Kristian Niemi, 2016
Kristian Niemi, 2016

PRIO Global Fellow Professor Priyankar Upadhyaya was invited by the President of the United Nations General Assembly to participate in a roundtable discussion at the High-level Forum on the Culture of Peace at the UN Headquarters on 13 September 2019.

Professor Upadhyaya was invited to sum up the round table discussion on "Mobilizing the Capacity of Faith Actors for building Just, Peaceful and Inclusive Societies". In his concluding remarks, Upadhyaya highlighted the importance of empowering the well-meaning religious leaders and activists to ensure that religion is used as a vector of peacebuilding and solidarity. It is vital to conceptualize and disseminate the rich lived experiences of interfaith dialogues in quotidian community life, as an aspect of community-building that remains less accentuated, he said. Upadhyaya also suggested that social media tools and other digital technologies could be used to promote partnerships for nurturing a culture of peace.