Working with religious actors on all aspects of human rights carries both challenges and opportunities. - Azza Karam

This is an organisation that was convened when religious leaders from each religious tradition from around the world came together for peace against nuclear armament and all forms of conflict and whose first World Assembly had three themes: human rights, development and disarmament. This is an organisation that has never been a platform for empty slogans.

I think that’s a natural response for women – to want to help as many people as possible. And for young people, they are often the ones to get out there and do something. And then seeing this response from the women and youth, I think encouraged those older, more established religious institutions to say, “Absolutely, we must come together and address the needs of our entire, multireligious community.

Gender is very often intimately connected to sexuality – who we believe we are, how we feel and see and use our bodies. For this reason, almost all faith traditions have an opinion on the matter. The more institutionalised the religion, the more dominant the framework of gender, sex and patriarchy.