Preeminent Global Interfaith Organizations Release Multilateral Accord on Nuclear Disarmament

The Parliament of the World’s Religions, the Charter for Compassion, Religions for Peace, and United Religions Initiative (URI) are the world’s largest international interfaith organizations. Committed in a common mission on social justice, peace, and sustainability, the partners have come together in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan to release a multilateral accord that calls for nuclear abolition.

The Hiroshima/Nagasaki Accord is a steadfast call toward the abolition of nuclear weapons in the world. Together, the global interfaith organizations, present a challenge to the human family, especially the young, to take action now to bring hope and sanity in the midst of our mutually assured destruction. The Accord calls on individuals, organizations and communities around the world to ask themselves, how are we to “judge for ourselves” and reverse our dash toward nuclear annihilation?

“Nuclear weapons uniquely threaten to end all future generations and have been created through sophisticated social organization and the most advanced insights of modern science. There is a legal, ethical,  practical imperative to reign in this threat with law and morality and save us from the folly of a fire brought about by accident, design or madness,” argues Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute, Chair of the Task Force on Nuclear Non-Proliferation of the International Law Section of the American Bar Association, and Ambassador for Peace, Security and Nuclear Disarmament of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

The Accord is historic in the global interfaith movement, marking the cooperative engagement of four of the world’s prominent international interfaith/intercultural organizations to create this joint statement.

For Parliament Chair, Audrey Kitagawa, this critical cooperation is a direct reflection of the mission of the non-profit organization, “… the Parliament of the World’s Religions cultivates harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities, and fosters their engagement with the world and its guiding institutions. As such, we can best  accomplish our mission by joining together with religious and spiritual communities to demonstrate that through our collective effort, beneficial goals for the betterment of humanity can be better served and achieved.”
The Hiroshima/Nagasaki Accord has been endorsed by faith and political leaders around the world, as well as key stakeholders in the nuclear disarmament movement. The Parliament of the World’s Religions, the Charter for Compassion, Religions for Peace, and URI invite individuals, communities, and organizations committed to peace, justice and sustainability to read and endorse this historic Accord.
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The Parliament of the World’s Religions cultivates harmony among the world’s spiritual traditions and fosters their engagement with guiding institutions in order to achieve a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. Its origins are rooted to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where the historic first convening of the World Parliament of Religions created a global platform for engagement of religions of the east and west which launched the global interfaith movement. Headquartered in Chicago, Il, USA, the Parliament of the World’s Religions is an international 501c3 NGO affiliated to the United Nations Department of Public Information.

The Parliament manages various programs throughout the year and hosts the world’s premier interfaith convening in cities across the globe. Past Parliaments have convened nearly 50,000 people across the world in Chicago, IL, USA; Cape Town, South Africa; Barcelona, Spain; Melbourne, Australia; Salt Lake City, USA; and Toronto, Canada.

For more information about the Parliament of the World’s Religions and the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Accord, please visit www.parliamentofreligions.org/nuclear

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Media Contact:
Miriam Quezada
Constituency Development Manager
miriam@parliamentofreligions.org
312-971-3096