IV CONGRESS

We, the participants of the IV Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, are united in recognizing the divinely established destiny of man, his dignity and inalienable rights.

We express our desire and commitment to peace and harmony as the only correct choice of mankind for its better future.

We are deeply grateful to Kazakhstan for this noble initiative to promote dialogue between religions and cultures, aimed at improving mutual respect, understanding and cooperation among followers of different religions, people and States for the common good of humanity.

We believe that religion is one of the most important and influential of modern means of resolving social problems and achieving world peace and prosperity.

We express our readiness along with political and public figures to appropriately respond to the existing spiritual, ethical and moral challenges including extremism and terrorism which hide behind religion.

On behalf of all people belonging to different religions and spiritual traditions, we recognize the shared values of mutual respect, understanding and harmony which are moving through interfaith dialogue.

Their significance allows us to hope and affirm that in the second decade of the twenty-first century the human community will not lose the desire for faith, friendship, solidarity, justice and creative activity. Therefore, we should fully take advantage of different religions and cultures of the world.

We believe strengthening the moral and spiritual foundations of society and the revival of traditional family values is an indispensable condition for sustainable development of the world, the key to the knowledge of the meaning and purpose of human existence.

We believe that the creative role of women in the family and society must enjoy deep respect, recognition, and get full support from people and organizations.

The future of the world is in the hands of the young people.

We reaffirm the importance of forming positive life choices of our young people, strengthen the foundation of their morality, spiritual development and progress through education at all levels.

Today's young people from an early age should have the right to acquire thorough knowledge about their own religious traditions, as well as they learn their native language, history, culture. However, we are convinced that the person knows his religion, will never disparage someone else's faith.

We are sure that thanks to these qualities the world will be protected from destruction and increase their development potential.

We feel sad by the ongoing war, ethnic conflict, rising crime, a manifestation of religious intolerance and radicalism, leading to violence in different parts of the world. Following our religious traditions, we condemn the threat or use of force in any form and urge all States to work together to resolve these issues through dialogue.

We are convinced that a dialogue based on the principles of mutual respect and understanding, compassion and forgiveness, justice and solidarity, peace and harmony is the only way for building a secure world.

In this regard, we call for the improvement of the mechanisms of interaction between religious communities, political leaders, international organizations and civil society.

We support the Council of Religious Leaders which goal is to deepen further mutual understanding and cooperation between representatives of different religions.

We appeal to all people of good will to support and join efforts to build a just, secure and prosperous world.

We wish every human being peace, happiness and prosperity!