UNITAR New York Office Launches Initiative on Governance and Social Cohesion with Yale University Retreat

20 October 2014, New Haven, USA – The UNITAR New York Office, together with Yale University, hosted a private retreat on the topic ‘Discerning a Common Understanding of Governance and Social Cohesion’. The retreat brought together representatives from academia, civil society and the diplomatic community, offering them an opportunity to reflect on issues of identity, stability and governance. In particular, there was a focus on the role that religion can play in promoting inclusive governance, with emphasis on the situation in Iraq.

The retreat featured presentations from senior Yale faculty members drawn from the fields of political science, theology and law. These dealt with a broad range of topics relevant to the retreat’s title, including: the relationship between Islamic sharia and civil law, methods to combat the narrative of transnational jihad, and strategies for dealing with religious diversity. The scholarly presentations explored these topics with extraordinary depth and insight. Taken together, they offered a comprehensive overview into the many causes of social instability, and the steps that governments and societies can take to overcome this.

In addition, the retreat included presentations from scholars of Sunni and Shia Islam. Both stressed the core religious tenets shared by the two sects, and offered suggestions as to how faith leaders could promote harmony at a community level. They noted the importance of multi-faith interaction at a civil society level, stressing that this can have a major effect in abating broader sectarian conflicts.  

The retreat concluded with a presentation from a representative of the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations. Thanking UNITAR for organizing the event, he again stressed the link between inclusive societies and broader stability, in Iraq and elsewhere.

Overall, the retreat proved to be a highly meaningful exercise, offering participants an independent forum in which to engage with some of the most pressing issues affecting global stability. In doing so, it generated numerous proposals aimed at promoting inclusive governance in politically problematic situations. Given the presence of senior diplomatic and governmental officials, it is hoped that the ideas generated at the retreat will translate into policy.

UNITAR is very grateful for the support the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations, of Yale University, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the World Council of Churches, and the Peace Islands Institute, all of whom were sponsors of the retreat.

Photo 1: Professor March from Yale University

Photo 2: Participants of the workshop