“To truly impact the fabric of society, religions have to jointly develop a harmonized vision of what they believe material and spiritual prosperity entails and the steps needed to achieve that,” said Rachel Bayani, Representative of the Baha’i International Community, at a panel on the role of interreligious harmony in advancing sustainable development.

Ms. Bayani further highlighted the importance of involving religious actors in the shaping of development policy, as “religion can offer a broader conception of development and offer insights into what the full flourishing of human potential entails”.

The panel took place in the context of an international interreligious conference in Brussels titled “Promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue for a safer world” and hosted by the State Committee on Religious Associations of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Baku International Multiculturalism Center.

Ramazan Askerli, a representative of the Baha’is of Azerbaijan, who gave closing remarks during one of the panels, stressed that. “The aim of participation in interfaith dialogue”, he explained, “is to draw out universal principles and to learn from each other’s experiences in applying them”.