Faith Communities and the Development Agenda
Faith Communities and the Development Agenda was
a study completed by Revd Professor Richard Bonney and Mr Asaf Hussain
from the Centre for the History of Religious and Political Pluralism,
Leicester University. The findings of the research were presented to DFID
in January 2001 in the form of a report, of which the main body is
attached. The report and its recommendations represent the opinions of the
consultants, and should not be viewed as DFID policy.
The main findings of the report are below. The report
appendices are now available here
in PDF format.
Centre for the History
of Religious and Political Pluralism
Report Prepared for the Department
for International Development
Faith Communities and
the Development Agenda
Richard Bonney and Asaf
Hussain
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
What is the current level of awareness within the Faith Communities?
Bahá’í Faith Community
Buddhist Faith Community
Christian Faith Community
Hindu Faith Community
Jain Faith Community
Jewish Faith Community
Muslim Faith Community
Sikh Faith Community
What are the current activities within the Faith Communities and the
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) operating from within them?
Bahá’í Faith Community
Buddhist Faith Community
Christian Faith Community
Hindu Faith Community
Jain Faith Community
Jewish Faith Community
Muslim Faith Community
Sikh Faith Community
Relative size of the Non-Governmental Organisations operating
from within Faith Communities
What more can be done?
Bahá’í Faith Community
Buddhist Faith Community
Christian Faith Community
Hindu Faith Community
Jain Faith Community
Jewish Faith Community
Muslim Faith Community
Sikh Faith Community
Towards a multi-faith response
The Terms of Reference
/ Scope of Work of the Consultancy are set out in Appendix 1. The
White Paper on International Development sets out a vision for
increasing public awareness of, and support for, international
development issues, within the UK. Churches and Faiths are described by
the Department for International Development (DFID) as one of the
priority areas for Building Support for Development: Raising public
awareness and understanding of international development issues
(Strategy Paper, April 1999). Policy forums including different faiths
are mentioned in Chapter 8 (‘Building support for development’) of
DFID’s Departmental Report
2000. Faiths have a strong tradition
of concern with development issues, often arising from a moral
requirement, and this provides a solid base for awareness raising work.
DFID is keen to both support and promote awareness raising activities,
thereby building on this base and adding value to work already being
done.
The overall objective of
the consultancy project was to review and record the work already being
done to promote awareness of development issues within the different
faith groups, so that an assessment could be made on how DFID might move
forward with each group and more generally on inter-faith activities.
The consultants were also
asked to review and record the current level of awareness raising
activity among the different faith communities within the UK, including
those activities currently being carried out in partnership with DFID.
The aim was to present DFID with a clear picture of the foundations of
these activities, their scope and quantity, their capacity to mobilize /
engage interest and action, and their impact on public attitudes.
Finally, the consultants
were asked to identify opportunities for more effective work, as well as
ways in which DFID could promote or support activities which raise
awareness of international development issues, especially in relation to
those faith groups with whom DFID is not currently working. This, it was
considered, would include identifying suitable individuals who are
interested in carrying out such work, and who may also be interested in
developing inter-faith activities.
The purpose of the
consultancy was for the Centre for the History of Religious and
Political Pluralism, University of Leicester, to draft a report on the
current awareness of development issues among different faith groups in
the UK. Particular attention was to be paid to public awareness of the
2015 targets for poverty reduction in the third world and the capacity
of faith communities to organize themselves as potential partners with
DFID. A final strand of the consultancy was to assess, where possible,
the effectiveness of existing partnerships between DFID and
non-governmental organizations involved with public awareness and
understanding of development issues.
In carrying out the
project, the Consultants
-
1) interviewed 30 representatives of the
different faith communities, basing the interviews on a common
questionnaire (Appendix 3);
-
2) assessed the scale of activities and
effectiveness of the UK-based NGOs drawn from, or closely related to,
the separate faith communities, including contacting 54 NGOs by means of
a questionnaire (Appendix 7);
-
3) made a series of recommendations which
are given in summary form in section II and in detailed form in section
VI.
A neutral, ‘common
front’, towards the Development Agenda should be sought to distance
DFID from accusations of acting from a ‘party political’ agenda
which would restrict the appeal to the public.
There is a high degree
of motivation within the separate faith traditions towards addressing
poverty which is potentially available to support the Development
Agenda.
Efforts should be made
to tap this resource of highly motivated potential support within the
faith communities.
Closer networks with
selected places of worship (churches, temples, mosques, gurdwaras,
etc.) need to be established, based on the extent of their influence
within the faith community.
Closer networks with
cultural associations need to be established, based on the extent of
their influence within their community and outside.
Summary literature
relevant to the different faith traditions and cultures, and in some
cases translated into other languages, is necessary to make the
Development Agenda understood and elicit support.
Closer links should be
developed with youth networks and women’s groups in order to broaden
the basis of support.
Prioritising relations
with UK-based NGOs drawn from, or closely related to, the separate
faith communities has the benefit of promoting an inclusive approach
with peoples of developing countries at the ‘grass roots’ level.
The faith communities suggest that their links with the countries
concerned should be developed.
In seeking to enhance
co-operation between UK-based NGOs drawn from, or closely related to,
the separate faith communities, there is a triple objective of
dialogue, networking and the sharing of good practice.
This triple objective
can only be achieved by the establishment of an intermediary group of
specialists (Faith Communities Development Issues Awareness Group)
which will provide the necessary new network to establish a more
sophisticated and more effective relationship with the faith
communities.
In some cases,
relatively new UK-based NGOs drawn from, or closely related to, the
separate faith communities may have difficulty in surmounting the
£250,000 per annum lower level for a Partnership Programme Agreement,
but through co-operation with other groups this higher level of
activity may be achievable.
The proposed new
intermediary body should become the chief mechanism for raising
awareness within the faith communities of the development agenda. In
order to achieve this end, it would need to have a budget for
publicity purposes and for holding meetings and presentations on
development issues.
The proposed new
intermediary body should have powers to call for proposals for funding
from within the faith communities, both for awareness raising schemes
and also for development partnerships within the third world and to
comment on the viability of the proposals, including prioritisation of
such proposals, to DFID, within an overall cash target set each year
by DFID for the two schemes. The schemes would be publicized within
the faith communities by the specialists on the proposed new body.
Question:
Can you give me your reasons for engaging in such work?
Response:
A desire to fight for global justice.
Extract from one of the interviews.
‘My
argument [is] for a significant obligation to help alleviate world
poverty, not a relentless, overburdening one. But you may ask how much
is "significant"? My answer will seem like no answer: there is
no percentage of wealth or amount of time to be pulled out of a magic
moral box. Caring is an unquantifiable dimension to moral
responsibility. But if we have a proper appreciation of the facts of
world poverty, of our global moral identities, of the moral seriousness
of responding to extreme suffering, of what quality of life really
consists in, and of the duty of caring as much as we can consistent with
our quality of life, then we will care as we ought.’
Nigel Dower, ‘World
Poverty’ in the Blackwell Companion to Ethics.
‘It is particularly
important to strengthen the voices of civil society in developing
countries. The Voices of the Poor consultation showed that poor people
placed their greatest trust in churches and faith groups. But other
groups - human rights and women’s organisations, trade unions, NGOs
and co-operatives - could also play a stronger role in giving poor
people a greater voice.’
Eliminating World
Poverty: Making Globalisation Work for the Poor, White Paper on
International Development, Dec. 2000, para. 361 at p. 103.
