Partners for Change Religions and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 17–18 February 2016

International Conference

Conference documentation

Partners for Change Conference documentation 1 Content

Day 1 (17 February 2016) ...... 3 Opening speech ...... 3

Keynote speech ...... 4

Panel discussion ...... 6

Day 2 (18 February 2016) ...... 9 Presentation of the international publication ‘Religion and Development – Voices from Religions on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ ...... 9

Workshops ...... 10

Workshop 1: PEOPLE – Option for the Poor? Religions and a Life in Dignity for All...... 10

Workshop 2: PLANET – Respecting the Limits of the Planet. Religions and the Preservation of Creation...... 14

Workshop 3: PEACE – A New Culture of Just Peace? Religions and the Promotion of Peace and Global Justice. . .17

Workshop 4: PROSPERITY – An Economy of Enough? What the World’s Religions Can Contribute to a Sustainable Economic System ...... 20

Compilation of workshop results ...... 23

Closing remarks ...... 24

Conference summary ...... 26

Imprint ...... 27

Annex Programme List of Participants

‘Partners for Change – Religions and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ was the theme of the international conference on religion and development that was held at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on 17 and 18 February 2016 and represented an initial highlight of two years of work. Over 200 international representatives of religious communities, policy-making bodies, civil society, academia, and multilateral and bilateral development organisations accepted the invitation to come to Berlin to discuss the role played by religions in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The event was chaired by Isabel Schayani, Editor in Chief of the online platform WDRforyou.

Partners for Change Conference documentation 2 Day 1 (17 February 2016)

Event venue: Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Opening speech ‘Partners for change, partners for hope, partners for the future’. Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dr Gerd Müller referred to religious actors as key partners in BMZ’s work with regard to the 2030 Agenda. He said that cooperation with all religious communities needed to be improved in order to tackle global challenges, especially at a time when religion is being misused to justify terrorism and violence. ‘We will only be able to implement this pact on the world’s future, known as the 2030 Agenda, in cooperation with the religious faiths,’ stressed Minister Müller. He made clear at the same time that, while German development policy is neutral in terms of ideology, it is by no means neutral in terms of its values. He referred to universal human rights as ‘foundational to a solid value system’, adding emphatically that ‘we do not accept discrimination’.

In his opening speech, Minister Müller underscored the fact that religions are a key source of common values, pointing out that respect for life and human dignity, and a commitment to helping the poor and weak are deeply ingrained in all world religions. He went on to say that, as well as being a key source of shared, foundational values, religion is also highly infl uential within the societies of Ger- man development cooperation’s partner countries. The Minister stated that religious organisations are working to provide local communities, even the most remote villages, with many of their basic supplies.

Entitled ‘Religious Communities as Partners for Development Cooperation’, the strategy on the role of religion in German development policy that he presented in his speech builds on these ideas. He said that BMZ had worked with civil society, religious communities and international organisations such as the United Nations and the World Bank to produce a strategy that would strengthen future cooperation with religious communities. Minister Müller also made reference in his speech to the establishment of the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD), which aims to develop joint approaches to improving cooperation with religious communities.

Gerd Müller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

Partners for Change Conference documentation 3 ‘Religious faiths are part of the 2030 Agenda,’ he underlined at the end of his opening address. Against this backdrop, he stated that the central idea behind the two-day event was to work out how to move forward in this area.

Keynote speech Following the opening speech, Reverend Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), delivered the keynote address, fl eshing out the vision of a global partnership for implementing the 2030 Agenda. Tveit began by describing the conference as a moment of hope, stating that it had come at just the right time, providing a platform for participants to share information about successful initiatives involving cooperation with religious actors.

He affi rmed at the same time that Minister Müller had already provided good reasons for integrating religious communities more effectively into international cooperation. Referencing Dr David Nabarro, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Dr Tveit highlighted seven characteristic roles of religious communities in advancing the implementation of the SDGs. Religions can:

• promote the inclusion of different groups;

• offer peaceful channels for confl ict resolution;

• uphold the human rights of the most vulnerable;

• remind political leaders of their duty to enable all people to realise their rights;

• help ensure that investment takes place in communities;

• mobilise people everywhere, especially young people;

• share expertise on how to deliver services to those who are hardest to reach.

Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary, World Council of Churches (WCC)

Partners for Change Conference documentation 4 At the same time, Reverend Tveit also pointed to the negative and development-inhibiting aspects of religion that needed to be addressed, not least within religious communities themselves. ‘Religion can only overcome being part of the problem if we understand that we ourselves are part of the problem.’

He welcomed the fact that religion was no longer a taboo topic in secular discourse on development. He said that there was instead a growing recognition that religion plays a key role in sustainable development processes in that it shapes people’s views of what constitutes a good life. Consequently, greater account needs to be taken of religion in humanitarian measures and development cooperation activities. Against the backdrop of the work of the WCC, Reverend Tveit drew attention to the many different levels of cooperation with religious communities.

Turning to the Sustainable Development Goals, Tveit praised the fact that they had abandoned a technically limited understanding of development and added that the commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ needed to be the golden thread running through the process of implementing the 2030 Agenda. He stated that ‘beliefs, values and ideas’ were vitally important in bringing about holistic change. He pointed to a particular need for transformation at local level, which is precisely where churches and other religious communities provided a key service to society, based on their beliefs. Tveit said that, in virtually all development concepts, religion was the key source of social capital for sustainable change, transformation and hope.

He concluded his address by stressing that hope is the characteristic message of religion and the defi ning quality of faith, stating that ‘If it is not a hope for all, it is not a real hope’.

Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary, World Council of Churches (WCC) and Gerd Müller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

Partners for Change Conference documentation 5 Panel discussion The subsequent panel discussion entitled ‘Religions and the 2030 Agenda’ saw German and international participants address the question of how religious leaders and faith communities could help to implement the 2030 Agenda. Participating in the panel discussion, which was chaired by Isabel Schayani, were 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman, Associate Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Eric G. Postel, Archbishop of Lahore Sebastian Francis Shaw, and long-standing former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and former German Environment Minister Prof. Klaus Töpfer.

F.l.t.r.: Abp. Sebastian Francis Shaw OFM, Archbishop of Lahore, Pakistan, Gerd Müller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2011), Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary, World Council of Churches (WCC), Klaus Töpfer, Former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Former Environment Minister, Eric G. Postel, Associate Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

It was generally felt by the panellists that the holistic and universal approach of the Sustainable Development Goals was what made the 2030 Agenda so promising. And they all agreed that a global paradigm shift towards peace and sustainable development would only be achieved if more was done to integrate religious communities as partners in international cooperation. To this end, it is necessary to identify and approach cooperation partners who are helping to promote common values.

When asked about the role that religion can play in implementing the 2030 Agenda, Tawakkol Karman clarifi ed that the latter was based on a system whose central values, such as freedom, equality, the fi ght against poverty and the pursuit of good governance, are shared by all religions, and that the Sustain- able Development Goals are part of the world’s religions. ‘All religions call upon people to live out these values and behave justly,’ she said. At the same time, she was critical of leading religious representatives for frequently failing to do enough to promote development and losing sight of what their faith was really about. Against this backdrop, Karman made an urgent appeal to religious authorities to live up to their responsibilities. When it came to the 2030 Agenda, she said that there was a need to call upon religious dignitaries to do more to encourage a world of benevolence and prosperity, free from dictatorship and corruption. ‘We must all play our part in implementing the Agenda,’ said Karman, appealing to the conference delegates.

