The United Religions Initiative (URI), founded by Bishop William Swing (from California, member of the Episcopal Church), is an attempt to establish a religious analogue of the United Nations. The movement to found it began in 1997, culminating in the signing of the United Religions Initiative Charter in 2000.
The URI emphasises a decentralised, grass roots structure. This emphasis on grass roots representation, instead of representation of the world's major religious organizations, means that its goal (of being to religions what the UN is to nations) seems unlikely to succeed. To some it appears to duplicate the work of pre-existing bodies, such as the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions.
