On Oct. 20, 2010, the United Nations declared the first week of February the annual Interfaith Harmony Week. That decision came after a series of UN attempts to promote peace and harmony between different cultures and religions in the world. Iraqis warmly greeted Interfaith Harmony Week, despite the grave sectarianism and violence in Iraq for more than a decade.

For the occasion, some groups organized UN activities through UNAMI (United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq), in which Iraqi political leaders, parties, civil society groups and nongovernmental organizations participated.

Nikolay Mladenov, the special representative of the UN secretary-general in Iraq, inaugurated Interfaith Harmony Week by attending St. Joseph Syriac Catholic Church, accompanied by religious leaders of different religions and sects in Iraq. He gave a speech in which he called for Iraqis to “unite and stand as one in the face of the forces that want to divide you.” He emphasized that political and religious leaders have a responsibility to confront extremism and sectarianism.

The activities included multiple visits to Iraqi holy places such as Christian churches, Yazidi temples and Shiite and Sufi shrines. The participants called for consensus and cohesion among religions in spreading the message of peace, tolerance and in rejecting violence and hatred. A youth group page on Facebook arranged visits to various holy places to expand knowledge of other people and counter the wrong images of various groups, especially minorities.