The attitude of the main world faiths to the
ethical issues relating to world poverty
In considering this
general question, the Consultants were aware that there could be no easy
assumption that the ethical position of the main world religions with
regard to the alleviation of poverty were identical since they arise
from different spiritual, theological and philosophical origins. An
interrogation of some of the literature on the subject, which is
summarized in Appendix 2, reveals that in spite of these differences in
the faiths, both in terms of their ‘world view’ and geographical
place of origin, the areas of divergence between them were not as great
as might have been expected. For example, at the outset of the
investigation the Consultants considered that the extent to which
Hinduism could extend the almsgiving ethos to the broader contemporary
issues of poverty required examination; but it became clear from the
comments from those interviewed that a feature of modern Hindu thinking
is an awareness of, and sensitivity to, wider humanitarian issues. This
is at variance with the assumptions in some of the existing literature
and the prevalence of the caste system in India.
The main conclusion that
emerged was that, notwithstanding all the differences between the world’s
religions in terms of the origins of their faith and the ways in which
they had arrived at their current ethical position, there was
agreement that the issue of alleviating world poverty was an overriding humanitarian
concern to which the particular interests of the faith tradition had to
be, to a degree, subordinated. In other words, as has recently been
observed in the humanitarian relief following earthquakes, faiths and
cultures which frequently find it difficult to overcome their traditions
of hostility may nevertheless be able to co-operate within a broader
humanitarian programme, particularly when a pressing need can be
demonstrated.
One of the other
important conclusions was that those interviewed recognized that aid in
time of disaster was insufficient and no solution to the problem of
endemic world poverty. The issue then arises as to how the alleviation
of a more long-standing and intractable problem can arouse a similar
degree of pressing urgency in the public mind.
Methodology
The emphasis in the
report is a qualitative rather than a quantitative one: 30 interviews
have been carried out (25 of the interviews are transcribed in full in
Appendix 4 of the report). The Consultants stopped at this number,
because in their judgement the responses were beginning to become
repetitive and the general outline of the conclusions had become clear.
Apart from London and Leicester, a number of other cities, including
Manchester, Glasgow and Bradford, have been visited and interviews held
there or, in one case, a completed questionnaire received. The timing of
interviews has frequently had to be in anti-social hours because the
members of the faith communities have full-time paid secular employment
and are only available in the evenings. Interviews were held in English,
Punjabi and Urdu as appropriate, and sometimes in a mix of languages.
Interviews were recorded and in virtually all cases fully transcribed;
the interviews have been translated into English where necessary.
The methodology for the
investigation is reflected in the questionnaire which is reproduced in
Appendix 3. This provides a focus for the person being interviewed to
reflect fully on the issues and clarify any distinctive features of
his/her own faith tradition. Apart from the questionnaire itself, we
believe that the originality of the report lies in the evidence provided
by those interviewed. Members of the faith communities have been invited
to speak freely on the theme of their relationship with the issues of
poverty reduction and the more general Development Agenda.
In large measure the
report has written itself, in the sense that for the first time the
voice of different faith communities is heard, expressed in its own
words from different representative figures: this constitutes Appendix 4
of the report, the largest section by some way. If a constructive
relationship with the faith communities is to be built up on the
alleviation of world poverty, it is essential that this takes a ‘bottom
up’ approach, in which the views and experiences of the faith
traditions themselves are taken seriously. A ‘top down’ approach,
for example if DFID were to pronounce on what the faith communities ‘should
be doing’ is unlikely to achieve a positive response.
What is needed is
constructive dialogue and interaction and the Consultants specifically
asked those interviewed whether a forum, a Faith Communities
Development issues Awareness Group, was or was not a desirable
development. The response was a positive one. This proposal, and its
implications, is discussed more fully in the recommendations of the
report.
Confidentiality
The list of persons
interviewed forms a separate appendix to the text of the final report
(Appendix 5). A number of actual or potential collaborators of DFID made
it clear that they were more willing to speak freely if the interview
was not directly attributed. Some of the reasons for this are implied in
the more negative comments in the conclusions of this report, but the
Consultants note with regret that there is a degree of suspicion about
the motives underlying government policy and a readiness to suspect that
there is some hidden objective of promoting the trade of the ‘first
world’ at the expense of the ‘third world’. The proposed Faith
Communities Development issues Awareness Group as a neutral
intermediary between DFID and the faith communities themselves would
help to remove such suspicion.
Can the sample interviewed be considered
representative?
In a standard
quantitative survey of public opinion on an issue, there would need to
be a weighting of the sample interviewed to ensure the correct balance
between gender, age and class. In a specialized qualitative survey of a
particular group in terms of their opinions on a specific issue, and any
judgement as to whether knowledge is or is not widely disseminated in
the group, the desirable balance between gender, age and class cannot be
secured.
Just who can, or who
cannot, speak for, or be considered representative of a particular faith
tradition is a difficult area. The structure of the Church of England is
reasonably well known example of a particular, hierarchical model of
organization. It has a hierarchy of Archbishops’ Council, a Synod
representing clergy and laity (at General, Diocesan, and Deanery Synod
levels), diocesan bishops and parish priests. The communications
infrastructure is quite advanced since there is a national Church of
England website, while dioceses have their own websites and IT officers.
Many parish clergy or their offices are now on e-mail.
A quite different model,
with a degree of hierarchy but no comparable model of organization, is
provided by the Muslim community. While there are national and regional
federations, the extent to which they represent the Muslim communities
is contested. In practice, each Imam in his Mosque and each Mosque
council is a separate organizational entity. In both the Church of
England hierarchical model and the Muslim model of limited hierarchy
there are problems about the degree to which anyone individual or group
may be considered ‘representative’ of others; but they are
necessarily different problems because the structures are quite
different. The view was expressed by one of the Hindus interviewed that
‘the Christians and Jews have [an established] infrastructure. But the
Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims do not have this infrastructure.’
The Consultants took the
view that the most appropriate way forward was to seek to balance the
experience of those interviewed and also to maintain a balance between
the faith communities. Thus, some of those interviewed had
responsibility for a principal place of worship for their faith
tradition, with a very significant number in their worshipping
community. Any comments which they made about how many people in their
community were aware of specific development issues, while necessarily
anecdotal, would at least be based on an awareness of views expressed by
the broad spectrum of opinion among their numerous worshippers. There
was recognition that invariably such persons who were interviewed were
male and of mature years. Rather younger ‘ministerial’ figures in
various faith traditions were also interviewed, but again with only one
exception (Reformed Judaism) these were also male. Voluntary or paid
workers involved in faith community’s charitable endeavours were not
necessarily likely to be male, but in practice all those interviewed
were.
The Consultants have
corrected this bias by contacting interviewing a number of females from
different faith traditions and contacting specifically female
organizations involved with work in the Third World. The Mothers’
Union Literacy and Development Programme, based on a largely female
Christian membership with over 80 per cent of the members of the Mothers’
Union in developing countries, is an example of a programme organized by
women to meet women’s needs (it is estimated that over 70 per cent of
the world’s illiterates are women and girls).
The Consultants have also
been in contact with organizations such as One World Week, which seek to
bridge the gap between younger and more senior citizens; and
organizations, such as the World Development Movement, which work with a
range of partners, including activists in the Third World, other
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and groups throughout the world
concerned with poverty and justice issues. Faith-based organizations
working to alleviate poverty in the Third World, such as Christian Aid,
CAFOD, UKJAID and Muslim Aid, have also been contacted, either at the
highest levels or through experienced workers or former workers for the
organizations concerned.
Finally, 54 NGOs were sent a separate
questionnaire to ascertain the robustness of their internal procedures
of project evaluation, accounting and auditing (Appendix 7), to which 21
replies were received (38%: Appendix 8).
