Kyiv Interconfessional Forum: towards the changes

The International conference “World religions and civil society against hate and extremism”, which obtained the unofficial name of religious Davos, took place in the capital of Ukraine in 2011. The tradition of the international meeting of the representatives of world religious communities in Kyiv, started by the IHRPEX, was continued this year.

Within the framework of the programme of the Kyiv Interconfessional Forum, the Easter pilgrimage and press tour of the group of journalists and seminarists with visiting of sacral for the Christians, the Muslims and the Jews places in the Holy Land, in particular Jerusalem, tool place. 

The Kyiv Forum on April 25-26 gathered the religious leaders from twenty-five countries – the representatives of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. The Conference “Towards the changes – The role of religion in modern world. Faith under the conditions of democracy and high society” became the place for the discussion of important questions connected with importance of religion in the modern world full of dramatic social and political, social and economic changes. 

Together with other figures, the following persons took part in the programme of the Forum: the Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem; famous rapper Shyne, the Chief Mufti of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia Sheikh Nafigulla Ashirov; Donyed Lama; the former Secretary-General of the Council of Europe Walter Schwimmer; CNN producer Izzy Lemberg. One of the most important results of the Kyiv Interconfessional Forum 2012 was the adoption of the “Appeal to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon” with the initiative of carrying out of the extraordinary Special Session of the UN General Assembly devoted to the issues of prevention of conflicts on religious grounds.