URI Events

June 2024

URI Intergenerational Gathering: Earth Restoration to Prevent Violence

4 June 2024 - 8:30 am PDT

URI Principle 9 focuses on practicing healing and reconciliation to resolve conflict without resorting to violence.”

This is why we want to lean into caring for our environment, because when we care for the environment and restore ecosystems we’re also restoring our communities and preventing or reducing violence.

Join us for this call!

Register Here                        Local time

Earth Restoration and Collective Healing

10 June 2024 - 6:00 - 9:00 am PDT

This introductory workshop aims to connect with our capacity to care for the earth and each other and create a simple toolkit for imagining new possibilities for ecological regeneration and collective healing while drawing both on the indigenous and sacred wisdom of our diverse communities and the wisdom of the natural and human sciences. 

Join us!

Register Here                                    Local Time 

URI Violence Prevention Community Call

20 June 2024 - 6:00 am - 7:00 PDT

Join the June Violence Prevention Community Call.

This call will discuss a new global campaign to end violence. 

We look forward to sharing the details of this new campaign with you and getting your input on how best to share this campaign within the network and beyond.  

Register Here                              Local Time

Interrupting Hate Speech and Violence

24 June 2024 - 6:00 am - 9:00 am PDT

The health approach to violence prevention explores violence as a behavior that can be interrupted and changed.

This workshop will introduce the basic elements of this approach with examples and sharing of experiences across different contexts and invite participants to practice skills of interrupting harmful behaviors in the context of hate speech.

Register Here                                  Local Time 

Past May 2024

Sacred Values and Traditional Wisdom of the Indigenous Peoples

9 May 2024 -11:00 am PDT / 6:00 pm GMT

The sacred values and traditional wisdom of indigenous peoples worldwide may be the key to the renewal of our planet and a sustainable future for all.

URI invites you to join indigenous communities from around the world to share and learn the sacred values and traditional wisdom of Indigenous Peoples worldwide which are key to the renewal of our planet and a sustainable future for all.

Among the panelists are; Francisco Morales, Global Council Trustee, Latin America and the Caribbean, Lauren Van Ham URI Climate Action Coordinator, and Rosalia Gutierrez, leader of the Indigenous People of Argentina Cooperation Circle in Buenos Aires.

Register Here                     Local Time 

Violence Prevention Community Call

16 May 2024

Sign up now for the next Violence Prevention Community Call from 6-9 am PDT on Thursday, May 16, 2024. 

During this call, we will briefly go over the basics of what it means to use a health approach to anticipate and prevent violence in your community and examine together how this approach can be applied to specific situations or contexts.  

You are invited to submit in advance a short description of a scenario that you are facing that you would like to have discussed during this session.  

Register here                  Local time 

Facilitating Interfaith Spaces

15 May 2024 - 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm GMT

Join us for the next URI Co-learning community workshop; facilitating interfaith spaces.

Building on the Intro to Interfaith Engagement, this workshop will introduce a starter toolkit of key facilitation and design skills to support interfaith organizing and collective efforts to advance specific changes in our communities.

Be part of this virtual opportunity to learn and explore key facilitation and design skills to support interfaith organizing.

Register here.                          Local time 

Introduction to Violence Prevention

30 May 2024 - 6:00 am - 9:00 am PDT / 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm GMT

Preventing violence may seem overwhelming or even impossible.

This introductory workshop will help you connect with your own capacity to intervene to prevent violence, to realize the power of the “third side” to generate new possibilities beyond violence, and to identify a diversity of partners who can help reduce violence and sustain transformative interventions amidst cycles of violence.

Register here                          Local time

Youth Mental Health Talk

25 May 6:00 am PDT/ 1:00 pm GMT

Multiregion Global Youth CC invites you to join the upcoming Youth Mental Health Talk.

Join and engage in vital topics, insights, and conversations on navigating the journey to mental well-being.

Let's break down barriers, foster understanding, and empower each other to thrive! Don't miss out—reserve your spot now for an evening of enlightenment and connection. 

Register here                                Local Time

 

Past April 2024

2024 Introduction Workshop Series

All sessions take place between 6am - 9am PT / 1pm - 4pm GMT

URI invites you to join a series of introductory 3-hour workshops that explore key practices to nurture our movement together toward our collective purpose of promoting interreligious collaboration, ending violence, and creating cultures of peace, justice, and healing.

Register here 

Interfaith Engagement 101

16 April 6:00 am - 9:00 am PDT / 1:00 pm -4:00 pm GMT

This workshop aims to provide members of the network with an introduction to interfaith engagement, what it is, how to do it, and how to strengthen interfaith collaboration within their organization to deepen and support their work and participation in the URI network.

Register here     Local time 

Navigating Difficult Conversations

29 April 2024 6:00 am - 9:00 am PDT / 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm GMT

This workshop is an introduction to key personal and interpersonal practices to deepen participants’ mindfulness of their personal and cultural habits around conflicts and to be prepared with a toolkit to move through difficult conversations with creativity. 

Register here                          Local time 

Violence Prevention and Peacebuilding Community Call

18 April 2024 - 6:00 am - 7:30 am PDT / 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm GMT

Save the date! April 18, 2024, we will be hosting a community call to hear from URI members and partners (you!) about the successful ways that you have been building peace in your region. 

We are particularly interested in hearing about any successful efforts undertaken to interrupt and stop violence before it happens. We look forward to learning together on the 18th.

R.S.V.P for Zoom link             Local time 

 

April Youth Connection Cafe

17 April 2024 - 6:00 am PDT / 2:00 pm GMT

From ideas to action! Project planning skills 

Do you have a project or an idea that you are currently working on and want to turn into action?

This month's YCC focuses on project planning skills and practicing turning ideas into action!

We will also be hearing from some of the URI Youth Seed Grant recipients about their projects and the learnings that they have gained along the way.

Please have a tangible project in mind in preparation for the call, that we can brainstorm around together.

The YCCs for 2024 are designed as a learning series for young changemakers!

We are focusing on all the skills to help us lead intercultural and interreligious teams and initiatives to create change in our communities.

Register here                        Local time 

Past Events March 2024

Resilience Series

7 March 2024 - 8:00 am PT / 4:00 pm GMT

URI Europe and URI Multiregion are delighted to present a collection of articles from Cooperation Circles, detailing their remarkable efforts in fostering community resilience.

The essence of "Community Resilience" lies in the sharing of uplifting practices and experiences by grassroots organizations, illustrating their journey towards building stronger and more resilient communities.

Register Here                   Your Local Time

Remembrance and Gratitude

14 March 2024 - 11:30 am PDT / 6:30 pm GMT

URI and NGO CSW Forum invite you to be part of the 10th annual interfaith service.

This service is in remembrance of those who have gone before us and who continue to inspire our lives.

Register here            Your Local Time

Curing Violence: A Workshop to End Violence

14 March 2024 -11:30 AM PDT / 6:30 PM GMT

United Religions Initiative (URI) and Cure Violence Global invite you to be part of the Curing Violence: A Workshop to End Violence event

This parallel event hosted by the United Religions Initiatives, aims to equip participants with the tools and strategies derived from Cure Violence Global's health approach to prevent and interrupt violence against women and girls.

Acknowledging the pervasive nature of this issue, particularly in contexts of poverty, conflict, and marginalization, the training seeks to empower attendees with actionable methods to address and mitigate gender-based violence.

Register here            Your Local Time 

Lessons from Grassroots Interfaith and Women Leaders

19 March - 9:30 am PDT / 4:30 pm GMT

Join us to learn and share lessons from grassroots, interfaith women leaders.

This event, hosted by the United Religions Initiative, in collaboration with grassroots NGO partners, think tanks on women’s security, and religious and spiritual leaders, will center around identifying ways to prevent violence against women and girls, addressing structural inequalities, and leveraging financing and technology as tools to empower and alleviate gender-based violence against women in poverty and vulnerable contexts.

This event will elevate the voices of URI CCs working on the ground to advance the rights of women globally. 

Register here             Your Local Time 

Past Events February 2024

The Power of Dialogue in Fostering Interfaith Harmony

29 February 2024 6:00 am PT / 2:00 pm GMT

You are invited to be part of the URI Community Call Series, The Power of Dialogue in Fostering Interfaith Harmony.

This interactive discussion will explore the transformative potential of dialogue in promoting understanding, respect, and cooperation among people of diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds.

During this community call, we will delve into the principles and practices of effective interfaith dialogue, share insights and experiences from diverse perspectives, and discuss strategies for overcoming challenges and building bridges of understanding and cooperation in our communities.

Throughout the year there will be four community calls exploring different topics.

Register here                    Your Local Time 

URI Europe Prize Winner

12 February 2024 8:00 am PST / 4:00 PM GMT

URI Europe invites you to be part of the peace prize webinar following a special initiative launched by URI Europe in September 2023 honoring UN Peace Day and Global Week to Act for SDGs.

Join Us!

