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International Interfaith Networks

Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions The mission of the CPWR is to cultivate harmony between the world's religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its other guiding institutions in order to achieve a peaceful, just, and sustainable world. The vision of the CPWR is of a just, peaceful and sustainable world.
Forum on religion and Ecology The Forum on religion and Ecology is an inter-religious, interdisciplinary, multi-cultural initiative engaging in scholarly dialogue on the environment.
Interfaith Youth Core The purpose of the IFYC is to nurture a generation of new compassionate global leaders by engaging in diversity, connecting faith and action, and understanding the relationship between local trends and global issues.
International Association for Religious Freedom. Oxford, UK

Founded in 1900 as an organisation to bring together people “striving to unite Pure Religion and Perfect Liberty”. It has 90 affiliated member organisations in 27 countries and 10 national chapters, mostly in Asia, Europe and North America. The purpose of IARF is to work for Freedom of Religion and Belief because it is a precious human right that potentially enables the best within our religious lives, or our search for truth or enlightenment to flourish. IARF’ strategic plan for 2001-7 aims to implement five different types of programmes specifically designed to enhance religious freedom.
International Interfaith Centre. Oxford, UK Through conferences, publications, seminars and consultancies, IIC facilitates networking, encounter, education and research between religious and spiritual individuals, organisations and communities throughout the world. IIC promotes international interfaith activity to: create understanding and harmony between people of diverse faith traditions; identify positive models to support co-operation, peace building and human rights; address global critical issues; and contribute to conflict transformation.
Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders Convened at the United Nations in August 2000 and brought together 1,200 delegates from 110 nations – the first such gathering of religious leaders in UN history.
Minorities of Europe MOE works towards the advancement of education, empowerment and civic participation of people, in particular of young people from minority/disadvantaged communities, through promotion of positive intercultural relations throughout the community of Europe.
Peace Council Works on the assumption that there is a spiritual dimension to all of life and that the world’s religions have a wealth of insight, understanding, faith and hope to bring to bear in the world. In the face of conflict, injustice, poverty, discrimination and misuse of the creation, the Peace Council frames its work in spiritual terms and works to provide peaceful and constructive solutions in difficult situations.
The Temple of Understanding ToU, founded in 1960 by Juliet Hollister, is organised to promote understanding among the world’s religions, to recognise the oneness of the human family and to achieve a “Spiritual United Nations”. Spiritual Summit Conferences have included the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Mother Theresa and Thomas Merton. Videos and study guides of education programmes make interfaith understanding of religious and spiritual traditions available for a wider public. An NGO with ECOSOC Consultative Status, the Temple actively participates in UN Summits and interfaith celebrations of the UN. Chapters exist in India, Argentina, Venezuela and the University of Maryland, US.
United Religions Initiative Founded on the vision to bring the world's religious, spiritual and indigenous peoples together, the URI is a growing global inter-faith community dedicated to ending religiously motivated violence by building cultures of peace and justice.
World Conference on Religion and Peace Founded in 1970, the WCRP facilitates dialogue among the world's religious communities with the aim of promoting a common commitment to peace, in some cases through multi-religious action programmes. WCRP is actively engaged in conflict transformation programmes in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Indonesia. It has chapters in 30 different counties and regional structures in Europe and Asia, with one planned for Africa. The web site contains a section on women and statements from its most recent global conferences.
World Congress of Faiths WCF works to develop better understanding, co-operation and respect between people of different faiths
World Fellowship of Inter-religious Councils WFIRC was founded in 1983 as a network of individuals, institutions and movements committed to interfaith dialogue at different levels. WFIRC is committed to work for reconciliation in areas of communal tension, to value-education with special emphasis on spirituality and meditation, to interfaith education, to interfaith celebration, festivals. WFIRC organises international interfaith conferences and celebrations and publishes a newsletter.

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Faith-Based Development Organisations

