, 2012, As part

of the Religions for Peace

Restoring Dignity campaign,

the Latin America & Carib-

Communities of the Provin-

ce of Córdoba.

Young people could take

advantage of the workshop,

exchange ideas and took

some useful tools for pre-

vention and awareness of the

problem.

Click here to visit Say No to

Violence Against Women

website.

Click here for the English

version of the RfP Restoring

Dignity toolkit.

Muslim - Jewish Conference continued...

Restoring Dignity workshop teaching Argentinean teens about Violence

against Women

Volume 1, Issue 1

Page 3

Abuja, Nigeria, May, 2012

By Nyambura Gichuki, African Inter-

faith Youth Network (AIYN) coordi-

nator

The Abuja Interfaith Youth forum was

organized by Muslim and Christian

Youth coming together to discuss the

conflict situation in their country and

how to work together on effective

peace building.

The youth from various faith organisa-

tions decided to form a Religions for

Peace Nigeria national youth chapter

and selected two leaders to coordinate

their interactions for the following

year. They then proceeded to work

together in a tree planting session to

symbolize their new working partner-

ship that will bear the fruits of inter-

faith collaboration and understanding.

The Abuja Interfaith Youth Forum launched the Nigeria Interfaith Youth

By Soher El Sukaria, IYC member

September, 2012,

As part of the Restoring Dignity campaign, the

Latin American and Caribbean Interfaith

Youth Network (LAIYN) attended a bi-

monthly meeting of the Pastoral Council of

the Province of Córdoba, Argentina.

The Council brings together pastors of differ-

ent Christian denominations in the province.

LAIYN presented the campaign to the 70 pas-

tors present and gave each pastor a copy of the

Spanish version of the Restoring Dignity tool-

kit. Those present agreed to work actively to-

gether to raise awareness about the issue and

to try to reverse the staggering statistics of

violence in the province of Cordoba.

For more information on RfP Restoring Dig-

nity campaign click here

Like the campaign on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter: @restorindignity

Restoring Dignity Campaign in Argentina: "Religious Youth Say No To

Violence Against Women”.

Page 4

August, 2012 Nairobi,

Kenya

More than sixty women and

youth leaders from various

churches in the Great Lakes

and Horn of Africa regions,

met at the All Africa Con-

ference of Churches

(AACC) Desmond Tutu

Conference Centre in Nai-

robi recently to discuss their

challenges and intervention

strategies that they can apply

as women and youth leaders.

Lead by Rev. Adriano

Qulende, a Religions for

Peace Executive Committee

member of the Africa Inter-

faith Youth Network and Dr.

Agnes Abuom, ACRL—RfP

governing board member

and Ecumenical Accompa-

nier of the Horn of Africa,

participants shared peace

building experiences from

their different projects while

drawing lessons from each

other.

They articulated their differ-

ent roles in peace building

processes as that of develop-

ing relevant strategies for

transforming conflicts, being

politically engaged and so-

cially responsible, network-

ing with like-minded groups

and positively utilizing their

shared identity.

The two day meeting, spon-

sored by AAAC was also a

preparation for the tenth

AACC General Assembly to

be held in Kampala, Uganda

in 2013.

Each participant was therefore

given the mandate to prepare

their church representatives for

the upcoming General Assem-

bly, held every five years, that

mobilizes youth from churches

in Africa to tackle issues facing

the continent, especially those

of peace building.

Countries represented in the

meeting include: Ethiopia, Dji-

bouti, Sudan, South Sudan, De-

mocratic Republic of Congo,

Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania,

Uganda and Kenya.

Women and Youth Leaders from the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes

Students of the Africa

Nazarene University, with

support from the ACRL—

RfP‘s Youth program,

marked a week-long

peace campaign, with the

theme “Embracing Peace,

Love and Justice for a

Better Kenya” in which

they promised to do every-

thing in their capacity to

preserve peace in Kenya.

The event, held at the

Africa Nazarene Univer-

sity in Ongata Rongai, Nai-

robi, brought together over

two thousand participants

including students and sev-

eral youth organisations such

as the Kenyans for Change,

Gumzo Mtaani, True Love

Culture, Kenya Youth Devel-

opment Trust and the Face of

Kenya.

This was the first annual

event aimed at promoting

national cohesion prior to

Kenya‘s upcoming general

elections. The aim was for

the youth to air their contri-

butions in ensuring the next

elections were held peace-

fully and to give an assurance

that they will not be manipu-

lated to participate in vio-

lence during the elections pe-

riod.

Activities included the estab-

lishment of a peace monument,

a film show on genocide, re-

flections on the violence that

took place in 2007/8 during

presidential elections, a peace

walk, training of peace ambas-

sadors and use of hip-hop com-

edy and debates to promote

peace.

The university‘s deputy vice

chancellor, Prof. Rodney Reed

and Mr. Bernard Okok, the pro-

gram coordinator NPI-Africa,

later led a symbolic tree

planting session marking the

establishment of the ‗peace

monument‘ in the institution.

Youth Resolve to Promote Peace in Kenya as they Mark the Week of

Peace in Nairobi

Page 5

THE GLOBAL INTERFAITH YOUTH NEWSLETTER

Civil Society Demands a Greater Role in Democratic Governance

September 3 -7th , 2012, Montreal, Canada.

