Religions for Peace’s Reflections on the G20 Interfaith Forum

Religions for Peace is pleased to share the highlight of important gatherings at the G20 Interfaith Youth Forum, co-hosted by ACWAY, and the G20 Interfaith Forum in Bologna, Italy from 10-14 September. Under the themes “Interfaith as Activism, Dialogue as Healing” and “Peace Among Cultures, Understanding Between Religions,” respectively, the two events featured religious leaders, academics, and civil society experts from around the world, encouraging conversation and action on how religions may work together for more sustainable and just development.  

Introduction  

 The G20 Interfaith Forum offers an annual platform where networks of religiously linked and faith-inspired actors engage on global agendas, within the broad framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the G20 host country’s agenda. Beginning in Australia in 2014, the G20 Interfaith Forum has convened annually in the G20 host country. The Forums have considered wide-ranging agendas, including economic models and systems, the environment, women, families, children, work, humanitarian aid, health, education, freedom of religion or belief, global security, governance, human rights, and the rule of law. For more information on the G20 Interfaith Forum, please continue here.  

The 2021 G20 Interfaith Forum was organized into four principal themes, an opening session on the environment in preparation for COP26, Foreign Policy and Religion, Education and Religious Diversity, and Religious Affairs and Peaceful Coexistence.  

The priorities were strongly supported by Religions for Peace as its own Strategic Plan 2020-25 lays out Six Strategic Priorities that align with the framework of the SDGs and with these priorities. Through over 90 Interreligious Councils (IRCs), Religions for Peace convenes religious leaders to facilitate multi-religious action across these priorities.  

The Religions for Peace global network is strengthened also by the Global Interfaith Youth Network, which seeks to give voice to young religious leaders in their efforts for building lasting peace. In this effort, Religions for Peace was pleased to partner with A Common Word Among the Youth (ACWAY) to host the G20 Youth Interfaith Forum. With its focus on “Interfaith as Activism, Dialogue as Healing” the event offered an opportunity to learn from the challenges and successes of multi-religious and interreligious youth-led efforts throughout the world, and a springboard for further action.  

G20 Interfaith Forum 

The G20 Interfaith Forum, gathering religious and government leaders, opened with a prayer remembering those killed in places of prayer. This somber occasion called to mind the commitment to protect Holy Sites, which Religions for Peace has repeatedly stressed as critical to a true guarantee of the Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion. Following this prayer and the opening ceremony, the Forum opened to a series of thematic and ministerial sessions on a variety of topics, including justice, refugees, human trafficking, modern slavery, poverty, peace, and gender equality. 

Sharing the stage with H.H. Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch and Religions for Peace World Council member, and Marco Alverà, CEO of snam, Prof. Azza Karam, Secretary General of Religions for Peace addressed the plenary audience on the theme of Environmental Asceticism in preparation for COP26. As we have learned through the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative, preserving rainforests is a critical part of combatting climate change, but to truly nurture a sustainable environment it is critical that all religious leaders come together.  

H.H. Bartholomew shared that the moment at hand was the “moment before midnight for humanity,” and that it was now the time to “go forward together.” 

Recognizing the power of H.H. Bartholomew’s words, Prof. Karam asked us to “consider the impact if we had all religious leaders together echoing and speaking together. Can you imagine that power? Can you imagine how anything could stand in the way of the transformation needed? … What the world needs right now is cooperation and inclusivity of all religious leaders and voices coming together to help our world and bring forth change.” 

As religious leadership, service, and diplomacy well predate all the world’s governments, Prof. Karam reminded us that we should anticipate they will outlive the latter as well. Therefore, the question of accountability becomes of the utmost importance. No institution, no conglomerate, no religious community can deliver on its own. What is needed, then, is to keep one another accountable to genuine collaboration among religious communities.   