Partners for Change Conference documentation 6 Eric G. Postel drew on his own experience to outline examples of effective partnerships between secular development organisations and religious actors, stressing in the process that closer cooperation was by no means an end in itself. Rather, he referred to the necessity of more effectively leveraging the potential of religious communities in efforts to tackle these major challenges. Postel shared the example of an interfaith dialogue platform that was established in the Central African Republic in cooperation with religious communities and has helped to promote non-violent confl ict resolution. He also referred to the education sector in Haiti to illustrate the fact that, in some regions of the world, social service provision can only be guaranteed by working with religious sponsors. Nevertheless, he said that promotion of their own values and gender equality were two major challenges that development cooperation organisations faced in working with religious actors. On the issue of potential cooperation partners, Postel was of the fi rm opin-ion that development agencies should actively search for areas of commonality and overlap to enable them to decide on a case-by-case basis with whom they could work. He said that extremist groups were the only actors with whom USAID categorically ruled out cooperation.

When asked to share his experience from Pakistan, Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw spoke of the importance of dialogue and reconciliation in countries affected by confl ict. ‘The only hope is to bring everyone around the same table,’ he said. Consequently, he stated that it was also necessary to keep working to promote joint dialogue in Pakistan. In his view, the spirit of religion can play a key role in bringing together people of different religious persuasions. In this regard, he expressed his agreement with Karman that it would only be possible if more was done to address leading religious representatives and involve them in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. According to Shaw, if they preach ‘about how we can improve ourselves as humans, then we have great cause for hope.’ The Archbishop’s response to the question of whether dialogue should also be sought with leaders of violent groups such as Hezbollah provided food for thought. ‘We should hold out hope here and begin somewhere. Even if it is diffi cult, we need to talk with these people,’ said Shaw, appealing to delegates.

F.l.t.r.: Klaus Töpfer, Former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Former Environment Minister, Eric G. Postel, Associate Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2011), Abp. Sebastian Francis Shaw OFM, Archbishop of Lahore, Pakistan

Partners for Change Conference documentation 7 Addressing the cultural dimension of sustainability, Prof. Klaus Töpfer called for a change in the way we understand growth and development. In his opinion, if we are to re-evaluate the role of human- kind in the Anthropocene era and bring about the necessary paradigm shift, then we need to focus on the integration of cultural and religious convictions. He said that the Pope’s environmental encyclical Laudato si’ provided a wide range of holistic, thought-provoking input in this regard. Responding to the question of what shape development should take, Töpfer summarised that, without an ethical foundation, technology would become an uncontainable force. He explained that this was why now more than ever we need to set limits on individual and collective action, limits that link values and development. ‘There is no future for development without values,’ said Töpfer. This is precisely why, from his perspective, culture and religion are vitally important. Addressing the question about specifi c areas for action, he pointed to vocational training programmes delivered by religious actors in Kenyan refugee camps, to the potential for protecting regional identity, and to the relevance of religious convictions when it came to changing individual consumer behaviour.

A special programme feature in the evening was the musical performance by the Damascus String Quintet, made up of Syrian refugees. The musicians played two pieces by contemporary Syrian composers, creating a moving moment of refl ection.

Damascus String Quintet

Partners for Change Conference documentation 8 Day 2 (18 February 2016)

Event venue: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

With the new strategy on the role of religion in German development policy having been presented and the potential of religions for implementing the 2030 Agenda having been illustrated by high profi le panellists on day one, the second day of the event had more of a technical focus, addressing the question of how to systematically integrate the power of religion to help shape international cooperation practice. There was a particular emphasis in this context on drafting specifi c proposals and recommendations for future partnerships between the different actors.

Presentation of the international publication ‘Religion and Development – Voices from Religions on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ The day began with a facilitated dialogue between Dr Mohamed Ashmawey, former CEO of Islamic Relief Worldwide, and He Yun, Manager of the China Programme, Alliance of Religions and Conser- vation (ARC), during which the international publication ‘Religion and Development – Voices from Religions on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ was presented. In this multi-faceted publication, over 25 authors from many different religious communities share their spiritual and religious insights on the fi ve dimensions of the 2030 Agenda: people, planet, peace, prosperity and partnership.