ADRA International The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) is established for the specific purposes of individual and community development and disaster relief. ADRA International fulfills the primary directive of its charter without regard to race, gender, or political/religious affiliation.
Aga Khan Foundation The AKF promotes social development through philanthropic activities in the developing world. All Aga Khan organisations listed are of Ismaili Muslim inspiration.
Aga Khan Education Services A member of the AKDN and funded by the AKF, the AKES places emphasis on innovative education program. With over 300 schools and day care centres in the developing world, the AKES serves to provide high quality education in the face of socio-economic challenges. All Aga Khan organisations listed are of Ismaili Muslim inspiration.
Aga Khan Development Network The AKDN is a consortium with the mission to improve living conditions and opportunities in specific regions of development work, particularly in Africa and Asia. The mandate for the individual institutions range from the provision of health and education programs, to architecture, rural development and the promotion of private enterprise. All Aga Khan organisations listed are of Ismaili Muslim inspiration.
American Jewish World Service Founded in 1985, AJWS is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing nonsectarian humanitarian assistance and emergency relief to disadvantaged people in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia and Ukraine. Working in partnership with local grassroots non-governmental organizations AJWS supports and implements small-scale international development projects. Through the Jewish Volunteer Corps, AJWS provides skilled Jewish men and women the opportunity to volunteer their expertise and provide skilled and technical assistance in villages and communities in the developing world.
Bandhua Mukti Morcha BMM is an organisation established by Swami Agnivesh, Chairperson for the UN Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. This organisation is committed to wiping out this dark practice by offering the children of bonded labourers an education wherever possible. It is supported by Britain by MUKTI, a project of the Traditional Yoga Association (Charity No. 1091469).
Catholic Fund for Overseas Development CAFOD is the agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Working with local organisations, it promotes over 1,000 development programmes world-wide to further social justice and improvement in the quality of life for impoverished and oppressed people. CAFOD also engages in extensive educational work, and campaigns on issues such as debt relief, corporate responsibility, international finance, HIV/AIDS, child labour and landmines. The web site contains reports on projects and policy briefings..
Catholic Relief Services Catholic Relief Services was founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States "to assist the poor and disadvantaged outside the country." CRS has a programme in peacebuilding that includes initiatives in education, prevention, institution-building, peace and justice commissions, gender, inter-religious dialogue, micro-enterprise, trauma healing, demobilization. CRS is present in several countries emerging from violent conflict, including Angola, the DRC, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, the Balkans, Cambodia and East Timor.
Christian Aid Christian Aid (CA) is an agency of the British and Irish churches, working with the world's poor, regardless of religion and race, in over 60 countries. It is part of Action by Churches Together, the world-wide ecumenical network for emergency relief. Through partnerships with local organisations, CA aims to help people to improve the conditions of their lives, and tackle global issues of economic justice through education programmes and campaigns on issues such as debt and trade.
Christian Connections for International Health The mission of CCIH is to promote international health and wholeness with a Christian perspective. CCIH provides field-oriented information resources and a forum for discussion, networking, and fellowship to the spectrum of Christian organizations and individuals working in international health.
CIIR The Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) is an international charity working for justice and the eradication of poverty. It works in partnership with civil groups and governments in: Latin America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, South East Asia and the UK and Europe. Its approach combines work to secure equitable policies with the strengthening of community-based organisations that represent the interests of the poor and improve their quality of life. Through its skillshare programme Cooperation for Development (ICD), it places experienced professionals to share their expertise with partners in 11 countries. Its advocacy programmes currently focus on supporting justice and human security, strengthening civil society and participatory development and tackling the links between international economics and poverty.
Dutch Interchurch: Organization for Development Cooperation ICCO's work consists in financing activities which stimulate and enable people, in their own way, to organize dignified housing and living conditions. ICCO is active across Africa, the Middle East, Asia/Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and in Central and Eastern Europe. ICCO cooperates with church and non-church organizations which are directly involved with the people who are the prime target group.
EIRENE International Christian Service for Peace EIRENE is a German based peace organization that turns "away from purely growth oriented thinking", advocates "a simpler ecological life style", searches for "more social justice and community living" , is sensitive to peace and development policies, and promotes intercultural dialogue.
Institute on Religion and Public Policy The IRPP is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, non-partisan, inter-religious organization that seeks to shape the public participation in policy of the American community of faith. The Institute facilitates the expression of faith in the public interest through program activities and research in the public policymaking process. The Institute promotes cooperation and communication between policymakers and faith-based organizations and charities to achieve an optimal relationship on domestic and international public policy concerns. The Institute on Religion and Public Policy impacts and effects those places where religion seems to have an identifiable and inextricable influence on public life.
International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity CIDSE is an international coalition of 14 Catholic development organisations based in Belgium, working together with organisations and partners in the South and the North on issues of advocacy, development and education.
Islamic Relief Founded in 1984, Islamic Relief seeks to promote sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities through relief and development programmes and orphan support. The core geographical focus areas are Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bangladesh, Chechnya, Gaza Strip, Mali, India, Pakistan and Sudan. Islamic Relief has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, and is a signatory to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements and NGOs in Disaster Relief. IR is also a member of BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development).
Jesuits for Debt Relief and Development JDRAD is an international network whose mission is to mobilise the Jesuit voice to contribute alongside other church and NGO groups on debt and development issues. The network functions through the mutual empowerment of its members while focusing on particular issues related to debt and development. Analysis and action on specific issues is informed by the experiences of members.
Muslim Aid Through generous donations and legacy contributions, Muslim Aid has helped save and improve the lives of millions of people in 50 of the poorest countries around the world. By responding rapidly to emergencies Muslim Aid provides relief to victims of natural disasters, wars and famine and through long-term development programmes such as provision of clean water, shelter, education, income-generation and healthcare, Muslim Aid is tackling the root causes of poverty.
Tearfund Tearfund is an evangelical Christian relief and development charity that works with other evangelical Christian groups and churches from around the world. Last year, Tearfund supported over 500 projects in nearly 100 countries. Tearfund works in the areas of development, healthcare, urban renewal, conflict and justice, environment and agriculture, education and training.

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