Happy New Year! ICERMediation App To Be Launched In January 2023

ICERM December 31, 2022

Happy New Year from ICERMediation

We are grateful to have worked with you in 2022. 2022 was full of activities at ICERMediation.

We hosted over 6 lectures during our monthly membership meetings. The lectures addressed emerging issues in ethnic, racial, and religious conflict and conflict resolution in different regions of the world
We trained and certified 18 new Ethno-Religious Mediators
We hosted the 7th Annual International Conference on Ethnic and Religious Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York
We were actively involved in the United Nations meetings through our Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
We published important peer-reviewed articles in the Journal of Living Together, Volume 7, Issue 1, Ethno-Religious Conflict and Economic Change
We designed and launched a social media website in August 2022 with the new rebranding, ICERMediation
We created two new projects – Virtual Indigenous Kingdoms and Living Together Movement – to be implemented in the first quarter of 2023
We developed a mobile app – The ICERMediation App – to be published in the App Store and Play Store in January 2023 so users like you can download the app. The ICERMediation App will be used to implement Virtual Indigenous Kingdoms and Living Together Movement in different countries around the world. Indigenous leaders will be able to create their virtual indigenous kingdoms on the app. Accepted peacebuilders and conflict resolution professionals will be able to create a Living Together Movement Chapter for their cities or universities on the ICERMediation App.

We very much look forward to working with you to build inclusive communities in towns, cities and schools around the world.

Do not forget to send a proposal or register for the 8th Annual International Conference on Ethnic and Religious Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding scheduled for September 26 – September 28, 2023 in New York City.

With peace and blessings,
Basil Ugorji, Ph.D.
President and CEO
International Center for Ethno-Religious Mediation (ICERMediation)
Webpage: https://icermediation.org/community/bugorji/

Share

Categories: Press Releases

Tags: 2022 in review, Happy New Year, ICERMediation App, Living Together Movement, Virtual Indigenous Kingdoms

Related Articles

Complexity in Action: Interfaith Dialogue and Peacemaking in Burma and New York

Introduction It is crucial for the conflict resolution community to understand the interplay of the many factors converging to produce conflict between and within faith…

Share

Paul Adem Carroll November 3, 2016

Dr. Frances Bernard Kominkiewicz PhD

Relationship between Ethno-Religious Conflict and Economic Growth: Analysis of the Scholarly Literature

Abstract: This research reports on the analysis of scholarly research that focuses on the relationship between ethno-religious conflict and economic growth. The paper informs conference…

Share

Frances Bernard Kominkiewicz December 18, 2022

Igboland

Religions in Igboland: Diversification, Relevance and Belonging

Religion is one of the socioeconomic phenomena with undeniable impacts on humanity anywhere in the world. As sacrosanct as it seems, religion is not only important to the understanding of the existence of any indigenous population but also has policy relevance in the interethnic and developmental contexts. Historical and ethnographic evidence on different manifestations and nomenclatures of the phenomenon of religion abound. The Igbo nation in Southern Nigeria, on both sides of the Niger River, is one of the largest black entrepreneurial cultural groups in Africa, with unmistakable religious fervour that implicates sustainable development and interethnic interactions within its traditional borders. But the religious landscape of Igboland is constantly changing. Until 1840, the dominant religion(s) of the Igbo was indigenous or traditional. Less than two decades later, when Christian missionary activity commenced in the area, a new force was unleashed that would eventually reconfigure the indigenous religious landscape of the area. Christianity grew to dwarf the dominance of the latter. Before the centenary of Christianity in Igboland, Islam and other less hegemonic faiths arose to compete against indigenous Igbo religions and Christianity. This paper tracks the religious diversification and its functional relevance to harmonious development in Igboland. It draws its data from published works, interviews, and artefacts. It argues that as new religions emerge, the Igbo religious landscape will continue to diversify and/or adapt, either for inclusivity or exclusivity among the existing and emerging religions, for the survival of the Igbo.

Share

Egodi Uchendu November 17, 2023

Conversion

Conversion to Islam and Ethnic Nationalism in Malaysia

This paper is a segment of a larger research project that focuses on the rise of ethnic Malay nationalism and supremacy in Malaysia. While the rise of ethnic Malay nationalism can be attributed to various factors, this paper specifically focuses on the Islamic conversion law in Malaysia and whether or not it has reinforced the sentiment of ethnic Malay supremacy. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country which gained its independence in 1957 from the British. The Malays being the largest ethnic group have always regarded the religion of Islam as part and parcel of their identity which separates them from other ethnic groups that were brought into the country during British colonial rule. While Islam is the official religion, the Constitution allows other religions to be practiced peacefully by non-Malay Malaysians, namely the ethnic Chinese and Indians. However, the Islamic law that governs Muslim marriages in Malaysia has mandated that non-Muslims must convert to Islam should they wish to marry Muslims. In this paper, I argue that the Islamic conversion law has been used as a tool to strengthen the sentiment of ethnic Malay nationalism in Malaysia. Preliminary data were collected based on interviews with Malay Muslims who are married to non-Malays. The results have shown that majority of Malay interviewees consider conversion to Islam as imperative as required by the Islamic religion and the state law. In addition, they also see no reason why non-Malays would object to converting to Islam, as upon marriage, the children will automatically be considered Malays as per the Constitution, which also comes with status and privileges. Views of non-Malays who have converted to Islam were based on secondary interviews that have been conducted by other scholars. As being a Muslim is associated with being a Malay, many non-Malays that converted feel robbed of their sense of religious and ethnic identity, and feel pressured to embrace the ethnic Malay culture. While changing the conversion law might be difficult, open interfaith dialogues in schools and in public sectors might be the first step to tackle this problem.

Share

Nur Daut November 18, 2023