Wisdom, resources, commitment. (First Person).

On 28 August 2000, for the first time in UN history, prayers for peace from all the major religious traditions filled the UN General Assembly Hall, inaugurating the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. Secretary-General Kofi Annan referred to the Summit as one of the most inspiring gatherings ever held at the United Nations-the idea for the event emerged from a conversation between him and Ted Turner some three years earlier. Under-Secretary-General Maurice Strong was present during the conversation and later discussed the idea with me. I saw the concept as the fulfillment of the dream of my teacher, the Jain Master Acharya Sushil Kumar Maharaj. Thus, the Summit was born. Ongoing support from Mr. Annan and Mr. Turner, as well as Mr. Strong and Gillian Sorensen of the Office of the Secretary-General, enabled a small group of committed individuals to bring this initiative to fruition. The global communications firm, Ruder Finn, provided housing, staff and support services so that th e Summit secretariat could get under way.

The goal of the World Peace Summit was to explore how religious leaders can work more closely with the UN system to support and strengthen peacemaking and peacekeeping activities. The process of setting the agenda for the Summit included extensive consultations with religious leaders around the world. These consultations highlighted the need to address healing and reconciliation, the eradication of poverty, and the preservation and restoration of the environment, in addition to conflict transformation. These themes became the focus of the working sessions that followed the two days of prayers, meditations and presentations on peace initiatives in the Assembly Hall.

Over 2,000 people participated in the World Peace Summit, including more than 1,000 religious leaders from over 110 countries. Most of the regions of the world experiencing conflict or tension among religious and ethnic groups were represented by multi-faith delegations, and special working sessions were devoted to these zones of tension. In addition to leaders from major religious traditions, over 100 leaders of the indigenous and native faiths participated. It was the first time in history that so many high-level leaders from diverse religious traditions came together.

Aye Aye Thant, daughter of former UN Secretary-General U Thant, wrote a beautiful letter to the Summit secretariat, stating that it was a long-held wish of her father to bring religious leaders to the United Nations to explore how political and spiritual leaders can work in closer cooperation. She was deeply touched that in this millennium year, her father's vision was becoming a reality.

One outcome of the World Peace Summit was the signing of "A Global Commitment to Peace", a document condemning violence, especially when perpetrated in the name of religion, and calling for respect for all religions. Another outcome is the creation of regional peace initiatives to focus on local concerns. These will bring together religious and spiritual leaders from within a region, with a select group of global religious leaders also participating, to explore how local religious leaders can work with local UN agencies to promote peace and heal tensions, alleviate poverty and address environmental issues. Initiatives are already being planned in Africa and in various countries in Asia.

It became evident during the Summit how few women hold positions of senior leadership within the religious traditions, and some of the women delegates in attendance supported the formation of a women's spiritual network. Its function would be to identify and bring together significant women spiritual leaders from each tradition. This has set in motion a process to organize a global conference of women in religious and spiritual leadership during the year 2002.

Perhaps the most significant outcome of the Summit was the support generated for the development of a Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders for the United Nations. The purpose of this Council is to support and strengthen, the work of the United Nations globally. A steering group is being created to explore the plan for such a Council--its structure, function and sources of funding--that will function on the global level. On the local level, the goal is to build on existing networks and establish councils of religious and spiritual leaders within every country to work with local UN offices on the most pressing issues within their regions. Thus a worldwide network of religious and spiritual leaders will be established as an interfaith ally to the United Nations.

Our religious communities hold an astounding wealth of wisdom, resources and commitment. The World Peace Summit demonstrated their tremendous support for the work of the United Nations. A partnership for peace could over time help reduce the number of conflicts over religious differences, if our religious leaders begin to play a more vocal role in educating their constituents to live with respect for each other's traditions.

Bawa Jain Is Secretary-General of The Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders.