UPF chapters organized observances of UN World Interfaith Harmony Week Feb. 1-7, 2015, including forums, ceremonies, rallies and other events. Forums featuring speakers from various religious traditions took place in:
- Tirana, Albania: "How Can Women Contribute to Interreligious Dialogue and Harmony?"
- Buenos Aires, Argentina: "Honoring Life and the Commitment to Brotherhood and Peace"
- Sydney, Australia: “Future Directions for Interfaith: A Young Person’s Perspective”
- Vienna International Center (UN headquarters), Austria: "The Relevance of Interfaith Cooperation for Securing Peace in the 21st Century"
- Dhaka, Bangladesh: "What Is Interfaith Harmony and What Is It For?"
- Munich, Germany: “What Is Heaven? Is There a (My) Kingdom of Heaven?”
- Jerusalem, Israel: "Interfaith Cooperation for Peace"
- Tokyo, Japan: "The Mission of Religious Leaders at This Critical Juncture"
- Lalitpur, Nepal: "Love of God, Love of Neighbor"
- Auckland, New Zealand: "What Should Our Response to ISIS Be?"
- Oslo, Norway: "Religion and Human Rights"
- Lima, Peru: "Building Bridges of Peace through Interreligious Leadership"
- House of Nationalities, Moscow, Russia: "Spiritual Dialogue of Christianity and Islam as a Guarantee of Stable Social Development and Inter-ethnic Harmony"
- Taipei, Taiwan: "World Interfaith Harmony Week vs. the Development of ISIS"
- House of Lords committee room, United Kingdom: "Interreligious Harmony and Free Speech"
Interfaith prayers and a brotherhood/sisterhood ceremony pairing representatives of various faiths were part of the Asian Leaders Summit in the Philippines. At a mosque in Evry, France a film was shown about Sufi spirituality, and in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Indian Cultural Center hosted an interfaith event. An interfaith group in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia visited a mosque, church and Hindu temple. UPF-Thailand hosted an Interfaith Peace Blessing Festival that featured a ceremony representing interfaith harmony. UPF-Nigeria organized a campaign in many parts of the nation to "Pray and Preach for Peace and Peaceful Elections."
An interfaith rally at Dhaka University in Bangladesh led off a week of interfaith programs on the campus, and peace clubs were launched at three schools in Uttar Pradesh, India, on World Interfaith Harmony Week. Representatives of five religions met in Prague, Czech Republic, to discuss the theme of harmony and peace.
A participant in a recent interfaith conference in Jerusalem gave a report to an interfaith round table in Stuttgart, Germany.
Prayers and readings from various faith traditions, discussions, and ceremonies symbolizing interfaith harmony were included in events in various nations, including Montreal and Vancouver in Canada and Salt Lake City and Washington DC in the US.
For reports click here.