Register                    Find your local time 

 

Reclaiming Justice in Humanity

12 February 2024 - 8:30 am PST / 4:30 pm GMT

Join the next episode of the ALIVE series featuring Jerry White – URI Executive Director and Karen Tse- Founder of International Bridges to Justice who will share their personal contributions to the evolution of international treaties, healing, transforming systems, networks and so much more.

Featured Guests

Jerry White is a spiritual activist, entrepreneur, and Ashoka Fellow who leads the world’s largest grassroots interfaith network promoting peace, justice, and healing (United Religions Initiative). He is known for leading high-impact campaigns, three of which led to international treaties. When he was twenty, Jerry lost his right leg to a landmine explosion in Israel. He shares in the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

Karen Tse is an international human rights lawyer, ordained minister and Ashoka Fellow who envisions a world where the basic legal rights of every person are respected. She has made groundbreaking contributions to judicial reform around the world and creates the conditions to ensure the end of torture as an investigative tool, ensuring the protection of a variety of human rights. We recommend you watch her TED Talk "How to Stop Torture"--> https://www.ted.com/talks/karen_tse_how_to_stop_torture

Register here              Find your local time here

Cultural Diversity - A key factor for socially sustainable economies

14 February 2024 - 5:00 pm GMT / 9:00 am PST

You are cordially invited to participate in the webinar "Cultural diversity – a key factor for socially sustainable economies" on the occasion of UN World Interfaith Harmony Week.

This webinar is a result of collaboration between Baraza CC and URI Europe. 

The webinar will be held on ZOOM on Wednesday, 14th February

We are delighted that excellent speakers have agreed to give us their perspectives on this important topic. 

Professor Dr. Anke Weber is the President of Baraza – an international, intercultural NGO based in Germany. She is a Professor for Intercultural Research Methods and Statistics at Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences. She has extensive work and research experience in Germany, the EU, Africa, and the US. Her PhD from the University of Zurich, Switzerland focused on the impact of ethnic diversity on education in Africa. She spent over five months conducting field research in Kenya and Tanzania and worked as a guest lecturer in Butare, Rwanda.

Before joining the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission in Ispra, Italy, she worked in the US and in Switzerland as a consultant in the Human Development Department of the World Bank. From 2014-2016, she was responsible for developing health indicators at Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Commission in Luxembourg. Her current research focuses on multicultural teamwork, intercultural onboarding, and social sustainability.

Elisabeth L'heure has been serving on the URI Europe Executive Committee and as a Trustee of United Religions Initiative's Global Council, elected as a member of AUDIR Cooperation Circle.

Thanks to AUDIR, Elisabeth has been working in the field of mediation for interreligious issues in different cities and suburbs of Catalonia (Spain), she is participating in and conducting interfaith gatherings in diverse surroundings, including in prisons.

Register           Check for local time 

Past Events December 2023

75th Universal Declaration of Human Rights Celebration by WIN URI CC

11 December 2023 7:00am PST / 3:00 pm GMT

Join us on December 11th at 7 am PT (10 am EDT, 4 pm CET, 8:30 pm IST) for a special premiere of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) reading, marking the 75th anniversary of this historic document.

Hosted by the Women's Interfaith Network of URI (WIN URI CC) and URI Multiregion, in collaboration with Cooperation Circles of URI, this event brings together women from six continents to read the UDHR in at least 5 different languages, highlighting the diversity of our global community.

To be part of this significant celebration, please register at the registration link. Don't miss the opportunity to contribute to this momentous occasion and join hands in promoting the principles of human rights worldwide.

Register here                          Check for local time

Past Events November 2023

Intro to URI Offerings 2023

4:00pm GMT

Join a series of introductory 2-hour workshops that explore key practices to nurture our movement together towards our collective purpose of promoting interreligious collaboration, ending violence, and creating cultures of peace, justice, and healing.

These will take place on 

  • 1 November 2023 - Intro to Generative Conflict 
  • 15 November 2023 - Into to Violence Prevention
  • 29 November 2023 - Intro to Collective Healing
  • 13 December 2023 - Intro to Facilitating Social Change

Register here

Gathering for Earth: Community Healing Rituals

31 October 2023 - 7:00 AM PDT / 2:00 PM GMT

URI invites you to the next Gathering for Earth. Eco-fashionista and CC member, Runa Ray, will be with us. 

We will hear about her Peace Flag project and how it has brought creativity, more peace, and healing to different parts of the world.

We will imagine together the many ways ecology and creativity can be sources of healing in the places where we live.

Register Here.                 Find your Local time 

Community Resilience

15 November 2023 - 8:00 am PDT/ 4:00 pm GMT

Discover real stories of community resilience projects. During this session, we will hear from Cooperation Circles that work on projects that help their communities build resilience and deal with challenges they are facing. 