Both H.H. Bartholomew and Prof. Karam recognized and underlined that the question of climate cannot be addressed in a vacuum, but as intertwined with all questions of humanity. For example, we must ensure that new technologies are not used only to protect and save the wealthy, leaving the poor to suffer, as is currently happening with COVID 19 vaccine distribution. Similarly, the voice and leadership of youth must be heard and respected. The future and the present, in fact, are theirs. In the world that succeeds at negating climate change, education must be equally accessible to boys and girls. We must bring together individual and communal actions for the building of a new world.  

The question of vaccine equity was brought up by Religions for Peace Co-President H.E. Judge Mohamed Abdel Salam who, in a session entitled “The Most Urgent Thing After COVID” and at the closing plenary, stressed that the most urgent thing is that COVID is still raging in many parts of the world. The system that has permitted this inequity in vaccine distribution must not be allowed to go on or be repeated in other crises.  

Ms. Bani Dugal and Dr. Nayla Tabbara, both Religions for Peace Co-Presidents, both shared at a session on “Gender Equality: Religious Denial and Religious Support,” featuring Religions for Peace’s commitment to expand on the nexus of women, faith, and diplomacy. Dr. Tabbara shared the experience on the ground of the Adyan Foundation as they work to gain full legal recognition for women, but often struggle to gain public support even from privately supportive religious leaders. Instead of working together, many fall to the temptation to compare themselves to the failures of others.  

Ms. Dugal offered a way forward and challenge, stating that any reflection on the links between the lack of gender equality and religious leaders is not an indictment of religion but an acknowledgment of the tremendous weight that religious leaders carry. “The equality of men and women is not just a case of rising social consciousness, but a true divine reality realized … On moral grounds, it’s clear that the persistent denial of human rights to half the human population is an affront to human dignity.”  

The Secretary General of the Latin America and the Caribbean Council of Religious Leaders (LACCRL), Mr. Elias Szczytnicki noted that where the G20 Interfaith Forum seeks to bring together religious actors with governmental and intergovernmental entities, Religions for Peace has a long legacy. Most recently, he spoke of the Multi Religious Council of Leaders  launched by Religions for Peace and UNHCR to help confront the issue of migrants and refugees. This partnership underlines the value of religious institutions, which are often critical in designing policy and implementing action when other larger institutions may be slow to act, said Mr. Szczytnicki.  

G20 Youth Interfaith Forum 

Represented by Ms. Emina Frljak (Program Coordinator, Youth for Peace) and Ms. Stina Tysk (Vice-Chairperson, World Student Christian Federation- Europe), the International Youth Committee, was honored to host a Skills Breakout Session during the G20 Interfaith Youth Forum entitled “Healing Through Multi-Faith Collaboration.” This title and theme were chosen with respect to the importance of the YIF Theme, “Interfaith as Activism, Dialogue as Healing,” which is especially pertinent given the universal nature of the COVID-19 Pandemic, which continues to engulf and restrict the world. However, IYC was convinced that it was critical to underline that multi-faith collaboration fosters and encourages healing in all times, not only in those of health crises.  

In their session, Ms. Frljak and Ms. Tysk encouraged the youth audience to strongly consider the importance of youth endeavors, proving through Religions for Peace’s own experience that the world is in dire need of youth leadership. With projects ranging from Speech4Change to Thursdays in Black, youth have taken both creative and supportive roles within Religions for Peace.  

Too often, they pointed out, youth are sidelined without an outlet to express their energies, beliefs, and passions. However, when given the opportunity, youth have demonstrated time and time again that their youth is not a hindrance but rather an opportunity for vitality and spirit. Key among these examples was the recent symposium held in partnership with the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF). In this event, with the floor explicitly given to them, youth from around the world were able to share their own vision for the world.  

The event also provided a critical space with longtime Religions for Peace partners such as the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, the United Religions Initiative, and KAICIID. In this space, the commitment to bringing youth to the table of inter-faith dialogue was underlined.  

Conclusion and Next Steps 

At the conclusion of the G20 Interfaith Forum, Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, representing Italy as the host country, laid clear that key among the risks for religion is that coopting by those who wish to use religion for their own ends.  

Working groups for each of the thematic focuses of the session provided policy briefs as guidance and recommendations for the upcoming G20 meeting. For further reading, please see here.