Partnerships between faiths accelerate development says civil society
Two years ago when they met in Malta, Commonwealth Heads of Governments asked the Commonwealth "to explore initiatives to promote mutual understanding and respect among all faiths and communities in the Commonwealth."
Since then the Commonwealth Foundation, one of the main Commonwealth bodies, has been working with faith organisations to promote partnerships that help use mutual respect and understanding as a basis for collaboration to achieve effective development.
The recently launched Muslim-Christian partnership between Muslim Aid and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is one example of the kind of work the Foundation has begun to support.
Their partnership began as a grassroots initiative in Sri Lanka in 2006 when the two organisations worked together to facilitate access for each other in areas previously closed to them due to ethnic and religious tensions, and led to the launch of a formal co-operation agreement at the UK Houses of Parliament in 2007. For the Commonwealth People's Forum, Kampala, Uganda, November 2007, they brought the story of their partnership into the People's Space, an interactive discussion area, to encourage learning from their agreement and urge others to join them in partnership.
Launching a film about the partnership on Thursday 22 November, keynote speaker Terry Waite commented, "I believe strongly that there needs to be co-operation between people of different faiths to achieve common objectives. We must allow difference to be creative rather than negative. I have spent a lifetime working to resolve conflict and am delighted to be associated with this launch event. Now that the research into respect and understanding called for by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in 2005 has been carried out. It is crucial that the theory is now translated into practical action on the ground. This initiative between two faith-based non-proselytising organisations is already doing that - thousands have benefited. We need to turn the thousands to millions."
The event is part of a recent wave of activities to examine the role that faith-based organisations, and co-operation between different faith communities, can play in delivering effective development. Many of these are documented in a recent Commonwealth Foundation report, Engaging with Faith, prepared for the 2007 Commonwealth People's Forum and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). The report, launched in the People's Space on Friday 23 November, concludes that there is a need to understand and engage with faith communities, and make connections between faith communities and non-faith structures to promote successful development. It recommends in particular that strategies be developed to include the marginalised, particularly young people and women, and that we move beyond dialogues between religious leaders to build direct links and partnerships between communities which can be seen to lead to improvements in people's lives.
The report was endorsed by civil society at the Commonwealth People's Forum in their Kampala Civil Society Statement to CHOGM, when they urged Commonwealth governments to commit to implementing its recommendations and support a programme of practical interfaith exchange and co-operation.
The Commonwealth Foundation's work has been carried out alongside and complementary to the research carried out by the Commonwealth's High Level Commission on Respect and Understanding, whose report Civil Paths to Peace is being presented to CHOGM.
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 | Muslim Aid / UMCOR partnership |
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| Related Documents | |
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| Engaging with Faith 877 KB) |
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