UNITED NATIONS
International Real Estate Federaton (FIABCI) Delegates Gather At The United Nations For Annual Luncheon
Delegates of the International Real Estate Federation, FIABCI traveled throughout the world to gather at the United Nations for FIABCI-USA’s annual UN Luncheon program. Keynote speaker was Dr. Michael Buckely, President of Halcyon Ltd. Development Advisors and professors at both Columbia University and the University of Texas at Arlington. His speech, titled “Seven Transition Waves in the Midst of Crisis,” examined the current economic environment and how it relates to future trends in demographic shifts, business growth and consolidation, emerging technologies, education and business. Additional sspeakers at the luncheon included FIABCI World President Lisa Kurrass and FIABCI-USA President, Judy Shenefield and Axumite Gebre-Egziabher, Director of UN-Habitat .
The meeting was a timely one for FIABCI’s theme for its 60th Year Celebration in Brussels, Belgium will be “Technology: Driving the Future of FIABCI.” “As our global marketplace experiences constant change as a result of the economic crisis, we need to examine the trends and history and then re-evaluate our business processes. It is important for world leaders within their respective industries to implement new processes accordingly,” explained FIABCI World President Lisa Kurrass. “Sometimes crisis can bring with it opportunity. If we learn to embrace change, we can redefine our business practices and possibly become more effective in the process.” she added.
For photos of the event, click here
DPI/NGO Recently Held a Briefing Titled
“Faith Series: Islam and its Message of Peace and Understanding among Civilizations”
Islam has over 1.7 billion followers today and it is one of the fastest growing religions in our world. Despite its pervasiveness in many parts of the world, to many it remains a belief system shrouded in mystery and not well understood. The word Islam is derived from the word ‘Salam’ which means total well-being and happiness. For many Muslims, Islam governs all facets of their life: moral, spiritual, social, and political. It is also a religion that promotes peace and understanding among people of all faiths, and strongly prohibits all forms of violence and aggression towards others regardless of their faith or race. One of the unfortunate consequences of the 9/11 incidents in the United States in 2001 was the linking of the Muslim backgrounds of many of the perpetrators of that crime to the teachings of Islam. This has unhappily led to a number of misconceptions and misinformation about Muslims in particular and Islam in general, and in many instances has created a climate of mistrust, disharmony and discrimination.
The United Nations has been a leading supporter of promoting dialogue, cooperation and mutual understanding among people of different races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds; and on 26 March 2009, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the “defamation of religions” as a human rights violation. This Briefing is part of what we call our Faith Series, it allows us to get a better insight into topics related to faith, in this case Islam, and how they convey important principles of the United Nations. In this Briefing, members of the NGO community will have the opportunity to see a different perspective on Islam and its relationship to the wider discussion within the international community of promoting dialogue among civilizations. We hope that we will all come away from our discussion with a new understanding of Islam that allows us to explore the themes of co-existence, tolerance, openness, cooperation and mutual understanding of the lifestyles and spiritual practices of others.
A Briefing was held in October at the United Nations which included the following people:
Moderator:
Maria-Luisa Chávez; Chief, NGO Relations, Department of Public Information (DPI)
Panel Speakers:
- Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Chairman and Founder of the Cordoba Initiative
- Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Human Rights Lawyer and Activist, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
- Mustapha Tlili, Founder and Director of the Center for Dialogues at New York University
- Marc Scheuer, Director of the UN Alliance of Civilizations
The Panel discussion was followed by a Question and Answer period
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