This question is answered
by considering:
-
the attitudes of the faith community towards aid;
-
levels of awareness towards the development agenda; and
-
external influences on the faith community, if any.
Bahá’í Faith
Community
a) The attitudes of
the faith community towards aid. The community has the concept of huququ’llah
(‘the right of God’), which is akin to a tithe on wealth amounting
to 19% of net income after expenses. This is paid centrally for the
purposes of the faith and its charitable activities. As a small and
persecuted community, Bahá’ís have had to develop a strong instinct
for survival. They have distinctive views on the unity of all the
peoples and religions of the earth. They seek to end all forms of
economic and chattel slavery, as well as to abolish extremes of wealth
and poverty.
b) Levels of awareness
towards the development agenda. Though numerically a small
community, they have a relatively sophisticated awareness of issues
relating to poverty (for example, on the need for access to basic
education and basic health care) and the campaign for debt relief.
c) External influences
on the faith community, if any. In 1948 the Bahá’í International
Community registered with the UN as an international non-governmental
organization (NGO) and in 1970 was granted consultative status (now
called ‘special’ consultative status) with the UN Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC). Consultative status with the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) followed in 1976, and working relations with
the World Health Organization (WHO) were established in 1989. Over the
years, the Community has also worked closely with the United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP), the Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
Buddhist Faith Community
a) The attitudes of
the faith community towards aid. Generosity (dana) is one of
the ten perfections (paramis) of Buddhism. The faith community
places special emphasis on self-help and debt avoidance to overcome
economic difficulties. Unlike other faith communities, poverty is
conceived as a human problem; there is less recognition of an unequal
distribution of the world’s wealth and resources than in some other
faith traditions. ‘Every child should have the opportunity to receive
an education, but without assistance, many children will remain
uneducated and, as adults, be unable to rise above poverty.’
b) Levels of awareness
towards the development agenda. Knowledge of the Development Agenda
and specific poverty reduction targets, and the campaign for debt
relief, is slight. The emphasis is on the acquisition of skills to
eradicate poverty, rather than on the modification of structural
relationships between countries in the ‘north’ and ‘south’.
c) External influences
on the faith community, if any. Tibetan Buddhism in exile and
Mahayana Buddhism in south east Asia, the ‘progressive form’, have
clearly had external influences upon them; but Therewada Buddhism from
Sri Lanka, the conservative form, does not show much external influence.
There is little awareness of the development agenda, but considerable
emphasis instead on the ‘mushroom effect’ of educational programmes:
‘imagine the effect if just one of the programme’s children goes on
to become a professional or skilled person as a direct consequence of
sponsorship. This one child, once an adult, will have a beneficial
influence on his/her own family, and as a result, so will the extended
family, and eventually the immediate local community in which that
family resides. This is the mushroom effect. It is an extremely powerful
way of achieving change.’
Christian Faith Community
a) The attitudes of
the faith community towards aid. The early followers of Jesus
repeated his teaching: ‘If a man has enough to live on, and yet when
he sees his brother in need shuts up his heart against him, how can it
be said that the divine love dwells in him?’ (1 John 3:17). Christians
have cited Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer (‘forgive us our
sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us’: Luke
11:3) and the teaching of the Jubilee in Leviticus 25:8–54 as
persuasive arguments for a debt moratorium for poorer nations: this has
underpinned the Jubilee 2000 campaign, which originated with a coalition
of Christian churches and organizations. Christian Aid’s
campaign slogan, ‘we believe in life before death’ has been
particularly effective, because it appeals to two Christian
sensibilities: the concept of life after death and the concept that the
‘kingdom of God’ can, and should, be built on this earth.
b) Levels of awareness
towards the development agenda. Though divided among many
denominations, the Christian communities are at the forefront of
awareness of the development agenda. They have the most significant
campaigning and fund raising capabilities and there is considerable
evidence from fieldwork abroad which is relayed back to the Christian
churches. There are, however, certain distinctive features of the
Christian viewpoint. One is that there is opposition to any ‘party
political’ position in the projection of the development agenda; a
second is expressed in the form of criticism of any suggestion of ‘strings
attached’ to aid, particularly government ‘strings’: the recent
White Paper issued by the Secretary of State removing any ‘buy British
strings’ for third world aid should address this issue.
c) External influences
on the faith community, if any. Media attention on humanitarian
disasters in the third world, particularly conveyed via television, has
had a significant impact on opinion. So too has the campaign for Jubilee
2000, which has led to peaceful demonstrations, special services and
vigils as well as a much more extensive discussion of the technical
issues of third world poverty and debt relief.
Hindu Faith Community
a) The attitudes of
the faith community towards aid
In general terms, the
Hindu community seeks to integrate the ancient and the modern in ways
that promote human harmony. The projection of humanitarian aid focuses
on the concept of Seva/Sewa, the ancient word for service,
which is also used by other faiths. There is specific support for
extending the programme of free basic education for all as the mechanism
for raising the standard of living for the population, especially
education for women. There is also support for basic healthcare for all.
There is a widespread concern in the community that in the past grants
have not be used for their proper purposes or reached their targeted
recipients.
b) levels of awareness
towards the development agenda
Except for one or two organisations which have had dealings with DFID, the Hindu community is
not considered by its own faith representatives to be aware of the
Development Agenda. There is general support for the objective of
seeking to halve the number of the world’s poor by 2015, but a mix of
views as to whether this objective can be achieved by that date. It is
clear that there was little awareness of the Jubilee 2000 campaign for
debt relief, although when members of the Hindu community were informed
of this they supported its objectives.
c)
external influences on
the faith community, if any
There are close
religious, cultural, academic and political links between the Hindu
community in the UK and India and there are clear signs of a reawakening
of Hindu consciousness. Many religious groups in India are active in
Britain and have built some of the largest Hindu temples in the West
such as the Swami Narayan temple at Neasden (London). It therefore
follows that the main preoccupation of the community is with development
aid for the Indian sub-Continent rather than other parts of the world.
Jain Faith Community
a) the attitudes of the
faith community towards aid
The Jain community
emphasises the quality of life, especially in the form of non-violence
and the reverence for all life (Ahimsa). Poverty is seen as a
negation of the quality of life. The emphasis of the community is on
self-sufficiency, the promotion of human dignity and the development of
core human values. Jains are committed to pluralism as a concept, and
thus in principle are well placed to co-operate with other faith
communities on development projects. One of the twelve vows undertaken
by a Jain layperson (shravaka) is to limit his wealth, consuming
the surplus in charity.
b) levels of awareness
towards the development agenda
The level of awareness of
the issues of poverty and the need for basic education is wide.
Knowledge of specific poverty reduction targets, and the campaign for
debt relief, is expanding.
c) external influences on
the faith community, if any
There is a world-wide diaspora, which is not particularly numerous but influential. The chief
external influence from India is from within their own faith community,
which is a wealthy minority. There is a prominent Jain community within
the United States in addition to those in Britain and Europe.
Jewish Faith Community
a) the attitudes of the
faith community towards aid
Jews recall that they
were strangers in the land of Egypt during famine; they therefore must
remember the non-Jew in their own times: ‘it was to Egypt and to
Joseph that his own family came to purchase grain when Egypt had bulging
storehouse and they were without grain reserves in their own land’
(Rabbi Michael Robinson). There are numerous Jewish sources on hunger,
poverty and economic justice. The Midrash Exodus Rabbah states: ‘There
is nothing in the world more grievous than poverty — the most terrible
of sufferings. Our teachers have said: if all the troubles of the world
are assembled on one side and poverty is on the other, poverty would
outweigh them all.’ The term for ‘charity’ in Hebrew (tzedaka
or zedekah) significantly also means ‘justice’ or
righteousness. The Torah contains two important commands relating
to charity, firstly that ‘there shall be no needy among you’
(Deuteronomy 15:4), the other that ‘thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself’ (Leviticus 19:18; cf Deuteronomy 15:11: ‘thou shall surely
open thy hand unto thy poor and needy brother in thy land’). Jewish
sources emphasise the need to eliminate poverty, not to oppress the
poor, to rehabilitate the poor, to give to the poor and to relieve
poverty. In a recent issue of Tzedek News (Autumn 2000), Rabbi
Naftali Brawer writes ‘on the merits of giving to the Third World’
and that it is ‘important for Jews to help the needy of any faith’.
The Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are particularly associated
with giving, but the emphasis is increasingly on active giving
throughout the year, and for Jews to act as or lagoyim (a
light to the world) as well as accepting their responsibility to pursue tikkun
olam (the repair of the world).
b) levels of awareness
towards the development agenda
Knowledge of the
development agenda and the poverty reduction targets for 2015 is not
particularly widespread within the community, but there is an active
development education programme. One of those interviewed stated: ‘The
Jewish faith has religious and historical sources that guide our
approaches to poverty. The Jewish community in the UK has only
relatively recently turned to consider responses to overseas development
and poverty among non-Jewish communities. [My organisation] is
encouraging a dialogue and debate on these issues in order to raise
awareness of the issues and to fashion a communal understanding and
response.’
c) external influences on
the faith community, if any
As a result of recent
dialogue and debate (including the organization of conferences and
presentations at conferences), there is evidence that the Jewish
communities in the UK are in the process of acquiring greater awareness
of development issues than is the case in some other faith communities.
If a war breaks out in the Middle East, or if there is a sudden Jewish
emigration from an oppressive state, then the community is likely to be
preoccupied with other issues. There is more evidence of concern with
emergency appeals than with the longer-term process of poverty reduction
targets. Financial support for Jewish communities abroad is at a
considerably higher level than for non-Jews abroad.
Muslim Faith Community
a) the attitudes of the
faith community towards aid
In terms of the
perceptions of those interviewed, the Muslim communities are relatively
aware of the Development Agenda. On the other hand, charity or
almsgiving (zak?t) is the third of the five pillars of Islam, and
involves an obligatory annual payment of at least 1/40th or
2.5% of one’s wealth, that is accumulated wealth and assets, not just
income. Islamic charities appeal to the communities throughout the year
(‘the best deed in the eyes of Allah is the continuous one, even if it
is small’), but particularly in the month of Ramadan, emphasising the
obligatory nature of zak?t and that contributions from
individuals ‘make the difference’ within the Islamic spirit.
b) levels of awareness
towards the development agenda
The size of the Muslim
NGOs demonstrates that there is generous giving by the communities even
though the awareness of specific poverty reduction targets is slight.
There is general support for free basic education for all and for basic
healthcare for all. Some of the Muslims interviewed expressed concern
about the inequalities of wealth distribution between countries in the
‘north’ and the ‘south’, but knowledge of the specific debt
relief issue was not particularly advanced.
c) external influences on
the faith community, if any
There is a perception
(perhaps somewhat exaggerated) among Muslims that countries in the
Islamic world are particularly affected by conflicts and calamities and
that a disproportionate amount of the world’s poor are to be found
there. This perception, plus a sense of media isolation in the west (the
media is considered to be overwhelmingly negative to Islam), serves to
heighten the identity of a worldwide Muslim community, in spite of its
many differences and divisions.
Sikh Faith Community
a) the attitudes of the
faith community towards aid
The Sikh tradition of Langar
(the free kitchen) in every Gurdwara creates an early
consciousness of giving among all Sikhs, and the Sikh sharing of food
amounts to a strong statement against poverty. Sikhs have remained
committed to the principle that religious boundaries are irrelevant to
God (‘All are the same, none is separate; a single form, a single
creation’). Thus the relief of poverty is in principle capable of
being extended to all communities and traditions and there is evidence,
for example in Bosnia, that this has principle has been extended in
practice to cover Muslims. For example, one aid group seeks to inspire a
proactive spirit within the community by ‘fostering avenues for
selfless service and human resource development to combat social ills
including illiteracy, poverty, hunger, poor health and hygiene,
inequality and oppression, attempting to foster avenues of service
(seva)
for the community, [and by] sponsoring a fund specifically for the
current refugee crisis in Kosovo’.
b) levels of awareness
towards the development agenda
Those Sikhs interviewed
did not consider their community to be particularly well informed about
the Development Agenda or the specific poverty reduction targets for
2015. Nor was there any detailed knowledge of the campaign for debt
relief.
c) external influences on
the faith community
The tercentenary of the
foundation of the Khalsa (1699/1999) has given an additional impetus to
Sikh identity within the diaspora in the UK and a number of aid agencies
have been formed: ‘If the Sikh community can help those in need at
this time, then we will be able to actually put in action part of the
mission of the Khalsa and actually contribute to what the Khalsa
represents.’ One aid group is
working towards a global movement for a culture of peace and
non-violence (the Manifesto 2000 campaign) and has recently entered into
an international partnership agreement with UNESCO.
‘A powerful
international campaign — involving church and other faith groups and
NGOs — led the call for more generous debt relief focused on poverty
reduction. And this helped lead to agreement on an enhanced [Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC)] in 1999, that would deliver
faster, deeper and wider debt relief. The focus of the HIPC initiative
was widened at this time from assisting countries to improve their
economic position to ensure that the debt relief process benefited the
poor.’
Eliminating World
Poverty: Making Globalisation Work for the Poor, White Paper on
International Development, Dec. 2000, para. 297 at p. 89.)
Note: an asterisk
indicates that details of the organisation are given in Appendix 9.
Bahá’í Faith Community
In the UK, individual
Bahá’ís support relevant charities and NGOs; there are also a number
of development projects being run by Bahá’ís in the UK; and the
Bahá’í Agency for Social and Economic Development (based in the UK)
channels money from DFID to Bahá’í-inspired projects overseas.
Associations of Baha’í
women and local and national level are working on gender-related
projects. An example of a project that has been supported by the Bahá’í
world-wide community is the Bahá’í Vocational Institute for Rural
Women, Indore, India, which was established in 1985 to help raise the
standard of living of rural and tribal women living in small communities
in the districts around Indore. During the first few years of operation,
it focused primarily on developing income-generating skills such as
producing small mats, incense-sticks, dry leaf cups, candles,
chalk-sticks and handloom weaving. The organic growth of the Institute
has enabled it to develop a comprehensive curriculum that empowers women
with the knowledge and skills they need to improve their lives and the
lives of their families, and the communities in which they live.
The Bahá’í
Agency for Social and Economic Development* (BASED-UK) was set up in
1993 to raise the quality of life of people all over the world through
actions to relieve poverty and advance education. In order to further
these objectives, BASED-UK either funds projects directly or by
approaching other organizations to sponsor, in part or in whole,
projects identified through a process of grass-roots consultation. BASED-UK
then collaborates with grass-roots organizations in the implementation
of projects which meet its criteria. SAT
(Spanish for ‘System of Tutorial Learning’) is a rural
non-formal-education and development project in Honduras. This project
is part-funded by DFID, which took the decision in May 1997 to provide a
grant of £221,000 (under its Joint Funding Scheme programme for
non-government organizations) to help finance this programme. The
project is being managed by the Bahá'í Agency for Social and Economic
Development of the United Kingdom (BASED-UK), and implemented by
the Bayan Association for Indigenous Social and Economic Development in
Honduras. The DFID grant is for a little under half of the total project
cost. There is also a second, much smaller, project (the Tierra Santa
Orphanage, a home for 120 abandoned girls). The level of income for the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the UK (£0.84
million, which includes all activities and not just the work of BASED-UK)
is given in Appendix 6.