He Yun and Dr Mohamed Ashmawey both pointed out that the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda are based on ideas and convictions that have been shared by people of religious faith for thousands of years. ‘Your religion is not unique. We are all talking about the same thing,’ stressed Ashmawey. ‘It is possible to end poverty once and for all if we all pull together,’ said the former CEO of Islamic Relief Worldwide, and also stated that the publication shows this in impressive fashion. In this context, he praised the symbolic signal and strong message that BMZ had sent out with the publication.

F.l.t.r.: Mohamed Ashmawey, Former Chief Executive Offi cer, Islamic Relief Worldwide, He Yun, Manager of the China Programme, Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), Isabel Schayani, Moderator

Partners for Change Conference documentation 9 WORKSHOPS Four parallel workshops subsequently took place in which participants shared and built on their knowledge of religion and development with regard to the integrated areas of action of the 2030 Agenda. After the scene was set in each workshop by an introductory expert dialogue, participants discussed their experiences and practical ideas, and came up with suggestions for future partnerships between religious actors and secular development organisations.

Discussion during the workshop session PEOPLE

Workshop 1: PEOPLE – Option for the Poor? Religions and a Life in Dignity for All. Those participating in Workshop 1 addressed the question of how religions can help to ensure that people are able to live lives of dignity. Reverend Adam R. Taylor, Lead, Faith Initiative, World Bank, chaired the workshop and began by providing an introduction to the topic in which he underscored the 2030 Agenda’s emphasis on a paradigm shift that sees us move away from understanding growth in purely economic terms. He said it was precisely against this backdrop that faith and religion had considerable infl uence on development policy goals and initiatives. In his view, religious faiths are too often seen as an obstacle to the promotion of human rights and human dignity, despite the fact that they share many values and objectives in this area. Consequently, he pointed to a need to better understand and demonstrate the ways that religion can help to ensure that people can live lives of dignity.

As the fi rst speaker in the expert discussion, Dr h.c. Asma Jahangir, Advocate of the Supreme Court Bar Association in Pakistan, responded to the question of what constitutes a good life from a human dignity perspective by stating that you do not have to be religious at all to answer the question. Jahangir took a critical view regarding the goal of integrating religious faiths to a greater extent as development cooperation partners, pointing out that the aim must not be to change religions for the purposes of implementing the 2030 Agenda. ‘We need to have a clearer idea about what we wish to achieve.’ She underscored the fact that religions have played both a positive and a negative role in this regard. In

Partners for Change Conference documentation 10 this context, Jahangir welcomed the initiative of encouraging those actors who are working as part of a constructive civil society to improve people’s lives. She said people should not practise ‘blind faith’ and that even the poorest individuals had a clear understanding of what it meant for them to live a life of dignity. She therefore appealed for more to be done in terms of convincing religious leaders to take action to meet people’s needs, pointing out the frequent lack of suffi cient accountability among these leaders. According to Jahangir, while religious authorities do need to be held accountable to a greater extent, policy-makers must not lose sight of their own responsibility to improve people’s lives.

F.l.t.r.: Rev. Adam R. Taylor, Lead, Faith Initiative, World Bank Group, Asma Jahangir, Advocate, Supreme Court Bar Association

Reverend Jack Mamven, Youth Pastor in the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), concurred with Jahangir, calling upon religious leaders to show more sincerity and authenticity in the struggle to end poverty. He referred to the situation in Nigeria as a ‘religious crisis’. When asked what positive experiences he had to share from the church’s activities in Nigeria, he pointed to the organisation of peace marches and an interfaith football match, and also to the implementation of education programmes for young people. In this context, Mamven underscored the vital importance of the family in ensuring that people can live dignifi ed lives. ‘We try to explain to people that no religion is worth dying for.’

The chair subsequently opened up the discussion to all participants, who were largely in agreement that religious values are compatible with those of universal human rights. The participants believed that religious communities had much to offer with respect to realising human rights, especially given their local networks. When it came to determining the areas of activity for cooperation with religious actors, the discussion proved controversial. A number of participants believed that the time was right to broach diffi cult issues, such as the fi ght against HIV/AIDS and the promotion of gender equality. Referring to Jahangir’s points, a number of participants expressed considerable doubt as to the willing- ness of religious leaders to take on responsibility.

