On the call by the Religions for Peace Europe (RfPEU), the inter-faith body affiliated to Religions for Peace International, and the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition, members of the Interreligious Council in BiH spent four days on the conference in Brussels. The conference was attended by Olivera Jovanovic, the senior adviser in Inter-religious Council in BiH and by Zejna Smajic.
The Conference named “Welcoming each Other in Europe: a Call to Non-Discrimination” started on 19th and lasted until 23rd March. The first day was characterized by the series of presentations held by representatives of different ethnic and religious communities all around Europe. The presentations and panel discussions were held at the European Parliament in Brussels and were hosted by Ms Yolande Iliano, the President of the Religions for Peace Europe.
Ms Olivera Jovanovic held presentation on behalf of the Interreligious Council of BiH (IRC) on the topic of the sharing the best practices in Europe, where she explained the structure of IRC, aims and recent successful projects in more detail. In the end, Ms Jovanovic gave a brief report on the laws and projects that IRC successfully implemented.
The other presentations dealt with topics such as the Power of Forgiveness and Reconciliation to ensure Peace, Role of the media in Peace Building Process and Erasmus Program Project.
Ms Jovanovic, the leader of the Women of Faith Network in BiH gave additional presentation on the topic of the Potential Role of Women of Faith in Tradition, Transmission and Transformation Process.
The Inter-religious Council in BiH has been in existence since 1997 through joint commitments by Reisu-l-ulema Mustafa ef. Ceric, Islamic Community in BiH, Metropolitan Nikolaj of Dabar-Bosna, Serbian Orthodox Church, Vinko Cardinal Puljic, Archbishop of Vrhbosna-Sarajevo, Roman Catholic Church and Mr. Jakob Finci, Jewish Community of Bosnia-Heregovina (BiH). IRC’s work is based on existence and activities of 5 working groups: legal experts group, media group, education group, women’s group and youth group.
The main aim of the IRC is to decrease religious prejudice and raise awareness of the importance of inter-religious dialogue and cooperation through developing relationships between churches and religious communities throughout BiH.
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