LEADERS of the world’s foremost faith organizations gathered on Friday (September 25) to send a loud and unique signal of solidarity in order to end global poverty as a unified force. From India, Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, President of Parmarth Niketan Ashram and Co-Founder, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance and Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, Secretary-General, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance were invited and requested to speak on the auspicious occasion.
The gatherings, hosted by the World Bank, United Nations and Faith-Based Organizations including the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, signified a landmark moment in the United Nation’s 70-year history, in which multi-lateral organizations and faith based organizations came together to join hands in making concrete plans for the eradication of extreme poverty and inequality.
As a lead-up to the meeting, in the spring of 2015, the World Bank brought together senior religious representatives to bring forth a document titled “The Moral Imperative,” which outlined the crucial role and responsibility of faith leaders in eradicating extreme poverty. This was followed in July by a two-day high-level conference on Religion and Sustainable Development with World Bank President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim at which Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji and Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati were also delegates,.
At Friday's meeting, the assembled declared the importance of the faiths coming together if the glaring issues of world poverty are to be solved and the soon-to-be-launched Sustainable Development Goal agenda may be met.
Every day, some 1 billion people go to bed hungry. 783 million people do not have access to clean water and almost 2.5 billion do not have access to sanitation.
Said Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Co-Founder, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, “Our being together, here and now, represents a great threshold of history. Right now, this very minute, hope is in our hands. We commit to ending extreme poverty by 2030 because we recognize the world is one family, we recognize that the same Divine Spirit flows through us all, we recognize that we cannot worship the creator without protecting the creation.”
Said Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, Secretary General, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, “We have worked together, across all boundaries and borders of race and religion, for the last 15 years to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Through your commitment, dedication and concerted effort, much has been accomplished. However, there is still much to do. It is a time for celebration, but not a time for complacency. It is a time for renewed commitment – commitment to the SDGs, commitment for the present and the future of our planet and all of our sisters and brothers with whom we share it.”
Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati also led a pledge of solidarity in which all the leaders stood and held hands as he spoke, “We are united by love for humanity and our commitment to serve humanity. Together we will eradicate poverty. Together we will ensure that our global family has access to water, sanitation, hygiene, health and education. Together we will have faith, and together we will BE faith. Together the world will change.”
Leading the prayer for eradicating poverty and inequality, Sadhvi Bhagawati Sararaswati said, “Let us join together, in heart, mind, intention and action; let us pray and serve together so that all of our brothers and sisters of every culture, every country, every color and every creed are free from the scourge of extreme poverty and inequality.
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati also shared about the great success of Global Interfaith WASH Alliance’s programs at the recent Kumbha Mela in Nasik, with tens of millions of devout Hindu followers. The programs brought together revered heads of the various lineages within Hinduism and, for the first time in history, focused on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and ending open defecation in India where approximately 1200 children under the age of five perish every day due simply to lack of water, sanitation and hygiene.
Speakers at the event included:
Thomas Gass, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs
Mahmoud Mohieldin, Corporate Secretary and President’s Special Envoy, World Bank Group
Luiz Loures, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director, UNAIDS
David Donoghue, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations
Dan Hostetler – Executive Director, Parliament of the World Religious
Azza Karam, Senior Advisor, Culture, United Nations Population Fund & Coordinator, UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development
Adam Taylor, Lead, Faith Initiative, World Bank Group
Husna Parvin Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer, Global One
Mohamed Ashmawey, Chief Executive Officer, Islamic Relief Worldwide
Kevin Jenkins, President, World Vision
John McCullough, President and Chief Executive Officer, Church World Service
Ruth Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service
Loretta Minghella, Chief Executive, Christian Aid
Dr. Mohammed Abu Nimr – KAIICID
Evelyn Parker, Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, World Council of Churches
Michel Roy, Secretary General, Caritas Internationalis
Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Co-Founder, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, Secretary-General, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance
William Vendley, Secretary General, Religions for Peace International
Monica Willard, United Religions Initiative
