World Interfaith Harmony Week

 World Interfaith Harmony Week (WIHW) is an annual event which is observed the first week of February each year, from the 1st-7th. The United Nations adopted the resolution on the 20th of October 2010 just one month after it was proposed by King Abdullah II of Jordan on September 23, 2010.

The idea of the World Interfaith Harmony Week as approved by the United Nations, became an annual event which is held yearly. They planned the World Interfaith Harmony week to promote tranquility, unification and cooperation between individuals of other Faiths and including communities of no faith. It is to establish peace as a culture through creating a platform for interreligious dialogue and mutual perception.

Since the adoption of World Interfaith Harmony Week, the United Nations has organized various programs to mark the date with many themes.

In 2012, the theme for WIHW was "The Diaspora-a Force For Positive Change”. The United African Congress established it together with Give Them a Hand Foundation. They organized it as a Forum in the United Nations which focused on helping immigrant people of the United States with different faith and ethnicity to live side by side sharing the same values, in terms of love for God and Neighbor.

In 2013, to further drive the message of positivity started through the uniting of Migrant communities in the United States, an African spiritual leader from Guinea was included who was invited to talk on the need for peace among peoples.

In 2014, the theme was “Tolerance, Reconciliation and Forgiveness” and they did this in remembrance of the late Nelson Mandela, who helped his country to defeat the regime of apartheid and brought about multicultural democracy. This meeting was Co-sponsored by both the Mission Of Ethiopia and the mission of Indonesia.

In 2015, the subject for the WIHW was “Interfaith Prayer, Healing, and community services in the cause of Peace.”  This subject came because of the Hurricane “Sandy” which destroyed the homes of people in and around New York City and the intervention of the United African Congress by partnering with interfaith volunteers in helping affected victims to clean and provide them with food. The Mission of Ethiopia, Indonesia and Jamaica were co- sponsors.

In 2016, the WIHW was “Building Bridges across Boundaries” and the choice of the theme was because of the break out of the Ebola pandemic that broke out in countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea killing 11,000. In the same year, the launching of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goal was done.

And in 2021, the WIHW is taking place and different programs have been set up to hold in regard to this to further drive home the desire for World Interfaith Harmony Week in a time when there is a huge fight against the outbreak and continuous spread of the COVID-19 pandemic which has taken many lives and still spreading since 2020 when it first broke out. We cannot overemphasize the need for World Interfaith Harmony as everyone race and faith notwithstanding, are putting hands together to see a way of fighting this pandemic and restoring health. Also, on the 4th of February, the International Day Of Human Fraternity was inaugurated.

James Neequaye Kotey

Teshie, Ghana

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