Interfaith Breakfast for the commitment of Religious Leaders to promote positive values and parenting

About 60 leaders from different religious and spiritual denominations and other representatives of faith based organizations, gathered in the Dominican Republic on November 20, to celebrate the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children, on the occasion of the International Day of the Child, and to reaffirm their commitment to the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents living in the country, on the premise that violence against children is an unacceptable reality and that religious leaders have a moral and spiritual responsibility to promote concrete actions to prevent and respond to violence against children, protecting the respect for human dignity.

The event was attended by the General Manager of the National Council for Children and Adolescence (CONANI), Ms. Tilza Ares, and by representatives of UNICEF. It also had the coverage of 13 mass media outlets.

During the event a video was presented in which 10 religious leaders of the country from Catholic, Mormon, Muslim, Protestant, Bahai, Hindu, Brahma Kumaris and International Society of Divine Realization faith traditions answered questions on the subject of child protection and made a commitment to protect children through positive parenting and the promotion of non-violent values. The leaders that were interviewed stressed the importance of ethics and spiritual education as a means to reduce violence against children.

The central part of the breakfast was dedicated to the presentation to the leaders, of the general content of the National Roadmap on the Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Children, that CONANI, together with the civil society and some of the UN agencies has been developing in the course of 2013, following the commitments made by the country at international level for the implementation of the Recommendations of the UN Global Study on Violence against Children. The National Roadmap will be officially launched in the country in the coming months.

The video is available at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YniMn8dtljM

Two adolescents then shared with the audience their experience during the ethics education workshops on the “Learning to Live Together” program, that some members of the GNRC began implementing in March 2013 with a group of 35 adolescents, with the goal of promoting a culture of respect, mutual understanding, empathy, responsibility and peace. In the coming months the ethics education program will be extended to parents, and other community members.

The breakfast concluded with the Interfaith Prayer for the Good Treatment of Children and Adolescents drafted by the GNRC.