The panel discussion will frame the impact on poverty from the worldwide devastation being experienced in North America, Asia and Africa. The ethical issues of including women in decision making roles and the need for including grassroots women's organizations to address these issues will be presented as a solution to our current ecological crisis.

Moderator, Nina Simons, Co-Founder Bioneers Conference
Nina Simons is a social entrepreneur and Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Bioneers. Bioneers
is a national nonprofit that helps highlight, gather and disseminate breakthrough solutions to our most pressing environmental and social challenges. Throughout her career, Nina has pioneered innovative social marketing strategies for successful ventures that have worked to advance social and environmental change. Previously, she served as president of Seeds of Change and as director of strategic marketing for Odwalla. Nina also has an enduring interest in the leadership of women and restoring the "feminine" to a balanced place in our culture. In 2006, she began offering Cultivating Women's Leadership, a five-day intensive for diverse women with the passion and capacity to effect change in their communities.

Pam Rajput, Ph.D., is an Indian academic turned internationally
renowned activist who has been engaged in the women's movement since the mid-70s both in India and internationally. She helped organize and was
the first Speaker of a "Women's Parliament" that brought together over
500 women leaders from every part of India. A recipient of many academic
fellowships, she is a member of several expert committees and bodies in
India including the nation's: Planning Commission, Ministry of Women &
Child Development, National Commission for Women, delegation to the
UN Commission on the Status of Women, and many others. She is also the
founder and Director of the Centre for Women's Studies & Development
and the Head of the Department of Political Science at Panjab University.

Rucha Chitnis, Indian Program Director of the Women's Earth Alliance

Maame Yelbart-Obereng, African Program Director of Women's Earth Alliance

click here for a press release

February 15, 2012; 1:15pm – 2:30pm
Annual Ghandi King Chavez Season for Nonviolence

"Global Peace Through Social Media: There's an App For That!"

United Nations
Entrance located at 1st Avenue between 45th and 46th Street, NYC

Organized by the New York City Season for Nonviolence Task Force in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Philippinesto the United Nations

Lead Sponsor: Temple of Understanding

Co-Sponsors:
The Association for Global New Thought
Siddhachalam – International Mahavir Jain Mission

Speakers: H.E. Mr. Libran N. Cabactulan, Ambassador Ex-traordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative. Ambassador Libran Cabactulan is a career diplomat, whose foreign assignments include Geneva, Brussels, New York, Sydney and the United Arab Emirates. Prior to his current assignment as Permanent Representa-tive to the United Nations, he was first assigned as Philippine Ambassador for Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation at the Philippine Mission in New York, and served in various high level capacities at the home office in Manila. Key Note Address By Nipun Mehta: Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace (formerly CharityFocus), an incubator of projects that works at the intersection of volunteerism, technology and gift-economy. Nipun has received many awards, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service, the President's Volunteer Service Award and Wavy Gravy's Humanitarian award. He serves on the advisory boards of the Seva Foundation, the Dalai Lama Foundation, and Greater Good Science Center. Nipun's mission statement in life now reads:"Bring smiles in the world and stillness in my heart." Anup Desai, Professor. Anup is currently working as an adjunct professor of geography at the City University of New York at the College of Staten Island and an adjunct professor of philosophy at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Prior to his position in the CUNY system he held a position as professor at Alliant International University in Mexico City where he lecture on the subject of International Relations and Environmental Studies. One Voice is the collaborative choir of the Trenton Children's Chorus and the Westminster Conservatory Children's Choir. The Trenton Children's Chorus has performed at the National Cathedral, with Bobby McFerrin and Dave Brubeck and for both Governor Corzine and Governor Christie. The Westminster Conservatory Children's Choir has performed three times at the White House, at the National Cathedral and has recorded for ETS and Silver Burdett. Together in 2010 they premiered "Stand Tall Children," a new work by Francisco Nunez, and sang for the 13th annual Season for Nonviolence. Both choirs are conducted by Patricia Thel. Student Presentation: The Susan E. Wagner Conflict Resolution Program, founded in 1993, is an institution for nonviolence and peace that fosters the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi as guides toward hope in our schools and in our communities. The program continues to lead in the field of Peace and Community Leadership. It has been featured on ABC News and 20/20 Special Reports. Susan Wagner High School also has one of the most prominent Council for Unity Chapters in the Nation.

