UNGA President cites RP as model 'for creating commonalities' among faiths

By Gloria Jane Baylon

MANILA, March 18 (PNA) -- A high-level thematic debate on the dialogue of civilizations is planned on May 25 at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in observance of 2010 as “International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures,” Dr. Ali Abdusalam Treki, UNGA President, informed participants of the ongoing Special Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting (SNAMMM) in Manila on Wednesday.

The meeting, he said, “will focus on how such dialogue can help foster international peace and security and resolve long-standing regional and international conflicts.”

While he did not refer to conflicts outside of the Middle East, Treki, Libya’s former foreign minister, is admired in the Philippines as one of the enduring symbols in the peace process of the drawn-out Mindanao conflict. He was assisted in the negotiations that eventually led to the 1976 Peace Declaration between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

As a special guest of the SNAMMM on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development, Treki addressed the gathering of about 150 high-level ministers, civil society groups and international organizations representing most of the 118-strong Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

In his address, Treki expressed “the need to formulate practical and constructive measures aimed at increasing tolerance and understanding, and avoiding branding entire cultures and religions as hostile.” He emphasized that this is one of the most important issues that NAM must address.

”We must not tolerate attacks on religions and beliefs or on their symbols, and must ensure that freedom of expressions is not invoked in order to show contempt for religions,” Treki said

He said the full implementation of the programs and practical steps for interfaith dialogues as contained in the just-adopted Final Document of the Manila Declaration “would no doubt have a significant effect in creating the momentum we all wish to see.”

Noting that the Philippines has “vast experiences” in the area of interfaith, he commended the country for “highlighting the commonalities between peoples, faiths and civilizations.”

"The Philippines is an example of how a country can create common interests and achieve harmony between its various cultures, languages, religions and faiths,” he said in his well-applauded address.

Disharmony, intolerance and mutual distrust are not the only problems and challenges faced by the developing nations of the Non-Aligned Movement, according to Treki.

And yet, he said, harmony is needed to eradicate challenges and problems that are all too real for an even wider population: poverty and hunger, global economic and financial crisis, climate change and natural disasters.

Finding solutions to such challenges “should not be hampered by an artificial clash that pits the followers of different religions against one another on the basis of convictions,” he expressed. (PNA)
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