As in previous years, the Alliance welcomes this year’s World Interfaith Harmony Week.
We invite our members, partners, civil society organizations, faith communities, universities, youth, and other sectors to participate in this initiative.
This year for the very first time, three WORLD INTERFAITH HARMONY WEEK (WIHW) Prizes will be awarded by the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan. A prize will be given to each of the three best events or texts organized during the UN WIHW (first week of February) which best promote the goals of the WIHW.
For additional information, you can visit the website www.worldinterfaithharmonyweek.com – learn more about this initiative and investigate ways in which they may promote the initiative, support it or get involved and apply to the Prize.
Background Information on World Interfaith Harmony Week:
BACKGROUND
On October the 20th 2010, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously established the World Interfaith Harmony Week through the adoption of a Resolution upon an initial proposal by H.M. King Abdullah II of Jordan on September 23rd 2010.
The UNGA Resolution on “World Interfaith Harmony Week” reaffirms that mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue constitute important dimensions of a culture of peace and it proclaims the first week of February of every year the World Interfaith Harmony Week between all religions, faiths and beliefs.
Therefore, it encourages all States to support, on a voluntary basis, the spread of the message of interfaith harmony and goodwill in the world’s Churches, Mosques, Synagogues, Temples and other places of Worship during that week based on Love of God and Love of the Neighbor, or based on Love of the Good and Love of the Neighbor, each according to their own religious traditions or convictions.
WHY THIS INITIATIVE AND WHAT FOR ?
“The World Interfaith Week Harmony” is underpinned by the idea that there is a lot to be done by:
(1) ‘Co-ordinating and uniting the efforts of all the interfaith groups doing positive work with one focused theme at one specific time annually, thereby increasing their collective momentum and eliminating redundancy.
(2) Harnessing and utilizing the collective might of the world’s second-largest infrastructure (that of places of worship — the largest being that of education) specifically for peace and harmony in the world: inserting, as it were, the right ‘software’ into the world’s religious ‘hardware’.
(3) Permanently and regularly encouraging the silent majority of preachers to declare themselves for peace and harmony and providing a ready-made vehicle for them to do so. Moreover, if preachers and teachers commit themselves on the record once a year to peace and harmony, this means that when the next inter-religious crisis or provocation occurs, they cannot then relapse into parochial fear and mistrust, and will be more likely to resist the winds of popular demagoguery.’
GET INVOLVED
Your help is very much needed. Specifically, we need and gratefully ask you to:
(1) Write a personal email or letter of support for this initiative and post it at www.worldinterfaithharmonyweek.com at the appropriate place.
(2) Forwarding an email to all those on your email list who you think might be interested in it and them to their friends and so on as much as possible.
(3) Posting any resources you think would be important to the theme of the World Interfaith Harmony Week at www.worldinterfaithharmonyweek.com at the appropriate place.
(4) Organizing an event as simple as a sermon or a lecture or an event on the first week of next February on the theme of Interfaith Harmony.
(5) Recording your event at www.worldinterfaithharmonyweek.com at the appropriate place according to your own country.
(6) Consult the United Nations’ Alliance of Civilizations website (www.unaoc.org) to find inspiration to develop your own project for the 2012 world interfaith harmony week.
WORLD INTERFAITH HARMONY WEEK PRIZE
The Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan is delighted to announce the establishment of three WIHW Prizes. A prize will be given to each of the three best events or texts organized during the UN WIHW (first week of February) which best promote the goals of the WIHW.
2013 Prizes:
First – $25,000 and a gold medal
Second – $15,000 and a silver medal
Third – $5,000 and a bronze medal
The prizes will be awarded to those events or texts that are judged to have been most successful in promoting interfaith harmony, and impacting religious understanding.
The Judges for the 2013 WIHW Prize:
- H.R.H. Princess Areej Ghazi
- H.B. Patriarch Theophilus III – Patriarch of the Holy City, Palestine and Jordan
- H.E. Bishop Munib Yunan – Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and President of the World Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches
- Father Nabil Haddad – Founder and Executive Director of the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Centre
- Dr. Minwer Al-Mheid – Director of the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought
- Mr.Nabil Al-Sahib – First Deputy of the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought
- Mr. Aftab Ahmed – Office Director of the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre
Submission of Supporting Materials
To be considered for the prize, entries must submit the following:
- photos and / or videos from the event
- media reports about the event or text
- Testimonial(s) of Distinguished Guest(s) about event
- 3-5 references who can testify to qualifications of person/organization competing for the prize
Prize-Giving Ceremony
The prize-giving ceremony will be held in Jordan (flights and accommodation will be provided).
PROCEDURE:
- Register on-line at http://worldinterfaithharmonyweek.com/submit-an-event/
- Submit supporting materials by Feb 28, 2013
- Notification of awards [March, 2013]
- Prize-giving Ceremony [April, 2013]
*The World Interfaith Harmony Week was first proposed at the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2010 by H.M. King Abdullah II of Jordan. Just under a month later, on October 20, 2010, it was unanimously adopted by the UN and henceforth the first week of February, every year, will be observed as a World Interfaith Harmony Week.
*Please direct any queries through the ‘Contact Us’ form on the www.worldinterfaithharmonyweek.com website: