“When you do things from your soul,
you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”
Rumi
Although 2023 was a difficult year for human rights worldwide, it ended with a milestone commemoration on Human Rights Day (December 10, 2023) as the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). During these hard times, we must remind ourselves of UDHR`s core ambition of infusing societies with equality, fundamental freedoms, and justice. We must also live up to its promise of enshrining the rights of all human beings as a global blueprint for international, national, and local laws and policies.
As Rumi Forum highlighted its importance with an intern-led project in Fall 2020, Say YES (Youth Empowered Solutions) to Human Rights:
“It is no longer enough to simply be citizens of our local community. In order to not be bystanders to human rights violations, we must engage as global citizens. This demand may seem to be too much to bear on one person, but to be an active global citizen does not require an individual to come up with the solution to the world’s problems. However, it does require them to start the conversation. This is where institutions come into play.”
Rumi Forum is one such institution that provides individuals with a platform to gather and engage in stimulating exchanges of opinions and raise voices and concerns on how we can grow and be better supporters of Universal Human Rights. By stimulating dialogue and thinking, we encourage people to think about the role of international institutions in advocating for human rights.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) outline criteria that they believe are necessary for a just world. SDG 16 accentuates the need for peace and inclusivity in societies. It advocates for creating strong and just institutions as part of the solution to reducing inequality, which aims to:
“Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.”
As we welcome 2024, we are excited to celebrate a milestone for Rumi Forum, its Silver Jubilee. For the last 25 years, Rumi Forum has strengthened a culture of peace, pluralism, and social harmony among faith communities and individuals of diverse beliefs, ethnicities, and backgrounds. We strive to achieve this overarching goal by building, informing, and mobilizing an active interfaith dialogue community.
After a very productive year in 2023, the Center for Faith, Identity, and Globalization is also looking forward to 2024 to enhance Rumi Forum`s bridge-building work and strengthen the impact of interfaith initiatives with a research component. Through its fellows, scholars, contributors, and associates, our interdisciplinary center is excited to continue generating academically informed analyses and hosting scholarly exchanges in the New Year.