Interreligious Association for Peace and Development
Tomiko Duggan, Global Coordinator for IAPD
Email: TDugganIAPD@upf.org
UPF maintains that any successful strategy for peace must take into account the spiritual dimension of our human identity, experience and interactions. Based on this worldview, UPF initiated the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development as a partner organization to the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace. Through interreligious dialogue and exchange of viewpoints among the world’s religions and faith-based organizations, terrorism, violent extremism and the world’s ills can be proactively addressed. Religious leaders are well-situated to deal with community-based concerns and can play a significant role in reconciliation and building a culture of peace. Due to their moral authority and emphasis on human rights based on the principle that we are one family created by God, religious leaders can help rebuild divided societies and assist in humanitarian services for the alleviation of hunger, disease and trauma due to violence and war. The world’s religions and faith-based organizations can provide a unique set of valuable resources for achieving a just and peaceful world.
IAPD Programs and Reports More
Founding IAPD Resolution
November 10-14, 2017 at the Lotte Hotel World Seoul, South Korea
As participants in the Interreligious Leadership Conference sponsored by the Universal Peace Federation and the American Clergy Leadership Conference on November 10-14, 2017, focused on the theme, “Addressing the Critical Challenges of our Time: The Role and Responsibility of Religious Leaders and Faith-Based Organizations,” we affirm the unique and essential role that religions are called to play in bringing about a world of lasting peace, a world in which people of all nationalities, ethnicities, races, cultures, and worldviews may live together in mutual respect, harmony and cooperation, as one family under God.
Throughout the ages religion has served as a guide to humanity, leading us from darkness to light, establishing the foundations of morality, and providing a vision of the good society. The teachings and scriptures of the great religious traditions are humanity’s greatest treasures. We dishonor them at our peril.
We also recognize that persons within each of our religions have fallen short and failed to embody those universal ideals that are espoused within our traditions. Religion, too often, has given rise to conflict.
We resolve to overcome the divisive tendencies that have emerged within religion and to work to promote dialogue, mutual respect and cooperation so that we may more effectively work to solve the critical challenges of our time, including poverty, hunger, injustice, environmental degradation, family breakdown, corruption, conflict and violence.
Not only should religions cooperate with one another---Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, and others---they should also work together with the leaders of governments and civil society and the private sector, as partners for the sake of building the world envisioned by our founders, our ancestors, and, indeed, all people.
We applaud the leadership of Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon and her late husband Rev. Sun Myung Moon for their vision and work over many decades to establish one family under God. On this day, November 13, 2017, we endorse the proposal to establish a new interreligious association, known provisionally as the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development.
Religious leaders from diverse faith traditions gather at the Interreligious Leadership Conference in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
History of IAPD
Decades of interfaith cooperation and peacebuilding created the foundation for the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development
Dialogue and Service
At the Universal Peace Federation, our efforts to promote interreligious dialogue and cooperation are at the core of our mission to contribute to building a world of lasting peace. This work reflects UPF’s recognition of the enduring and essential role that religion continues to play in the lives of billions across the world, impacting virtually all aspects of life, including morality, culture, family life, and human relationships. Religious leaders are closely connected to the people, at the grassroots level, and are there through both the good times and the bad, including times of conflict, displacement, illness and social disruption. The Interreligious Association for Peace and Development (IAPD) works to assist and support religious leaders and believers from all faith traditions in their efforts to resolve conflict and to serve the wider society and world. This effort lies at the very core of UPF’s peacebuilding work.
IAPD was launched in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on November 13, 2017. Over 400 delegates from over 60 nations endorsed its founding resolution. Participants included religious leaders, representatives of faith-based organizations, parliamentarians, academics and civil society figures. Dr. Hak Ja Han created the association five years after the passing of late Dr. Sun Myung Moon.
This succession gives IAPD its particular historical meaning. Our founders, Dr. Hak Ja Han and late Dr. Sun Myung Moon, developed a long course of interreligious cooperation, comparative religious study, global assemblies, youth service, religious freedom and interreligious peacebuilding. After his passing, Dr. Hak Ja Han preserved that accumulated experience and gave it a permanent place within UPF’s system of international associations. IAPD became the culmination of decades of interfaith initiatives and a continuation of their work.
IAPD convenes people of faith around practical questions. How can religious communities reduce prejudice, strengthen families, serve neighborhoods, protect freedom of conscience, support reconciliation and cooperate with public institutions? Its work includes conferences, prayer networks, peace education, community service and partnerships across regions.
