Many of us have seen and felt the tragic consequences when terror and conflict are fueled by those who exploit differences in faiths and beliefs.

But increasingly, all of us are fighting back – armed with the profound resolve to build peace, understanding and tolerance by fostering dialogue and cooperation among faiths, cultures and civilizations.

In my country, this dialogue and cooperation are bearing fruit. Our own mechanisms, particularly our Bishops-Ulama dialogue are helping put an end to decades of conflict. These have also been crucial in preventing the spread of further conflicts.

In our region, we are stopping the spread of terror and extremism by building bridges between faiths and cultures. In partnership with Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand, we have been bringing together key religious and political leaders in our region.

As part of this regional initiative, we hosted last wee the Cebu Dialogue on Regional Interfaith for Peace, development and Human Dignity and I would like to share with you the Cebu Declaration that was adopted at the meeting. I am pleased to see many of those represented in Cebu also with us here today.

On the global level, in September last year, with Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Chair, world leaders came together here, in a historic summit, and issued a Declaration calling for broader interfaith dialogue and cooperation as a means to build greater peace. Before that, in June, we held our Conference on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace. Both these key meetings laid the firm foundations for the concrete action we are about to take today.

My country is profoundly honored to be one with you today, in offering to the world, a mechanism – the Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace – that acknowledges the true role that religions can play and the contributions thy can make toward advancing our secular concerns for peace, development and human dignity.

To vanquish intolerance, our Forum must build on the increasing momentum behind interfaith cooperation for peace. We must work closely with others who are also building bridges to close the gaps and span the differences that divide peoples and nations. We must complement and mutually reinforce other initiatives, particularly the Alliance of Civilizations.

To maintain, unity, we must maintain no individual political agenda except that of advancing peace with sincerity, transparency and openness.

To guide us, we must develop practical measures, as called for in our terms of reference.

To broaden participation, we must institutionalize a program that will recognize grassroots initiatives. In towns and villages were extremists plant the deadly seeds of intolerance, we must support and acknowledge the brave leaders who build bridges between faiths through dialogue and cooperation. We must be prepared to support laudable initiatives at national, regional and international levels.

To strengthen our Forum, we must continue to actively pursue the issue of interfaith dialogue within our own areas. On the part of our government, and proceeding from last year’s Interfaith Summit Declaration, I would like to take this opportunity to invite governments represented here today, to join the First Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace.

This ministerial meeting will take place in New York later this year at the margins of the general Debate of the 61st session of the General Assembly. I assure you that the work of our Tripartite Forum will be prominently highlighted at that Ministerial Meeting.

I thank you for your cooperation and partnership. I thank you and am humbled by your trust and for allowing us to lead during the initial year of our Forum’s Troika.

We shall set up a modest secretariat, a website and a database on interfaith initiatives, studies and programs.

Together, we shall forge ahead.

In our hands we hold the key to the success of our collective quest for peace.

It is my honor to launch our Tripartite forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace.

May I invite you to join me in a toast for our Tripartite Forum and for our founding Tripartite partners.

I thank you for your vision of a world where faith can be a force for peace, understanding, development and human dignity – a world where dark forces are no longer able to subvert religion to sow hatred, death and destruction.

I congratulate you for your determination to unite governments, the United Nations system and civil society, in defeating fear, overcoming intolerance and in achieving victory in our collective search for peace.