Partners for Change Conference documentation 11 Jahangir addressed their scepticism, asking a number of questions that she believes need to be answered with regard to future partnerships with religious actors:

• How can women’s and girls’ rights be strengthened if they have no place within religion?

• How do we deal with different understandings of justice?

• What is the religious perspective on homosexuality?

• How do we deal with people who have no religious affi liation or who change religions?

Reverend Mamven stressed the need for greater cooperation in his response to the participants’ con- tributions. He said that current challenges made it necessary for policy-makers and religious actors to work together, but that this could only be achieved if religious leaders were involved.

Following the open discussion session, the participants were divided into working groups in order to share their experiences with one another and develop ideas for strengthening partnerships in the context of the 2030 Agenda. The central issues here were how to strengthen those individuals who were working to encourage the protection of human rights within their religions and how to promote new partnerships between secular human rights advocates and religious actors. The groups came up with a wide range of proposals and recommendations for the work of governmental development organisations:

• a handbook on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda should be put together for reli-gious communities and religious leaders;

• religious leaders should make a voluntary commitment to support the Sustainable Development Goals;

• the consultative UN process needs to be continued with all actors during the implementation of the 2030 Agenda;

• efforts to encourage a free and critically engaged civil society should be kept up in the partner countries of German development cooperation;

• a common vocabulary needs to be developed for use by religious actors and secular development organisations (religious literacy and human rights literacy);

Rev. Adam R. Taylor, Lead, Faith Initiative, World Bank Group

Partners for Change Conference documentation 12 • interfaith dialogue platforms should be strengthened at all levels;

• human dignity needs to be fi rmly established as a common principle;

• identifying areas of commonality between religious and secular actors is vitally important;

• it is necessary to identify and strengthen religious actors who are working to promote the protection of human rights;

• more needs to be done to raise awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals within faith communities;

• there is a need to identify passages in religious texts that support human rights in order to show that religions are committed to protecting human rights;

• secular development organisations should promote processes of mutual learning;

• national follow-up conferences should be held in future in order to continue the dialogue process;

• analysing problems based on evidence and need, and with sensitivity to context, is vital for planning and implementing fruitful partnerships;

• more should be done to promote the work of religious actors at grass-roots level;

• account needs to be taken of smaller (local) religious communities.

Graphic Recording: PEOPLE

Partners for Change Conference documentation 13 Workshop 2: PLANET – Respecting the Limits of the Planet. Religions and the Preservation of Creation. The goal of this workshop was to collaborate with participants to identify unique features and potential when it comes to preserving creation in cooperation with religious communities, and to discuss how the power of religion to help shape development can be systematically translated into a practical international cooperation setting. Chairing the workshop, Ulrich Nitschke, Head of the Sector Pro- gramme on Values, Religion and Development at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusam- menarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, introduced the expert discussion by referring to the Paris climate agreement, which he called a milestone. He said that consideration of the interplay between social and environmental aspects was of central importance for development cooperation.

The fi rst of the expert panellists to speak was Andreas Jung, Member of the German Bundestag and Chairman of Germany’s Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development. When asked how religions are contributing to climate change mitigation and the energy transition in secular Ger- many, he referred to the prominent role played by bishops in the new ‘Ethics Commission on Safe Energy Supply’ established in the wake of Fukushima. In another example, he pointed to Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’, which he said has had a signifi cant infl uence in Germany too. He also underscored the common commitment of the different religions to preserve the created world, and emphasised that a key new element of the SDGs and the climate agreement was the fact that all nations now saw themselves as developing countries. He noted that 195 of the world’s states had recognised their responsibilities in the Paris Agreement. Finally, at the request of the chair, Jung briefl y explained the role of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development. He said that it was respon- sible for translating the 2030 Agenda into national measures, seeing itself as a watchdog and a driver of sustainability.

