At forum of religious leaders in Bangkok, UN official stresses universal values

As religious leaders from around the world gathered in Bangkok to inaugurate a new assembly, a United Nations official told participants that shared aspirations unite the world's great faiths.

"Religions may manifest themselves in widely different practices and belief systems but at heart we are dealing in universal values," Kim Hak-Su, the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), told the World Council of Religious Leaders. These included imperatives "to be kind, to be merciful, to be tolerant, to love our neighbours," he said.

Over 100 religious leaders from around the world representing a wide range of faiths, including Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslim, attended the conference. The World Council of Religious Leaders is an outcome from the Millennium World Peace Summit, which was held in 2000 at the UN. The Council aims to assist the UN and its agencies in the prevention and resolutions of conflicts, and in addressing global social and environmental issues.