Azza Karam Quotes

Talking to UNFPA staff and hearing about Thoraya’s vision, I came to realize that she was one of the most incredible articulators of what is in my heart. She has power as an under-secretary-general of the United Nations. There was an under-secretary-general who understood religion, who believes that religion is an integral part of culture, is what is going to make the world change. That was firmly and fundamentally my belief, too. I took what I saw as an extraordinary opportunity.

Violence is against the very fabric of any faith tradition. When the faiths come together, any form of violence is absolutely abhorrent and out of the question.

In the reasoning of Amartya Sen, the Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, the process of development is best understood as an expansion of the freedoms people enjoy in five spheres: political, economic, social, and transparency and personal security. These are precisely the spheres of development that require transformation.

No partnership anywhere in the world does not carry at least a seed of suspicion in it. The point is not to cover or pretend it is not there and that we are all lovey dovey

The instrumentalisation of religion is as old as religion itself. So it behoves us to be alert to both the goodness and the harm which “using religion” can cause.

...behavioural change in most parts of the world in which religion remains deeply rooted in people’s consciousness is rendered possible when religious leaders start speaking to the necessity of that change as part of what makes a person more faithful.

We need these Interreligious Councils to be strengthened so they can serve the shared well-being of their nations effectively and in a timely manner.

Exploring this field of human rights was far from easy, and my interest in the links to religion was even more difficult. The religious groups were, putting it mildly, not the most accepted by the governments. A lot of my work involved coming sitting through many discussions in meetings of men, and of men and women, and of women. I listened to many debates and discussions, and many tried to get me to see their point of view.

My husband, who was also serving as the career advisor for students in the university, came across an advertisement by WCRP. The advertisement was very cleverly crafted and spoke directly to who I am. It appeared to require simultaneous knowledge of gender and religion and international relations and politics. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I applied and was selected. That’s how I came to WCRP..

The revolution is proceeding with the hiccups associated with any comprehensive transformation entailing the political, social, economic, and legal overhaul of an entire country. Is the

...we don’t need to go outside to learn, if we come together in our diversity, institution diversity, religious diversity, cultural diversity, national diversity, social diversity, cultural diversity, if we come together in our diversity, all the knowledge we need is within, is between us

It's one thing to work at an organization, it’s an entirely different thing to lead it. When you work at an organization, it’s easier to be the “servant of it.

Ignorance about the role of religion in people’s lives, or a secular fundamentalist attitude which essentialises religion, seeing all religions as the same and all as being largely harmful, are major hindrances to those of us urging a better understanding of the role of the religious in civil society.

For religions to be about peace requires many things: we need to appreciate that religious consciousness, spirituality, or belief is a force for good in most people’s lives, and we need to appreciate that religious institutions suffer from some of the same ills as all other institutions populated by humans, but that this is no cause to dismiss all the institutions.

I am not serving as a woman or a Muslim, but there has been a remarkable flow of goodwill and a wiliness to work together, whether Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Buddhist, Jewish or Hindu.