Being a part of the URI network offers us opportunities to learn about the experiences of others and this is one of them. If you are looking for inspiration and ideas for working on community resilience, this is the place for you!

Register here       Find your Local time     

Youth Connection Cafe

30 November 5:30 am PST / 1:30 GMT

This will be our last Youth Connection Café of the year and will be a chance to bring your ideas, projects, and visions for the change we want to make as young people in URI for 2024 and beyond. 

Register here.              Check for local time 

 

Past Events October 2023

Health Approach to Prevent and Interrupt Violence

11 October 2023 - 6:00 am - 7:30 am PDT

We are thrilled to invite you to the first in a series of online webinars on violence prevention, hosted by Karen Volker, URI’s Director of Partnership and Violence Prevention, on 11 October. 

This inaugural webinar will present the key components of the health approach to preventing and interrupting violence and answer questions participants may have about the potential applicability of the health approach to whatever situation they may be facing in their communities. 

Register here.            Check for local time

Individual Resilience Workshop

13 October 2023 - 8:00 am PDT / 3: 00pm GMT

Join us for an enlightening workshop in our Resilience Series: "Individual Resilience" with the renowned facilitator, Xoli Fuyani. In this session, we delve into the core of personal resilience, exploring how it intersects with community resilience within the URI network. Discover strategies, insights, and practical tools to bolster your ability to thrive in the face of adversity, empowering you in your interfaith peacebuilding journey.

Register here.                  Find your local time here 

Youth Connection Connection

25 October 2023 - 6:30 am PDT / 1:30 GMT

Are you a young person below 35 years old? Are you passionate about connecting and learning how to interrupt harm and hate speech? If yes, then this event is for you!

URI invites you to join the next Youth Connection Cafe that will focus on how to interrupt harm and hate speech in times of crisis. 

Register here         Find your local time 

Past September 2023

Youth Connection Cafe

22 September 2023 - 7:30 am PDT / 2:30 GMT

Join this month’s URI Youth Connection Café, for an open conversation around change-making, the 'shadow sides' of interfaith work, and how we work towards deeper and more meaningful interfaith experiences! Happening on Friday -

Register here             Your local time 

Inter-religious Education

30 September 2023 - 7:30 am PDT

Ecopeace Teen Cafe Cooperation Circle invites you to the first open cafe chat on interreligious Education.

Ecopeace Teen Cafe plans to host monthly Ecopeace Open Cafe Chats for open dialogue and meaningful conversations where we explore important topics related to sustainability, environmental conservation, and peace-building. Ecopeace Open Cafe is open to all and there will be no age restrictions.

The special guest is Dr. Karen Leslie Hernandez, with over 18 years of experience, both in the US and internationally, in peacebuilding, as well as in multi-faith understanding and collaboration, Karen brings practical, academic, and experiential expertise to her peacebuilding work. Her areas of concentration are restorative/transformative justice, theological coexistence, theological responses to religious extremism, human rights in sacred texts, trauma-informed responses to conflict/violence, and local and international peacebuilding. 

Register here         For local time

Her Voice Her Peace

1-30 September

House of Hilkiah Foundation invites you to join the Her Voice and Her Peace Campaign in 3 states of Nigeria.

The campaign aim is to increase awareness and amplify the voices of internally displaced women and girls (especially persons with disabilities and HIV) who are living in camps, crisis communities and general public on their rights to preventing sexual exploitation, information on the multisectoral laws and referral pathways, empowering them towards economic development that will not only facilitate, improving their socio-economic condition but will also help the betterment of the entire family towards achieving the UN SDGS on the principle of LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND.

How to Have Difficult Conversations

21 September 2023 - 6:00 am PDT

In celebration of the International Day of Peace, URI will organize a community call under the title “How to Have Difficult Conversations“

During this call, participants will have the opportunity to:

- Engage with members from the vibrant URI Community and share their experiences.

- Deepen their understanding of personal, communal, and cultural dynamics surrounding difficult conversations. Embrace the diversity within URI and our varied contexts.

- Learn and exchange key practices for effectively preparing for and participating in challenging discussions.

Together, we can transform how we engage in dialogues, promoting peace, justice, and healing.

Join us!

Register Here.         Find your local time 

Past August 2023

Nuclear Prayer Day

6 August 2023

URI together with Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons invites you to join others around the world on August 6th to say a prayer about nuclear weapons. 

Since last year, over 100,000 people all over the world united in prayer for a world free of nuclear weapons.

We invite you to join a movement of dedicated people worldwide whose mission is to assist in the efforts to abolish nuclear weapons in prayer and action.

