Events
Seminar Proposal: Faith Leaders and Global Economics
Over the last two years WFDD has worked with faith leaders and
faith communities at the in-country level as they contribute to policy making and
practice in poverty reduction and human development, especially within the context
of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Processes in Highly Indebted Poor Countries and
the Millennium Development Goals for 2015.
As part of this work WFDD co-hosted 2 small workshops in Africa
in 2003 funded by the Rockefeller Foundation (see below for
full reports).
One now familiar problem emerged from these and other discussions.
Many of the economic issues raised in contemporary debates about
development (eg the nature of the global economy, markets, privatisation, trade
polices, debt cancellation, global economic institutions and their governance etc)
are unfamiliar to many (though not all of course) faith leaders. They can seem
complex, technical and even remote from the daily struggles of faith leaders and
their communities. Nevertheless they have direct and far reaching consequences
for good or ill. Faith leaders recognise the need for far more knowledge and
training in these matters if they are to speak and act effectively.
As a first step towards meeting this need WFDD is looking
for an appropriate partner or partners to co-operate with us in organising a
seminar for African faith leaders in June 2004. Please click
here for full details.
Workshops on Faith and Development
Workshops development from an Islamic, Christian and
Buddhist perspective: Two workshops on Islam, Christianity and Development,
co-hosted by WFDD in October and November 2003 in West and East Africa were
followed in December by a third on Buddhism and Development. The first was held in
Ghana (report also in
French) with the Religious Bodies Forum of Ghana,
the second was in Tanzania with the
Tanzania Interfaith Forum and the third was co-hosted with the Spirit in Education
Movement in Thailand.
These three workshops arose out of the WFDD meeting in Canterbury UK
in July 2002 to discuss the contributions of faith communities to Poverty
Reduction Strategies in some of the world`s poorest countries.
Case study workshop:
WFDD with Vikram Sarabhai Foundation held a workshop 9-11 February 2004, bringing
together people from eleven different case studies of spiritual and religious
movements working on “development”. The recorded discussion addresses questions
about how spirituality influences these movements’ understanding of “development”
as well as how they carry out their work.
Thematic Summary
Workshop notes
Report on World Council of Churches meeting
On 11-12 September, the World Council of Churches held
an internal meeting to discuss
strategies within the ecumenical movement to
address the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
and to search for effective ways to respond to them from the perspective of
people in poverty. This meeting was in preparation for a second external
Encounter with the Bank and the Fund on 28-29 October in Washington D.C.
Centre for the Study of Global Ethics (University of
Birmingham) and World Faiths Development Dialogue
If not global capitalism, then what?
Joint seminar series on alternatives to global capitalism,
Autumn 2003 – Spring 2004
Many critics of global capitalism have refuted the suggestion
that 'there is no alternative'. This seminar series is intended to give their
proposed alternatives a hearing and expose them to critical debate. In inviting
contributions the chief criteria for selection will be that they:
a) arise out of explicit faith and ethical stances
b) are constructive and well developed within an inter-disciplinary framework
c) are realistic
d) have an historical perspective taking account of the so-called failed
alternatives (such as socialism and the co-operative movement) of the past.
The series will give speakers the opportunity to present their
views in a public lecture at the Centre for the Study of Global Ethics at the
University of Birmingham.
Approximately one seminar will be held each month from
September 2003 until May 2004 probably on a Monday or Tuesday in the late
afternoon but subject to negotiation with participating organisations.
Speakers’ travel and accommodation expenses will be fully covered.
Outcomes
The series will culminate in a conference bringing together
all speakers and other contributors to discuss their papers prior to finally revising
and preparing them for publication as an edited collection.
The Centre for the Study of Global Ethics and WFDD will take
responsibility for finding a publisher and will appoint a research assistant to
edit the material, correspond with authors and prepare the manuscript for submission.
Contributions to the seminar series are invited from the voluntary
sector, NGOs, research institutions, university departments, individuals, faith
communities and organisations, etc. Offers of papers with brief outlines should
be sent to:
Dr. Christien van den Anker, Centre for the Study of Global
Ethics, 13 Pritchatts Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2QU or
by email to c.l.vandenanker@bham.ac.uk
by 1st of August 2003.
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Meeting of World Leaders on Faith and Development
October 6-8 2002 saw the third meeting of World Leaders on
Faith and Development. It took place at the Canterbury International Study
Centre in the Precincts of Canterbury Cathedral, UK. It was hosted jointly by
George Carey (then Archbishop of Canterbury, now retired) and James Wolfensohn
(President of the World Bank).
The agenda of the meeting was inspired by the same concerns
which have inspired the work of WFDD from the beginning. How can faith communities,
working together and in dialogue with major agencies like the World Bank,
maximise their contribution to poverty eradication and human development?
