Top United Nations officials have called for promoting the values of religious tolerance, peaceful co-existence and dialogue at a first-ever inter-faith Iftar hosted by Pakistani nationals working in the UN system to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan. “Ramadan offers all of us – Muslim and otherwise – the chance to recognize our shared values, to embrace our diversity, and to celebrate our common humanity,” the UN General Assembly President, María Fernanda Espinosa, told a large gathering of diplomats, UN officials and journalists on the lawns of UN Headquarters in New York. Other UN officials pursuing the same theme at the event were UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adana Dieng, who represented Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Welcoming the dignitaries and participants, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Maleeha Lodhi focused on Islam’s core values of compassion, tolerance and inter-faith harmony, saying that the world body was an expression of multilateralism. “Inter-faith gatherings are much needed today when the world is best with tensions, gaps in understanding and disharmony,” she said. Ambassador Lodhi praised Muhammad Irfan Soomro, a senior UN official and President of the newly-formed UN staff Recreation Pakistan Club, for his initiative in forming the club and in bringing together representatives of different faiths. On his part, Soomro said the aim of UN-Pakistan Club was to promote learning and mutual understanding among the staff of all faiths to come together and partake alongside In her remarks on the occasion, General Assembly President Espinosa said today’s gathering represented a “graceful defiance” of rising Islamophobia and this year’s horrific attacks against mosques, as well as churches and synagogues around the world. “At this difficult moment for the world, it can feel as though we, too, are in graceful defiance of those who question the value of multilateralism, precisely when we need it most,” she said. President Espinosa called for redoubling efforts to build a safer, fairer and more sustainable future for all people, everywhere. She said the spirit of compassion, tolerance and mutual respect was reflected in the core values of all major religions as well as the United Nations. “This is our mandate every day; to nurture dialogue, to promote social justice, to build peace,” the deputy secretary-general said.