Berkley Center

This forum brought together religious leaders, representatives of faith-based organizations, government officials, and academics focused around the framework of “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future” for the Western Hemisphere. Participants were given the intellectual space to collaborate and provide concrete practical recommendations to the heads of state and government who met at the Ninth Summit of the Americas, as well the ability to contribute to better implementation and follow up of their commitments.

Over the course of two days, the event featured a series of structured plenary sessions and concurrent panels (with English-Spanish interpretation) to address the engagement of religious leaders to strengthen inclusive democracies, protect human rights, and fight against corruption; interreligious approaches to address root causes of refugee and migration movements; religious perspectives on green growth and sustainable development in harmony with the environment; and the role of faith communities in peacebuilding in the Americas, among other topics. Berkley Center Senior Fellow Katherine Marshall delivered opening remarks and served on the organizing committee.

This event was co-organized by the Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs; the G20 Interfaith Forum; the BYU Law International Center for Law and Religion Studies; the Interreligious Council of Southern California; and Religions for Peace. It also received support from other partners. For a full list of collaborating organizations and conference information, visit FIDELA’s event website.