Concept Note
Preserving Pluralism and Diversity
in the Nineveh Region
November 30, 2017, 3-5 pm
UN Headquarters Conference Room 11
Overview:
The Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, the Knights of Columbus and the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee (NRC) are organizing an event focusing on preserving pluralism and diversity in the Nineveh Region of Iraq. Crucial to pluralism and diversity is the capacity for religious and ethnic minorities to return to their ancestral communities after having been driven from the area by Da’esh. The Iraqi Parliament is presently working on a draft resolution to protect diversity in Iraq and secure the rights of all groups of Iraqi society (called components in the 2005 Iraqi Constitution), enabling all violated components to come home by creating the conditions for their return such as rehabilitation, reintegration and recovery programs for survivors, as well as rebuilding and capacity building of devastated areas. Several national governments have taken responsibility for helping to rebuild destroyed cities and towns. Civil Society organizations, like Aid to the Church in Need and the Knights of Columbus, have done likewise. The NRC is an association of the Christian Churches of the Nineveh Plain — the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Syriac Catholic Church and the Chaldean Catholic Church — to coordinate efforts to facilitate the return of their respective peoples home, to coordinate with relevant authorities at the local, gubernatorial, regional and national levels, and to allow aid organizations, foreign governments, intergovernmental and other international entities throughout the world to deal with one organization rather than several.
Objectives:
To promote a better understanding within the international community of the importance of preserving pluralism and diversity in the Nineveh region and of the challenges that preserving that pluralism and diversity requires in terms of making it possible for those who were driven out from the region to be able to return, stay and prosper in security and peace.
Speakers:
Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN
Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda, Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Erbil
Mr. Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus
Edward Clancy, Aid to the Church in Need USA
Mr. Stephen Rasche, Director and Legal Counsel, Nineveh Reconstruction Committee
Father Salar Kajo, Chaldean Catholic Pastor of Teleskof
Permanent Representatives from several Permanent Missions to the United Nations are invited
To register:
All those interested in attending are asked to register at holyseemission.org/rsvp30November2017.
Those without UN passes can indicate their need for a special events pass to be picked up 45 minutes before the event. Those with UN badges are asked to register so that the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See can ensure that all participants have seats in the room.
For questions and further information:
If you have any questions or seek further information about the event, please contact
Fr. Roger Landry (rlandry@holyseemission.org; 212.370.7885 x127).