Workshop on Global Development with Faith-Inspired Organizations in Africa and Europe

Engaged practitioners met in the Hague to take stock of the wide range of ongoing work by different organizations that are inspired by religious faith and to explore the policy implications that emerge from their interactions with development organizations. The purpose was to take stock of the wide range of ongoing work by different organizations that are, in varying ways, inspired by religious faith, but more importantly, to explore the policy implications that emerge from their interactions with development organizations. The specific focus of the workshop was on emerging challenges including questions arising because of different perspectives on cultural practices, issues around governance and accountability, links to sectoral programs supported by international financing agencies, and practical issues such as blockages in funding channels.

The workshop forms part of broader research programs underway in both the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) and Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. The work builds on prior meetings of the Knowledge Centre Religion and Development, which reveal the challenges that may arise from different cultural approaches to development issues. ISS maintains a working relationship with the Knowledge Centre.

The Berkley Center program involves a three year investigation of the work of faith-inspired development organizations in different regions of the world, supported by the Henry R. Luce Foundation. The consultation was the third in a series of geographically-focused explorations whose objective is both to increase knowledge about institutions and their work and to identify and explore emerging policy issues.

View Background Review: "'Mapping' Social and Economic Development Work in Europe and Africa"

Also interviewed:
Msgr. Robert Vitillo, Caritas Internationalis

Featuring

Katherine Marshall

Katherine Marshall is a Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, where she leads the Center's program on Religion and Global Development. After a long career in the development field, including several leadership positions at the World Bank, Marshall moved to Georgetown in 2006, where she also serves as a Visiting Associate Professor in the School of Foreign Service. She helped to create and now serves as the Executive Director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue.

Gerrie ter Haar

Gerrie ter Haar is Chair in Religion and Development at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, the Netherlands. She is Vice-President of the International Association for the History of Religions and a founding member of the African Association for the Study of Religions. Much of her work has concerned the study of religion in Africa, and she has published widely on this subject as well as on comparative issues. She is one of the founders of the Knowledge Centre on Religion and Development, which she continues to serve as chair of the advisory council and interim director. In 2006, she was coauthor of "The Role of Religion in Development: Towards a New Relationship between the European Union and Africa," which won an essay prize awarded by the European Journal of Development Research (vol. 18, no. 3).