World religious leaders adopted Shusha Declaration

The Shusha Declaration of Religious Leaders was adopted within the framework of the VI World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Azerbaijan.

World religious leaders held a meeting in Shusha. As a result, the declaration was adopted.

The declaration calls on states, public organizations and religious leaders to support urgent measures aimed at bringing immediate end to wars and military conflicts; to support the cooperation of leaders of world and traditional religions with state and public institutions and international organizations in order to promote intercivilizational and interreligious understanding and create an environment of peaceful coexistence by promoting the ideas of dialogue and universal humanism; to take effective measures to prevent the name of religion from being associated with terrorism and crimes against humanity, discrimination, racism, harmful ideologies and propaganda inciting violence on racial, religious and ethnic grounds; to condemn acts of vandalism against religious symbols, shrines and attributes, and not to justify such actions under the pretext of democracy and freedom of speech; to promote education of young people about equal citizenship and the role of the media in these processes in order to participate more actively in the fight against xenophobia and discrimination; to support the protection and respect of religious, cultural and ethnic diversity; to express deep concern about the humanitarian crisis that is reaching the level of a catastrophe in the world as a result of the massive influx of refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants as a result of armed conflicts, persecution and violence; to make efforts to restore their violated rights, as well as to eliminate the factors leading to the emergence of such situations; to expand cooperation in preventing harmful ideologies and hate speech that incite racial, religious and ethnic violence through the media and information technology; more effectively use the potential of religions in establishing peace, global dialogue and human solidarity in the world, as well as in solving problems related to climate change; to call for support for the joint activities of the state, religion, science and public figures in the field of protecting human rights, the rights of women and children, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.