Buddhist Faith Community
The aim of the Rahula
Trust* is to help young and disadvantaged children in developing
countries throughout the world with financial assistance for educational
needs from primary school to university level. The website of the
organization states: ‘inevitably, despite its small beginnings this is
an ambitious project. Initially the London Buddhist Vihara will start
with a programme that will focus on children in Sri Lanka. Having proved
successful, the Programme will then expand to other underdeveloped
countries. In many developing nations, the cost of school fees places a
very heavy and sometimes impossible burden on poorer families.
Sponsorship will immediately change a child’s education for the
better. By paying for school fees, private tuition or buying uniforms
and books, child sponsorship can enable a child to attend school and
prepare effectively for examinations. Education is seen as one path to
success.’ There are no current indications of the size of the project.
More financial details
are available for Aid for India,* a charity which exists ‘to
collect donations for the relief of poverty, advancement of the Buddhist
religion and other charitable purposes anywhere in the world, [but]
specifically in India’. Its income is stated as £0.03 million in the
financial information given in Appendix 6.
Christian Faith Community
The Christian relief
agencies, which are often among the oldest NGOs operating in the UK (for
example, Christian Aid* was founded in 1945), are by far the
biggest in the field at the moment and they also offer the most detail
in terms of their financial affairs. It is evident that the Christian
relief agencies include some of the largest charities operating in the
UK. The listing provided by Charities Direct suggests the following
comparison in terms of expenditure: Christian Aid (£46.9 million
expenditure, 42nd in the top 100 UK Charities by
expenditure); Tearfund* (£32.4 million expenditure, 73rd
in the top 100 UK Charities by expenditure). In terms of annual income, Christian
Aid receives £48.6 million, Tearfund £35 million, and CAFOD*
£25.8 million: see the figures in Appendix 6. Christian Aid is
‘the official relief and development agency of 40 British and Irish
churches and works where the need is greatest in more than 60 countries
worldwide, supporting the poorest communities in their struggle to
achieve a better life.’ The purpose of Tearfund is ‘to serve
Jesus Christ by enabling those who share evangelical Christian beliefs
to bring good news to the poor’: it works in the areas of development;
healthcare; urban renewal; conflict and justice; environment and
agriculture; education and training.
Two of the largest
Christian charities, Christian Aid and CAFOD, have
co-operated well in the Jubilee 2000 campaign, the significance of which
is alluded to in paragraph 297 of Eliminating World Poverty: Making
Globalisation Work for the Poor, White Paper on International
Development, December 2000. Together with the Mothers’ Union*
and Tearfund, Christian Aid and CAFOD produced an
eight-page booklet offering ideas and materials for Christians to
reflect on the debt campaign at the time of the G8 summit in July 2000.
It seems that Christian Aid and CAFOD, with SCIAF
and Traidcraft, have an ongoing campaigning profile for ‘working
together with the poor in developing countries’ (the theme of their
Christmas card campaign, 2000). The Mothers’ Union has an
important literacy project, directed particularly towards the needs of
women in Africa. There is a plethora of Christian organizations on a
smaller scale, many of which offer particular skills or have area
specialisms. The issue is how well the smaller charitable organizations
can co-operate together and follow the lead set by the larger ones. A
number of these organizations are listed in the BOND (British Overseas
NGOs for Development) Directory. Some of these have been sent an
additional questionnaire (Appendix 7) and those which responded are
listed in Appendix 8.
Hindu Faith Community
In the UK, Sewa
International* is a service project of Hindu
Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), a registered charity, the purpose of which
is stated as ‘to advance the Hindu religion and to educate
the public in the Hindu ideals and way of life’. The principal
role of Sewa International is to organize relief for those
suffering from the severe drought in the states of Gujarat and
Rajasthan. In addition, it supports the work of Devi Ahalyabai Smarack
Samti, a charitable Trust in memory of Ahalyabai Holkar of Indore, known
for its religious and philanthropic works. It is based in Nagpur and run
by women for the welfare of girls of the weaker sections of the Hindu
Society. The Samti runs a Girls Hostel (Vanavasi Kanya Chhatravas) to train young girls selected from seven North East
States of Bharat who are educated in various schools in Nagpur.
Also of importance is the
India Development and Relief Fund, which is a tax-exempt
organization under the U.S. Internal revenue Code Section 501 (c)(3)
(tax exempt code 52-1555563). It aims to support the grassroots and
non-government organizations (NGOs) involved in serving the most
disadvantaged, impoverished, illiterate, poor and needy people. IDRF was
founded in 1978 by Dr. Vinod Prakash, a World Bank economist from 1971
to 1981. The organization has so far distributed over $800,000 to
grassroots and charitable organizations in India. It has links with the
Indian community in the UK.
A number of the larger
Hindu temples have their own networks and trusts for fundraising for
relief in the Indian subcontinent. They are reluctant to provide details
of their income and annual accounts; further research and contact
building would be needed to ascertain their size and effectiveness.
Salt of the Earth,*
is of no declared faith position, but works with low caste Harijans, who
are primarily Hindus (but some of whom have converted to other faiths).
Because the caste system has not always allowed aid to flow evenly to
all social groups, it is important to note this organization, which
works ‘with the poorest of the poor amongst the low caste Harijans,
snake catchers, gypsies and salt pan workers’. It is from this last
group that the charity gets its name and it is these people that get the
benefit of most of the money the charity raises. The saltpan workers
suffer from the saline environment in which they live and work in on the
coastal strip around the port of Tuticorin on the south east coast of
Tamil Nadu. It is the policy of the charity that all donations received
go direct to SCAD (Social Change and Development) without
any deductions. A wide range of activities are funded including
education, health care, community projects, water and income generation
schemes. The aim is to increase the quality of life of families whose
income can be as low as £150 per year. Through its team of over 200
full and part time staff SCAD works to help and to empower the poor in
150 villages with a total population in excess of 125,000 people. A
local person in each village is recruited and trained to work part time
for SCAD and these representatives are supported by full-time
professional field and administration staff.
Jain Faith Community
There are two known Jain
organizations working in the relevant area. The first, is called Ahimsa,*
the Sanskrit term for non-violence and reverence for life. The second is
called Ahimsa for Quality Of Life (AQL).* Its initial target is
to support three projects in India: welfare for the economically
disadvantaged (helping the Saraks lift themselves from poverty in
Eastern Bihar; partner: Shri Akhil Bharatiya Sarak Sangathan);
rehabilitation of the physically handicapped (by providing free
prosthesis and social support; partner: Bhagwan Mahavir Viklan Sahayak
Samiti); and rehabilitation of the mentally handicapped (by education,
vocation training and prevention; partner: VD Indian Society for
Mentally Retarded). There are no current indications of the level of
financial support for these two organizations.
Jewish Faith Community
The two principal Jewish
NGOs working in the field of world poverty relief and development
education are UKJAid* and Tzedek.* UKJAID has 7
Trustees and deals with about 6 new projects a year and others which are
ongoing; this number is expected increase over time. The main
geographical areas of support are Zambia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania,
and Tibet in exile. In the year ending December 1999, total income was
£480,000, with income from DFID amounting to £170,000 (35% of total
income). Grants are made available to all.