Our history can be followed through a series of working methods. Christian ecumenism formed the starting point. Over time this effort expanded into a wider ecumenism among all faith traditions, and outreach to religious leaders, scholars, ordinary believers and youth. International assemblies gathered leaders from many traditions. Youth service projects combined dialogue with public service and interfaith cooperation. Peace federations connected religious leaders with civil society. Programs in conflict zones, such as the Middle East, combined interfaith and peacebuilding. Dr. Hak Ja Han gathered these experiences into a continuing global association
Christian Cooperation in Korea
The earliest institutional foundation began in Seoul in 1954, when late Dr. Sun Myung Moon established the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. The name expressed his concern for the unity of Christianity. As the movement expanded, this concern gradually produced organizations dedicated specifically to cooperation across churches and later across all religions.
On November 7, 1966, the Supra-Denominational Christian Association was established in the Republic of Korea. It created an early structure for contacts among ministers and Christian communities across denominational boundaries. This initiative appeared almost two decades before the major international interreligious organizations that later became associated with the founders.
The association entered an international phase on July 5, 1978, when the First International Ecumenical Conference of the Supra‑Denominational Christian Association was held at the Ambassador Hotel in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The event connected the earlier Korean Christian initiative with a wider circle of religious participants.
Further gatherings followed in Seoul. A Supra-Denominational Christian Association banquet took place on November 18, 1980, followed by a second banquet on May 14, 1981. These occasions reflected an approach that would remain important throughout the later history of IAPD: sustained relationships often begin through hospitality, direct conversation and repeated meetings.
Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon during the early years of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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HJ International Graduate School for Peace and Public Leadership Master of Arts in Peace Studies
Education and Ecumenical Dialogue
A major educational step came with the opening of the Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown, New York, United States, in 1975. The school welcomed its first class of 56 students on September 20. Its early faculty represented Methodist, Reformed, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Jewish backgrounds. Visiting scholars also brought Buddhist, Islamic and other perspectives into its programs.
The American seminary later became HJ International Graduate School for Peace and Public Leadership, and included programs in Peace Studies and Interfaith Peacebuilding. Its institutional history records the ecumenical conferences that began in 1977, the Global Congress of the World’s Religions, the New Ecumenical Research Association and the Youth Seminar on the World’s Religions.
A second graduate institution developed in the Republic of Korea. Cheongshim Graduate School of Theology opened in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, in 2004. It later became SunHak Universal Peace Graduate University, which now offers education connected with theology, peace governance, NGO management and international leadership. The American and Korean schools belong to different stages of the founders’ educational work: the seminary and graduate school in New York helped generate the interreligious networks of the 1970s and 1980s, while the Korean graduate university developed during the period when peace studies and NGO leadership had become established fields within the wider movement.
In 1977, the conference Toward a Global Congress of the World’s Religions met in San Francisco, California, United States. Related meetings followed in other parts of the world. These early conferences explored the creation of a large international gathering where religious leaders, scholars and practitioners could meet regularly.
A theological seminar held in the Virgin Islands in July 1978 continued this work. Participants associated with the New Ecumenical Research Association, known as New ERA, discussed Christian theology, ecumenism and relations with other religious traditions. New ERA developed into an intellectual bridge between the early Christian focus and the wider interreligious programs of the 1980s.
The God Conferences and the Turn toward World Religions
The annual “God: The Contemporary Discussion” conferences began in 1981. The first major gathering took place in Maui, Hawaii, United States, from December 26 to 31. Theologians, philosophers and religious scholars examined how belief in God, spiritual experience and religious language could be understood in modern society.
The God conferences created space for sustained discussion among scholars whose conclusions often differed. These meetings helped develop a network of theologians and religious studies specialists who later contributed to conferences, journals and publications connected with the International Religious Foundation.
The Youth Seminar on World Religions added direct experience to academic study from 1982 to 1984. Students and professors made a global pilgrimage to visit religious communities and sacred places, met practitioners and learned how different traditions approached worship, ethics and social life. This method anticipated the later combination of education, encounter and service.
The International Religious Foundation was incorporated in the United States in 1983. It provided an organizational home for interreligious scholarship, conferences, publishing and youth programs. Its related initiatives included New ERA, the Youth Seminar on World Religions, the Council for the World’s Religions, the Assembly of the World’s Religions and the Religious Youth Service. UPF’s historical review of dialogue and cooperation among religions records the development of this network.
