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Faith and Development

Faith and Development. Helen Stawski Archbishop of Canterbury’s Office Brussels 28 th May 2013. Recent interest in Faith and Development. Research into faith and development Recognition of faith assets Contribution to MDGs Conferences and dialogues Faith literacy Funding streams.

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Faith and Development

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  1. Faith and Development Helen Stawski Archbishop of Canterbury’s Office Brussels 28th May 2013

  2. Recent interest in Faith and Development • Research into faith and development • Recognition of faith assets • Contribution to MDGs • Conferences and dialogues • Faith literacy • Funding streams Archbishop Rowan Williams meeting Dr Margaret Chan Director General of the World Health Organisation

  3. Faith “assets” Influence and trust: 75% of Africans report that religious leaders are the people they trust most (Gallup 2005) Reach: There are roughly 100,000 faith-inspired organizations working on health and development in Africa – less than 1% international NGOs (TBFF 2012); vast, uncounted congregational networks Delivery: Christian Health Networks account for between 30-60% of health services in some African countries (Chand & Patterson 2007) 3

  4. Research • Religions and Development (DFID) • Berkley Centre Washington & World Bank • International Religious Health Assets Programme (Cape Town) • Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities • Faith at the UN -University of Kent • UN internal mapping processes • UN Alliance of Civilisations • Special additions of journals e.g. Refugee Studies Centre Faith in Humanitarianism- Autumn 2011; Development In Practice – Summer 2012

  5. Faith literacy and dialogue • UNFPA (2010) Culture Matters • UNICEF (2011) Partnering with Religious Communities for Change • UNAIDS (2011) FBO Strategic Framework • Wilton Park (2011) Faith and Development • UNHCR (2012) High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Faith and Protection • DFID (2012) Faith Partnership Principles

  6. Definitions of LFC/FBOs • Local worship communities (e.g., churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, etc.) • Denominational leadership (e.g., bishops, clerics, ayatollahs, lamas, etc.) • Scholars, theologians and religious educators • Mission workers • Youth faith or inter-faith groups • Women of faith networks • Faith-based or faith-inspired organizations • Denominational, ecumenical and intra-religious institutions, umbrella organizations & networks • Inter-faith institutions UNICEF 2011

  7. Trends in Development Focus onlocal and sustainable Towards new partnerships Effectiveness and efficiency informed by data& value for money New development goals post- 2015 7

  8. Social Capital of LFC/FBOs • Presence • Influence • Knowledge • Mobilisation • Communication • Physical assets

  9. Participation

  10. Types of participation • Participating in policy dialogues • Post MDG dialogue • National transitional dialogues • Participating in service delivery • Health • Education • Relief

  11. Learning Hub:HIV/AIDS and Maternal Health What is the impact of faith groups on HIV and Maternal Health, with special attention to PMTCT and skilled birth attendants? 11

  12. Hypothesis: Faith communities shape the HIV response through both attitudes change and service provision Data Point 1: 98% of religious leaders surveyed in Kisumu, Kenya believe that their communities are influenced by what they say about HIV and health behaviors (CIFA 2012) Data Point 2: The Catholic Church estimates that it alone provides 26.7 percent of all HIV care in the world (Barragan 2006) Data Point 3: The World Health Organisation estimates that 1 in 5 HIV responses is faith-related (WHO 2006) 12

  13. Hypothesis: Maternal health services are commonly provided by faith-based actors Data Point 1: In Uganda, 50% of maternal health and child services are provided through faith-based institutions (USAID & Access 2007). Data Point 2: 90% of faith-inspired health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa offer maternal and newborn services (Chand and Patterson 2007) Data Point 3: Faith groups provide 70% of nursing and midwifery training in Malawi and Uganda, and between 30 to 55% in Tanzania and Zambia (Pearl, Chand, and Hafner 2009) 13

  14. Hypothesis: Faith groups influence demand for and uptake of maternal and child health services Data Point 1: Faith community engagement helped improve the percentage of pregnant women who received a course of IPT under direct observation from 43% to 94% in Kasese District, Uganda (USAID & Access 2007) Data Point 2: Faith-based interventions in Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, the DRC and India found that these programs couple outreach to the broader communities with clinical services (Chand & Patterson 2007) Data Point 3: Religious and spiritual beliefs were seen to be a key barrier to exclusive breast feeding from a 2010 barrier analysis in Burundi (Francisco 2010) 14

  15. Resilience

  16. Emergency Response – Basic Services First 36 hours – first response – in remote places -‘Pseudo state interlocutor’. Promoting community resilience by building on existing local resources. Mobilising resources from within the community -Haiti Nuns, Pakistan mosques. Use of religious building for storage, information hubs. Religious building for shelter and protection - Sri Lanka. Challenge of quantifying contribution. Ethos of service & culturally sensitive provision. No data on hindering resilience through service provision.