Click here to register and learn more 

Economies and Ecologies- How do we create livelihoods that sustain our planet?

28 August 2023 - 7:00 am PDT/ 2:00 pm GMT

Every month URI members and Cooperation Circles meet to talk about the care and restoration of Mother Earth.

This month, we invite you to gather with us as we explore and share ideas on "Economy and Ecology - how do we create livelihoods that sustain our planet."

This call will feature the perspectives of young people through interactive intergenerational dialogue and celebrate International Youth Day. 

Register here.      Find your local time

Past July 2023

Cooperation between Religious Leaders and Public Sector to Protect Religious Sites against Terrorist Attacks

19 July 2023 - 7:00 am PDT/ 10:00 am EDT

URI is proud to be one of the co-sponsors of this Expert Briefing, which is co-organized by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the United Nations Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC), and the United Religious Initiative (URI) in the framework of the United Nations Global Programme on Countering Terrorist Threats against Vulnerable Targets. * As we all know, attacks against religious and other vulnerable sites is often a hallmark of religiously motivated violence. All staff, CCs, and Trustees are invited to attend to listen, learn, and share your own experiences.

Ambassador Mussie Hailu, URI Regional Director for Africa, and Ms. Elizabeth Birungi, Founder of Nature Sacredness and Cultural Rights Initiative, a URI CC in Uganda will be key speakers at this event.

 Agenda:
 
Welcome and introduction by UNOCT, UNAOC, and URI (10 minutes)
 
Chair and Moderator: Ms. Nihal Saad, Director, UNAOC
 
Expert presentations (45 minutes)
 
Ambassador Mussie Hailu, URI Regional Director for Africa
 
Shaykh Dr. Umar Al-Qadri, Chair, Irish Muslim Peace & Integration
Council (IMPIC)
 
Ms. Elizabeth Birungi, Founder of Nature Sacredness and Cultural
Rights Initiative (NASACURI), URI CC Leader from Uganda*
 
Question and Answer discussion (20-30 minutes)

Register here.          Check for your local time

Celebrating Winter Solstice

20 July 2023 - 9:00 am PT / 2:00 pm GMT

The URI Latin America and the Caribbean Link Program invites you to the Winter Solstice Celebration, Fiesta de las Américas 2023, a festivity that we share with the URI Community since 2021.

The first Peoples of the Planet had ways of relating to the Environment, with the Sun, and the Earth. These forms were preserved through ceremonies or rituals, Inty Raymi, Pachamama.
 
Publicizing the calendar of festivities around the Sun, provides us with an ancestral tool for understanding Interreligious Dialogue, promoting environmental protection and address climate change that requires fundamental changes in values, mentalities and behavior patterns.
In 2019 the United Nations recognized June 21 as the "International Day of Solstice Celebration.
Join us!
 

Past May 2023

Fireside Chat on Women, Positive Peace, and Religion

15 May 2023 - 8:00 am PDT/ 3:00 pm GMT

You are cordially invited to participate in the upcoming Fireside chat on Women, Positive Peace,

and Religion on the occasion of the International Day of Living Together in Peace.

This webinar is organized in collaboration with EIYN (European Interfaith Youth Network) Religions for Peace Europe

Register Here.              Your Local Time 

Past April 2023

URI Youth Connection Cafe

23 April 2023 - 10: 00 am /5:00 pm GMT

The April URI Youth Connection Café will be hosted by the Arizona Faith Network on Sunday 23rd April. The topic for this Café is "The role of diverse religions/faiths/traditions in social and environmental justice."

The Café will feature a special guest, the Venerable Tri Dao, a 34-year-old Theravada Buddhist monk, who is well known on TikTok (@venerable_tri_dao) where he has garnered over 1.3M followers, educating his audience on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness.

All URI members under the age of 35 are invited to join the call to meet new people and share insights and experience on projects of social and environmental justice.

Register Here:               For Local Time 

RESILIENCE SERIES

27 April 2023 - 6:00 am PDT/ 1:00 pm GMT

URI Multiregion and URI Europe are partnering again to bring you a series of events on mental health, community, and individual resilience and exploring the role of interfaith collaboration in creating cultures of peace, justice, and healing called the Resilience Series. 

Resilience Series aims at gathering URI Community to discuss resilience and work on our individual and collective resilience, paying special attention to mental health and interfaith collaboration.

Our URI Network is invited to join the community call and share and listen to members of different Cooperation Circles and Individual Members discuss what resilience is to them and how their culture, faith, and context shape the concept of resilience. 
 

