Center for Peacemaking Practice Lunch - Intersections International US-Pakistan Interreligious Consortium

 Join the Center for Peacemaking Practice in welcoming
Reverend Robert Chase
of Intersections International

Who will speak about Intersections' program:

US-Pakistan Interreligious Consortium (UPIC)

Everyone welcome, lunch provided!
Please RSVP

For more information on the Consortium, please read below:

US-Pakistan Interreligious Consortium (UPIC)
A Project of Intersections International

Executive Summary

With traditional diplomacy unable to moderate hostilities between Pakistan and the US, Intersections International has formed an unprecedented interreligious alliance of US and Pakistani faith leaders prepared to step into the breach. After a successful foundational meeting of the US-Pakistan Interreligious Consortium (UPIC) in Muscat, Oman in May 2012, the 24 leaders (approx. 12 US, 12 Pakistani) will meet in Islamabad and Lahore in April 2013 to cooperatively set an action agenda toward policy change on both sides, building bridges of understanding and respect between our two countries.

Both Pakistan and the US have increasingly struggled with global and domestic religious intolerance in the past decade. Islamophobia in the US and discrimination against Christians and other minorities in Pakistan have grown, sometimes with violent consequences. Since the US killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, and given the continuing use of US drones on Pakistani soil, fear and distrust of the other have grown exponentially between both the governments and populations of the US and Pakistan.

Religious leaders, particularly those already committed to interreligious engagement, have a critical role to play in addressing religious intolerance and other issues which impact social development as well as international peace and stability. While many faith communities and interreligious organizations in Pakistan are making valiant efforts to address such issues today, most lack the capacity, networks and know-how to advance interreligious efforts from surface dialogue and personal interaction to sustained, substantive plans and actions that address deeper issues of concern. Similarly, many American faith communities and interreligious organizations face challenges in their capacity to engage effectively with Muslim groups in light of geopolitical issues and the sometimes-controversial role Islam has assumed in American public discussions. Perceptions in Pakistan that the US is anti-Muslim and perceptions in America that Pakistanis and/or Muslims are anti-American can create domestic difficulties for Pakistani groups seeking to cooperate with Christians (identified by many with the West) and for American groups trying to cooperate with Muslims.

Facilitated by Intersections International, and in collaboration with the International Islamic University in Islamabad (IIU) and the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), UPIC addresses these issues by creating an interreligious consortium consisting of key leaders of Pakistani and American religious organizations. In April 2013, UPIC will convene in Islamabad and Lahore for five days.

The Objectives of UPIC are to:

1. Create personal and institutional relationships between delegates’ communities and organizations.
2. Develop delegates’ capacity to substantively advance peace in their communities.
3. Facilitate collaboration on initiatives addressing issues of mutual concern—these issues will be decided by the delegates and likely involve intercultural understanding, peace and security, education, youth, women’s rights, US-Pakistan relations or other areas.
4. Influence policymakers on both sides to improve US-Pakistan relations and advance delegates’ collaborative initiatives and goals at the national and state levels.