The 2nd World Peace Forum that aims to find solutions to address facts of religious and cultural violence at national and global levels ended here on Thursday.
"We believe that a peaceful world cannot be fully achieved as long as we cannot eliminate inequality and injustice, exploitation, extremism, intolerance, discrimination, defamation, and all form of violence including the occurrence of armed conflict within and between states, genocide, repression and other forms of human rights abuses, terrorism, aggression, and other acts that degrade human dignity," said Chairman of the forum M. Din Syamsuddin in a conclusive statement.
"Therefore, we urge governments to give more investment in peace rather then investment in violence," added Syamsuddin, who is also president of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Islamic organization.
The participants urged that the presence of religion itself is not the primary cause of violence, but if they are mishandled and interpreted mistakenly, havoc and division among people will take place.
So they encourage religious leaders to hold interfaith and inter-cultural dialogues that provide opportunities to learn different faiths, cultures and political aspirations in orders to build cooperation and shared responsibility in the hopes of fostering friendship and ultimately reach eternal peace.
The three-day forum was co-hosted by Muhammadiyah, the Center for Dialogue and Cooperation among Civilizations (CDCC) and the Cheng Ho Multi Culture Trust.
About 200 leaders in religion, politics and business took part in the forum to work together for abiding peace and a world order based on justice, freedom, equality, mutual respect and morality.
The conference was founded in 2006 by Muhammadiyah to involve religious and political leaders in addressing world problems.
Source:Xinhua
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