The former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has launched his faith foundation in the Ukraine and he used the opportunity to urge the country's young people to make a difference.
Mr Blair warned his audience that although religious extremists were well funded and highly organised, everything possible needed to be done to rescue religion from extremism.
"We need to ensure that those who are open minded recover the true meaning of religion," he argued.
"I want to see faith viewed not as reactionary or redundant but for it to be true to its spirit: working for the common good and as a civilising force which pursues social justice."
Mr Blair informed his audience of 400 students from Kiev that young people could effect real change in the world around them and create greater tolerance and understanding if they really made an effort to do so.
“In the end things can change but not unless there are people committed to doing it. It is your generation who will make the difference," he said.
"If you don’t think the world you live in is perfect get involved and make it better.”
The Tony Blair Faith Foundation will work among the students to create religious tolerance by increasing the understanding of religion in a globalised world.
Blair’s foundation will partner with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, which seeks to create leadership skills among young people in the fields like health, education, culture, international affairs, and human rights.
“Through our work, with Ukrainian partner schools and universities, we aim to contribute to the emergence of a cohort of Ukrainian young people and students who are critically analysing the role and influence of religion in today’s modern world and actively forging better relationships across religious and cultural divides," added Mr Blair.
“We are grateful to the Victor Pinchuk Foundation for their support, and look forward to a close cooperation with the Ukrainian government and educational system to further these aims."
The Tony Blair Faith Foundation also works among school with their Face to Faith programme that attempts to connect student across international boundaries in 17 different countries via educational modules and the use of video-conferencing technology.
The second programme instituted by Blair’s foundation is called Faith and Globalisation that will work with tertiary institutions to institute an academic discipline of studying faith in the modern world and which can be applied to business, politics and civil society. Mr Pinchuk said he hoped the joint work of the two foundations would develop the Ukraine into a country of true religious tolerance.
"I am happy to support a programme focused on the next generation, the core target group of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation's work," he said.
"We want to prepare them to develop the skills to bridge divides between faiths and cultures, develop a global outlook, and make diversity an asset.
"Ukraine has known long periods of peaceful living together of different faiths, this is what we need to build on, foster, and share with others."