The United Religions Initiative (URI) is a global grassroots interfaith network.
It has local and global initiatives through more than 1100 member groups and organizations, called Cooperation Circles,Cooperation Circles, United Religions Initiative to engage in community action such as conflict resolution and reconciliation, environmental sustainability, education, women's and youth programs, and advocacy for human rights.
The organization was founded by William E. Swing, along with David Cooperrider and Diana Whitney.Cooperrider, David L. and Diana Kaplin Whitney, Appreciative inquiry: a positive revolution in change, page 31, Berret-Koehler Publishers Inc., 2005 The URI founding Charter was signed by more than 200 people present, and hundreds more joining over the Internet, at a ceremony in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, on June 26, 2000.
URI also holds consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Activities
Before the formal charter signing in 2000, URI supporters around the world participated together in a project called "72 Hours for Peace", in which more than 250 local organizations united in projects promoting peace and justice during the turn of the millennium.Talcott, Sarah, Building the Interfaith Youth Movement: Beyond Dialogue to Action, p78, ed. by Eboo Patel and Patrice Brodeur, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2006
Examples of global and member initiatives documented in the public record:
The Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative has played a key role in promoting peace in war-torn northern Uganda.Religion News Service, January 8, 2008, Jason Kane, Ugandan Religious Leaders Set Aside Rivalries in Pursuit of Peace The Ugandan groups are also participants in the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund supported by the World Bank.Marshall, Katherine and Lucy Keough, Mind, Heart, and Soul in the Fight Against Poverty, The World Bank, 2004 pp232-233 On December 9, 2025, URI signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The International Dialogue Centre – KAICIID to "to formalize their long-standing collaboration and scale up joint efforts in interreligious and intercultural dialogue across the globe.
References
External links United Religions Initiative