UIPM team to attend UN-Habitat conference in Singapore

Islamabad  :A delegation of Universal Interfaith Peace Mission (UIPM) will be departing for Singapore tomorrow (Sunday) to take part in first ever faith-based UN-Habitat Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) scheduled from November 13-15, 2017.  

“The purpose of this meeting is for faith-based communities and organisations to make a significant contribution to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, otherwise known as UN-Habitat,” this was revealed by UIPM Chairman Allama Dr GR Chishti while talking to ‘The News’ here Friday in a pre-departure talk about the objectives of holding this faith-based Urban Thinkers Campus titled ‘Engaging the New Agenda’.  The UIPM delegation headed by Chairman Allama Dr GR Chishti comprises, Ghazafar Ali, Mrs Kulsoom, Moazam Ali and Mohammad Umar Adeel. 

Dr Chishti revealed that UN Habitat in partnership with the World Urban Campaign, the Urban Thinkers Campus, the Singapore Centre for Global Missions, World Evangelical Alliance Creation Care Task Force, Urban Shalom Project, ARC, and the International Society for Urban Mission have organised the conference. 

“The conference will feature discussion and more information about the forthcoming 2018 Parliament of the World's Religions in Toronto, Canada due to be held in November 2018 and the inclusion of the 25th Anniversary of the Declaration Towards a Global Ethic and its prominence at the forthcoming 2018 Parliament as well as in the Faith-based Urban Thinkers Campus deliberations,” Dr Chishti said. 

When asked about the objectives of the conference, UIPM Chairman, pointed out that the it will be focusing basically on religious/theological reflections on cities and urbanism; the academy and education/training; food systems which includes the interrelationship between urban communities and places, and rural communities and places; slums/unplanned communities; community development that includes homeless issues and urban design that includes housing, ecological sustainability, resilience and natural disaster. 

Dr Chishti also pointed out that couple of months ago he organised a relief camp in Islamabad for Rohingya Muslims and there is every likelihood that he will be meeting Rohingya Task Force head during the conference. 

When asked about the history of Parliament of the World Religions, Dr Chishti said that there had been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893 in Chicago, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. 

He also recalled that he had attended 2004 Parliament which was celebrated in the Universal Forum of Cultures. “More than 8,900 individuals attended the 2004 Parliament in Barcelona, Spain. Having created the declaration Towards a Global Ethic at the 1993 Parliament and attempted to engage guiding institutions at the 1999 Parliament, the 2004 Parliament concentrated on four pressing issues: mitigating religiously motivated violence, access to safe water, the fate of refugees worldwide, and the elimination of external debt in developing countries,” he added.  Dr Chishti expressed hope this year’s event will achieve all the objectives and will prove to be a stepping stone in achieving global peace though interfaith initiatives.