Dialogue & Alliance: Dialogue and Cooperation Among Religions
The Assemblies of the World’s Religions
The first Assembly of the World’s Religions, held under the patronage of the future UPF founders, met from November 15 to 21, 1985, at the Americana Great Gorge Hotel in McAfee, New Jersey, United States. Over 600 participants from 85 nations attended under the theme “Recovering the Classical Heritage.” Religious leaders, scholars and practitioners joined plenary sessions, prayer, meditation, working groups and cultural programs.
The assembly addressed a practical problem. Religious traditions possess extensive intellectual and moral resources, while their institutions often remain separated by history, geography and inherited suspicion. The gathering allowed participants to study one another’s traditions and consider forms of long-term cooperation.
The second Assembly of the World’s Religions met in the San Francisco area of California, United States, from August 15 to 21, 1990. Over 500 participants from over 70 countries considered the theme “Transmitting Our Heritage to Youth and Society.” The discussions connected religious inheritance with education, family life and public responsibility.
The third assembly took place in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from August 24 to 31, 1992, under the theme “Religion and the Creation of World Peace.” Representatives of 12 major faith traditions worked through 11 committees. Prayer and ceremony were combined with discussions on peace, education and the role of religion in society.
The assemblies generated continuing activities. The journal Dialogue & Alliance began publication in 1987 and continues to the present day. Its title expressed two complementary tasks: honest dialogue among traditions and cooperation in areas of common concern. The Council for the World’s Religions maintained consultations among religious specialists between the major assemblies.
Personal encounters remained part of this international work. On November 14, 1990, a welcoming banquet for the Grand Mufti of Syria was held at the Little Angels Performing Arts Center in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Islamic scholarship, Korean religious leadership and international guests met in a setting designed for direct exchange. Such meetings created relationships that later supported wider peace initiatives.
Religious Youth Service: Dialogue through Action
The Religious Youth Service, or RYS, gave interreligious cooperation a practical form. Its first international project took place in the Philippines in 1986. Young participants from different religions and nations lived together, served a local community, visited places of worship and studied communication and peacebuilding.
RYS later organized hundreds of projects in over 70 nations. Participants repaired schools and clinics, constructed sanitation facilities, supported refugees, assisted disadvantaged families and worked on environmental projects. Programs combined physical labor, local partnership, religious visits, reflection and leadership education.
A 2003 RYS project in the Philippines brought participants together to repair and paint a school, construct bookshelves and improve the surrounding grounds. The work was accompanied by education and community engagement. Similar projects showed how service could build relationships among people whose religious identities remained distinct.
World Scripture and Comparative Religious Education
The publishing program produced another major result. World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts appeared in 1991 under the editorship of Andrew Wilson, with a preface by Ninian Smart and contributions from an international group of advisers.
The volume contained over 4,000 passages drawn from 268 written sources and 55 oral traditions. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, Zoroastrianism, the Bahá’í Faith, African traditions and Indigenous teachings were represented.
The editors arranged the texts around themes such as ultimate reality, the purpose of life, moral law, family, suffering, compassion, forgiveness, service and peace. Readers could compare how different traditions addressed the same human questions. The method respected the identity of each source while revealing common ethical ground.
A second major volume followed in 2007. World Scripture and the Teachings of Sun Myung Moon was published by UPF with Paragon House. Chung Hwan Kwak served as executive editor, Thomas Walsh as project director and Andrew Wilson as editor.
The 1,184-page volume retained the comparative structure of the earlier anthology and placed passages from world religions alongside selections from late Dr. Sun Myung Moon’s teachings. The first book presented a broad comparative collection. The later volume applied the same method to the founder’s thought and its relationship with the teachings of other traditions.
From Religious Conferences to Permanent Federations
The Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace was inaugurated in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on August 27, 1991. It created a permanent international network for religious leaders concerned with peace. Its establishment marked a progression from periodic conferences toward continuing institutional cooperation.
The Federation for World Peace developed a parallel network among political, civic and international leaders. The two streams came together on February 6, 1999, through the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace, or IIFWP.
IIFWP brought religious leaders into regular cooperation with heads of state, parliamentarians, diplomats, scholars, media figures and representatives of civil society. Its international assemblies expanded the Ambassadors for Peace network and encouraged the formation of peace councils in many countries.
