Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

Page 205

PROGRA
Saturday, December 5, 2009
community, regional and national levels. It will include an overview and update on the global situation, including the results of the United Nations Secretary General's Global Study on Violence Against Children and the report recommendations for 2009. Discussion will include examples of action taken by religious leaders and communities to end this violence.
Christine Dodd is a coordinator of the Churches' Network for NonViolence and Inter-Faith Liaison, a charity which works in partnership with others to end all forms of violence against children, including corporal punishment. Christine also has a background in public health and community development and has been involved in projects designed to prevent violence against women and children.
Rev Cecilia Wikström has been a member of the European Parliament since 2009 and part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDEI. She currently sits in the Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. Cecilia Wikstróm gained her Master's of theology at Uppsala University in 1993 and has published several books. She is Parish Pastor, Student Pastor, Pastor for Prisoners and Cathedral Canon of Uppsala Cathedral in the Church of Sweden.
Ms Mali Nilsson is the Global Advocacy & Technical Advisor on Child Protection with Save the Children Sweden based in Stockholm. She is also the International Save the Children Alliance Global Focal Point on all forms of corporal punishment. She is responsible for supporting operational programs worldwide: developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating strategies for ending violence against children via legislative change, with a specific focus on all forms of corporal punishment.
Youth Spirituality: Join the Evolution! Youth, Spiritual Development
and Activism
Nina Meyerhof
Yuka Saionji
Jimmy Lama
Karoline Venator Buys
Amorntip Cherry Henderson
Vaibhav Parulkar
Ping Ping Worakate Thangsurbkul
Colin Lee
Room 216
Interactive Workshop
The World Spirit Youth Council is an international youth movement that brings youth, spirituality and activism together. This project is sponsored by Children of the Earth, an 18-year-old, nonprofit organisation recognised as a UN-NGO. Children of the Earth teaches youth from around the world to become conscious leaders in order to bring about a peaceful global society. The youth on this panel are from diverse backgrounds and religious traditions, yet are unified under the Principles and Code of Ethics of Children of the Earth. The youth participants will share stories about their traditional backgrounds, as well as offer suggestions for encouraging unity and examples of how they have put their values into practice. They will demonstrate and involve audience participants in some of the processes that they use to engage other youth. In addition, they will identify local and international projects that further the spiritual youth movement for living ethics.
11:30am-1:00pm
Dr Nina Meyerhof, President of Children of the Earth will facilitate this program.
INTERRELIGIOUS SESSION
Nina Meyerhof is Founder and President of Children of the Earth. Yuka Saionji is a deputy chairperson of a religious organisation Byakko Yuka Saionji is a deputy chairperson of a religious organisation Byakko Shinko Kai, which is dedicated to world peace and raising the consciousness of humanity. Byakko believes in the divinity of all humanity and hosts. interfaith events such as Symphony of Peace Prayers, where a diverse group of religious leaders lead more than 10,000 participants in harmonious prayer. She is also a member of the World Spirit Youth Council. Shinko Kai, which is dedicated to world peace and raising the consciousness of humanity. Byakko believes in the divinity of all humanity and hosts interfaith events such as Symphony of Peace Prayers, where a diverse group of religious leaders lead more than 10,000 participants in harmonious prayer. She is also a member of the World Spirit Youth Council.
Jimmy Lama is an advisor to Youth Society for Peace. Born to a Buddhist family in Nepal, he is a member of World Spirit Youth Council, and coordinates the Nepalese chapter of the UN-NGO Children of the Earth. He works with over 700 children across 10 different local community-run schools, promoting peace and values-based education.
Originally from Colombia, Karoline Venator Buys now lives in Munich, Germany with her South African husband. She has a passion for languages and speaks Spanish, English, German and some Japanese. She is a translator for the Academy for Future Science in various parts of the world. Ms Buys is currently working as Chapter Coordinator for Children of the Earth and is a member of World Spirit Youth Council.
Amorntip Cherry Henderson was born in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to a Thai mother and Australian father. She attended Chiang Mai primary school for four years before moving to Australia in 2000. Ever since her mother introduced her to the Dhammakaya temple, she has been practicing her religion. She is enthusiastic about promoting the practice of meditation to achieve inner peace.
An engineer by training, Vaibhav Parulkar later chose a spiritual path that was influenced by dreams, paranormal phenomena, intuitive messages, and out-of-body experiences as a child. Vaibhav Parulkar's mission in life is to serve humanity, spread spiritual awareness, raise consciousness and promote world peace.
Ping Ping Worakate Thangsurbkul is a Project Coordinator of Peace Revolution initiated by World Peace Initiative Foundation and supported by Dhammakaya Foundation. This program encourages young adults aged 18 to 30 years old to participate in an online, self-development program. Presently, there are about 700 participants from 115 countries joining the program under the concept of 'World Peace through Inner Peace. She has been a member of the World Spirit Youth Council since its inception. Colin Lee is the founder of Shift International from Australia and is one of the founding members of the World Spirit Youth Council. Born to a Catholic Christian family migrated from Malaysia, Colin engages deeply with other religious groups and promotes interfaith dialogue and the art of spirituality. Colin trains and empowers the next generation of youth in his locality and does the same as he travels around the world with Children of the Earth.
Wendi Momen
Dr Moojan Momen Room 217 Panel Discussion
Building Peace in the Pursuit of Justice: A Baha'i Approach
Is it possible to build peace without establishing justice? Is it possible to establish justice without securing peace? How do we achieve both? How can we structure society to create social cohesion in the pursuit of peace? The teachings of the Baha'i faith provide insights into the attitudes, values, practices and structures that are needed at every
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