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Governmental donor agencies and faith-based organizations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2010

Anne-Marie Holenstein
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Abstract

For decades it has been taboo to mention the role played by religious organizations in development cooperation. Today, however, there is growing awareness of the contribution that these organizations can make to sustainable development, just as there is of the risk they pose of abuse and conflict aggravation. Those involved in development therefore have to learn to cope with the double-edged nature of these organizations. Government donor agencies and faith-based organizations should jointly monitor their work in conflict-prone areas to ascertain whether it fosters peaceful settlement of conflict or whether, in fact, it aggravates the violence.

Type
Religion
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 87 , Issue 858: Religion , June 2005 , pp. 367 - 373
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2005

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References

1 VerBeek, Kurt Alan, “Spirituality: A development taboo”, Development in Practice, Vol. 10, No. 1, February 2000Google Scholar.

2 Marshall, Katherine and Keough, Lucy, Mind, Heart, and Soul in the Fight against Poverty, The World Bank, 2004, Chapter 1Google Scholar.

3 Verhelst, Thierry with Tyndale, Wendy, “Cultures, spirituality, and development,” in Eade, Deborah (ed.), Development and Culture, Oxfam, GB, 2002, p. 13Google ScholarPubMed.

4 The project is conducted by Anne-Marie Holenstein, consultant. For the results in phases 1 and 2, see her study entitled Role and Significance of Religion and Spirituality in Development Co-operation: A Reflection and Working Paper. This publication is available in print in English, French (June 2005), German and Spanish from <> (last visited 27 June 2005) and as a pdf-file on the SDC's website <www.deza.admin.ch> (last visited 27 June 2005).

5 Development is: for the Baha'is:“… laying the foundations for a new social order that can cultivate the limitless potentialities latent in human consciousness” (ICOREC, 1998); for the Hindus: “a process of enabling a sustainable livelihood in harmony with natural resources, as a foundation for spiritual progress”; for the Taoists: “harmony or a right balance must be the key ingredient of any developmental goals, the balance between rich and poor, and between human society and the whole universe.” From: Astrid Sriickelberger, “The neglected reality of development: New trends and features in the international development debate”, paper presented at a workshop held by the SDC/ NGO Division, Bern, 9 October 2002.

6 Compare Haussig, Hans-Michael, Der Religionsbegriff in den Religionen, Philo, Berlin and Mainz 1999, pp. 4 and 18Google Scholar.

7 Partners = partner organizations on the spot, i.e. both NGOs and grassroots organizations.

8 Participants = beneficiaries, target groups of development and humanitarian projects.

9 The following episode illustrates this. In the course of a research project on “Religion and modernization in Singapore,” a specialist on the sociology of religion interviewed a young Indian woman living in Singapore. The Indian woman came from an immigrant Brahmin family with a rich Hindu tradition. At the end, she said:

“You have asked me to tell you how I understand myself as a Hindu. I have responded to this request to my very best. But, please, do not understand all that as if I have talked to you about my ‘religion’. I have passed through a Western system of education here in Singapore, and I think I know quite well how you Western people are used to think about man and God and about ‘religion’. So I talked to you as if ‘Hinduism’ were my ‘religion’, so that you may be able to understand what I mean. If you were a Hindu yourself, I would have talked to you in quite a different fashion, and I am sure both of us would have laughed about the idea that something like ‘Hinduism’ does even exist. Please, don't forget this when analysing all the stuff you have on your tape.”

From: “Religion: eine europaisch-christliche Erfindung?” Beiträge eines Symposiums am Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, Haussig et al. (eds.), Berlin 2003, p. 14.

10 The Geneva Spiritual Appeal was launched in 1999 and co-signed by several heads of international organizations and religious leaders.

11 Sen, Amartya, Development as Freedom, Oxford University Press 1999, p. 31Google Scholar.