During his speech at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations’ (UNAOC) celebration of the International Day of Human Fraternity

Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Elders: Document on Human Fraternity reminds us of our common humanity and challenges, regardless of our faith and cultural backgrounds

The Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Elders has spoken at the at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations’ (UNAOC) celebration of the International Day of Human Fraternity has noted that the Document on Human Fraternity, which was co-signed by His Eminence Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders alongside His Holiness Pope Francis, Pontiff of the Catholic Church reminds us of our common humanity and challenges, regardless of our faith and cultural backgrounds.

At the event, Judge Abdelsalam said, “The moment we commemorate the International Day of Human Fraternity is a moment of awakening our human conscience, which has been disturbed by the phenomena threatening the very existence of the entire human race. This holds particularly true for those phenomena related to growing discrimination and hatred against those who may have a different nationality, faith, culture, or language. Today, these manifestations are taking a dangerous turn that threatens open conflicts in many regions of our world, fueling existing conflicts and narrowing the chances of finding peaceful solutions.”

Abdelsalam continued, “The world has followed how ignorance of different religions and cultures has reached the point of attacking and demolishing places of worship. We also witness scenes of burning copies of the holy scriptures of hundreds of millions of monotheistic faiths followers, in a clear violation of their feelings of and the due respect for their beliefs and sanctities. I would like to thank the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations for its strong statement condemning those practices that undermine human fraternity and attempt to downplay all the great efforts to foster its values.”

The Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Elders added, “Our reality encourages us to recall the values of human fraternity as we celebrate the International Day of Human Fraternity today and every day of the year. We need to join forces and promote these values and fundamental humanitarian principles, outlined in the historic Document on Human Fraternity that reminds us of our common humanity and challenges, regardless of our faith and cultural backgrounds. Over four years of its signing, the Document has created an undeniable global movement. Various nations have adopted the Document on Human Fraternity as a national charter. I would also like to commend the decision taken by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to integrate the Document on Human Fraternity into their programs.”

The event was attended by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres

along with Miguel Ángel Moratinos, the UN High-Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, the Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations Osama Abdel Khalek, the United Arab Emirates Permanent Representative to the United Nations Lana Nusseibeh, Adama Dieng - the former UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and His Eminence Allahshukur Pashazadeh, the Grand Mufti of the Caucasus and member of the Muslim Council of Elders.