PRESS RELEASE

Tokyo, 21 April 2020

Arigatou International and its Global Network of Religions for Children, together with several faith-based and interfaith organizations, will host a Live Interfaith Prayer with Children on Wednesday 22 April at 08.00 EST/14.00 CET. The Prayer will be livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.

This Interfaith Prayer will bring together children from different countries who represent diverse faith traditions including the Bahá’í Faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and the Sikh Faith.

“Now, more than ever, we must promote the solidarity of the one human community and act together and listen to children: they are part of the solution to promote global solidarity”, recalls Rev. Keishi Miyamoto, President of Arigatou International.

Children will join hands to pray and will offer a message of hope and solidarity with people and children all around the world. Accompanying the children in the Prayer will be senior religious leaders from their respective faith communities.

The Most Reverend Julio Murray, Bishop of Panama and Primate of the Anglican Church in the Central America Region, will open and lead the Interfaith Prayer.  Solidarity statements from representatives of partner organizations will also be shared to send a message of unity for the children of the world. 

The Interfaith Prayer is part of the “Faith in Action for Children” Global Campaign launched by Arigatou International to call on religious leaders and religious communities to prioritize the well-being of children as they respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign builds on the important role that faith plays in emergency situations to strengthen resilience in children, and the crucial contributions of religious leaders to positively influence their millions of followers to help protect children from violence.

The Campaign supports global and local efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 and provides guidance to parents and caregivers, while also focusing on preventing violence against children. We know that children today are among the most vulnerable groups to be negatively affected by the pandemic. Many children and their families are in lock-down in their homes, and around 90% of the world’s school children are not attending school at present. According to numerous recent reports, violence against women and children is increasing as an indirect effect of the pandemic.

The Interfaith Prayer is organized in collaboration with the Bahá’í International Community, the Centre for Sustainable Conflict Resolution, the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities, Islamic Relief worldwide, the International Centre for Interreligious Dialogue (KAICIID), the New York Board of Rabbis, Pastoral da Criança, Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Shanti Ashram, and United Religions Initiative.

Please join the Interfaith Prayer through this link:
https://arigatouinternational.org/en/live-interfaith-prayer 

or through YouTube and Facebook.

For more about our Global Campaign, Faith in Action for Children, please see: https://arigatouinternational.org/en/response-to-covid19

For further information, contact:

Ms. Eleonora Mura
Program Officer External Relations
Arigatou International Geneva
E-mail: e.mura(at)arigatouinternational.org
Phone: +41 22 734 94 10