About SNV:

"A Season for Nonviolence is a national educational, media, and grassroots campaign dedicated to demonstrating that nonviolence is a powerful way to heal, transform, and empower our lives and our communities. It was inspired by the anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and now also honors César Chavez."

click here for a press release

Please contact Suzanne Guthrie for more information and to RSVP for your school. All Schools Must RSVP with ALL ATTENDEES NAMES for UN Security Reasons.

Suzanne@templeofunderstanding.org or 212-573-9224 x 23

World Interfaith Harmony Week
Program at United Nations General Assembly
7 February 7 2012 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m

"Common Ground for the Common Good"

The President of the 66th General Assembly of the United Nations, H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, in partnership with Member States, UN agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), is hosting a program to close the annual World Interfaith Harmony Week in the United Nations General Assembly, titled "Common Ground for the Common Good."

Mr. Al-Nasser has issued a 40-day countdown message for World Interfaith Harmony Week _
Click here to view the statement

The event, organized with civil society representatives including The Committee of Religious NGOs, will focus on "Common Ground for the Common Good" – the foundation of values traditionally shared by the religions of the world, as well as the United Nations.

In addition to the President of the General Assembly and Deputy Secretary-General Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, there will be a wide range of religious and secular speakers from around the world, plus live musical offerings, an interfaith presentation by children, and a beautiful tree ceremony.

The event will be webcast live at http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast.

The World Interfaith Harmony Week (www.worldinterfaithharmonyweek.org) was established by GA Resolution A/Res/65/5 to be observed from 1-7 February beginning in 2011. The resolution calls upon UN Member States "to support, on a voluntary basis, the spread of the message of interfaith harmony and goodwill in the world's churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other places of worship during that week, based on love of God and love of one's neighbour or on love of the good and love of one's neighbour, each according to their own religious traditions or convictions." The resolution recognizes that "the moral imperatives of all religions, convictions and beliefs call for peace, tolerance and mutual understanding," and that such "mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue constitute important dimensions of a culture of peace."

This common ground also includes the historical good done by people of all faiths in many of the areas of the work of the United Nations as well as current successful partnerships in various parts of the world between UN agencies and religious groups. Speakers from various regions will reveal the common ground shared with one another and the United Nations, particularly in four key areas of shared concern: conflict mediation, disaster prevention and relief, sustainable development, and revitalization of the United Nations.
Registration for the program is free, but must be completed by February 1st at www.interfaithharmonyweek.info.

The Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN (www.rngo.org) has issued a call to its members to promote observance of World Interfaith Harmony Week worldwide.

General Assembly President Al-Nasser states, "I trust that people of all faiths and traditions will participate in advancing the goal of interfaith harmony and to lift up what is good in both their own religion and the religion of others."

January 10, 2012 6:00 to 9:00 PM

Screening and Discussion

Film BEYOND BELIEF
With Special Guest, Director, Beth Murphy

Auburn Theological Seminary - Stewart Room
3041 Broadway
New York, NY 10027

Co-sponsored with Prepare New York and Hartley Film Foundation

"You choose your way into yourselves" is a most apt description of how two Boston widows (Susan Retik and Patti Quigley) chose to live their lives in the years following their husbands' deaths on planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11. The women traveled to Afghanistan to meet Afghan women who were also widows and helped the Afghan widows to discover means to support their families.

From the ruins of the World Trade Center to Kabul and back, the film Beyond Belief is a journey of personal strength and international reconciliation, and a testament to the vision that peace can be forged - one woman at a time.

Panelists: Robina Niaz, Mashal Hamidi and Director Beth Murphy

Robina Niaz is the founder and Executive Director of Turning Point for Women and Families, the first non-profit in New York to address domestic violence in the Muslim community in New York City. Robina Niaz, was recognized by Bank of America Charitable Foundation as a "Local Hero." Coverage of Robina's story has aired on CNN, CNN International, Headline News, CNN Espanol, and Larry King Live.
For more info: www.turningpoint-ny.org

Mashal Hamidi, earned her BA in Sociology from Adelphi University. She began public speaking at the age of seventeen at a Children's Rights Conference at the UN on the topic of "Children and Violence in Afghanistan". She speaks at conferences and university campuses on topics such as Migration in Afghanistan, Sexual Trafficking and Access to Education for young women and girls. Currently, Mashal is the Public Relations liaison for the Afghan Women's Fund which supports the work of several different grassroots organizations and volunteer groups in Afghanistan.

PLEASE RSVP TO: info@hartleyfoundation.org

For more information call212-573-9224, ext 22