Register Here         Your Local Time

Having "Faith" in Reason: Being Secular in the Interfaith Movement

4 April 2023 - 10:00 am PDT/ 5:00 pm GMT

Interfaith spaces try to be "radically inclusive" by including people of different religious and spiritual backgrounds but struggle to include people who identify with being intentionally secular. Join us as we learn more about the spectrum of the secular-atheist identity, the challenges that occur when secular individuals engage in interfaith work, and the opportunity to promote stronger alliances for the work of peace, justice, and healing. 

The event will feature speakers from American Atheists and Secular Strategies along with a moderator from the University of Southern California and their USC Office of Religious & Spiritual Life so please join us!

Register here           Check for local time 

New Roles and New Challenges for Women in Faith Communities and Indigenous Communities

30 March 2023 - 3:00pm PDT/ 10:pm GMT

URI Latin America and the Caribbean invite you to be part of a webinar, "New roles and new challenges for women in faith communities and indigenous traditions."

Women of Indigenous Religions and Traditions will share the challenges that they face within their interreligious contexts, intercultural, and in their daily lives.

Participants will reflect on the great contribution that women make to the construction of Peace and the care of the Planet.

R.S.V.P at [email protected] for the zoom link.         Find your local time 

The African Peacemaking Database

31 March 2023 - 7:00 am PDT/ 2:00 pm GMT

URI Southern Africa Invites you to a webinar aimed at introducing "The African Peacemaking Database"

Measurements for peacemaking tend to focus on the peacefulness of institutions, rather than people, or focus on the absence of violence rather than the daily living practices of peace. The African Peacemaking database aims to be a project that fills in these gaps with a community spirit created by grassroots peace practitioners and offers a uniquely African contribution to the metrics of peacemaking. 

 

Register here            Your local time 

 

14-Day Prayer Vigil for Isreal and Palestine

4-17 April 2023 8:00am PDT/ 3:00am GMT

Abrahamic Reunion Cooperation Circle invites you to a 14-day prayer vigil for peace to prevail in Isreal and Palestine.

Prayers will be held for 10 minutes each day and will run from 4-17 April 2023.

Email [email protected] for Zoom Link.                         

Gathering for Earth

27 April 2023 - 7 am PDT/ 2:00 pm GMT

Join us for the next Gathering for Earth call!

Together we will talk about the rituals or ceremonies that are important for us, in our traditions or where we live, as we honor Earth, feel our grief, and practice active hope. 

There will be English/Spanish translation.  

Register here.           For your Local Time

Past March 2023

Women and Tech for Peace, Justice, and Healing

15 March 2023- 5:00 am PST/ 12:00 pm GMT

URI women from around the world will address the role technology has played in developing their communities towards peace, justice, and healing. The Panel will explore the role of technology, education, and female leadership in empowering and uplifting women from different countries and communities.

The NGO CSW Forum is the civil society side of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Consisting of hundreds of events throughout two weeks, the Forum runs parallel to the official CSW session at the UN Headquarters. This allows civil society to engage in the processes and CSW sessions without ECOSOC-accreditation or a UN grounds pass. 

Forum’s theme this year is: "Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls."

Register here            Check for local time

Updated information - The program is at 8 am EDT - the clock in the US will be one hour earlier 

Past February 2023

URI Youth Connection Cafe

24 February 2023 - 6:00 am PST/ 2:00 pm GMT

You are invited to join the first URI Youth Connection Cafe this year! 
 
With this being our first YCC for 2023 - it's going to be a fun and inspiring workshop exploring what is possible with the URI network this year and how the work you are doing in your community can be strengthened and supported by a global community of peacebuilders! 
 
We'll look back at some highlights from 2022 and then dream big about what's possible and what you are already doing this year.
 

Religicide: Examining Religious, Ethnic, and Racial Violence

23 February 2023 - 11: 00 am PST/ 2:00 pm EST

URI invites you to join the conversation with the authors of “Religicide: Confronting the roots of Anti-Religious Violence," an insightful book that defines a new category of human suffering and the destruction of religion, its followers, and their traditions.

URI Executive Director Jerry White and Director of Partnership and Violence Prevention Karen Volker will be key speakers at this webinar.

Register Here        Check for Local Time

Inter-religious Panel How to be a Good Guest at Your Neighbour's House of Worship

25 February 2023 - 3:00- 5:00 pm PST

Islamic Networks Group and Tri-City Interfaith Council are cosponsoring this interreligious panel during World Interfaith Harmony Week.

Panelists from major world religions will discuss how to be a good guest at your neighbor’s house of worship, and how to be a good host when welcoming people of other faiths into your house or worship.