On August 18, 2000, late Dr. Sun Myung Moon delivered “Renewing the United Nations to Build Lasting Peace” at United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States. He proposed a religious assembly or council that could contribute moral and spiritual insight to international deliberation.
The proposal identified complementary capacities. Governments bring legal authority, diplomatic structures and public resources. Religious communities bring moral traditions, local relationships, volunteers and direct access to families. This concept later became central to IAPD’s cooperation with parliamentarians and public institutions.
A parallel initiative addressed freedom of religion or belief. The International Coalition for Religious Freedom was active by the mid-1980s, organizing conferences, testimony and advocacy related to minority religions and freedom of conscience. Religious liberty remained part of the wider interreligious agenda and later became a recurring subject in IAPD programs.
The American Clergy Leadership Conference was founded in 2000. Its initial work focused on cooperation among Christian clergy in the United States. Its network later participated in interfaith activities and became an important partner in Middle East programs and the conference that launched IAPD.
Founders Address given by Reverend Sun Myung Moon at the inauguration of the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace on August 18, 2000 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States.
Peacebuilding in the Middle East
The Middle East Peace Initiative began in 2003 under IIFWP. An international consultation held in Washington, D.C., United States, from February 27 to March 2 developed its initial strategy.
Peace missions then brought Christian clergy, rabbis, Muslim leaders, Druze representatives, scholars, women, young people and civic figures into contact with communities in Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan. Programs included pilgrimages, local meetings, service activities, cultural events and fact-finding visits.
A large mission in May 2003 involved over 100 clergy and religious representatives. Participants visited sacred places, met local communities and took part in acts of repentance and reconciliation. The program was followed by a briefing connected with the United Nations community.
The Women of Peace mission in May 2004 brought 526 participants from 41 nations to the region. Further delegations came from Africa, Asia, Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, North America and Oceania. During its first decade, MEPI organized over 50 international delegations.
MEPI complemented official diplomacy through personal relationships and direct encounters. Participants entered places where political conflict, sacred history and community identity were closely connected. This experience became one of the strongest practical foundations for the future work of IAPD.
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The Women of Peace mission brought together 526 participants from 41 nations in 2004 to support peace, dialogue, and cooperation across the Middle East.
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Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han inaugurate the Universal Peace Federation in New York on September 12, 2005, launching a global movement for peace and cooperation.
UPF and a Wider International Structure
Dr. Hak Ja Han and late Dr. Sun Myung Moon inaugurated UPF in New York, United States, on September 12, 2005. UPF carried forward the international network of IIFWP and developed cooperation among religious, political, academic, media, business and civil society leaders.
UPF’s General Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council supports regular participation in United Nations civil society processes. The organization’s interreligious work became closely connected with the UN agenda for peace, human dignity, dialogue and sustainable development.
After the late Dr. Sun Myung Moon’s passing in 2012, Dr. Hak Ja Han assumed responsibility for the wider movement and continued the direction they had developed together. Under her leadership, UPF began forming permanent international associations for major sectors of public life.
The International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace was launched in 2016. IAPD followed in 2017 as a corresponding association for religious leaders and faith-based organizations. This structure created regular channels for cooperation between the religious and parliamentary fields.
Dr. Hak Ja Han Launches IAPD
The founding conference took place at the Lotte Hotel World in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from November 10 to 14, 2017. On November 13, over 400 delegates from over 60 nations endorsed the new association.
The founding resolution addressed poverty, hunger, injustice, environmental degradation, family breakdown, corruption, conflict and violence. It called for cooperation among Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and other traditions, together with governments, civil society and the private sector.
The inauguration expressed religious diversity through its program. Faith leaders from across the world offered prayers. Participants also reviewed the proposal for an interreligious council associated with the United Nations. The association’s vision was expressed through the ideal of one family under God.
Dr. Hak Ja Han’s action in 2017 carried forward the work of late Dr. Sun Myung Moon in an institutional form suited to UPF’s developing association system. His earlier initiatives had created the intellectual, educational and practical foundations. Her leadership brought those foundations together in a permanent international body focused on peace and development.
International Conference and Launching of the Korean Chapter of the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development
Summits of World Muslim Leaders
Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, late Dr. Sun Myung Moon became concerned about hostility and discrimination directed toward Muslims and the growing tendency to associate Islam with acts of terrorism. He proposed that Muslim leaders meet before the end of the year and speak from within their own tradition about peace, justice and the responsibilities of religious leadership. The Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace, UPF’s predecessor, developed this proposal into a series of Summits of World Muslim Leaders.
