Keeping the Peace in a Troubled World: Lasting Solutions to Ethnic & Religious Conflict
The Fourth Annual Multidisciplinary Symposium Commemorating the Anniversary of September 11
Virtue Foundation is pleased to announce its Fourth Annual Multidisciplinary Symposium at the ECOSOC Council Chamber of the United Nations on Friday, September 9th, 2005. The focus of this year’s international symposium, which will feature several panel discussions and keynote speeches by prominent members in various sectors of the global community, will be the issue of national and international conflict, with a special emphasis on the complex relationship between conflict, poverty, and disease.
While the origins and backgrounds of various conflicts are certainly diverse and region specific, several common themes can be clearly traced throughout all such conflicts around the world: loss of individual dignity and basic human rights; ignorance, intolerance, and a sense of despair; lack of competent governance and primary institutions; social and ethnic repression; and loss of self-determination.
Through its continued educational programs aimed at increasing public awareness, coupled with medical and humanitarian expeditions in developing nations, Virtue Foundation seeks to promote an open dialogue that will dispel the ignorance and hatred that fuels the ongoing conflicts and violence around the globe while building toward a culture of peace and tolerance founded on mutual understanding and respect.
“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”
-Mahatma Gandhi