Bawa Jain (born Preminder Nath Jain February 16, 1957) is an Indian advocate for

interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religion, religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spirituality, spiritual or humanism, hum ...

. Jain was secretary-general of the Millennium Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders held in New York City in 2000.The World Council of Religious Leaders,
Millennium Peace Summit
', retrieved 2015-03-25Biography,

', retrieved 2015-03-25 Jain co-founded the Religious Initiative of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

, and is the creator of the Gandhi–King Award for Non-Violence. He launched the World Council of Religious Leaders (WCORL) Religion One on One Initiative.

United Nations activities

Bawa Jain was responsible for commencing the opening of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

during their Annual Interfaith Services in New York from 1998 – 1999. During his time at the UN, Jain founded the World Movement for Nonviolence in January 1998. As founder of The World Movement for Nonviolence, he conceived The Gandhi-King Award, which honors those who exemplify the lives and legacies of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

and

Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his a ...

. Past recipients include former

United Nations Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secr ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

, President

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

, Dame

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English zoologist, Primatology, primatologist and Anthropology, anthropologist. She is considered the world's foremo ...

Mata Amritanandamayi Sri Mātā Amritānandamayī Devi (born Sudhamani Idamannel; 27 September 1953), often known as Amma ("Mother"), is an Indian Hindu spiritual leader, guru and humanitarian, who is revered as 'the hugging Hindu saint, saint' by her followers ...

and President

Mwai Kibaki Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki (15 November 1931 – 21 April 2022) was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013. He served in various leadership positions in Kenya's government including ...

. Jain was a founding co-chair of the Values Caucus.Values Caucus at the United Nations. (2020). About Us. Values Caucus at the United Nations, Retrieved on November 26, 2021 from https://valuescaucus.org/about-us/ This caucus was founded in anticipation of the

World Summit for Social Development The World Summit for Social Development was a conference held in Copenhagen from 6–12 March 1995. It aimed to "establish a people-centered framework for social development, to build a culture of cooperation and partnership and to respond to the i ...

held in Copenhagen in 1995. After the World Summit for Social Development, Jain became an initiator and co-chair alongside

Bella Abzug Bella Abzug (; née Savitzky; July 24, 1920 – March 31, 1998), nicknamed "Battling Bella", was an American lawyer, politician, social activist, and a leader in the women's movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria ...

to create the Coalition of the Caucuses which followed in depth involvement with the U.N. World Summit for Social Development in order to promote unity."Summary report 16–28 January 1995". IISD Earth Negotiations Bulletin. Retrieved 2021-12-22.

Recent activities

Jain founded The Centre for Responsible Leadership, “a global initiative to mobilize people of influence who have and are willing to make decisions that seek to be in the larger interests of all, rather than to benefit a few.” One of the first initiatives was the convening of a “Sustainable Development Leadership Summit” at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in early 2019. The Centre for Responsible Leadership co-hosted an international event with John’s Hopkins and the

Clinton Foundation The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...

dealing with the current overdose crisis: "Bridging Faith and Science to Combat the Overdose Crisis: Finding solutions to the

opioid epidemic The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse or abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs called opiates or opioids since the 1990s. It inc ...

at the intersection of religious faith and science." Jain was a featured speaker at the September 2021

Tedx Talks TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

USF where he spoke on “Restoring Civility to Public Discourse. ^ Meet the Speakers — TEDxUSF 2021, Bawa Jain: Restoring Civility To Public Discourse , TED Talk

References

1957 births Living people 20th-century Indian Jains 21st-century Indian Jains {{India-reli-bio-stub