World Interfaith Harmony Week: Celebrating Peace, Honouring Leaders – From Prayer to Action

The faith sector plays a significant role in promoting and restoring peace in our democratic South Africa.

This view by Tashmica Sharma of the SA Hindu Maha Sabha (SAHMS) is shared by a growing collective movement of interfaith scholars and activists. The Faith Action Collective to End Gender-Based Violence, representing people of the eight major faiths in the country, has teamed up with the SAHMS to put strategy into action at a local level.

This movement is uniting around World Interfaith Harmony Week, an annual United Nations (UN) event observed during the first week of February. Mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue constitute important dimensions of a culture of peace, which is why the UN has established World Interfaith Harmony Week as a way to promote harmony between all people, regardless of their faith.

“As the faith movement, individually and collectively, we honour this week to highlight shared values in our bleeding world of violence, fear, insecurity and anxiety,” says Daniela Gennrich, coordinator of We Will Speak Out SA (WWSOSA), the secretariat of the Faith Action Collective.

The overall goals of Interfaith Week are:

• to celebrate religious diversity and shared values,
• to encourage cooperation and understanding between different faiths, and
• to build stronger, more integrated and neighbourly communities.

“Interfaith collaboration and action harnesses the energy of significant social and moral networks to uncover the structural and cultural drivers of gender-based violence. It is important to call out patriarchal narratives in our own communities and institutions,” says Sharma.

Nontando Hadebe, representing the Christian faith, adds, “An interfaith approach is vital as all our faiths share the same values that promote justice and gender justice. Together we are stronger and can transform the world.”

“An interfaith approach fosters mutual respect, breaks down barriers and promotes harmony amongst diverse communities,” says Moulana Rafeek Shah of the Muslim faith.

About Post Author

KWANELE NGOBESE

I am a media and communications professional with a focus on public relations and digital content. At After 12 Communications, I manage social media platforms and publish articles that inform, engage, and elevate the brand’s voice. Passionate about storytelling and digital engagement, I bring creativity, consistency, and strategy to every project I work on. Follow me on Twitter: @Kwanele_Coms

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