Register Here        Check for Local Time 

 

Building the World House: Centering Indigenous Voices

28 February 2023 - 5:00 pm PST

URI North America invites you to a webinar to honor the voices and share insights of Indigenous Cooperation Circle members in North America. 

Join and learn from Members of the First Nations Cooperation Circle about how spaces of faith and justice can do a better job at listening to their needs while working to create better practices in including and engaging indigenous people in the work of interfaith cooperation. 

Register Here      Check for Local Time 

The Role of Music in Harmonising Dialogue

14 February 2023 - 5:00 am PST

You are cordially invited to participate in the webinar “The Role of Music in Harmonising Dialogue“ on the occasion of UN World Interfaith Harmony Week.

This webinar is the result of collaboration between Baraza Cooperation Circle, URI Europe, URI Great Lakes, and Faiths Together CC.

Register Here.        Check for local time

Past December 2022

Gathering for Earth

5 December 2022- 15:00 GMT/ 7:00 PST

You are invited to join the final Gathering for Earth is happening on 5 December 2022.

Since May 2022, Gathering for Earth has been bringing together URI members and Cooperation Circles from around the world to share ideas about care for the earth.

The final gathering will focus on actions participants are taking to restore the earth.

Register here      Find your local time here

Past November 2022

Sacred Trees: A Tree Planting Workshop

22 November - 6:00am PST/ 14:00 GMT

On November 22nd, URI is partnering with WWF and its Trillion Tree campaign to hold a presentation and workshop about tree planting practices.  The first 40 minutes of the two-hour workshop will introduce participants to the new tree-planting guide specifically written for faith groups and spiritual communities.

Please join us!

Register here.         Check for your local time

Our Story Our Future

23 November 2022 - 6:00 am PDT/ 14:00 GMT

You are invited to join URI North India and North America on 23rd November 2022 as we reflect on stories of collective trauma and healing in South Asia. Join us as our wonderful speakers walk us through their experiences of partition, gender, generational trauma and somatic healing, and the burden of tradition in South Asia.

Register

Past September 2022

ACWAY Fellows Talk - End Racism Build Peace

25 September - 3:00pm GMT/ 8:00 am PDT

ACWAY, in partnership with United Religions Initiative, The Network For Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, and in collaboration with the G20 Interfaith Forum Youth Working Group, invites you to participate in this webinar - International Day of Peace 2022 - End Racism. Build Peace. - and make your contribution to the International Day of Peace (IDP) by adding value to the conversation through building peace by exploring how to address issues of racism in (inter-)faith spaces. Come along for some discussion and also find out where the next global forum will be held and how to apply!

Register here 

URI September Youth Connection Café - with Beit Ashams for Self Development Palestine for Self Development Palestine

27 September - 7am PST/2pm GMT/7.30pm IST.

Join the upcoming URI Youth Connection Café for a session on “Practicing Peace Within and Peace Without”. Led by Sally Zaghmout, from Beit Ashams for Self Development in Palestine, this session will introduce participants to simple practices of meditation and movement to help manage stressful emotions. 

As young peacebuilders our work can cause stress and anxiety as we face community challenges and conflicts in a direct way. It is common knowledge that we need to practice our own inner peace to be peacebuilders in the world, but how do we do this? And how can we support each other and the communities around us with these practices?

Register here.        Find your local time.

Together with URI - Global Community Call - Peacebuilding

15 September 2022 — 13:00 GMT / 6:00 am PDT

In 1981 the United Nations established September 21 as the International Day of Peace to highlight “commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.” The 2022 theme identified by the UN is "End Racism. Build Peace".

Each year many Cooperation Circles around the world celebrate the International Day of Peace. This year URI will also celebrate it as a global community through a "Together with URI" zoom call. We will focus on peacebuilding efforts in URI. URI staff will share one or two stories, then we will break into small groups for participants to share their own peacebuilding work. All members of the URI network are invited to attend.

This discussion will be led by URI Director of Global Programs, Alice Swett.

Please join the Together with URI global community calls.  

For more information

Together for Reflection and Connection

Past Event

ENORB is hosting a further conversation for reflection and connection as part of its programme of interfaith dialogue and continued focus on the rising concerns among faith and civil society organisations about the contemporary development of Islamophobia and resulting anti-Muslim hatred in Europe. 

Register here              

July 2024

Human Life and Dignity

29 July - 7 August 2024

The Elijah Interfaith Institute is delighted to invite you to "Human Life, Purpose and Dignity"
online from July 29th - August 7th!


