URI To Celebrate Its 10th Anniversary in Amman, Jordan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                              Contact: Mark Mancao

URI CELEBRATES ITS 10^TH ANNIVERSARY

Internationally Acclaimed Interfaith Network to Meet in Amman, Jordan

San Francisco, CA June 2, 2010 – United Religions Initiative (URI), one of the world’s largest interfaith organizations, will be celebrating the 10^th Anniversary of its Charter signing on June 26^th at the Royal Cultural Center in Amman, Jordan. Bringing together grassroots leaders from across the faith spectrum, the event will commemorate ten years of interfaith action for peace and justice around the world. The celebration will cap the annual summit of URI’s Global Council and global staff as well as a gathering of its Middle East and North Africa region. Amman’s Mayor, Mr. Omar Maani, has been invited to speak.

URI is an internationally recognized global network connecting hundreds of grassroots groups and organizations around a shared commitment to interfaith peace and cooperation. When URI’s Charter was signed on June 26, 2000, it launched with 83 member organizations—called Cooperation Circles (CCs)—in 30 countries. In just ten years, it has grown to a powerful community of more than 470 CCs in 75 countries. Its nearly half a million members are overcoming distrust and hostility every day to better the lives of their neighbors—mediating religiously motivated conflict; building schools, orphanages and health clinics; campaigning for citizenship rights and more in 75 countries. They touch the lives of an estimated 2.5 million people each year.

The 10^th anniversary celebration will open with an interfaith ceremony by URI leaders from around the world. The program features musical performances by URI members, including Musaique (www.musaique.org), a group of interfaith musicians from the region whose mission is to “break down the barriers and borders between religions and nations through music.”  Along with the performances, URI’s President Bishop William E. Swing, Global Council Chair Yoland Trevino, and Executive Director Charles Gibbs will address the gathering. The evening will close with public commitments to action in the coming decade from URI member organizations, and invitations to the audience to do the same.

This extraordinary event is dedicated to the individuals from all walks of life and all religions in every region of the globe who have overcome the differences that so often divide communities to build strong, diverse coalitions for peace and justice.  It is their hard work and sacrifice that serves as a model for the world URI seeks to build, and without which URI would have remained little more than a dream.

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For more information please contact Mark Mancao or Barbara Hartford

About the event:
Event: URI 10^th Anniversary Celebration
Event date: June 26, 2010
Location: Royal Cultural Center, Amman, Jordan
Time: 12:00 PM UTC

About URI:

The URI network is led by Executive Director Charles Gibbs, President William Swing, and an elected 29-member Global Council of Trustees from 19 countries. Its member CCs are connected by eight regional anchor points, where URI coordinators help circulate best practices, organize regional gatherings and trainings and seed new CCs. URI’s San Francisco headquarters provides support for regional leaders, maintains a global communications network and organizes conferences to bring CCs together from all over the world. URI’s two global programs, the Traveling Peace Academy and the Young Leaders Program, provide comprehensive peace-building and leadership development training and help support projects on the ground.