Professor Dr. Azza Karam

Prof. Dr. Azza Karam serves as the Secretary General of Religions for Peace – the largest multi-religious leadership platform with 90 national and 6 regional Interreligious Councils.

She served as a Senior Advisor on Culture, at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); and as Coordinator/Chair of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development; with over 600 faith-based organizations from all regions and religions of the world. She is the Lead Facilitator for the United Nations’ Strategic Learning Exchanges on Religion, Development and Diplomacy. Professor Karam has served in different positions in the United Nations since 2004, as well as other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations since the early 1990s, such as International IDEA, and Religions for Peace.

His All-Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch 

Bartholomew is the 270th successor to the Apostle Andrew and current archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch since November, 1991. He is first among equals in the Orthodox Church and spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide.

His efforts to promote religious freedom and human rights, his initiatives to advance religious tolerance and dialogue, as well as his efforts to promote the protection of the natural environment, have placed him at the forefront of global visionaries of reconciliation and earned him the title “The Green Patriarch.” Time Magazine has listed Bartholomew as one of the “100 most influential people in the world.”

Venerable Master Shih Cheng Yen

Venerable Master Shih Cheng Yen is a Taiwanese Buddhist nun, teacher and philanthropist.

Cheng Yen is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the development of modern Taiwanese Buddhism. In Taiwan, she is popularly referred to as one of the “Four Heavenly Kings” of Taiwanese Buddhism.

Cheng Yen founded the Buddhist humanitarian organisation, the Tzu Chi Foundation in 1966. Cheng Yen is sometimes referred to as the “Mother Theresa of Asia”.

Bishop Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir

Agnes M. SIgurðardóttir is the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, was elected in 2012 and is the first female bishop in Icelandic church history.

Bishop Agnes has focused on the humanitarian role of the church with support for refugees and children in need. She has acknowledged and supported interreligious dialog as an important part of modern society that we live in. Bishop Agnes has been leading the Icelandic Lutheran church into environmental action and has started Green church action and restoration of the wetland on church property.

Sister Jayanti Kirpalani

Sister Jayanti Kirpalani is European Director of Brahma Kumaris Europe and Middle East. She has been an emissary for peace, travelling the world as a speaker and broadcaster and has worked tirelessly to promote positive, human and spiritual values to all sectors of society. She has undertaken extensive research into the role of spiritual values in world change.

Since 2009, she has led the Brahma Kumaris delegation to the UN Climate Change Conferences and spoken internationally about the spiritual perspectives relevant to climate change.

Chief Rabbi David Rosen, KSG CBE

Rabbi David Rosen is the former Chief Rabbi of Ireland and currently serves as the Jerusalem-based Director of International Interreligious Affairs at the American Jewish Committee.

He is a member of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel’s delegation for relations with world religions and is International President of Religions for Peace; Honorary President of the International Council of Christians and Jews; and the Jewish representative on the Board of Directors of the King Abdullah International Center for Interreligious Dialogue.  He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his work for inter-faith relations and human rights, including the Papal honorary title Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great (KSG) and Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).