Berkley Center

In fall 2024, the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University co-hosted a timely webinar series alongside the G20 Interfaith Forum. The series brought together leaders from diverse faith-based organizations to explore collaborative solutions to global challenges such as poverty, environmental protection, human trafficking, religious literacy, and development finance. This collaboration aimed to strengthen the role of faith communities in global policymaking, which foregrounds the upcoming G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024. 

"This series of webinars will highlight the underlying problems, the involvement of faith communities, and proposals to the G20 and to faith communities on paths forward," said Katherine Marshall, a senior fellow at the Berkley Center and vice president of the G20 Interfaith Forum Association. Her remarks underscored the series' objective of fostering collaborative solutions through inclusive, action-oriented dialogue.

A Five-Part Series Promoting Dialogue and Action

Religious Action as Part of the Global Alliance to End Hunger and Poverty

The series followed the publication of priority recommendations from the G20 Interfaith Forum, which emphasized poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Panelist David Beckmann, president emeritus of Bread for the World, discussed the alignment between the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the moral imperatives of religious communities. 

It was really wonderful to see the extent to which the UN Sustainable Development Goals—grounded in a commitment to end hunger and poverty—are built into the lives and spiritualities of leaders from all different traditions [across] the world.

Beckmann referenced the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, an initiative that facilitates international support for large-scale, country-owned, evidence-based action, as an example of the global collaboration that emerges from such forums. 

Saulo Ceolin, general coordinator of food and nutritional security at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, discussed the underlying factors contributing to hunger. “We want to go beyond just providing food, beyond charitable work. We want to address the root causes, like debt, conflict, inequality, and the impacts of climate change,” he said. Ceolin called on faith communities to build upon their long-standing efforts in combating poverty, such as organizing food donations and advocating for policies to protect vulnerable populations, to help propel these initiatives forward.

A Jubilee Policy Agenda for the Brazilian G20 Summit

One webinar examined potential reforms to the global financial system, thereby creating a more equitable framework for international cooperation. Participant Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, emphasized that critical decisions on global debt relief and climate financing will be made through the G20 summit and the International Monetary Fund. 

Pope Francis reminds us that we cannot separate Jubilee 2025 from the great climate crisis our world faces. It’s up to us, through debt relief and other creative economic aid, to secure the trillions needed for financing climate mitigation and adaptation.

Panelist Sr. Eugenia Amporfu, FST, a professor at Kwame Nkrumah University in Zambia, likewise suggested that the G20 could take the lead in coordinating debt relief for developing countries, particularly in Africa. These nations face challenges such as inflation and currency devaluation, which worsen as they confront foreign debt obligations. A coordinated debt relief strategy, she contended, could help stabilize local economies and reduce poverty.

Environment and the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative

Another critical issue tackled during the series was climate action. 

“In recent years, faith-based organizations and religious leaders have been well positioned to lead the charge in educating their constituencies on the importance and need for climate action,” said Peter Mandaville, senior advisor for faith engagement at the United States Agency for International Development. “From Pope Francis’s Laudato Si to the 2015 Islamic Declaration on Climate Change, all major world religions have, to some extent, addressed the moral imperative for environmental protection and called on their communities to take action to combat climate change." 

The webinar panelists were united in agreement that these movements, rooted in spiritual teachings, are essential in advocating for policies that address environmental challenges.

To End the Scourge of Human Trafficking

The penultimate webinar in the series addressed human trafficking, an issue often overlooked in media coverage. During his remarks, Fr. Márcio Toniazzo of the Scalabrini International Migration Network underscored that “religious organizations have been at the forefront of the fight against human trafficking and modern slavery for decades.” 

Toniazzo emphasized the importance of prevention programs that provide social and economic support in regions vulnerable to trafficking, as well as protection efforts to ensure the safety of refugees and migrants. He and the other panelists also stressed the need for greater partnership between religious organizations and international bodies like the G20 to address trafficking networks, including building cases for prosecution. 

Education Programs That Build Social Cohesion and Religious Literacy

The series concluded by focusing on religious literacy, particularly in educational settings. 

Participant Matius Ho, executive director of the Leimena Institute in Jakarta, Indonesia, described the Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy (CCRL) program as one example of this kind of work, aimed at trust-building and multifaith collaboration. The program focuses on three competencies: personal competency (understanding one’s own religion), comparative competency (learning about other religions from their followers), and collaboration competency (working together despite religious differences). 

Ho explained how the CCRL initiative has trained more than 10,000 teachers in Indonesia, helping to break down stereotypes and build lasting interfaith relationships. “We’ve received a good response over the last three years,” he said, reflecting on the success of the program in fostering religious tolerance and understanding.

Shaping Global Policies Over the Long Term

The G20 Interfaith Forum demonstrates that the role of faith-linked communities in shaping global policies is gaining well-deserved recognition, but successful partnerships require sustained engagement and support. "As donor institutions, we also need to listen to, engage with, and resource faith-based organizations and religious communities so that our collaborations are both effective and built to last," said Mandaville.

Berkley Center Director Thomas Banchoff noted that it’s very encouraging to see the presidency of the G20 adopting key themes championed by faith communities. 

Communities which have traditionally been divided internally and amongst themselves, but share a core set of values so vital in today's world, are called on as interfaith communities around this evolving global agenda. 

The Berkley Center’s webinar series served as a crucial platform for faith communities to engage with global policymaking on pressing issues such as poverty, climate change, human trafficking, and religious literacy. The work of faith-based communities, contingent on local networks and ethical commitments, must be strategically leveraged in policymaking to ensure that their expertise and grassroots efforts are included in global decision-making processes like the G20.