The annual Elijah series is in its 27th year of bringing religious leaders, interfaith activists
and students of world religions together for the signature Summer School and Interreligious
Leadership seminar.


An esteemed faculty of religious leaders from six world faiths and academic institutions will
deliver theological and spiritually-engaging workshops, panels, and more for an intimate,
international and interfaith experience.


Learn and be inspired by:
Prof. Arvind Sharma (Hindu, Canada)
His Beatitude Patriarch Sahak II Mashalian (Christian, Turkey)
Prof. John Makransky (Buddhist, USA)
Rav Daniel Kohn (Jewish, Israel)
Maureen Goodman (Hindu, UK)
Prof. Steven Sandage (Christian, USA)
Prof. Judith Simmer Brown (Buddhist, USA)
Shrivatsa Goswami (Hindu, India)
Archbishop Prof. Antje Jackelen (Christian, Sweden)
Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric (Muslim, Bosnia)
Rebbetzin Gilla Rosen (Jewish, Israel)
Karma Lekshe Tsomo (Buddhist, USA)
Prof. Vasudha Narayanan (Hindu, USA)
Prof. Reuven Kimelman (Jewish, USA)
Imam Muhammed Suheyl Umar (Muslim, Pakistan)
Prof. Nader Saeidi (Bahai, USA)
Swami Atmapriyananda (Hindu, India)
Prof. Perry Schmidt-Leukel (Christian/Buddhist, Germany)
Prof. Tova Hartman (Jewish, Israel)
Prof. Jeffery Long (Hindu, USA)
Professor Ayelet Hoffmann (Jewish, Israel)


Between them the following topics will be deeply explored:
 Cosmo-visions; how the human person is placed in relation to other parts of creation
 What Distinguishes Humanity; soul and spirit 
 Human Identity
 Bibliodrama
 Human Rights and Human Obligations
 Contemporary Challenges to understanding the Human Person
 Human Flourishing; a life worth living

When peace, community building, spiritual practices and theological learning come together,
a new experience of faith becomes possible.


Register Here 
 

August 2024

URI Learning in Action Series

20 August 6-9 am 28 August 6- 9 am

We are happy to share with you two upcoming learning opportunities open to all members of the URI network. Please share the below information with members of your organization / Cooperation Circle. 

After enjoying our Introductory Workshops, we are inviting members of the URI network to apply to become part of the first cohorts of our Learning in Action Series: a sequence of four in depth 3hr workshops to explore and co-create key practices to nurture our movement together towards our collective purpose of promoting interreligious collaboration, ending violence, and creating cultures of peace, justice, and healing.

 

In this second half of the year, we will be offering two different series: 

a. Peacebuilding through Earth Restoration

Starting Aug 20, 2024

from 6 to 9 AM PDT (Check your time zone here

Third Tuesday of the month for 4 months

 

b. Violence Prevention: Design and Practice  

Starting Aug 28, 2024

from 6 to 9 AM PDT (Check your time zone here)

Fourth Wednesday of the month for 4 months

Each cohort will meet once a month in a 3hr workshop to deepen collective experiential knowledge and practice the skills desired to advance collaborative change across regions and over the long-term. In between monthly sessions, there will be practical tasks to engage with in a local context, while sharing learnings and reflections back with the group. By the end of the series, URI members will be prepared to develop seed funding opportunities and support each other’s practices and resourcing across regions and over time.

 

To successfully complete the series, you will be expected to:

  • Attend 75% of the sessions 

  • Have an active participation throughout the series

  • Complete all required assignments 

  • Apply your learnings to a current or desired project

If you are interested in joining either of the series

URI Intergeneration Dialogue - Advocating for Our Future and the Rights of Nature

12 August 2024 - 7:00 am PDT

Join us for the Intergenerational Gathering - Advocating for our Future and the Rights of Nature 

Around the world, young activists are filing lawsuits against their governments to clarify that the next generation has the right to a healthy future. This session will focus on making changes at the local and policy levels. 

Gather to practice intergenerational collaboration in URI and honor the experiences of young people in advocating for a better future.

 Register here.                  Local Time

 

October 2024

Urgency in Preventing Election Based Violence

17 October 2024 - 6:00 am - 7:30 am PDT

Join us for our next Violence Prevention Community Call, where we will dive into two critically important themes: identifying ways to prevent election-related violence, a timely topic as many countries around the world are holding elections this year, and exploring strategies to reach communities with low-literacy rates in violence prevention outreach efforts.

This engaging session will feature insights from CC members and regional coordinators from Cameroon, the Great Lakes region, and Sri Lanka.

We invite you to join us and share your own insights and experiences.  

Register Here                  Local Time