Comment at end
9th September, 2009
Tony Blair spoke at the launch seminar (Photo: Jonny Greig)
The series is a joint effort by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, the Department for International Development, Islamic Relief, Oxfam and World Vision. Hosted by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), it aims to bring together key voices from the government, faith groups, NGOs, media and academia to discuss the big questions around the role of faith within development. (source)
From the TBFF website:
The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, DFID, Islamic Relief, World Vision and Oxfam are working together to host 6 groundbreaking seminars to discuss the new perspectives emerging on Faith and Development.
In a recent Gallup poll, 82% of those surveyed in sub-Saharan Africa said their most trusted institution was a religious organisation (Gallup 2008).
In Mozambique Reverend Herminio describes the interfaith training around Malaria that begins with a Muslim prayer and ends with a Christian blessing but most importantly equips faith leaders to teach their congregations about malaria control, “The trainers are the same Imams and Pastors that people trust, we are not imported from outside, we cannot keep quiet about this, when our communities are dying. If we have the knowledge we have to share it.” It is stories and statistics like these that are encouraging the development community to look more and more at the potential of faith communities.
“Faith communities” (faith based organisations, faith communities and religious leaders) are seen as development’s missing link reaching those that governments and NGOs can’t. But what is the role of these faith communities? Do they have a justifiable role at the ‘development table’? And how effective can they be? This series is designed to answer some of these tough questions.
It all began last night with a key note address from Tony Blair on why faith matters for development, chaired by Karen Armstrong.
Click here to watch the video at TBFF
The next 5 seminars will explore the role faith communities play in conflict resolution, as healthcare and education service providers, installing ethics in the marketplace and as stewards of the environment. Douglas Alexander, Tariq Ramadan, Ken Costa and senior advisor to the World Bank Katherine Marshall will be joining a prestigious line up of academics, development workers, journalists, and government, business and faith leaders. The series ends with a closing keynote from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams chaired by Rabbi David Rosen. We are incredibly excited to have such an inspirational line up discussing some of the huge questions facing policy makers as they grapple with an increasingly interconnected world. This debate is not taking place in the abstract but in front of the people carrying out these ideas on the ground and making policy in government and we hope will produce real outcomes.
If you would like to learn more visit our WordPress blog here.
The Guardian is hosting the discussion online on ‘Comment is free: belief’, where you can find edited versions of the speeches and lively discussion about them, click here to take part.
Matthew Taylor, former Blair policy advisor and now RSA chief executive, and the man who speaks first in the video, reports on this at his blog, excerpt:
“Last night we kicked off the new season of RSA events, and a pretty good start it was too. My old boss, Tony Blair, was the first speaker in a series of events on faith that we are hosting along with partners Oxfam, Islamic Relief, DFID and World Vision. We even had the internationally acclaimed writer on religion and inter faith activist, Karen Armstrong, in the chair.
I have been questioned by a couple of people on why an organisation like the RSA, founding on enlightenment principles of humanism and rationalism, should be hosting debates on faith. I have three answers:” Read more
- Watch video at RSA Events
- Also reported here at World Vision
- An audio taste of Q&A session, (poor sound quality), from Ruth Gledhill, The Times Religious Correspondent
- Ruth Gledhill’s report: Blair warns of the “dark side” of religion
In case you are interested in attending a seminar, please note that Mr Blair will not be appearing at any of the subsequent seminars.
Forthcoming seminars in the Faith and Development series:
30 Sept – Faith in the Marketplace?
6 Oct – Poverty & Conflict: Faith as a Solution or Cause?
20 Oct – Health and Education – Where Faith Fits?
4 Nov – Towards a Sustainable Environment: What Can Faith Teach Us?
12 Nov – Closing keynote address from The Archbishop of Canterbury
If you are interested in attending any of these events please visit the RSA website
Tags: Faith & Development seminar, London religion seminars, Tony Blair
