The guest speaker at the September 15, 2010 meeting was Mr.Stein Villumstad, the Deputy Secretary General of World Conference of Religions for Peace. (third from left) Mr. Villumstad is also the Chair of the global coalition that works toward a UN Decade of Inter religious and Intercultural Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace. He has also worked for twenty years with Norwegian Church Aid.Mr. Villunstad has contributed a number of articles including: "Social Reconstruction on Africa: Perspectives from Within and Without." (Action Publishers, Nairobi, 2005)
From their website: Religions for Peace is the largest representative inter-religious collaboration in the United States. RFP-USA, that seeks to translate deeply held and widely shared values into concrete multi-religious action through programming initiatives with three foci:
- Championing diversity
- Building community
- Mentoring emerging leaders
For RFP-USA, peace and justice are the motivation, process, and outcome of their efforts. As an educational, information-gathering organization, RFP-USA brings leaders together, facilitating the development of new relationships between communities while strengthening the connections that already exist. RFP-USA is trusted advisor: a collaborative organization with a body of knowledge it is eager to share—ready to serve as a consultant and guide for corporations, agencies, and civic organizations working on matters of diversity and inclusion.
New York Rotarian, Sheila Washington (right), invited Irina Karyachkina, the secretary for theNizhny Novgorod Rotary Club in Russia to participate in the breakfast meeting discussion.
