c/o Rev. Patrick Hanjoul
Ontariostraat 7
8340 Damme
Belgium
- Arts
- Democracy and community development
- Environment/Sustainable development
- Gender
- Heritage
- Human rights
- International/Cultural relations
- Media
- Religion
- Youth and education
URI Europe's purpose is to support the vision and mission of the global URI network in Europe. URI's purpose is to promote enduring daily interfaith cooperation, end religiously motivated violence and create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings. URI Europe serves a European network of interfaith organisations - currently 60 in 22 countries. It is registered as international NGO under Belgian law. It is governed by a General Meeting consisting of interfaith leaders from across Europe. They elect an international board, currently 7 people. URI Europe is supported by a part-time Coordinator and 2 part-time Liaison Officers. Its current annual budget is ca. 70.000 Euros. Its core operations are funded through allocations from URI global (headquarter in San Francisco). In addition it participates in funding calls, writing grants. It receives very occasionally modest donations from affiliates. But most of all, a very big part of the work happens through considerbale volunteer time and in-kind donations. URI Europe organises a European gathering ca. every 1,5 years to promote collaboration among stakeholders, exchange of good practices and launch common projects. It organises online community calls and trainings. It uplifts and gives visibility to interfaith work on the ground. It supports interfaith organisations in their projects with mentoring, connections and hands-on-support on a daily basis. URI Europe also supports the dissemination of good practices and interfaith resources. Among URI (Europe)'s partners are Arigatou International in Geneva, ENORB in Brussels, various faith based actors, local initiatives, municipalities, the Jewish Muslim Conference and many others. URI has consultative status at the United Nations (ECOSOC) and collaborates with the UN and international bodies, such as UN New York, UN Addis Abeba, Afrian Union etc.. In Europe URI has just accredited two URI Europe team members at the Palais des Nations / UN-Geneva. URI Europe plans to further develop the cooperation with international policy makers, e.g. through EU and CoE (Council of Europe) accreditations.
Mission URI is a global grassroots interfaith network that cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities and the world. We implement our mission through local, regional and global initiatives that build the capacity of our member groups and organizations to engage in community action such as conflict resolution and reconciliation, environmental sustainabilty, education, women's and youth programs, and advocacy for human rights. Vision URI envisions a world at peace, sustained by engaged and interconnected communities committed to respect for diversity, nonviolent resolution of conflict and social, political, eoncomic and environmental justice.
URI Europe organises a European gathering ca. every 1,5 years to promote collaboration among stakeholders, exchange of good practices and launch common projects. It organises online community calls and trainings. It uplifts and gives visibility to interfaith work on the ground. It supports interfaith organisations in their projects with mentoring, connections and hands-on-support on a daily basis. URI Europe also supports the dissemination of good practices and interfaith resources.
We plan to nominate a Belgian ALF Liaison who can participate in the Belgian network, attend meetings and communicated in French and/or Flemish. We are continuously looking for a person with the right skills to take on this role.
We have joined the ALF Network in 2010, because the aims and objectives of the ALF Network are in full allignment with URI Europe's. It is part and parcel of URI Europe to support intercultural dialogue and create inclusive, empathic and resilient societies and fight against mistrust and polarisation. These aims are at the life blood and DNA of URI. URI plays a strong role in the interfaith field to support youth leadership, women's voices; highlights and lives diversity on a daily basis, including cultural diversity; brings the grassroots voice to policy makers; and want to support more cohesive societies. We want to develop collaboration, partnerships and joint projects with other ALF members and mutually support each other.