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Archive 1986 - 2017

1998 State of the World Forum


San Francisco, October 27-November 1

TFF is proud to have been invited to this year’s FORUM as the only institution from Scandinavia. It is tasked with making a special contribution to the Coexistence and Community Building Initiative chaired by Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe. Read more here!

Join some of the world’s most thoughtful and innovative business, scientific, political, cultural and religious leaders to explore and shape the trends of the coming century. This year’s Forum is convened by the following co-chairs:

Askar Akaev
Oscar Arias
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
James A. Baker, III
Tansu Çiller
Marian Wright Edelman
Sonia Gandhi
Jane Goodall
Mikhail Gorbachev
Ruud Lubbers
Federico Mayor
Thabo Mbeki
Yasuhiro Nakasone
Lea Rabin
Jose Ramos-Horta
Jehan Sadat
Ted Turner
Desmond Tutu
Elie Wiesel
Muhammad Yunus

The State of the World Forum is designed to inspire your life. You will interact with other leaders from around the world and a multiplicity of disciplines. You will be part of broad-ranging discussions covering the spectrum of human interests from spirituality to global security, science to art, business to ecology and human rights to strategic social change. You will be invited to join with others to act on matters of personal relevance and global concern.

In this process, you will experience creativity which is generated by the convergence of human diversity. You will discover anew that there are committed, highly motivated people like yourself from all over the world who care very deeply about the earth, about humanity, about the future. You will see interconnections you have never seen before, and in this spirit, you will discover friends and allies from unexpected quarters. We hope you will sustain contact with them. This network of goodwill is what the State of the World Forum has been established to convene. You are invited to be part of it.

In and through all the conferences it has convened, the Forum has challenged its participants to transform dialogue into action. The following Strategic Initiatives are a direct result of the in-depth and interdisciplinary dialogue that takes place at Forum gatherings. The Forum is responsible for directing and managing these Initiatives with many committed partners.

The Current Initiatives

* Our Common Enterprise

* Nuclear Elimination Project

* Coexistence and Community Building

* Emerging Leaders Program

* Investing in Women

* The Whole Child Initiative

The Coexistence and Community Building initiative

The mission of the Coexistence and Community Building initiative is to catalyse a global awareness of, and commitment to, creating a world safe for difference.

The initiative on coexistence and community building has as its goal to formulate and implement a strategic plan, which will bring coexistence into the mainstream consciousness of people around the world. How can coexistence become a compelling and enduring vision for humanity in the 21st century? How can we build a world where there is tolerance for minorities and greater understanding between peoples? What are the medium and long-term steps that need to be taken to create a world safe for difference? These were the questions posed in a series of meetings, roundtables and consultations that have been held by the State of the World Forum during the last two years.

There is no greater challenge than the task of setting an example for, and teaching our children about, the skills required for community building; living in harmonious and co-operative co-operative coexistence with those who are different, and settling conflicts without recourse to violence.

Towards a Charter for Coexistence

We stand for a world:

* Safe for difference
* Which celebrates human diversity as an affirmative good
* Which protects children and minorities from the brutality of war
* Which promotes education in coexistence and cooperative problem solving for every child on earth
* Which encourages respect for minorities by the majority and for the majority by the minority
* Which provides mutually assured security
* Which promotes institutions for reconciliation and forgiveness

To begin your involvement in the vital work of the Coexistence and Community Building Initiative, please contact the State of the World Forum offices electronically at: coexistence@worldforum.orgMuch more information on the Forum’s website:

http://www.worldforum.org/

©1998 State of the World Forum, All Rights Reserved

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