What is World Interfaith Harmony Week and How it is Celebrated?
Last Updated: January 31, 2023, 17:30 IST
The idea of World Interfaith Harmony Week was first proposed at the United Nations in 2010 by Jordan’s King Abdullah II. (Representative image: Shutterstock)
The UN General Assembly encourages all countries to voluntarily disseminate the message of interfaith tolerance and goodwill in accordance with their religious traditions or convictions
WORLD INTERFAITH HARMONY WEEK 2023: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) designated the first seven days of February as World Interfaith Harmony Week in 2010. Since then, it has been celebrated globally every year. These celebrations focus on creating mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue to promote harmony between people regardless of their faith. The General Assembly encourages all countries to voluntarily disseminate the message of interfaith tolerance and goodwill in accordance with their religious traditions or convictions.
World Interfaith Harmony Week: History
The idea of World Interfaith Harmony Week was first proposed at the United Nations in 2010 by Jordan’s King Abdullah II. The UNGA swiftly adopted the resolution, declaring that February 1-7 would be commemorated annually as World Interfaith Harmony Week. The UN also urged governments, institutions, and civil society groups to observe the week with programs and initiatives that would promote its objectives.
World Interfaith Harmony Week: Aims
Some of the objectives in the resolution that brought the World Interfaith Harmony Week to life are:
- To increase the collective momentum of all the interfaith groups doing positive work by coordinating and uniting their efforts under one focused theme at one specific time annually.
- To harness the collective might of the infrastructure provided by places of worship to advance the goal of peace and harmony in the world.
- To encourage preachers to declare themselves for peace and harmony.
World Interfaith Harmony Week: Celebration
Several activities can be undertaken at the community level to commemorate this week and advance its principles. For instance, people can collect together for Harmony Breakfasts, breaking bread together with those who are different from us in a show of tolerance. Movie screenings are also a great way to generate conversations and better understand the beliefs of other faiths.
Leaders of different religious congregations can gather in your locality and issue a declaration supporting interfaith harmony, uniting their followers for the cause, too. Another great way to commemorate World Interfaith Harmony Week is to band together for community work. A community cleanliness drive or feeding the homeless can help people realise that humanity is working towards the same goal in the end.
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