On 5th October 2023, The Episcopal Church and SCRAP Weapons invited speakers from different faith-based organisations and religious denominations to contribute to a panel along with researchers, former officials and NGOs on the theme of “Interreligious Dialogue and Disarmament,” hosted at the Episcopal Church Centre in New York.

Stimulated by the severity of present circumstances, and the need to redirect resources away from military spending towards Sustainable Development Goals, SCRAP Weapons has built a global constituency of Ambassadors, UN officials, academics, religious organisations and peacebuilding NGOs, to campaign for the reactivation of the General Assembly’s mechanism of Special Sessions Devoted to Disarmament (SSOD), as recommended by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres in the “New Agenda for Peace” policy brief (July 2023).

Speakers:

• Lynnaia Main, Episcopal Church Representative to the United Nations
• Bishop Ian Douglas, Bishops United Against Gun Violence
• Zahraa Kapasi, Consultant, SCRAP Weapons
• Martin Butcher, Policy Advisor on Disarmament, Oxfam UK and SCRAP Weapons
• Imam Saffet Catovic, Director of United Nations Operations for Justice For All and Trustee, Parliament of the World’s Religions
• Prof. Dr. Gita Dharampal, Dean of Research, Gandhi Research Foundation, India.

Moderator:

• Vanessa Canola, Project Assistant, SCRAP Weapons