The discussions focused on the Millennium Development Goals
which aim to cut abject poverty in half by 2015; the scourge of HIV/AIDS;
empowering poor communities so that their voices are heard and they can be
influential participants in Poverty Reduction Strategies; and conflict.
WFDD Report on Poverty Reduction Strategy
Consultation
In July 2002 the WFDD hosted a conference in Canterbury,
England, to find out how far religious communities have been involved in the
drawing up of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) and to discuss ways
in which WFDD might encourage them to become more engaged with the process
of consultation about development policies in their own countries.
The PRSP are country-based strategies being drawn up
by governments together with civil society as a pre-requisite for receiving
debt relief and concessionary loans from the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund. They thus provide a meeting point for religious communities
and the International Financial Institutions at the country level.
16 people from 15 different countries participated in
the conference, as well as consultants from Eurodad, the UK Department
for International Development and the World Bank. The discussion broadened
out far beyond the PRSP, with particular focus on the link made by
faith-based communities between spirituality and development.
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Conference in Tanzania: "The Poor will help
the Poor"
WFDD's Director was glad to leave behind a cold and foggy
England in late November for a few days in warm and sunny Tanzania.
It was not just the weather however that made the journey worthwhile.
Tanzania has a history under Julius Nyerere of social policies built
on a strong sense of solidarity among its people. It remains however
a very poor country and attempts at creating an economy that can sustain
a decent way of life for everyone have so far failed. In addition there
are signs that the old community spirit is under stress.
Like other HIPC Countries (Highly Indebted Poor Countries)
Tanzania still shoulders a debt burden and is in the midst of a Poverty Reduction
Strategy in order to qualify for further relief and loans. The faith communities
in Tanzania, including Muslims and Hindus but with a strong lead from the Catholic
Church, were demonstrating once again their intention to play their part by
organising a three-day conference with the title: 'The Poor will help the Poor'.
The papers presented by leading academics (two of them Muslims)
and others, and the discussions which followed, maintained a proper balance
between on the one hand recognising the crucial role which poor people and
local communities can play in the fight against poverty and, on the other hand,
the need for governments and outside agencies to create the conditions which
make it possible for the poor to tackle their own problems.
The need for adequate health care and education is obvious,
but credit facilities and participation in effective village-level government
were also cited as examples. The poor can only help themselves if they are
given a chance to do so.
It was a far wiser message than the one heard from
some officials who seemed to have swallowed whole a free- market type
philosophy and translated it into the suggestion that if only poor people were more
imaginative and entrepreneurial in business and made more effort then
their troubles could be over.
A visit to the World Bank gave an opportunity for
preliminary but constructive conversations about 'scaling-up' some of
the programmes of faith communities to help achieve the Millennium
Development Goals, along the lines proposed at Canterbury in October (see above).
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Conference of the International Movement for a
Just World (JUST): The Challenge of Globalisation: Towards a Shared Universal
Spiritual and Moral Ethic
This was the title of a Roundtable Discussion hosted near
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the end of November by the International Movement
for a Just World. Wendy Tyndale was privileged to participate for the WFDD
in what turned out to be a wide-ranging discussion about the ethics of
globalisation in its relation to economics, culture and values, politics,
military strategies and attitudes towards different ethnic groups.
The general view was that globalisation has not worked
for the large majority of the world's population, as a crass consumerist
culture is undermining time-honoured values of restraint and moderation
sustained by communitarian concerns and the public good.
There was criticism of religious institutions which,
having lost the necessary dynamism to respond to the crisis of 'modernity',
are leading people to retreat on the one hand into fundamentalism and on
the other into secularism. This led to a call for a vigorous and comprehensive
endeavour to develop a spiritual and moral vision, committed to human
dignity and social justice, rather than a blinkered adherence to religious dogma.
An action plan was drawn up which includes both sharing
ideas about alternative policies and practice, as well as practical support
for inter-religious initiatives working for peace and an improved quality
of life for the poor.
One theme of the conference was the need for a new way of
thinking which isn't founded on purely cerebral analysis but takes intuition
as an equally valid and necessarily complementary way of understanding reality.
An appeal was made to us to 'come forward as witnesses' to what is going on
in the world, rather than taking refuge in standing back as "objective" observers.
The religious communities were called upon to apply their
collective wisdom to specific aspects of globalisation, such as property rights,
free trade, economic growth, investment and industrialisation and the notions
of risk taking and restraint. Only thus will they be able to give useful
support to those who are searching for signposts towards an alternative.
WFDD hopes to move a step towards this with its comment
on WDR 2004.
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