The first summit, Islam and the Future of World Peace, was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from December 20 to 23, 2001. H.E. Abdurrahman Wahid, former president of Indonesia, helped convene the meeting, while Dr. Tageldin I. Hamad chaired the planning committee. The Jakarta Declaration was adopted by 150 participants representing 51 nations. Sessions considered religion and spirituality, civic responsibility in political society, and interfaith, intercultural and international relations. Speakers included Dr. Alwi Shihab, Dr. Irawan Abidin, Professor Mumtaz Ahmad and H.E. Hadi Nejad Hosseinian, then ambassador of Iran to the United Nations.
The Jakarta Declaration affirmed Islam as a religion of peace and justice, upheld respect for life and human dignity, rejected violence against innocent people, and identified justice as central to overcoming violence and terrorism. It also described dialogue for harmony and mutual understanding as a Muslim religious responsibility and invited religious leaders to help their communities cooperate across religious and cultural boundaries.
The second Summit of World Muslim Leaders met in London, United Kingdom, from August 3 to 5, 2002, under the theme The State of the Muslim World Today. The published proceedings record more than 100 Muslim leaders representing approximately 25 nations. Baroness Manzala Pola Uddin and Dr. M. A. Zaki Badawi joined scholars and religious leaders in sessions on the role of Islam in the twenty-first century, human rights and democracy, Quranic interpretation in changing times, and Islamic education. The London Declaration developed the work begun in Jakarta. It connected Islamic governance with consent, consultation, the rule of law, transparency and accountability. It addressed freedom, justice and gender equality, encouraged inclusive interpretation and stronger education, and called for critical examination of trends that had contributed to extremist tendencies.
These summits combined the accurate presentation of Islam to wider society with serious reflection on questions within Muslim communities. They created space for internal diversity, public ethics and cooperation with other religions. This method became part of the interreligious heritage later carried forward by UPF and gathered into IAPD, enabling religious leaders to address global concerns from within their traditions while cooperating for peace and human development.
Expansion across Regions
IAPD expanded during 2018 through inaugural conventions on six continents. The European and Middle Eastern launch in Vienna took place on April 28 and 29 and brought approximately 250 participants from 45 nations.
Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Sikh representatives met with parliamentarians, scholars and civil society leaders under the theme “Toward Interdependence and Mutual Prosperity: The Role of Religious Leaders and Parliamentarians.”
Brazil inaugurated a national chapter in May 2018. The Geneva and Swiss chapter opened at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, on September 21. Its program involved representatives connected with the World Council of Churches, Catholic institutions, a Sufi brotherhood, Islamic organizations and local civil society.
The association continued through international assemblies, national chapters and recurring programs. A three-day workshop in Lusaka, Zambia, in April 2023 trained religious leaders in IAPD’s vision, objectives and organizational responsibilities.
Japanese interreligious forums brought Shinto, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian representatives into prayer and discussion on relations between Japan and Korea and peace on the Korean Peninsula. By January 2022, IAPD Japan and UPF Japan had held their 119th Interreligious Forum.
Interreligious Association for Peace and Development Launched in Europe
World Interfaith Harmony Week
The United Nations World Interfaith Harmony Week became one of IAPD’s most consistent annual frameworks. The United Nations General Assembly established the observance through Resolution A/RES/65/5 in 2010.
UPF actively promoted the week from its first years. IAPD gave this work a permanent international association after 2017. Across successive years, UPF and IAPD chapters organized dozens of programs involving thousands of religious believers, students, educators, Ambassadors for Peace and civic leaders.
Programs included prayer meetings, conferences, pilgrimages, exhibitions, youth debates, media forums, musical events and visits to religious communities. In Nepal, a 2018 program brought together 195 participants. In Nigeria, activities included a seven-day training program and visits to the National Mosque and National Ecumenical Centre in Abuja. In Japan, the 2019 observance was connected with the 103rd Interreligious Forum.
In February 2024, the exhibition “Through Faith to Peace” opened in Kazan, Russia, with 120 participants. It was held at the Temple of All Religions and connected art, interfaith education and the United Nations observance.
The 100 Days of Harmony and Hope campaign ran from United Nations Day 2025 to the opening of World Interfaith Harmony Week 2026. IAPD served as a central interreligious framework for the campaign, linking national and regional activities through a common international calendar.
