The Charter for Compassion

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The Charter for Compassion is a document which urges the peoples and religions of the world to embrace the core value of compassion. The charter is currently available in thirty languages, and is being translated into more. The Charter has inspired a global movement for compassion.

On February 28, 2008, Karen Armstrong, the Founder of Charter for Compassion won the TED (a non-profit Sapling Foundation) Prize and made a wish: for help creating, launching and propagating a Charter for Compassion. On November 12, 2009, the Charter was unveiled to the world.

We believe that all human beings are born with the capacity for compassion, and that it must be cultivated for human beings to survive and thrive.  We believe that a compassionate world is a peaceful world.

Among those who have already given the charter their backing are Richard Branson (the founder of Virgin Group), musician Peter Gabriel, Sir Ken Robinson and the Dalai Lama. As of December 29, 2014, over 110,000 other people from around the world had affirmed it. On April 26, 2010, Seattle became the first city in the world to affirm the charter.