A second
organization is Tzedek (Jewish Action for a Just World), which
aims to provide direct support to the developing
world working towards the relief and
elimination of poverty regardless of race or religion. Secondly, it
seeks to educate people, particularly in the Jewish community, as to the
causes and effects of poverty and the Jewish obligation to respond. In
addition Tzedek organises an Overseas
Volunteer Programme in which Jewish
volunteers work for up to eight weeks during the summer at development
projects in Africa and Asia. Tzedek is now supporting nine
development projects in Africa and Asia. In India, it is supporting the
construction of a school in the Himalayas; in Calcutta it is sponsoring
street children through an income-generating training programme; in
Tamil Nadu, start-up finance is provided for women’s self-help
micro-credit schemes. In Bangladesh Tzedek is supporting a womens’
vocational training programme. In Zimbabwe, until the recent disorders, Tzedek
was sponsoring a vocational training scheme for unemployed squatter camp
dwellers and equipping a pre-school. In Ghana it is supporting the
construction and development of a rural community centre. This is an
extensive range of activities, given a relatively low level of income
(some £60,000 a year); it depends significantly on volunteer support.
Two other organizations
are preoccupied with exclusively Jewish concerns. These are the Central
British Fund for World Jewish Relief (also known as World Jewish
Relief), the objectives of which consist in assisting ‘Jewish refugees
in the UK and… the communities outside the UK in their social,
religious, cultural and developmental needs’ and Jewish Care,
which works exclusively within the UK for ‘vulnerable people in the
Jewish community’. The size of these two organizations (£4.2 million
and £34.7 million in income respectively) suggests something of the
scale of activity, which Jewish organizations concerned with the relief
of poverty world-wide might attain over time.
Muslim Faith Community
There are three main
organizations (Muslim Aid, Muslim Hands and Islamic
Relief), each of which is well regarded. The organizations have an
annual income respectively of c. £1.5 million, c £1.6 million and c.
£3.2 million. Islamic Relief seeks to promote sustainable
economic and social development by working with local communities
through relief and development programmes, including orphan support. Its
core geographical areas are Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Bangladesh, Chechnya, Gaza Strip, Mali, India, Pakistan and Sudan, where
it claims strong links with the local communities. The
organization is considered to be run efficiently and to have credibility
within the Sunni Muslim community as a whole. The Charities Direct
website provides the following information on the income of the
organizations mentioned above, which differs from the figures given from
Muslim sources (the difference may arise from a different date for the
information): according to this data, Islamic Relief is
the largest of the three organizations, with an annual income of £3.77
million; Muslim Aid is the second, with an annual income
of £2.37 million; while Muslim Hands has an income of
£0.43 million.
Sikh Faith Community
All Gurdwaras have their
own networks and trusts for fundraising for relief in the Punjab /
Panjab. There is no definitive list of Sikh charities working in the
area of poverty relief and development in the third world. The Guru
Amar Dass Mission (UK) has been operating since the early 1970s in
the UK and several other countries of Sikh settlement. The primary role
of this organisation is to initiate, as well as to assist, primary
health care projects in the rural areas of Punjab. Although the mission
specialises in funding of eye camps, it also makes donations to
charitable hospitals and trusts, especially those that cater for mental
illness and leprosy sufferers.
Two recently registered
charities, Khalsa Aid* and the Sikh Welfare and Research Trust (SWRT)* registered respectively in April and November 2000, are involved
in the area of the relief of poverty, but information on them is
difficult to obtain. Though not yet registered, FATEH (Fellowship Of
Activists To Embrace Humanity) is easier to find out about since it
operates its own website. It seeks to inspire active humanitarianism and
transcend national boundaries and, in its early stages of development,
has been active in Kosovo, Bosnia, Orissa and Punjab. Its programme
called KartaKare is a response to the Sikh community’s outrage over
the physical, social, emotional and spiritual consequences of trauma.
Psychological treatment, clinical counselling and rehabilitation are the
three main areas in which assistance is provided. Links are being sought
with other organizations so as the Child Education Volunteer
Association, Nishkam Sikh Welfare Council, Joti Saroop Trust and
Horizons. FATEH has also an Orissa project fund.
Relative size of the
Non-Governmental Organizations operating from within Faith Communities
There is reason to
suppose that the administrative costs of the Non-Governmental
Organizations within the various faith communities are relatively high
as a proportion of expenditure and income because they are in the early
years of operation, and that they will remain so until they reach a
higher level of activity. Some of the Non-Governmental Organizations
within various faith communities are of such recent origin that precise
statistics are difficult to obtain: they are not listed in any directory
such as the Charities Direct website, the Charity Commissioners
registration website, or the BOND directory, since they are of
relatively recent origins. However, there is evidence that some have
grown rapidly in the short period of their existence.
With these
important caveats, the most reliable source has been found to be the
Charities Direct website (www.charitiesdirect.com),
which distinguishes between: A) International Development Assistance
Organizations; B) International Disaster and Relief Organizations; and
C) International Welfare: General. Accepting this somewhat arbitrary
distinction, in the category of International Development Assistance
Organizations, CAFOD is listed as fourth by expenditure (£21
million); the Catholic Institute for International Relations is
listed as eleventh (£3.58 million) and SCIAF is listed as
thirteenth (£2.16 million). In the category of International Disaster
and Relief Organizations, Tear Fund is listed as third by
expenditure (£29.3 million), Christian Outreach is lasted as
twelfth (£1.75 million), Muslim Aid as fourteenth (£1.08
million), and Muslim Hands as seventeenth (£0.18 million). Christian
Aid dominates the list of expenditure by organization in the
category of International Welfare: General (£40.9 million), with the St
Vincent de Paul Society third (£4.03 million), Islamic Relief
fourth (£2.15 million) and Link Romania fifth (£1.79 million).
Using the BOND directory
of NGOs, and identifying those working in the area of international
development and awareness raising, 54 NGOs were sent a separate
questionnaire to ascertain the robustness of their internal procedures
of project evaluation, accounting and auditing (Appendix 7), to which 21
replies were received (38%: Appendix 8). The replies were satisfactory
and demonstrated a strong commitment to efficient and transparent
procedures even in those NGOs which were relatively new or operating on
a relatively small scale.
‘…such that an
assessment can be made on how DFID might move forward with each group
and on inter-faith activities…’
Note: an asterisk
indicates that details of the organization are given in Appendix 9.
Bahá’í Faith Community
The Baha’í Agency
for Social and Economic Development (based in the UK) is directed by
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháá’ís of the UK,* which
maintains its own website. The community will focus on social and
economic development for five years from April 2001. Given the
impressive international recognition of the movement, the website for
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the UK could carry
more explicit information on the development aid provided by this
community, both in the UK and worldwide.
Buddhist Faith Community
Buddhist aid agencies
appear to concentrate on the education aspects of development. This is
an acceptable objective, given the primacy which many commentators give
to lack of education, especially among women, as a factor in endemic
poverty. However, there is a relative lack of information about the
groups and enhanced information is required to assist them in their task
of fundraising. The Rahula Trust* has a website, which is
important for enhancing public awareness within the Buddhist community.
Christian Faith Community
The larger agencies are
well organized and have good links with the faith community. Christian
groups have been longer in the field than any other aid organizations
from the other faith communities. They have more practical experience in
fund-raising; their affairs are better documented and more open and
accountable than those of some other groups. There is a need for their
expertise to be made available to advise other groups (while recognizing
the separate identities of other faith communities). There is a
considerable gap between the scale of activities of the large groups (Christian
Aid,* CAFOD,* Tear Fund)* and the plethora of smaller
groups committed to certain types of aid or awareness raising. It would
be desirable for these smaller groups to co-operate within an umbrella
organization for reasons of greater efficiency and to prevent overlap
and duplication of effort.
