BELIEFNET.COM TO WEBCAST FIRST-EVER GATHERING OF 1,000 OF THE WORLD'S RELIGIOUS LEADERS

United Nation's Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Address Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders

NEW YORK, August 25, 2000 - Beliefnet.com www.beliefnet.com, the premier multi-faith site for religion, spirituality and morality, today announced it will webcast the first two days of the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual leaders, opening at the United Nations on August 28th and running through August 31st. This historic event marks the first time that more than 1,000 religious and spiritual leaders from over 50 countries will assemble to discuss how they can work together with the United Nations to encourage religious tolerance within their communities in ways that promote peace, combat poverty, and protect the environment.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose August 29th speech will be webcast on the site, said, "This gathering of the world's preeminent religious and spiritual leaders in a united call for peace will hopefully strengthen the prospect for peace in the new millennium."

Beliefnet will provide a live and on-demand webcast from the UN General Assembly of the opening processional and invocation, where spiritual leaders, wearing their ceremonial vestments, will offer prayers of peace according to the traditions of their own faith, as well as from the second day's plenary session, featuring an address by Secretary-General Annan. The site will also feature a "Pass the Peace" email chain that allows individuals to issue their own calls for peace to their friends and family. In addition, Beliefnet will offer a Peace Meditation with excerpts from the teachings of Vietnamese monk and peace activist Thich Naht Hanh. There will also be a still photo gallery of the Summit's participants available on the site with high-resolution versions available for the media.

Steve Waldman, co-founder of Beliefnet said, "The powerful combination of the Summit with our multi-faith Web site allows people all over the world to participate first-hand in this gathering on World Peace."

Today, Beliefnet.com launches its "Speak to the Summit" segment. Visitors to the site http://www.peace.beliefnet.com can pose questions to the gathering of religious leaders, and Beliefnet will interview Summit attendees and post their answers on the site. Additionally, Beliefnet will display a "Who's Who" in the World Peace Summit, with short biographies of 20 of the preeminent attendees. Other features will include articles on peace and reconciliation by Beliefnet's renowned editorial staff, on-demand video of the first two days of the summit, and links to related websites. Following the Summit, visitors to the site will be able to continue the discussion on world peace with other members of the Beliefnet community.

"Our goal is that religious leaders from different traditions will work together to help resolve global problems," said Summit's Secretary-General Bawa Jain. "This is the first time many of these leaders will be in the same room, and Beliefnet will enable this historic meeting to live on after the Summit is over."

To further this end, Beliefnet is also offering to create websites, through its Web Services initiative, for individual religious and spiritual leaders, or regional working groups to continue their dialogue after the Summit is over.

All of the regions of the world, including zones of conflict, will be represented at the Summit, as will the major faith traditions of Bahai, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism. The goal of the meeting is to identify ways that worldwide religious and spiritual communities can work together as interfaith allies with the United Nations on peace, poverty and environmental initiatives. The anticipated outcomes of this symbolic united call for peace are a Declaration for World Peace and the establishment of an International Advisory Council for Religious and Spiritual Leaders that will serve as a resource for the U.N.'s conflict prevention and resolution efforts.

About Beliefnet, Inc.
Beliefnet.com is the premier multi-faith destination for religion, spirituality and morality. The site offers an all-inclusive environment supported by content developed by leading scholars and contributors and interactive community applications to serve the diverse needs of its users. Beliefnet has also launched a comprehensive e-commerce platform with a branded store offering more than 100,000 products, gifts and services, as well as Web Services program that enables houses of worship and spiritual groups to further enhance their community efforts. Beliefnet is a privately held company funded by Highland Capitol Partners, Primus Venture Partners, Blue Chip Venture Company, Zero Stage Capitol, and The Trump Group.

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