Message from the First Meeting of the Interfaith Council 16 May 2005

Being invited in our capacities as religious leaders, scholars, educators and people experienced in working with children and young people across cultural and religious traditions, we affirm that

• an ethics education which intentionally and constructively fosters a multicultural and pluralistic society will empower children to help create a world of greater justice, peace and dignity
• fostering children’s spiritual development based on common ethical values, as formulated, for example, in the Declaration Towards a Global Ethic by the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 1993, will contribute to the realization of the right of the child to full and healthy physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development and the right of the child to education set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child
• educational systems and processes should empower children and young people to play a vital role in a dynamic and critical thinking on and practice of ethics, and should assist each child and young person to be able to build a positive relationship with the self, the other, the environment, and what they relate to as a divine reality or moral force.

Being aware of the troubled situation of the world’s children in both developing and developed countries, which demands the promotion and practice of ethics that foster the interdependence of all societies, communities, and individuals and that respect universally shared ethical values, we call attention to

• the urgency of implementing the ethics education initiative in local communities around the world, building alliances with people, organizations and institutions concerned about moral and ethical development of children
• the importance of utilizing existing experiences and cooperating with existing networks
• the necessity of providing concrete, practical instruments as resource materials and examples which can be adapted and used as guides in different contexts
• the role of Interfaith Council members, their organizations and networks as advocates for ethics education for children.

We commend all who collaborate in this ethics education initiative and, as members of the Interfaith Council on Ethics Education for Children, commit our own continued support and contribution to the success of the initiative.