Global Religious Leaders Partner To Tackle AIDS

Dozens of global religious leaders partner to tackle AIDS, maternal death – UN

21 October 2008 – Over 75 religious leaders and representatives of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish, Christian and Muslim groups attending a United Nations summit today have formed a Global Interfaith Network to address the crucial issues of maternal death, AIDS and poverty.

The new association was created at the conclusion of the two-day Global Forum of Faith-based Organizations event in Istanbul, Turkey, which was organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

“We commit to work together and join forces to advance human conditions and realize the rights of individuals, with attention to women and young people,” the leaders – from Africa, the Arab region, Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean – pledged.

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, said the aim of the gathering was to confer on shared challenges.

“We have learned that while we come from different faiths, different regions, and different experiences, we share the common values of compassion, tolerance, respect for differences and a passion to try to improve the lives of the people we serve,” she said.

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