The History of
World UNITY Week

U Day Ethiopia: The Land of Origins 2018

In the first week of February, 2018, UNITY EARTH, in partnership with the United Religions Initiative, the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia and the World Peace Prayer Society, invited more than 65 religious representatives of many faiths and musical artists from a wide range of nations to celebrate World Interfaith Harmony Week 2018 in Lalibela, Addis Ababa and Shashamane, Ethiopia.

Natives of Aboriginal Australia, indigenous leaders from North and Central America, Buddhist monks from Thailand, Sikhs, Baha’is, Sufis and Hindus from India, Jews, Christians and Muslims comprised a colorful and diverse gathering of people standing for unity, peace and compassion.

Highlights of the 7-day U Day Festival included visiting sacred sites in Lalibela and Shashamane, joining in a Convergence of Fire torch-lighting ceremony, and taking part in a most impressive event at the African Union, featuring Dr. Mulatu Teshome, the President of Ethiopia; His Holiness Abune Mathias, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church; the leaders of the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia; and a World Peace Flag Ceremony with fifty Ethiopian children raising the flags of all the nations of the world with the prayer, “May Peace Prevail on Earth.”

The mission of the U Day gatherings, which have been held previously in Thailand in 2012, at the Church Center for the United Nations in 2016, and in Crestone, Colorado in 2017, is to bring people into joyful harmony through interfaith understanding and the common language of music. UNITY EARTH and an international team from Australia, India and the United States, brought religious, spiritual and indigenous leaders, heads of international organizations and inspirational musicians together for a powerful experience of unity through diversity in the “Land of Origins.”

Fields Of Healing Byron Bay Australia 2018

Indigenous leaders from across the globe will converged in Byron Bay in 2018 for the first ever Fields of Healing on November 24th and 25th 2018. Presented by Unity Earth, this historic family-friendly gathering was a powerful celebration of cultural diversity and unity through music, art, workshops, performance, ecological healing and much more!

Co-hosted by Minyungbal Yugambeh songman Magpie Yerrubilgin, it was intentionally designed as a unique opportunity for intercultural, ecological and personal healing.

UNITY EARTH Lift Off NYC

 
The UNITY EARTH LIFT OFF was a unique celebration of harmony and peace that brought an international line-up of peacemakers, Indigenous leaders, musicians, diplomats, academics, youth and more to the historic United Palace in New York City.

“I commend the organizers of UNITY EARTH for convening such a rich and potent gathering of intertwining lives moving together through the power of our hearts to manifest culture, arts, music, film and speeches in a symphony of goodwill, harmony and joy. The experience served as a remembrance of the creativity of our inherent inner potential to bring forth sublime beauty while simultaneously having transcendence that returns us to the ground of sacred being from which we all arise.”

– Audrey Kitagawa, Chair, Parliament of the World’s Religions

Holy Land Living Water 2020

When people of diverse spiritual backgrounds open up to one another with respect, curiosity, and a sincere desire to discover common ground, partnerships and friendships can evolve in profound and unexpected ways…

At a time of great challenge in the world and in the Middle East, a diverse interfaith and intercultural group—Holy Land Living Water—journeyed to Jordan, Palestine, and Israel with the mission of the celebration of the world interfaith harmony week of the United Nations to enhance interfaith harmony, sharing interfaith events, collaborating in peace-building projects, and supporting programs to promote social well-being through ecological sustainability. Co-sponsored by UNITY EARTH, EcoPeace Middle East, and United Religions Initiative (URI), the delegation comprised ninety-two people from around the world, including Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha’i, Sikh, indigenous and interfaith spiritual leaders, social entrepreneurs, academics, diplomats, musicians, ecologists, filmmakers, and peace activists. Rabbi David Rosen, Advisor on Interreligious Affairs to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, was a patron for the event. Our mission was to bring a spirit of harmony and peace to the ancient sites and modern communities we visited and to serve as a living demonstration of interfaith and intercultural congeniality and creative collaboration in the spirit of the common shared value of the Golden Rule “ Treat others the way you want to be treated”.

Caravan of Unity 2020

The Caravan of Unity Across America and Around the World was the fulfilment of a vision that has been held since 2012, when the first U Day Festival happened in Chiang Mai Thailand.

Formally convened at the UN Tillman Chapel in October 2016 the “Road to 2020” has led through many sacred sites and events around the world and the Caravan of Unity is the last leg of that long road, climaxing in Peace Weekend 2020 (September 19-21) before completing on the National Mall in Washington DC on September 28, 2020.

While the US Caravan was moving from coast to coast the European Caravan of Unity Europe was hosting events across that continent also culminating in Peace Weekend and the International Day of Peace (September 21). You can see more about the exciting Euro Caravan at: https://caravanofunity.eu/