Since 11 September 2001 the world has changed but is yet the same, says General Secretary of European Council of Religious Leaders – Religions for Peace (ECRL), Stein Villumstad, referring to the attack on Word Trade Center ten years ago.

Large and lasting military interventions have been launched and human rights have been seriously threatened under the banner “war on terror”. Hate speech motivated by misguided religious interpretations, ethnicity and extremist ideology are still spread in the street, the media and on internet, - threatening our peaceful co-existence. The increasing gap between poor and rich provokes deep frustration and anger, and challenges us all to work for human dignity. ECRL calls for a culture of peace as the sustainable solution in our increasingly interlinked world.