Marisa Van Saanen (World Bank Ethics and Values unit) and I participated in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives round table on malaria, aimed at highlighting the vital and central role of faith-based organizations in fighting malaria. The participation of Mrs. Bush, Ambassador Randall Tobias, Georgetown University President John DeGioia, Admiral R. Timothy Ziemer, US Malaria Coordinator, and Jay Hein, Director of the White House Faith-Based office gave a clear indication of the level and focus of the meeting. Participants (some 100) came from faith organizations, private sector, academia, NGOs, and the US government; while the meeting focused on Africa, few if any Africans were there. The two hour meeting consisted of a series of quite short presentations that highlighted US commitment to the malaria program and tangible successes of faith led programs. The roundtable was a follow-on to the December 2006 White House Summit on Malaria hosted by President and Mrs. Bush, which launched the Malaria Communities Program, a $30 million initiative to advance grassroots malaria-control projects in Africa, as part of the PMI (a $1.2 billion program directed to 15 countries).
In sum, the Round Table aimed to reach out to faith-based organizations; many presentations emphasized their critical roles in Africa, especially in health. Among common themes: faith organizations are present everywhere, they inspire the highest levels of trust (and a new Gallup poll underscoring the point was featured), and they mobilize large numbers of volunteers. The roles of faith leaders in shaping opinions, attitudes and behaviors in communities were emphasized. A new element was an assertion that faith organizations bring record-keeping capacity especially on demographics. In the brief but interesting question period, underlying issues emerged in summary form: for example why not focus through the Global Fund (answer: need to do both) and how to allow the vast majority of faith organizations engaged in Africa to benefit from financial support and better to coordinate their widely diverse work.
Among the speakers (besides the keynotes) were Terri Hasdorrff, Director, Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at USAID and John Bridgeland, CEO, Malaria No More, and formerly with the White House in a variety of capacities. Other speakers essentially presented "success stories": Susan Lassen, Nets for Life Coordinator, Episcopal Relief and Development; Allon Lefever, Vice Chairman of the Board, Mennonite Economic Development Associates; Mark Forshaw, Health Sector Manager, Geneva Global; and Dr. Steven Phillips, Medical Director for Global Issues and Projects, ExxonMobil. Also featured were the Mozambique interfaith malaria initiative which the Washington National Cathedral supports, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, The Core Group, Catholic Relief Services, World Relief and World Vision. Rick Warren and the Saddleback Church were referred to several times for their work on poverty generally and malaria specifically.
Some discussion highlights:
- Stress on the Bush administration's record on (and pride in it) foreign assistance: the figure cited was that President Bush will have quadrupled international aid from $1.4 billion annually in 2001 to $4 billion in 2008.
- Elaboration on themes around partnership, both with faith organizations and the private sector: the theme of John DeGioia's keynote address
- Cutting red tape was a prominent theme. Randall Tobias commented that President Bush brought him from private sector to "make things happen" and to replicate his experiences in the private sector where he could make a decision, and then it would happen.
- Impression of a determined US drive on malaria with mention but little focus on non-US efforts.
- Faith partnerships as a priority and central focus of the malaria program.
