Sister Eubank Speaks at UN Conference in Geneva

Sister Sharon Eubank, president of LDS Charities, the humanitarian arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was among the keynote speakers invited at the Second Global Summit on Religion, Peace and Security held at the United Nations in Geneva.

The high-level conference, organized by the International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty and the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, aimed at sharing effective ways to build bridges, foster inclusivity and counter hate speech to enhance the protection of religious minorities.

Sister Eubank, who serves in the general presidency of the Relief Society, the worldwide women’s organization of the Church, highlighted the role of religion in society and emphasized that national governments can and should work with religious organizations.

“Religious groups have been busy educating the young, caring for children and the elderly, and providing health care for longer than secular governments have existed,” she said. “We should expect that their wisdom with respect to education, child and elder care and health care will be deep and powerful.”

“This partnership will create possibilities for religious organizations to meet and to foster tolerance and collaborations between religions and secular institutions,” Sister Eubank added, suggesting that objectives, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, are more likely to be achieved when churches are part of the picture.

She also advised that the best antidote to hate speech, religious intolerance and discrimination perpetrated by religious groups is better religion. “The best answer to Islamic extremism will be authentic Islam, just as the solution to Christian extremism will be authentic Christianity.”

“It will be the best of faith that defeats distorting versions of religious belief,” Sister Eubank concluded.