As the next expert panellist to speak, Prof. Klaus Töpfer, long-standing former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and former German Environment Minister, began by stressing the central importance of diversity for stability. He said that diversity was being lost as the world became increasingly globalised; as such, sustainability must always be treated as a multilateral issue, rather than a purely bilateral one. In his view, it is the job of religious faiths to underscore in discussions on sustainability the consequences of people’s own decisions for the future of others and thereby help prevent action being taken at the expense of others further down the road. This is all the

Discussion during the workshop session PLANET

Partners for Change Conference documentation 14 more important at present, given the prevailing ‘diktat of short-termism’ in the face of consequences that are becoming longer-term in nature. This is precisely where Töpfer believed religions could come in, helping to ‘make up for lost time.’ Ultimately, he saw potential for religions to help to effectively counteract the ‘obligation to consume’ by promoting the value of a modest lifestyle.

Workshop chair Ulrich Nitschke then asked Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, President of the Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values, whether there was a religious and/or ethical dimension to sustainability and, if so, what it looked like. Soetendorp replied that there was, and that what impressed him most about the Sustainable Development Goals was the element of shared responsibility, which was a way of acknowledging that, in the midst of differences, our earthly community has a common destiny. He could see that a paradigm shift had taken place, with the world’s leading fi gures having recognised the importance of cooperation. He said that religious communities had acknowledged that they needed each other in order to bring about peace and justice, and that we must look at the whole world as a human family – when one member is hurting, all the other members feel it too. He added that a central tenet of all religions was hope, something that people could not live without and something that was also crucial for achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda.

Ana Evelyn Perla Cartagena, Member of the Central American Youth Pastoral Institute

Ana Evelyn Perla Cartagena, Member of the Central American Youth Pastoral Institute, also referred subsequently to the Pope’s environmental encyclical, stating that it showed that people are insepa- rable from the planet. She said that Pope Francis had also made clear that there was a need to apply the Sustainable Development Goals realistically, implementing them differently depending on the context. She then provided an example from her work that illustrated the trade-off between social and environmental goals. For the young people she comes into contact with in El Salvador, ensuring their own daily survival is a far bigger challenge and something that is jeopardised by environmental issues. She explained that this was why it was important to focus on people in development cooperation, because religious communities could help to change the attitudes of individuals. At the same time, she pointed to the need for structural change within society.

Partners for Change Conference documentation 15 Reference was made in the subsequent discussion to the introductory comments, with a range of suggestions made in regard to the role of religious actors in conserving the planet’s fi nite resources and to new partnerships with religious actors:

• importance of religion: the general consensus was that environmental and sustainability issues were important and that religious actors could make a real contribution to environmental sustainability. Participants shared the opinion that religions could help to counteract people’s environmentally harmful lifestyles;

• trade-off between environmental and social goals: it is important to always take social matters into account when discussing environmental issues and to critically process your own mistakes;

• structural change: religions have the potential to change existing structures. In light of global environmental damage, the environmental encyclical is a valuable source of input with its critical perspective on the structural causes of dysfunction in the global economy;

• importance of reciprocity: efforts must be made to avoid assigning responsibilities in a unilateral fashion;

• interfaith statement: it was also proposed that the religions produce a joint interfaith statement on planetary responsibility (the ‘ten interfaith commandments for sustainable development’);

• what is new in the discussion about the SDGs: the ‘one world’ concept is 30 years old now, as is the criticism that the North should not live at the expense of the global South;

Graphic Recording: PLANET

Partners for Change Conference documentation 16 • role of young people: young people play a decisive role in sustainable development. Religions encourage young people to develop a sense of responsibility.