Hundreds of participants from civil society and Faith Based Organi-

sations (FBO) gathered in Montreal, Canada, for the annual Civicus

World Assembly.

Civicus is a global civil society network that connects various civil

society organisations to each other. It‘s mission is to strengthen

citizen action and civil society throughout the world, especially in

areas where participatory democracy and citizens' freedom of association are threatened. Civicus

has a vision of a global community of active, engaged citizens committed to the creation of a

more just and equitable world. This is premised on the belief that the health of societies exists in

direct proportion to the degree of balance between the state, the private sector and civil society.

The Board Vice Chair of Civicus: World Alliance for Citizen Participation Ms.

Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, was also the coordinator for Religions for Peace

Global Women of Faith network. She believes deeply in the important role that

faith based society plays in mobilizing citizens to act on challenges faced by hu-

manity.

The deputy Secretary General of Religions for Peace Rev.

Kyoichi Sugino presented on the power of religious communities to build

their society post-revolution at a workshop titled ― Civil Society in democ-

ratic transition: What happens after the revolution‖.

At the workshop, a young Egyptian women named Yasmin Elayat, Co-

creator of the social media website ―18 days in Egypt‖ spoke about the po-

tential power of social media during and after a revolution and how youth have an active role to

play in advancing peace during this transitional period. She used her own experience in Egypt to

launch ― 18 days in Egypt‖ where you can become a citizen journalist documenting the events on

the ground as they are unfolding, and at the same time using other social media apps such as

Facebook and Twitter to invite your friends to tell the story with you so that it has a multi-

perspective storytelling element to its information sharing.

Ala Qasem, The Executive Director of Resonate! Yemen was another inspiring

youth that went back to live in Yemen after a decade living in Canada to help

his country through the transitional process. His organization's aim is to work on

advancing the cause of participative democracy in Yemen through bringing the

voices and ideas of young Yemenis (aged 18 to 35) to Yemen's public policy

discourse and through supporting youth action on issues of local and national

significance. He believes that if the youth are educated about social and political

issues then they are more likely to engage and contribute to the political discourse in Yemen.

The underlying lesson of the Civicus World assembly was to bear witness to the importance of

including youth as citizens in redefining global governance and participating in changing their

nations through civil society mechanisms.

Page 6

777 UN PLAZA

New York, NY 10017, USA

Tel: +1-212-687-2163

Fax: +1-212-983-0098

THE GLOBAL INTERFAITH YOUTH NEWSLETTER

We are on the Web!

RFP INTERNATIONAL

EIYN Homepage

LAIYN Homepage

AIYN Homepage

GIYN FACEBOOK

ARMS DOWN! FACEBOOK

RESTORING DIGNITY

FACEBOOK

RESTORNING DIGNITY ON

TWITTER

GIYN ON TWITTER

RFP INTERNATIONAL ON

TWITTER

LAIYN Urges Climate Change Advocacy at Rio +20

Rio +20 Summit

June, 2012, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Miss Soher el Sukaria and Mr. Gustavo Ali ,

co-coordinators of our Latin America and

Caribbean Interfaith Youth Network

(LAIYN) participated in the People's Sum-

mit in Rio +20 for Social and Environmental

Justice in Brazil which was held June 20-22,

2012.

Miss. Sukaria presented at the side event

"Ethical and Religious Perspectives on the

Future We Want" the Spanish version of our

tool kit "Action and Advocacy for Climate

Change: A Resource Guide for Religious

Communities". Miss. Sukaria emphasized

the common struggle of religions to protect

the environment and empower the poor.

There is a article in Spanish on the event that

you can read here .

Religions for Peace Global Interfaith Youth Network (GIYN) harnesses the energy and commit-

ment of religious youth leaders all over the world to advance the mission of multi-religious coop-

eration for peace. Representative of the world‘s major religions across six regions - Africa, Asia

and the Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and North America –GIYN builds peace by working to

transform violent conflict, promote just and harmonious societies, advance development, and

protect the earth. GIYN seeks to advance its work by mobilizing the power of religious youth,

building strategic partnerships with the United Nations, inter-governmental institutions, and civil

society organization, and implementing action programs through national and regional inter-

religious youth networks. Concurrently, the youth are working to mainstream youth and youth

issues into Religions for Peace programming activities at the local, regional and global level.

GIYN is led by the International Youth Committee (IYC), comprised of fifteen IYC members

representing the world's faith traditions from the six regional interfaith youth networks. The pre-

sent IYC was elected at the Religions for Peace VIII World Assembly in Kyoto, Japan in August

2006. The IYC is led by its Youth Coordinator, Ms. Stellamaris Mulaeh, who is actively engaged

in grassroots multi-religious youth-led peace building in Kenya. As a global agent, the IYC is

mindful to choose a location where impacts of their meeting include bringing awareness to the

conflict, or initiations of service projects in the location.

For more information on GIYN and if you want to share a story with us to be featured in the next

newsletter ,please click here: Ms. Elida Jbeili, Program Associate for Youth and World Assem-

bly;

RELIGIONS FOR

PEACE

INTERNATIONAL

Page 7