Report praises faith groups record and calls for sensitivity

“Faith organisations have a unique reach because they represent, and are respected by, their faith community, giving extra credibility with local religious communities on the ground which can facilitate their work.” So said former UK prime minister Tony Blair at the launch of the Tony Blair Foundation Faith and Development Seminars, endorsing a new report that explores how faith-based organisations can work more effectively across the religious divide.

The report, Keeping Faith in Development, is based on a collaboration between The Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths, Cambridge, and Christian Aid, and draws on the experiences of Christian Aid, Islamic Relief and World Jewish Relief in their humanitarian and development work with people of other religions.

While such agencies are supported by religious leaders, setting them apart from their secular counterparts, the report also says that they have to carefully manage the risks of appearing to represent one faith group. The baggage of historical events, such as a history of persecution and forced conversion, may linger in a faith community’s collective memory, leading to suspicion towards another faith organisation.

Case histories within the report examine Christian Aid’s peace building work in Mindanao, the Philippines, with a Christian majority and a Muslim and non-Muslim minority; Islamic Relief’s work during and after the civil war with Christians and Muslims in southern Sudan; and World Jewish Relief’s work with a local Muslim partner agency in Kashmir, Pakistan, after the earthquake. “Knowledge of and sensitivity to interfaith issues are vital in the delivery of humanitarian aid in the world today,” said Dr Ed Kessler, director of the Woolf Institute. “By pooling the experience, leading religious charities will be better equipped to fulfil their goals.”

Christian Aid’s inter-community initiatives manager Nigel Varndell said: “We can only end world poverty by working with people who have faiths other than our own – so let’s do more of it, dispel the myths and share examples of best practice.”

The Faith and Development seminars at the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, backed by DFID, explored the role faith communities play in the marketplace, in conflict resolution, as healthcare and education service providers and as stewards of the environment.

“FAITH-BASED CHARITIES SHOULD:”

• Promote awareness of the benefi ts of wide collaboration among faith-based charities.
• Increase the number of collaborative projects on the ground.
• Establish advisory groups with representatives from different faith communities.
• Provide multi-faith education programmes for staff in faith-based organisations.
• Establish a faith-based humanitarian aid resources network.
• Publicise examples of existing collaborative work.

www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org

Download the report at
www.woolfinstitute.cam.ac.uk
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http://faithanddevelopment.wordpress.com