Hindu Faith Community
There is a growing sense
of Hindu awareness, both in the Indian sub-Continent and also in the
communities in the UK. The stated objectives of the registered charity Hindu
Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), are ‘to advance
the Hindu religion and to educate the public in the Hindu ideals and way
of life’; Sewa International (UK)* is a service project of this
charity. (This organization is listed within Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK: (http://www.vhp-uk.com)
The developing website for Indian communities
(www.indiancommunities.org/)
could be of assistance in helping disseminate information about relief
organizations within the Hindu communities. The role of Salt of the
Earth/SCAD* in working with the low caste Harijans continues to be
important because of the traditional discrimination which this group has
suffered.
Jain Faith Community
The two Jain aid agencies
in the UK, Ahimsa,* and Ahimsa for Quality Of Life (AQL),*
are both charities of recent foundation (1998 and 2000): enhanced
information is required to assist them in their task of fundraising.
They do not have websites, which are crucial for enhancing public
awareness within their own community.
Jewish Faith Community
The two principal agencies, UKJAid*
and Tzedek*, work together on projects but have a somewhat
different emphasis in their programmes: UKJAid has a full-time
worker and seeks partnerships with international organizations; Tzedek
has a high level of volunteer support and works primarily at smaller
volunteer projects backed by private donations. Both produce
newsletters, but do not at present have their own websites. The Jewish
Emergency Aid Coalition (JEAC) is an umbrella organization created to
mobilize aid when required to respond to humanitarian disasters.
Muslim Faith Community
The growing Muslim
self-consciousness since 1979 is well attested, and the three main
Muslim aid organizations are already well positioned to expand their
area and range of operations. In terms of the size of operations, the
Muslim organizations are second only to the Christian agencies, but are
of much more recent origin. The main groups (Islamic Relief,* Muslim
Hands,* and Muslim Aid*) operate their own websites and
publish their financial information in the Charities Direct directory.
Sikh Faith Community
Given the recent origin
of some Sikh NGOs, much more information needs to be made available
about the new organizations to assist them in their task of fundraising.
Only one group as yet has a website for enhancing public awareness.
Towards a multi-faith response
There is an overwhelming
need for a multi-faith response towards the development agenda for
practical reasons such as to encourage dialogue, networking and the
sharing of good practice. Dialogue is necessary to create conditions of
good relations between faith communities and their agencies which may
otherwise operate entirely within their own parameters and take little
account of the general objectives of the Development Agenda. Networking
is critical, because without this there can be no exchange of
information or enhancement of DFID’s objectives within the different
faith communities. The sharing of good practice is vital because some
agencies (e.g. Christian Aid) have more than fifty years’ experience
in creating an organization. Recently founded groups can learn from this
experience without having to reinvent procedures that have already been
tried and tested elsewhere. Some of these procedures would include:
-
the primacy of accountability, that is an openness about the group’s
objectives and purposes (within this, it is desirable to separate out
the humanitarian work of the faith community, while not losing its
religious motivation);
-
the need for the disclosure of accounts (some
groups refused to disclose information to the consultancy, yet such
information is normally disclosed by the majority);
-
the need for good
accounting mechanisms in the UK and abroad: the work of the
International Records Management Trust (www.irmt.org) is
particularly relevant here;
-
the importance of creating a website,
communicating with the faith community by email, and circulating a
regular newsletter to disclose information and encourage fundraising as
well as networking.
This triple objective of
dialogue, networking and the sharing of good practice can only be
achieved by the establishment of an intermediary group of specialists
which will provide the necessary new network to establish a more
sophisticated and more effective relationship with the faith
communities. The purpose of the group would be to ensure that DFID is
able to mobilize the enthusiasm of faith communities without itself
having to gain the expertise in dealing with multiple bilateral
relationships, each of which requires detailed knowledge of the issues
and capabilities of the faith community in question. The proposed group
would be
-
more effective than the present set of informal
arrangements;
-
distance DFID from any accusation of acting from a ‘party
political’ agenda; and
-
better capable of operating within a robust,
yet co-operative, relationship with DFID (smaller NGOs are less capable
than e.g. Christian Aid of commenting that the recent White Paper ‘misses
the point’ because they are nervous of losing funding from DFID).
The
intermediary body, not DFID, would be the one dealing directly with the
faith communities on a multi-faith basis. The specialists would provide
detailed knowledge of the issues and capabilities of the faith
communities; if a previously unknown or untested group presented itself
as a potential partner, it would make enquiries on behalf of DFID.
Clearly the Faith Communities Development Issues Awareness Group would
need precise terms of reference and an informed personnel. The Centre
for the History of Religious and Political Pluralism, which conducted
the research for this consultancy, would be willing to give advice over
the establishment of such a body and provide an informed yet neutral
chairmanship / convenorship.
Those interviewed by the
Consultants have made suggestions about the way in which interaction
with DFID, and awareness raising within their own communities, could be
improved. The Consultants are of the opinion that the proposed new
intermediary body should become the chief mechanism for securing these
objectives. In order to achieve this end, it would need to have a budget
for publicity purposes and for holding meetings and presentations on
development issues. This would enable, for example, an annual conference
to be held at a neutral, academic, venue. It would be desirable to
liaise with an NGO such as Southern Voices, which is a network of
‘Southerners’ settled, or temporarily resident, in the UK. Its work
is concerned with development awareness raising, so much of it takes
place in the ‘North’. Its primary concern is to correct the
misinformation and prejudiced understanding of the ‘South’ that
generally exists in the ‘Northern’ world at most sectors, levels and
institutions. It has close links and connections with networks and
individuals in the ‘South’ who inform its work and try to make sure
that there is a plurality of perspectives.
The Consultants are of
the view that, for the reasons suggested above, the new intermediary
body should have powers to call for proposals for funding from within
the faith communities, both for awareness raising schemes and also for
development partnerships within the third world and to comment on the
viability of the proposals, including prioritisation of such proposals,
to DFID, within an overall cash target set each year by DFID for the two
schemes. This would give the new body a purpose for meeting greater than
simply talking about the issues. DFID itself would benefit, since there
would be a larger number of applications for funding would be secured
than at present. The schemes would be publicized within the faith
communities by the specialists on the proposed new body.
There is the additional
possibility that groups could collaborate and thus overcome the
£250,000 barrier within the Partnership Programme Agreement scheme (PPAs).
PPAs are agreements between DFID and influential non-governmental
organisations in UK which set out at a strategic level how the two
partners will work together to promote poverty elimination and
sustainable development. Strategic funding is provided, linked to
jointly agreed strategic objectives. At present, some groups have
received good appraisals from DFID, but fall under the £250,000 per
annum lower level for a Partnership Programme Agreement. Clearly,
relatively new UK-based NGOs drawn from, or closely related to, the
separate faith communities would have difficulty of surmounting the
£250,000 per annum lower level, but through co-operation with other
groups this higher level of activity might be possible.
From the evidence of the
interviews held, it seems clear that there is:
5.1) enthusiasm within
the faith communities for the 2015 targets for poverty reduction,
although there is a relative lack of awareness that these targets have
been set. There were some who questioned the realism of the
targets, but none questioned the objectives as such. For
more detailed comments, see the responses to question 1 in Appendix 4.
5.2) a wish on the part
of faith communities contacted to help in so far as they can. For
more detailed comments, see the responses to questions 2, 6, 7 and 8 in
Appendix 4.
5.3) a willingness to use
their own networks to spread information and awareness. For
more detailed comments, see the responses to question 16 in Appendix 4.
5.4) a view that there
needs to be clear summary, ‘faith specific’ documentation in clear
and non-technical language, and above all the relevant languages,
for particular faith communities. For
more detailed comments, see the responses to question 20 in Appendix 4.
