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We all know that interfaith dialogue is vital to a continued peaceful human existence and that, consequently, there are a number of inter-religious forums, like The World Council of Religious Leaders (www.millenniumpeacesummit.com/) that came out of the UN Millennium World Peace Summit. However, it is now, more than ever, imperative that interfaith dialogue and cooperation is given a common and universal goal that is supported and championed by our generation, from the youth-led, cross-sector platform that is One Young World, to support the work that is already being done around the world to achieve peace.

The One Young World summit and global consultation process resulted in the following, unanimous resolution:

“In the belief that war must never be carried out in the name of religion, we call upon leaders and followers of all faiths to unequivocally commit to deliver peace amongst nations, races and creeds”

Ajarat Bada, Nigerian One Young World Ambassador, said to us:

For the umpteenth time, I took a look at the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and realised that none of them target Interfaith Dialogue. I wonder if it was because in the year 2000, religious tensions did not exist in the world – but we all know this is not true. In whatever fashion, at the turn of the century, there were problems related to religious tensions affecting people in all parts of the world. I wonder why the need for interfaith dialogue was not included in the MDGs? In view of this, I propose:

“The Missing Millennium Development Goal – Ensure Interfaith Collaboration for Peace”

Then she got Catherine Peter, South African Ambassador and Bogdan Gogulan, Russian Ambassador on board and the rest was history … WRONG! You are now officially challenged….

It is now imperative that interfaith dialogue and cooperation is given a common and universal goal that is supported and championed by our generation, from the youth-led, cross-sector platform that is One Young World, to support the work that is already being done around the world to achieve peace. You do not have to be a One Young World Ambassador of the 2010 summit to participate, but rather an enthusiastic writer who can and wants to contribute to the debate on interfaith and intercultural collaboration, especially from a youth perspective…

Alongside this blogging / debating / sharing stories activity, we are running a petition which we hope will reach millions. The petition will be presented to the press, state and religious leaders, interfaith forums, UN and other international agencies. Please also ask your family, friends, colleagues, Facebook buddies, Twitter followers, neighbours, community organizations and anyone and everyone you can think of to sign the petition too!