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Interfaith harmony: Implementing the transformative agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals
Service in Communities
IAPD also became an important pillar of UPF’s 100 Days of Serving Community campaign from February 20 to June 1, 2026. The campaign moved through themes of partnership, service and family and concluded on the United Nations Global Day of Parents.
Faith leaders, Ambassadors for Peace and community organizations supported food assistance, environmental work, family programs, peace education, volunteer projects and local meetings. The campaign applied a principle developed through RYS and later IAPD experience: service gives interreligious cooperation a visible local expression.
Prayer Networks and Current Leadership
Recurring prayer has become another durable method. Tomiko Duggan, the current Global Coordinator for IAPD, helped lead the United States Interfaith Prayer for the Nation and the World from its beginning in April 2020.
The weekly online program began during the COVID-19 pandemic and connected religious leaders across the United States. By February 1, 2024, it had reached 200 consecutive sessions.
Between 2020 and 2023, 580 faith leaders offered prayers and reflections. They included 97 rabbis, 244 Christian pastors, 158 Muslim imams and 81 representatives of other traditions. The series reached its 300th session in January 2026.
In June 2026, IAPD opened the Global Interfaith Prayer for the Nation and the World as a monthly international program. Participants from different regions connected spiritual reflection with family life, social cohesion, community service and peace.
IAPD – The first Global Interfaith Prayer for the Nation and the World: “Spirituality and the Principles of Happiness” was sponsored by the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development (IAPD) on June 25
Current Programs in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America
IAPD’s work on the Korean Peninsula links prayer with peace education and public discussion. The 2024 International Leadership Conference in Gapyeong, Republic of Korea, gathered over 500 participants around religious harmony and peaceful unification.
In January 2026, a conference at the Vienna International Centre in Austria brought approximately 200 guests together. Diplomats, parliamentarians, former United Nations officials, academics, religious leaders, minority representatives, women and young people examined religious diplomacy, social cohesion and human dignity.
In Africa, the sixth Africa Spiritual Day in Maputo, Mozambique, on May 31, 2026, drew approximately 2,000 people in person and 400 online connections. Sufi, Bahá’í and Christian speakers joined parliamentarians, families and peace advocates under the theme “Family Values: A Blueprint for Interfaith Cooperation.”
In Latin America, a regional forum on cultural diversity in May 2026 linked IAPD with UPF’s associations of parliamentarians and academicians. Speakers from South and Central America addressed identity, education, cultural diversity and peace in the context of the United Nations World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
Later partner networks have extended the range of the association’s work. The Coalition of Faith-Based Organizations for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, established in 2019, brought religious and ethical perspectives into cooperation connected with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Its programs have addressed restorative justice, violence prevention, rehabilitation, corruption and the treatment of prisoners. The Korean Clergy Leadership Conference and the World Christian Leadership Conference have also worked with IAPD in programs concerning peace, religious cooperation and the Korean Peninsula.
Maputo, Mozambique – On May 31, 2026, the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development (IAPD-Africa) convened the 6th Africa Spiritual Day in Maputo
Religion, Development and the United Nations
These activities connect IAPD with Sustainable Development Goal 16, concerning peaceful and inclusive societies, justice and accountable institutions, and Sustainable Development Goal 17, concerning partnerships.
Religious communities contribute local knowledge, enduring relationships, volunteers, education and moral language. Public institutions contribute legal authority, professional capacity and national or international coordination. IAPD creates a place where these capacities can meet in practical work and shared responsibility.
IAPD’s history now encompasses Christian cooperation, theological conferences, comparative scripture, youth service, religious freedom, peace missions, prayer networks, family education and community action. Each stage added a specific capacity.
Dr. Hak Ja Han brought these capacities together within IAPD on the foundation created with late Dr. Sun Myung Moon. The result is an international association through which religious conviction can contribute to service, reconciliation, human development and peace.
IAPD welcomes continued partnership with religious communities, United Nations bodies, governments, parliaments, universities, civic organizations, women’s networks and youth groups interested in linking faith with service, reconciliation and human development. Such cooperation can strengthen communities and give moral conviction a practical role in building peace.
Participants in the IAPD General Assembly held at Cheon Won Gung Cheon Seung Church in Seoul, Republic of Korea, following the adoption of the resolution on "Universal Human Rights and Religious Freedom" on November 13.
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