  17. Psycho-social support LFCs provide a ‘psychological first aid’ - counselling, pastoral support and solidarity with victims. Individual religious beliefs and shared religious practice /ritual/association promotes psycho-social resilience in unique ways. Working through LFCs builds on existing coping mechanisms and resilience in culturally appropriate ways. At times religions promote fatalistic – disaster as punishment from God –(must accept there is a huge variety of individual religious experience across religions and cultures). Fears religion will promote agendas at variance with the humanitarian principles. LFCs may not the requisite skills for counselling.

  18. Durable Solutions Better attuned to the needs of a community than external actors Familiar with local leaders, culture, practices and language Often play a crucial role in fostering recovery, relief and reconstruction Registering asylum seekers and thereby assisting them to claim their rights – Myanmar and Malaysia Community peace-building – Kenya, Liberia, Philippines Promoting sustainable livelihoods – Pakistan Practical assistance and conflict mitigation returnees – Tanzania Limited by lack of technical expertise in peace-building Challenges of remaining impartial Challenges to the humanitarian paradigm

  19. Spiritual Capital • Ritual • Prayer • Teaching

  20. Definition of Spiritual Capital • ‘Spiritual Capital refers to the positive benefits of spiritual, psychological and moral development to individuals, organisations and communities, [it measures] the amount of knowledge and expertise related to meanings, values and fundamental purposes available to and individual or culture.’ Zohar, D and Marshall, I (2004)

  21. International Humanitarian Faith Based Organisations

  22. Challenges for our faith identity • Dualism– secular and sacred • Different language/expectations in development and theology • Huge diversity between FBOs– theologically, missiologicaly and culturally • Risks of embracing faith identity – unprofessional, bias • Promoting internal change • Is there a faith sector?

  23. Imperative to understand faith identity better… • Focus onlocal and sustainable • Towards new partnerships • Effectiveness and efficiency informed by data& value for money • New development goals post- 2015

  24. What strengths do we have as churches? • Global Networks of relationships • Longevity (not issue based) • Holistic view of development • Integrated view of mission • Engaged in moral discourse • Prayer • Hope in Christ

  25. Faith Challenges • Faith assets not fully engaged in development • Under used (Global Fund survey) • Under funded: 90% of congregation leaders involved in HIV advocacy in Malawi have not received any external funding for their work (Trinitapoli & Weinreb 2013); Over 50% of church projects surveyed by Tearfund in sub-Saharan Africa were overwhelmingly run by volunteers from within the community, with little or no external funding (Tearfund 2007) • Not mapped: WHO/CIFA Consultation 2010 • Not at the ‘planning table’ • Secular concerns re: proselytizing; political and legal issues; accountability; logistics • Evidence Gap: we need to tell the story better 5

  26. Cultural lens UNFPA 2010

  27. Strategies for building on social & spiritual capital • Mapping existing local contributions / best practice • Research into resilience –including impact of spiritual capital • Faith literacy/dialogue & faith partnership principles • Piloting new innovative partnership models • Specifically tailored training • Changing policy

  28. Ways forward • Promote mutual literacy • Build on shared positive values • Recognise diversity within/between faith communities • Support participation and leadership of women and youth – power dynamics • Offer space for theologians & religious leaders • Build evidence - niche, value and potential • Include in national policy and planning • Support capacity in technical competencies

  29. Ways of working • Seek to transform perceived barriers into opportunities • Create space – mutual listening & response • Approach collaboratively to work through differences and identify deeper common ground

  30. Why do we need to invest in research? Faith groups are heavily reliant on anecdotal evidence. Given the suspicion of bias by faith groups– independently verifiable data required. The need for best practice and scalable models for donors to invest in. The need to connect discourse and language. Influencing ‘theories of change’.

  31. Christian Aid JLI F&LC Vision: Robust evidence and smart communications to transform the quality, effectiveness, and impact of partnerships between faith groups and the development community Collaborative learning platform that is cross sector, interfaith, cross discipline 32

  32. Interfaith partnerships

  33. Working with International organisationsArchbishop Rowan with Michele Sidbe Director General of UNAIDS

  34. Thank You

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