United Religions Initiative

United Religions Initiative URI (United Religions Initiative) is the world’s largest global grassroots interfaith network. Donate to URI: https://www.uri.org/donate

URI is a global grassroots interfaith network that cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities and the world.

Nature’s calling, and URI communities answered!!! Let’s go! ...
06/05/2026

Nature’s calling, and URI communities answered!!! Let’s go! From the beaches of Sri Lanka to the forests of India to the assembly halls of Barcelona, we showed up for the Earth today.

Europe: Sacred Earth, Shared Humanity URI Europe Assembly, Barcelona

Nearly 50 interfaith leaders, peacebuilders, and youth changemakers gathered in Barcelona for the URI Europe Assembly 2026 under the theme “Sacred Earth, Shared Humanity: URI Europe Responses to Violence and Harm.”

Sri Lanka: Restoring Our Coasts, Empowering Our Future

URI Sri Lanka launched Green Unity 2026 at Mount Lavinia Beach, bringing together over 250 youth, students, and volunteers for a beach clean-up, tree planting, an awareness walk, and an inter-school poster competition.

India: Plant Trees, Save Lives Satyam Sports Trust URI, Gomia, Bokaro

At Nehru Sports Ground in Swang, Gomia, Satyam Sports Trust URI marked the day with a tree and environment exhibition, community education, and the planting of the season’s first saplings.

What did you do?

Share in the comments and let’s celebrate with Mother Earth today! Read more : https://www.uri.org/uri-story/20260605-world-environment-day-2026

06/04/2026

In a time of climate pressure, social division, and rapid change, URI North America activated grassroots interfaith leadership across the United States and Canada — demonstrating how local communities can respond with compassion, creativity, and collaboration.

Home to 86 Cooperation Circles and 468 Individual Members, the region led initiatives that addressed some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

In Arizona, the Arizona Faith Network Cooperation Circle responded to periods of extreme heat by establishing interfaith cooling centers — offering safe, welcoming spaces for those most at risk. This life-saving effort demonstrated how interfaith cooperation can meet urgent environmental challenges while centering human dignity and care.

For the International Day of Peace, the region brought together speakers from Catholic, Jewish, Jain, Native American, Muslim, and Buddhist traditions to explore the importance of cultivating peace in communities today — a powerful example of dialogue across deep difference.

And Think Round Inc. Cooperation Circle, a nonprofit founded in 2004, brought together faith leaders, educators, artists, and scientists to teach thousands of elementary school children and their families through an innovative, interdisciplinary art-and-science curriculum — nurturing peace where it begins, in the home and the classroom.

From climate resilience to education and community care — URI North America is proving that peace is built locally. 🌎

📖 Read the full 2025 Annual Impact Report: https://www.uri.org/uri-story/20260310-local-voices-global-movement
🤝 Join the URI network: https://www.uri.org/welcome

“Peace is usually silent, and we don’t always recognize those who bring peace.”Meet Maria Crespo, URI’s Director of Grow...
06/02/2026

“Peace is usually silent, and we don’t always recognize those who bring peace.”

Meet Maria Crespo, URI’s Director of Growth, Learning, and Impact, who was recently honored as an Official Ambassador of Italy’s prestigious Premio Nazionale Segni di Pace (National Signs of Peace Award).

But knowing Maria, she wouldn’t let it be about her alone.

She walked into that room in Rome carrying every grassroots peacemaker she’s ever met across 120 countries.

Her story is rooted in personal loss, faith, and a lifelong conviction that there is always another way.

It’s a story about what it means to truly see peace in others and to shine a light on it.

Read her full story on our website here: https://www.uri.org/uri-story/20260601-time-peace

06/01/2026

In a year marked by social polarization, and collective fatigue, URI Europe served as a vital connector — strengthening resilience, cultivating conversation, and building trust across the continent.

The region welcomed 5 new Cooperation Circles and 74 Individual Members, and in 2025 delivered some of its most significant work to date.

URI Europe published the much-anticipated ABC of Interfaith Dialogue — a practical, multilingual resource offering key definitions, histories, and concepts essential for understanding across faiths. It has quickly become a key resource for NGOs, youth leaders, educators, and religious communities.

Through the Resilience Series, the region equipped more than 100 grassroots leaders from around the world with practical tools for peacebuilding and a supportive global network — helping overcome the isolation that so many community leaders face.

In Germany, 31 participants from six faith traditions met to discuss migration, social movements, and lived experiences of displacement and hope — a courageous dialogue in a challenging political moment.

In Bulgaria, the Rivers of Peace interfaith youth camp trained 9 new youth facilitators, built friendships across religious and national lines, and affirmed youth as central to the future of peace.

And in Portugal, URI strengthened its partnership with the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), opening new possibilities for joint programming, capacity building, research, and advocacy.

Together, Europe's many voices are becoming one movement for peace. 🌍

📖 Read the full 2025 Annual Impact Report: https://www.uri.org/uri-story/20260310-local-voices-global-movement

🤝 Join the URI network: https://www.uri.org/welcome

05/31/2026

FIIDI-Sierra Leone is honored to participate in the upcoming “Gathering for Earth 2026” global dialogue hosted by United Religions Initiative on Tuesday June 2, 2026, where we will share our innovative community-based approaches to peacebuilding, storytelling, climate resilience, and inclusive development in Sierra Leone. During the session, we will highlight our Community Engagement and Understanding Program, including the Community Circles for Peace, Thread of Peace community theatre initiative, and efforts to end child, early, and forced marriage, alongside our Climate-Smart Gardening Demonstration Site for training the blind and physically challenged persons through sack-manure backyard gardening and sustainable livelihood opportunities. The event provides an important platform for learning, collaboration, and collective action toward healing communities and caring for the Earth.

Eid al-Adha Mubarak 🌙On this sacred day of sacrifice and devotion, may the spirit of Ibrahim's faith inspire courage, co...
05/27/2026

Eid al-Adha Mubarak 🌙

On this sacred day of sacrifice and devotion, may the spirit of Ibrahim's faith inspire courage, compassion, and renewal in us all.

May peace flow across every border, every faith, every heart today and always.

At the URI, we stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters in celebrating this holy day and in the shared conviction that people of all faiths can work together for the good of all life on Earth.

Taqabbal Allahu minna wa minkum

With deep sadness and immense gratitude, URI mourns the passing of Rita R. Semel, co-founder of URI and the first Chair ...
05/14/2026

With deep sadness and immense gratitude, URI mourns the passing of Rita R. Semel, co-founder of URI and the first Chair of our Global Council.

On June 26, 1995, following the United Nations’ 50th anniversary gathering at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Rita turned to Bishop William E. Swing and said:

“We can’t stop here.”

Those words helped carry forward the vision that would become URI.

Rita served as URI’s first female leader, guiding the first Global Council as Chair during the organization’s formative years. She presided over the signing of URI’s Charter, chaired URI’s first Global Assembly in Rio de Janeiro, and helped shape a global interfaith movement rooted in cooperation, courage, and shared responsibility.

Her leadership was deeply rooted in San Francisco, where she helped build the city’s interfaith community over decades. Her legacy was also honored publicly by U.S. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who paid tribute to Rita on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, calling her “one of the great moral forces of our community.”

Rita’s life reminds us that interfaith is not abstract. It is daily, local, courageous, and deeply human.

Her legacy lives on through Cooperation Circle members, Individual Members, Global Council Trustees, staff, advisors, supporters, and all who carry forward the movement she helped begin.

May her memory be a blessing.

May her work continue through ours — because indeed, we can’t stop here.

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