Time to end poverty

HH Pujya muniji Gives humanitarian message

INDIAN spiritual leader His Holi- ness (HH) Pujya Swami Chidan and Saraswatiji (HH Pujya Muniji) praised the World Bank’s efforts to end extreme poverty as he met its president Dr Jim Yong Kim at the World Humanitarian Summit in Is- tanbul,Turkey last Wednesday (25).

HH Pujya Muniji, who is also the president of Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh), a

co-chair

of Global Interfaith WASH Alliance (GIWA) and founder of the Ganga Action Parivar and Divine Shakti Founda- tion, also extended an invitation to Dr Kim to visit India and the holy banks of the River Ganga in Rishikesh, north India.

HH Pujya Muniji and president of the Divine Shakti Foundation and secretary general of GIWA, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji, also took part in various sessions during the summit, including on religious en- gagement, global health, and women and girls. The meeting was attended by leaders from more than 65 countries, including the US, China, Japan, Fiji, Turkey and India.

HH Pujya Muniji said: “We often talk about poverty as being due to a global food or water shortage, but to me it’s really due to a global con- sciousness shortage.We, as spiritual leaders, need to ignite a global con- sciousness that unites all through the recognition we are one family.

“To end poverty, we must work differently – working with and working for all. We must remember that we are all one global family. Humanity first! Family first!”

HH Pujya Muniji also met UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon, heads of state of many countries, and other world leaders. Among them was Irina Bokova, director general of UNESCO. They discussed the urgent need to protect fresh water resources from pollution and

over-extraction,

especially rivers.