UN adopts RP-Pakistan move on interfaith dialogue

MANILA, Philippines – The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution initiated by the Philippines and Pakistan for member-states to take steps to promote inter-religious and intercultural dialogue, tolerance and understanding, Malacañang said yesterday.

Ambassador to the UN Hilario Davide Jr. said in addition to the Philippines and Pakistan, 76 other member-states, including China, Japan and Russia, co-sponsored the resolution, up from the 56 member-states that co-sponsored the resolution last year and the 24 that co-sponsored the original resolution in 2004.

“Although it is the fifth resolution tabled by the Philippines and adopted by consensus by the General Assembly since 2004, the 2008 resolution is specially significant because it formally took note for the first time of the four major interfaith initiatives of the Philippines, outside the ambit of the United Nations,” he said.

Davide said these are the Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and the Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace at the international level and the Asia-Europe Interfaith Dialogue Forum and the Asia-Pacific Interfaith Dialogue for Peace and Harmony at the regional level.

“The resolution planted the seed for the eventual declaration of a United Nations Decade on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace from 2011 to 2020,” he said.

“It also encouraged member-states to consider the idea of an enhanced process of dialogue among world religions.”

Ambassador Leslie Gatan, deputy permanent representative, said these new elements were obtained after hard-fought negotiations steered by diplomats at the Philippine mission.