Kathmandu, By Kul C Gautam: The motto of 6th Global Forum of the Global Network of Religions for Children is The Child is Calling! We need dto respond to their call to help build a more hopeful world for children.
Let us first understand what are the children calling for?
Child representative like Ms. Ghaya, and dozens of other children from many countries around the world are attending this conference. They also completed their own Children’s Pre-Forum.
They represent the voices and views of their peers from around the world. From developed and developing countries. Peaceful and war-torn countries.
They speak many languages and follow many different religions.
But they all share some common dreams and aspirations. We can guess what their fervent call and appeal will be:
Children everywhere wish and deserve to enjoy the tender loving care of their parents, and neighbors. To live a healthy life. To play and get an education. To get gainful employment when they grow up. To live up to their full human potential. To be good citizens of their community. And above all, to live in a peaceful world with dignity.
Is that too much to ask? They are not asking for the moon. I trust none of us thinks they are demanding or expecting too much.
But for most children in the world, even their simplest wishes – which are actually their fundamental human rights – seem utterly unattainable. But why? Neglecting the interest of children.
Perhaps some of us would blame politicians for neglecting the interest of children. Perhaps others would blame greedy businessmen and the private sector for ignoring the wellbeing of children. Yet others may blame UN agencies and NGOs for not doing enough.
But how about us – the faith communities and religious leaders?
This is a conference about building a better world for children through interfaith cooperation. So, let us dive deeply into what we the faith communities and religious leaders can do to respond to the Call of the Child. We will hear again and again at this Forum – that all our religions celebrate the sanctity of childhood.
That is true. We will proclaim with pride that our holy books call for love, peace, compassion, brotherhood (but not quite sisterhood) and friendship. And that is also true. But notwithstanding what the holy scriptures and our great prophets say –
In the real world, far too many wrongs are committed, injustice justified, cruelties and indifference to the plight of women and children accepted – in the name of religion. Not too far from here there is a country where girls are not allowed to go to school and women are not allowed to pray or even speak in public – in the name of religion. Many of us come from countries where children face discrimination based on caste, creed, race and ethnicity – in the name of religion.
Recently, we saw leaders of several industrialized countries acknowledging and apologizing for the large number of children of indigenous communities who were separated from their parents and mistreated in places of worship – in the name of religion.
Millions of children are married around the world in ceremonies officiated by local priests – in the name of religion. Millions of girls still undergo the medieval practice of female genital mutilation – in the name of religion. In our history, many wars have been fought and crusades and jihads justified – in the name of religion.
Right now, we are witnessing horrific deaths of children and unimaginable, large-scale destruction of schools, hospitals, places of worship in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, Myanmar, Haiti and elsewhere. The toxic mix of politics and religion is a blot on our human civilization.
Quotations from holy scriptures and teachings of great prophets are of little consolation to the millions of children who face the daily reality of such violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination. Of course, we will rightly say that such mistreatment of children is NOT sanctioned by our religion, but is a harmful traditional practice based on superstition or misinterpretation of religion.
But to the vast majority of the world’s population, religion is what is preached and practiced by their local priests, imams, swamis, rabbis, in their daily lives, not what is written in ancient scriptures and what is preached by distant prophets.
The goodness religions can bring
Despite many such harmful traditional practices, overall, the goodness and positive inspiration that religions can bring in the world are enormous. That is why we are gathered here to harness the great positive power and potential of religions for the wellbeing of children.
The children attending this Forum are calling on religious leaders to please impress upon your fellow local priests to abide by the lofty teachings of your faiths – and do no harm.
The children are also calling on the rest of us – secular leaders – of government, civil society, the media and other walks of life to honor the commitment we have made in signing international conventions, human rights treaties and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
Arigatou International has prepared this Multi-religious Study on the Convention on the Rights of the Child that shows that the rights of the child as enshrined in the world’s most universally ratified human rights treaty and the genuine teachings of all the major religions of the world are fully compatible.
Arigatou has also prepared this manual Learning to Live Together that shows how people – especially children – professing different faiths and cultures can live in peace and harmony – if we adults guide them the right way.
Common enemies of children
The common enemies of children are poverty, ignorance, violence, and the climate crisis, all of which can be addressed through the pursuit of sustainable development goals.
And to educate and motivate children, Arigatou in partnership with others, even runs an SDG Academy for Children, a model of which you can see just outside this hall.
Together with our gracious host and very special partner, the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities, we are gathered here to help build a safe, secure and sustainable world for children.
There is no cause that is more noble, that is more urgent, and that is more worthy for interfaith cooperation – than building a world that is safe, secure and sustainable for all God’s children.
(Mr Gautam is a former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. This article is the edited version of the remarks he made at the 6th Global Forum of Global Network of Religions for Children held in Abu Dhabi on 19 November 2024- Ed.)
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