AFRICA
Community Care and support Trust
(CAST) Cooperation Circle
(Blantyre, Malawi)
This CC’s purpose is “to advance the spirit of living
and working in harmony, as well as supporting each other with the rest of all
peoples regardless of their originality, skin color, creed, traditional,
religious and cultural beliefs, to make the world a better place for all living
beings.” Highlights of their recent activities include helping to clean a
pediatric ward at a hospital in Blantyre,
meeting different religious leaders and communities about URI’s PPPs, and visiting
the elderly and HIV/AIDS infected.
ASIA
Tronica City CC (Ghaziabad, North India)
“We are living in a highly
interconnected global society. Here no one can ever think of surviving in
isolation. Religions bind us. Let us make this bondage strong and sustainable.
Let us make our small step towards peace and harmony a great leap for the
betterment of earth and living beings.” These words of CC member Divya Tyagi,
highlight Tronica City’s deep commitment to URI’s PPPs. Tronica City CC’s
activities include promoting harmony for universal peace and brotherhood, teaching
the destitute children as well as having regular visits to orphanages and old
homes with gifts and food, tree planting and saving stray animals.
Salwan PTA (Parents, Teacher and Alumni)
CC (New Delhi, India)
This
CC began from a mother’s interest in URI after hearing about the Global
Assembly 2008 through young leaders who attended her daughter’s school. Soon, a
CC was formed with dream of “a world without violence.” The members of this CC
have already participated in the India North Zone URI CC Meet, have led a
signature campaign against terrorism, and have organized tree plantings and activities
to help the poor. As CC member Mrs.
Arvinder Kaur said, “URI is dedicated to the global peace and well being of
earth and the living being, therefore, it is the duty of each of us to work for
its success.”
Rajinder
Nagar CC (New Delhi, India)
This CCs purpose is “To
promote peace and harmony amongst all faiths, to protect girl child and to
create environment consciousness.” This CC attended their first URI meeting on
April 25, 2009 at the North Zone URI CC Meet. As CC member Mrs. Anyradha Mathur
said, “As in our history, ‘Akbar the Great’ has set an example by following
‘Din-e-ilahi’ through which he made an honest attempt to bring different faiths
together. Similiarly following him and utilizing the URI forum, we must try to
create a society free from religiously motivated violence.”
Old
Rajinder Nagar CC (New Delhi,
India)
This CC’s purpose is “to promote peace and harmony in the
world, to follow sustainable development and leave a better world for the
future generations, and to ensure safety of our children and environment
protection.” Their dedication to URI’s PPPs is reflected in their recent
activities, which include promoting quality education for children, planting
trees, and pledging to protect the environment to the best of their abilities.
Karol Bagh CC (New Delhi, India)
Most
of the CC members in this CC were introduced to URI through their children, who
attend the Salwan
School, and through
involvement with the India North Zone URI Meet. What resulted was a CC dedicated “to ending
religiously motivated violence and to serve society as one organization barring
all narrow domestic walls.” Focused on working for the betterment of girl child
through a project called ‘Nanhi Chhaon’ which means a ‘tiny shade’ and also for
the education for the under privileged, this CC dreams of “peace and harmony among
human beings.”
MIDDLE
EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Lebanese Interfaith Initiative (Beirut, Lebanon)
This CC seeded from the LYDS
organization, the first Lebanese NGO working on dialogue between religions in Lebanon
at the youth level. This CC’s aspirations
include to provide opportunities for
youths to interact, learn, and develop their skills necessary to contribute to
the general well being of youth at national level; educate and encourage youths
to pursue and practice their heritage, language and culture; empower Lebanese
youths by promoting peer participation in community organizations and civic
structures; and to engage youths in international humanitarian and human rights
endeavors. CC member Miss Rowaida Farouk Mroue said of this CC, “We declare our
commitment to ending the violence and bloodshed that denies the right to life
and dignity. We seek to create an atmosphere where present and future
generations will co-exist with mutual respect and trust in the other.”
Club Unesco Alecso Bardo (Magoulaa, Tunisia)
“Our group is very interested
in the purpose of URI,” said CC member Fedia Gasmi. “Our NGO has the same
goals. Nowadays with the increasing of the impact of globalization, the war
against the terrorism…this initiative is like a torch of light of peace and
tolerance. We want to restore bridges and to bring the trust between religions
and nations.” This CC has already been involved in many activities, including The European Cultural Agenda 2014-2020, Anna Lindh
Foundation Campaign, Peace Award 2009, Sue Thompson Global Rally Peace Network,
Forum of the intercultural dialogue Jordan organized by the Arab League.
The Voices of Peace (Jaffa, Israel)
The
Voices of Peace youth choir formed at the Initiative of the Arab Jewish
Community Center, who wished to bring together Jewish and Arab high school
students—from Muslim, Jewish, and Christian backgrounds that are passionate
about singing together and bringing down the barriers of stereotypes and
ethnicity. This CC’s purpose is “to spread the message of peace, tolerance and
acceptance by performing songs in Hebrew, Arabic, and English for diverse
audiences.” Recent performances include a memorial service for peace activist
Abie Natan, a gala celebration for the Peres
Peace Center,
and other unique gatherings throughout Jaffa,
Israel.
Tolerance CC (Cairo, Egypt)
This
CC’s purpose is “To spread tolerance and to set up dialogues based on accepting
the others no matter where they are from and what they believe in.” As CC
member, Mr. Sherif Awad Rizk, said “Most Egyptians laugh at the same jokes
whether they are Muslims, Protestants, Catholics, Bahai, etc. What’s really
sacred is that we share this life and world, so we should be trying really hard
to change it for the better…” A major initiative of this group is to develop an
online magazine focusing on historical figures in history who promoted
tolerance.
