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.
ENDS