International Day of Human Fraternity | |
---|---|
Observed by | UN member states and International Organizations |
Significance | Promotes greater cultural and religious tolerance |
Date | February 4 |
Next time | February 4, 2025 |
Frequency | Annual |
First time | 2021 |
Related to | United Nations |
The International Day of Human Fraternity was established by the United Nations General Assembly on December 21, 2020, with resolution 75/200 [1] [2] as a way to promote greater cultural and religious tolerance. [3] With this resolution, which was co-facilitated by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, [4] the United Nations invited all its member states and other international organizations to observe the International Day of Human Fraternity annually on February 4. [5]
Celebrations of the International Day of Human Fraternity include events attended by UN member states, religious leaders and civil society representatives [4] along with the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, which recognizes individuals or entities anywhere in the world for their profound contributions to human fraternity. [6]
Since it was celebrated for the first time on February 4, 2021, [7] the International Day of Human Fraternity has received endorsements from different world leaders. Pope Francis; [8] Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar; [9] and the President of the United States, Joe Biden, [10] [11] have given their support to the initiative.
Pope Francis of the Catholic Church and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, on February 4, 2019, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, signed the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, also known as the Abu Dhabi declaration. The principles of compassion and human solidarity embodied in this text are the same ones that later inspired the declaration that designated February 4 as the International Day of Human Fraternity, as it has been stated by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, in different occasions. [7] [12]
To fulfill the aspirations of the Document on Human Fraternity, the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity (HCHF), [13] was established in August 2019. The HCHF, which is constituted by both religious and civil leaders from different countries and creeds, awards the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity among other initiatives.
Finally, the Document on Human Fraternity also influenced the encyclical Fratelli tutti, as Pope Francis acknowledges in the same text by stating that he was inspired to write it by his meeting with Ahmed el-Tayeb in 2019.
José Manuel Ramos-Horta GCL GColIH is an East Timorese politician. He has been the president of East Timor since 2022, having previously also held the position from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2002 to 2006 and Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007. He was a co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, for working "towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor".
The Al-Azhar University is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic learning. In addition to higher education, Al-Azhar oversees a national network of schools with approximately two million students. As of 1996, over 4,000 teaching institutes in Egypt were affiliated with the university.
António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socialist Party, Guterres served as prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, popularly known by his initials as MBZ or MbZ, is an Emirati royal and politician who currently serves as the third president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi.
The Catholic Church in Bahrain is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
The Catholic Church in the United Arab Emirates is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar, officially known as Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, is the tenth and current Grand Mufti of India. and General Secretary of the All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama and General Secretary of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama.
Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed El-Tayeb is an Egyptian Islamic scholar and the current Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Al-Azhar Al Sharif and former president of al-Azhar University. He was appointed by the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, following the death of Mohamed Sayed Tantawy in 2010. He is from Kurna, Luxor Governorate in Upper Egypt, and he belongs to a Sunni Muslim family.
Holy See – United Arab Emirates relations are the foreign relations between the Holy See and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The earliest form of contact between officials of both states was when the founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, unofficially met Pope John Paul II in the 1980s. Relations between the two were not established until 31 May 2007. According to a Vatican communiqué, the diplomatic arrangement was founded on a desire to promote “bonds of mutual friendship and of strengthening international cooperation.
Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, MCCJ is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church and a historian of Islam. He has been an official of the Roman Curia since 2012 and an archbishop since 2016.
Events in the year 2019 in the United Arab Emirates.
The Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, also known as the Abu Dhabi declaration or Abu Dhabi agreement, is a joint statement signed by Pope Francis of the Catholic Church and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, on 4 February 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The document was born of a fraternal open discussion between Francis and Tayeb and is concerned with how different faiths can live peacefully in the same world, and it is meant to be a guide on advancing a "culture of mutual respect".
The Rafah terror attack was a terrorist attack conducted by the Islamic State – Sinai Province on an Egyptian Armed Forces checkpoint in Rafah in North Sinai on 7 July 2017 and resulted in the death and injury of 23 Egyptian soldiers, including the high-ranking El-Sa'ka officer, Col. Ahmed Mansi. 46 terrorists were killed and six cars of the militants were destroyed in the attack.
Fratelli tutti is the third encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on fraternity and social friendship"; it was released in 2020. In the document, Francis states that the way the COVID-19 pandemic was managed by world countries has shown a failure in global cooperation. The encyclical calls for more human fraternity and solidarity, and is a plea to reject wars.
Pope Francis has had main contacts with those of other Christian faiths, with those of other religious beliefs, and with non-believers.
The Abrahamic Family House is an interfaith complex on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. The undertaking was inspired by the Document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis on behalf of the Catholic Church and Ahmed El-Tayeb on behalf of the al-Azhar Mosque on 4 February 2019 in Abu Dhabi. It houses the St. Francis Church, Imam Al-Tayeb Mosque and Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue in separate structures.
Imam Al-Tayeb Mosque, is located in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The mosque is named after the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed El-Tayeb. It is a part of the larger Abrahamic Family House complex.
The Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue is a synagogue located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The synagogue was officially opened on February 17, 2023, and is named after the 12th century Jewish philosopher Moses Ben Maimon. The synagogue is the first public synagogue in the United Arab Emirates. It is a part of the Abrahamic Family House complex.
The Higher Committee of Human Fraternity (HCHF) is an independent body of world religious, academic and cultural leaders created on 19 August 2019 based on the Document on Human Fraternity signed by the Pope Francis and Ahmed el-Tayed. The aim of the committee is to implement the purposes set out in the Document on Human Fraternity at the international level.
Ahead of the COP28 summit between political leaders of the world, the Muslim Council of Elders in partnership with the COP28 Presidency, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Catholic Church, and under the patronage of the UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, organized a Global Faith Leaders Summit convening 28 faith leaders to address climate change. The two-day summit, held on 6 - 7 November 2023, was hosted in Abu Dhabi gathering different faith leaders with climate experts to fight climate change.