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July 9, 2010
Speak truth to power
Students of faith present global leaders with goals.
REBECA KUROPATWA
Last month, the G8 Religious Leaders Summit was held in Winnipeg to prepare a statement urging G8/G20 leaders to honor their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals.
More than 200 spiritual leaders from 21 countries, representing eight faith traditions (Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam, Indigenous groups and Shintoism) met to remind world leaders to focus on goals such as eliminating poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and creating a global partnership for development.
The summit also saw youth gather at the Gen-Y to G-8: A Multifaith Dinner to Inspire Change, held at the University of Winnipeg, with proceeds donated to support malaria eradication, education and micro-financing. Participants at the dinner were pre-assigned topics, discussions of which were led by facilitators. Each table drafted a letter of recommendations to present to religious leaders and students, making commitments to effect change in their individual communities.
The summit was organized by the 2010 Interfaith Partnership, to compliment the G20 Leaders Summit held last month in Ontario. The Millennium Development Goals, set in 2000, are supposed to be achieved by 2015, and have been adopted by 189 nations.
Secretary general of the 2010 G8 Religious Leaders Summit and dean of theology at U of W Dr. James Christie said, “For the first time in recorded history, the religious and political leadership of G8/G20 nations have a common language for a common agenda, for the advancement of the whole human community rather than for sectarian or political goals. This is extremely encouraging as we move from theory to practice in attaining the Millennium Development Goals.”
Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, president and vice-chancellor of U of W, said, “Winnipeg is recognized as a centre for human rights in Canada.... We are honored to host this important event on campus.”
Jewish student Maxim Berent attended the dinner and discussion to be engaged with people from other faiths. “We all live in one world, and must work together to build a better future. No matter what our religious backgrounds, we must still have similar goals as youth leaders,” he told the Independent.
Berent’s table was focused on the environment. “We discussed today’s environment, what we’re facing in the future and our faiths’ connection to our topic. We agreed that we must educate more people about living in a sustainable environment – living and thinking green – and bring this to a national level in schools.... If not now, when?”
Other Jewish students at the event included Eyal Kraut and Paul Meyerson. Kraut attended the event, he said, “to try to be part of the solution.... It was really interesting to talk with others from different backgrounds about our shared concerns. Generally, we all had fairly similar views on the necessity to combat these problems ... [by] teaching people that caring about environmental issues is strongly related to our religions, as we’re not supposed to destroy creation and what we’ve been given.... Besides potentially affecting international policy, the discussions made the participants reflect and learn about how to personally make positive changes.”
At his table, Meyerson discussed peace and security. “The one major thing we agreed on was the need to disarm and stop the spread of nuclear weapons. It was good to openly talk about common issues we all face,” he said. “We agreed that Iran should be stopped from having nuclear weapons, as the Iranian president has threatened to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. No nation should have to face that sort of threat.... We decided that to help achieve peace and security, states must feel safe and secure within their borders and should work with others to achieve economic and financial goals so places like Africa can catch up with North America and Europe in terms of living standards.”
The G8 Religious Leaders Summit was the idea of Jim Wallis. The first in-person meeting took place in Russia in 2006, followed by Germany in 2007, Japan in 2008 and Italy in 2009. Since 1975, political leaders from the G8 (and now, G20) countries have met annually to discuss global issues. For information, visit faithchallengeg8.com.
Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.
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