Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Common Citizenship

[ 63 ] — PANEL DISCUSSION ONE — Engagement and cooperation between religious leaders and policymakers has proven not only to be successful, but to have significant global impact. Religious leaders often serve as role models and mediators in their communities and are a crucial resource for conflict mitigation on the ground. The support and partnership of policymakers in achieving joint goals for inclusive, cohesive societies is a crucial basis for sustainable peace. Similarly, religious leaders need to be keenly aware of their influence, and to support good policy by speaking out against injustice, discrimination, hate crime, and exclusion. They should also take a strong stance against the misuse of religion to justify violence, instead advocating inclusion for all groups, particularly with regard to equal access to resources and services. In order for both policymakers and religious actors to best support one another, strong literacy is needed. Increasing political literacy among religious actors, and religious liter- acy among government actors will create a forum for much stronger engagement. Finally, religious leaders are much stronger when they partner across various religions and denominations. Work- ing together and appearing together in public serves as a visible example of interreligious/intra-religious cooperation. This is particularly helpful in both current and post-conflict areas. These interreligious partnerships are critical in dis- pelling harmful prejudices that can threaten the social fabric. “We need to educate our children to engage in dialogue and respect others even if we have different religions or speak different languages” His Eminence the Most Reverend Metropolitan Elias (Aude), Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut and Dependencies Metropolitan Elias Audi has worked for years with political leaders on promoting peace in Lebanon as well as on various education initiatives. “The challenge is to show that interreligious dialogue is authentic, authoritative, meaningful and inclusive in participation and agendas” Ms. Katherine Marshall, Executive Director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue Ms. Marshall leads the Berkley Center’s work on religion and global development. She helped to create and now serves as the executive director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue. In her four decades of experience she has worked on a wide range of development issues in Africa, Latin America, East Asia, and the Middle East, particularly those facing the world’s poorest countries. Panel I — The Role of Religious Leaders and Policymakers in Promoting Social Cohesion and Common Citizenship