The COALITION of faith communities and civil society organizations supporting the DECADE Initiative will be constituted in a three-day meeting which will be held at the Maryknoll Center, near New York City, on 2-4 March 2009.

Objectives

This meeting is being convened for:

• Briefing the participants on the progress made in the implementation of this initiative and the challenges ahead
• Consolidating the shared vision for the DECADE and its expected outcomes
• Formalizing the Coalition
• Establishing a Steering Committee, taking into consideration the religious, cultural and geographical diversity of the Coalition
• Better identifying the current and potential fields for cooperation around priority UN goals, in order to start outlining a “plan of action” for the DECADE
• Adapting the proposal and the draft resolution to be offered as a resource document for a successful UN General Assembly resolution that launches the DECADE.
• Agreeing on a strategy and work program for the period leading up to the expected launch of the DECADE on 21 September 2010.

Participants

• Representatives of communities and organizations which have expressed their willingness of joining the Coalition and meet the conditions for membership: that operate at a global level or on an international scale, and that subscribe to the principles which inspire the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular respect for freedom of religion or belief and for cultural and religious diversity, and pursuit of a culture of peace. This category includes interfaith organizations, religious communities and/or organizations; organizations representing indigenous traditions; spiritual movements and value-based organizations focusing on youth, women, children, elderly, refugees and displaced peoples and other priority social groups for the UN.
• Members of the Provisional Steering Committee, who are expected to work as the Secretariat of the meeting.
• Some resource persons from key UN bodies

Provisional list of organizations being invited

Anglican Church

Hellen Wangusa Anglican

Observer to the UN in NY

.

Bahai International Community

Sarah Vader

Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

.

Brahma Kumaris Spiritual University

Sister Gayatri

Representative in New York

.

Caritas International

Joseph Donnelly

Representative in New York

.

Chief Rabbinate of Israel

Oded Viner

General Director

.

CONGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns – New York

Audrey Kitagawa

Chairperson

.

CONGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns, Geneva

Trevor Davies

Chairperson

.

Council for  the Parliament of World Religions – CPWR

Dirk Ficca

Executive Director

.

Federation of Islamic Associations of Senegal

Serigne Mansour Sy

President

.

Focolari Movement

Christina Lee

Director, Interreligious Dialogue

.

GuruNanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha

Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh

Chairman

.

Indigenous People’s Spiritual Ancestral Council

Beatriz Schulthess

Coordinator

.

Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA)

Dr. Yehuda Stolov

Director

.

Interfaith International

Dr. Charles Graves

Secretary General

.

Interfaith Youth Core

Dr. Eboo Patel

Executive Director

.

International Association for Religious Freedom – IARF

Dr. John Taylor

Representative in Geneva

.

International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations IJCIC

Rabbi Richard Marker

Vice-Chairman

.

LGWPF

Isthar Adler

Representative to UN

.

Lutheran World Federation

Dr. Ishmael Noko

General Secretary

.

Minorities of Europe

Deepak Naik

Secretary General

.

Muhammadiya

Dr. Din Syamsuddin

President

.

Office of Interreligious and Intercultural Relations of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Gary Vachicouras

.

Religions for Peace – WCRP

Stein Villumstad

Deputy Secretary-General

.

Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA

Rev. Alexander Abramov

UN Representative

.

Rissho Kosei-kai

Rev. Takeshi Kawabata

Director of General Affairs Bureau

.

Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies

Baker Al-Hiyari

Deputy Director

.

Russian Orthodox Church

Rev. Alexander Abramov

UN Representative, The Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA

.

Saint Egidio Community

Prof. Alberto Quattruci

Director, Interreligious Dialogue

.

Santi Pracha Dhaman International Network of Engaged Buddhists

Sulak Sivaraksa or Lapapan Supamanta

President and Founder or Executive Secretary

.

Shanti Ashram

Doctor Vinu Aram

Director

.

Shumei International

Ms. Koyama

President

.

Sikh Dharma International

(pending)

.

Temple of Understanding

Dr. Karan

Singh International Chair

.

Temple of Understanding

Sister Joan Kirby

Representative to the UN

.

The Union of Superiors General (USG – men’s congregations) and International Union of SuperiorsGeneral (UISG -Women’s Congregations) of the Roman Catholic Church

Father Francisco O’Conaire ofm

Executive Secretary, The Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation

.

The World Islamic League

HE Sayyed Mohammed Musawi

President

.

Union of Reform Judaism

Judith M. Hertz

Co-Chairperson Commission of Interreligious Affairs

.

United Religions Initiative – URI

Yoland Treviño

Chair, URI Global Council

.

Women’s UN Report Network (WUNRN)

(pending)

.

Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF)

Elly Pradervand

Executive Director

.

Won Buddhist International

Ven. Grace Chung Lee

President

.

World Alliance Reform Churches

WARC Setri Nyomi

General Secretary

.

World Alliance of YMCAs

Dr. Bart Shaha

Secretary General

.

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scout

(pending)

.

World Congress of Faiths

Rev Marcus Braybrooke

President

.

World Council of Arya Samaj

Swami Agnivesh

President

.

World Council of Churches

Shanta Premawardhana

Director interreligious dialogue and cooperation programme,

.

World Council of Churches

Chris Ferguson

Representative to the UN in NY

.

World Fellowship of Buddhists

Fallop Thaiary

Executive Secretary

.

World Organization of the Scout Movement

Luc Panissod

Acting General Secretary

.

World Vision International

Philippe Guiton

Executive Director

.

World Young Women Christian Association – World YWCA

Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda

General Secretary

.

World Zarathushti Cultural Foundation

Dr. Homi

Dhalla Founder-President