The Religions for Peace International Executive Committee has issued an important statement—Shared Well-Being: Multi-Religious Values for Sustainable Development. This statement is timely, as the governments of the world have just commited themselves to 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that address every person on earth.
In this statement, Shared Well-Being: Multi-Religious Values for Sustainable Development, the International Excecutive Commitee says (inter-alia):
We believe that our respective religious traditions share far – reaching moral values that underpin the SDGs . In addition, they advance personal and social virtues that are necessary for their achievement . We are convinced that each religious community can fold these vital goals into its own holistic notion of human flourishing. And by cooperation across our traditions and with others, we believe that the best fruits of the modern sciences can be combined with the tested wisdom of millennia of religious experience in the service of sustainable development.
You will find the statement here.
The statement is timely, as the governments of the world have just commited themselves to 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that address every person on earth. The SDGs aim to end extreme poverty, protect the world’s ecosystems and build more inclusive, just and peaceful societies.
Importantly, the Executive Committee Statement outlines a basic moral case for the SDGs. It also builds a profound connection between the notion of “shared-well being” and the SDGs. You may recall that the notion of “shared well-being” was affirmed in our last World Assembly by over 700 diverse religious representatives from all continents.
The Statement is a call to action. You can anticipate that Religions for Peace affiliates from local to global will be building powerful related action programs as we go forward. Your own leadership in this related action is anticipated.
In the words of the statement, “let us choose solidarity over narrow self-interest, true values over fleeting and self-centered satisfactions, and “welcome” over “exclusion.” Let us honor deeply—each in his or her own way—the mysterious beauty of human dignity and the priceless wealth of our common good.”
In solidarity for Peace, I remain
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Dr. William F. Vendley |
Religions for Peace is the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition advancing common action for peace by working to advance multi-religious consensus on positive aspects of peace as well as concrete actions to stop war, help eliminate extreme poverty and protect the earth. The global Religions for Peace network comprises a World Council of senior religious leaders from all regions of the world; six regional inter-religious bodies and more than ninety national ones; and the Global Women of Faith Network and Global Interfaith Youth Network.
