Brunei's Church Vicar, Chinese Temple Leader Joined Brunei Minister at UN Meeting

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade II and Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office YB Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng (3rd R) with other officials in a group photo at the Brunei International Airport yesterday. Picture: BT/ Fazizul Haqimie


Quratul-Ain Bandial
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Sunday, April 24, 2016

BRUNEI’S Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade is leading a delegation to Azerbaijan to attend the Seventh Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) which will take place from April 26 to 27.

Themed “Living Together in Inclusive Societies: A Challenge and a Goal”, the forum will discuss the role of social inclusion in preventing violent extremism, echoing the respective Plan of Action that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released in January 2016.

Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng will join 2,500 delegates from around the world to come up with solutions to advance the UN agenda.

Other members of the Brunei delegation include:

* Hj Mas Reduan Hj Jumat, senior religious research officer at the State Mufti’s Office;
* Isham Ismail, religious development officer at the Islamic Dakwah Centre;
* Bishop Cornelius Sim, vicar apostolic from the Church of our Lady of Assumption; and
* Tiah Eng Beng, vice chairman of the Chinese Temple Federation,

as well as other officers from the foreign ministry.

Local activist Khairunissa Ashari from the Brunei Youth Council will be attending the UNAOC Youth Event, which brings together 150 young leaders to define “The Narratives of Tomorrow”.

“We are going to focus our discussions to maximise the youth experience and contribution, to facilitate learning, sharing and partnership building,” she told The Brunei Times.

“Prior to this we took part in an online learning module to prepare us for the discussions. Specifically as an outcome of the youth session, we will be creating ‘Narratives of Tomorrow’, combining the problems and recommendations from all participants. My group is going to focus on developing an inclusive society through intercultural perspectives.”

Khairunissa was selected by the UNAOC Committee to take part in the event.

The UNAOC was established by the UN General Assembly in 2005, an initiative aimed at galvanising international action against extremism through the forging of intercultural and interreligious dialogue and cooperation. The Alliance places a particular emphasis on defusing tensions between the Western and Islamic worlds.

Brunei became a member of the UNAOC in June 2012 and has also participated in other interfaith meetings around the world through platforms such as the Asia-Europe Meeting, Non-Aligned Movement and others.

The Brunei Times

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