5.5) a need for a
sponsoring group to act as the conduit for information to the faith
communities. In the questionnaire we have called this a ‘Faith
Communities Development issues Awareness Group’. The purpose of
such a group would be to attract specialists on poverty reduction issues
from different faith communities. For
more detailed comments, see the responses to question 18 in Appendix 4.
From the evidence of the
interviews, it would seem the faith communities:
5.6) were largely unaware
of the Jubilee 2000 campaign. Christians and Jews, who directly and
indirectly affected by the campaign, thought it provided a useful model
for mobilizing opinion. For more
detailed comments, see the responses to question 3 in Appendix 4.
5.7) recognize the
humanitarian imperative to assist the world’s poor and not just the
poor of their own faith community. For
more detailed comments, see the responses to question 9 in Appendix 4.
5.8) are willing to
co-operate with the development agenda and to share information with
other faith communities. For more detailed comments, see the
responses to question 25 in Appendix 4.
From the evidence of
these interviews, it seems clear that there is:
5.9) a concern that the
Jubilee 2000 campaign, the largest attempt to mobilize opinion in recent
years, has not achieved its objectives. For more detailed comments,
see the responses to question 3 in Appendix 4. What hope is there,
therefore, for a more widespread, global, campaign for reducing poverty
by 2015? The reaffirmation of debt reduction objectives and positive
action is necessary to restore credibility in target setting. The UK
Government has recently made a positive pronouncement via the Chancellor
of the Exchequer. There is a need for publicity on this matter, and on
the response of other governments, to demonstrate to the public at large
that targets can be met.
5.10) a view expressed in
some quarters about the objectivity or credibility of western
governments in seeking global poverty reduction targets. Is there a
hidden agenda behind the development agenda? For more detailed
comments, see the responses to question 3 in Appendix 4. This
speculation, tainted with suspicion, will be difficult to eradicate. The
recent White Paper emphasising that there are to be ‘no strings
attached’ with aid in the future (Eliminating World Poverty: Making
Globalisation Work for the Poor, White Paper on International
Development, Dec. 2000, para 320 at p. 94) will undoubtedly help to
dissuade some sections of opinion in the faith communities that there is
any hidden agenda involving ‘western’, ‘first world’ or even ‘capitalist’
economic interests.
6.1) Efforts should be
made to separate humanitarian issues from party ideologies or
manifestos. A neutral, ‘common front’, towards the Development
Agenda should be attained.
6.2) The awareness of
development issues within the various faith communities must be
enhanced. At present there is a low level of awareness of the
Development Agenda; but there is a high degree of motivation within the
separate faith traditions towards addressing poverty which is
potentially available for supporting the Agenda.
6.3) Efforts should be
made to tap this resource of highly motivated potential support. At
present there is a missing link between DFID’s programmes and the
faith communities which needs to be addressed.
6.4) Closer networks with
selected places of worship (churches, temples, mosques, gurdwaras, etc.)
need to be established, based on the extent of their influence within
the faith community.
6.5) Closer networks with
cultural associations need to be established, based on the extent of
their influence within their community and outside.
6.6) Summary literature
relevant to the different faith traditions and cultures is necessary to
make the Development Agenda understood and elicit support.
6.7) Such literature
needs to include information not merely on objectives but also the
extent to which the UK Government has succeeded in responding (e.g. debt
relief for 41 countries announced in December 2000).
6.8) Some of this
literature needs to be translated into the relevant Asian languages,
which will facilitate the formation and effectiveness of awareness
within certain faith communities.
6.9) The literature for
each faith community needs to be kept separate, because each faith
tradition’s approach to the issue of poverty is somewhat different.
6.10) Asian communities
retain close links with their countries of origin. The programme for
development awareness can, in principle, appeal to people of all age
groups and both males and females equally because of these close links.
6.11) Given the
preponderance of the younger age groups within the demography of the
Asian communities, it is essential to develop closer links with Asian
youth networks. Temples, mosques, gurdwaras, etc. may be able to help in
so far as they may have youth groups or youth schools which can learn
about the development agenda.
6.12) Separate women’s
organizations, at national and local level, need to be incorporated
within any strategy for awareness raising. Failure to do this might
result in women not being properly incorporated into the strategy. ‘Women’s
rights’ issues are not identical with development issues but are
clearly related to them, since an estimated 70% of the world’s
illiterates are women and girls.
6.13) Improved
accounting, accountability and transparency are necessary to overcome
reservations as to whether the 2015 targets, even if funded adequately
by western governments, are achievable. There is a widely-held suspicion
and scepticism of the efficiency and openness of the political
leadership in many ‘third world’ countries.
6.14) Prioritising
relations with NGOs has the benefit of promoting an inclusive approach
with peoples of developing countries at the ‘grass roots’ level. The
faith communities suggest that their links with the countries concerned
should be developed.
6.15) A number of
UK-based NGOs are drawn from, or closely related to, the separate faith
communities. There is considerable potential for co-operation between
these NGOs; this should become an immediate policy objective.
6.16) In seeking to
enhance co-operation between UK-based NGOs drawn from, or closely
related to, the separate faith communities, there is a triple objective
of dialogue, networking and the sharing of good practice
6.17) This triple
objective can only be achieved by the establishment of an intermediary
group of specialists which will provide the necessary new network to
establish a more sophisticated and more effective relationship with the
faith communities.
6.18) Such an
intermediary group of specialists under a neutral chairmanship (a
suggested name is Faith Communities Development Issues Awareness
Group) would be a) more effective than the present set of informal
arrangements; b) distance DFID from any accusation of acting from a ‘party
political’ agenda; and c) better capable of operating within a robust,
yet co-operative, relationship with DFID.
6.19) It is proposed that
the intermediary body of specialists, not DFID, would be the group
dealing directly with the faith communities on a multi-faith basis.
6.20) The intermediary
body of specialists would provide detailed knowledge of the issues and
capabilities of the faith communities; if a previously unknown or
untested faith group or NGO presented itself as a potential partner, it
would make enquiries on behalf of DFID.
6.21) At present, some
groups have received good appraisals from DFID, but fall under the
£250,000 per annum lower level for a Partnership Programme Agreement.
Clearly, relatively new UK-based NGOs drawn from, or closely related to,
the separate faith communities would have difficulty of surmounting the
£250,000 per annum lower level, but through co-operation with other
groups this higher level of activity might be possible.
6.22) The Faith
Communities Development Issues Awareness Group will need precise
terms of reference and an informed personnel. It is suggested that the
terms of reference should include the avoidance of potential dangers
such as (a) evangelism / proselytism being confused with humanitarian
objectives; (b) political ideologies or sectarian divisions which might
hinder the appeal of the NGO; and (c) an exclusivist attitude towards
aid, namely aid channelled solely within the faith community and not aid
for all those affected by poverty.
6.23) The proposed new
intermediary body should become the chief mechanism for raising
awareness within the faith communities of the development agenda. In
order to achieve this end, it would need to have a budget for publicity
purposes and for holding meetings and presentations on development
issues. This would enable, for example, an annual conference to be held
at a neutral venue.
6.24) The proposed new
intermediary body should have powers to call for proposals for funding
from within the faith communities, both for awareness raising schemes
and also for development partnerships within the third world and to
comment on the viability of the proposals, including prioritisation of
such proposals, to DFID, within an overall cash target set each year by
DFID for the two schemes. The schemes would be publicized within the
faith communities by the specialists on the proposed new body.
6.25) The establishment
of the new intermediary body follows naturally from the work in the
field undertaken by the Centre for the History of Religious and
Political Pluralism.
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