27 January, 2026, London - UP UK celebrated World Interfaith Harmony Week with an event entitled 'Building Bridges: Faith Communities Advancing Peace and Inclusion'. This was an interfaith evening bringing faith and community leaders together to explore practical ways to strengthen peace, inclusion, and social cohesion.
Speakers Included:
- Paul Gutteridge – UPF Advisor; Department of Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham; Founder of Track 2 Talks; Honorary Fellow, Edward Cadbury Foundation
- Dr Lakshmi Vyas – President, Hindu Forum of Europe; Chair of Education, Hindu Forum of Britain
Paul Gutteridge spoke about the re-emergence of faith as a national phenomenon and the dangers of extremist beliefs, highlighting the need for faithful presence in conflict resolution. He is a specialist in Track II Diplomacy who helps groups to overcome antagonism to other groups. He referred to Victor Frankl's book, 'Man's search for meaning' as an influence in his life.
In his capacity as MC, Robin Marsh shared how this time of year has so many key religiously themed international events, such as Epiphany and the Orthodox Christian Christmas, World Religions Day, and World Interfaith Harmony Week.
World Interfaith Harmony Week was a timely opportunity to deepen relationships across faiths, share insights from local experience, and identify simple, collaborative steps we can take to advance inclusion and mutual respect in our communities.
Duchess Nivin ElGamal bravely shared a personal testimony that demonstrated the need for universal values and human rights implementation. She highlighted the role of systemic failures in allowing human trafficking to continue and called for accountability in addressing reports of abuse. She also discussed the need for awareness, courage, and respect in building harmony and peace, and mentioned ongoing efforts to educate others about these issues.