A critical point was raised in the plenary forum about the political scope for implementing civil-society ideas. Experience shows that, while ideas are addressed in public discussion, policy-makers implement only a few of them, pointing to their own limitations. Andreas Jung responded to this by stating that politicians who emphasised their limited scope for action were adopting ‘yesterday’s mindset’. He said the goal was to take real action to integrate civil society, and that it was especially important for policy-making that decisions were supported by the majority of society. In his view, the potential impetus provided by religions was crucial. As an example, he too pointed to the role of the environmental encyclical, which he said also had a tangible infl uence on the adoption of the 2030 Agenda.

Workshop 3: PEACE – A New Culture of Just Peace? Religions and the Promotion of Peace and Global Justice. With Karin Kortmann, Director of GIZ’s Berlin Representation, as chair, workshop participants discussed ways of more effectively integrating the peacebuilding potential of religion into international cooperation.

Discussion during the workshop session PEACE

As the fi rst panellist to speak, His Excellency Mussie Hailu, Special Envoy of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union and Regional Director of the United Religions Initiative (URI) for Africa, began by stressing that everyone was a ‘stakeholder for peace’ and should commit to promoting it. He said that we should invest our energy in promoting dialogue, forgiveness, sincerity and human dignity, rather than in defending ourselves. In his opinion, policy-makers should do far more to consult faith groups and religious communities on local confl icts and to deploy them as mediators. He referred in this context to the fact that almost all religions had an express command to treat people equally. When asked by the chair what the African Union could share with the European Union in the midst of the latter’s current solidarity crisis, Hailu pointed to the AU’s strategic framework. He said that Agenda 2063 provided key guidance to African countries, both at state level and in all areas of society.

Partners for Change Conference documentation 17 Participants during the second day of the conference

Next to speak was Monsignore Pirmin Spiegel, Director General of MISEREOR, who reported on his experiences from the organisation’s work in Brazil, a nation he described as having an extremely disjointed society in socio-economic terms. He said that Christianity had itself caused a great deal of suffering in Latin America. As a result, he explained that the line between ‘peace’ and ‘pacifi cation’ could become blurred in a faith context if religion was misused as the ‘opium of the people’ while also having a hand in structural violence. When asked by the chair about the extent to which MISEREOR’s 50th anniversary motto ‘With righteous anger and tenderness at the side of the poor’, used in 2008, could still play a guiding role, Spiegel responded by saying that the motto may at fi rst sound like a tense contradiction in terms. There was more than enough justifi cation to be angry about people being marginalised, he said, but it would require a tender approach to change things.

Finally, Aiman Mazyek, Chief Executive Offi cer of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, pointed out that Germany’s Basic Law requires the state to adopt a neutral position in regard to religion. Like Mussie Hailu, he saw tremendous potential within religion for peacebuilding, including within Islam. Mazyek said that far more recognition should be given overall to the potential role of religious faiths in encouraging social cohesion. He pointed out that, in Europe in particular, the unrest of the last 200 years, that is, following the Age of Enlightenment, had rarely been caused by religion.

The dialogue was subsequently opened up to the plenary of 80 or so participants for the purpose of discussing the potential and challenges in cooperation between governmental and religious actors. The following proposals and observations were made by individual participants:

• development organisations should do more to ensure that they employ a greater number of staff with different religious orientations;

• before going any further, there is a need to fi rst clarify which areas hold potential for convergence or agreement between religious and secular actors;

• if the peacebuilding role of religions is to be strengthened, then it is also necessary to include those religious leaders who are considered ‘non-peaceful hard-liners’;

• justice and peace are highly mutually dependent. Consequently, account should be taken of societies’ profound need for justice when implementing the 2030 Agenda;

• there is a particular need for those countries that are predominantly Muslim to do more to ensure respect for religious freedom and the rights of religious minorities;

Partners for Change Conference documentation 18 • efforts must be undertaken to strengthen religious communities so that they can use interfaith dialogue to help de-escalate confl ict situations.

Responding to a comment by one participant that Muslim communities largely only act in a non-violent and unproblematic manner when they are in the minority within a given country, Aiman Mazyek stressed that there is no compulsion within Islam to believe. He said this was something that the Central Council of Muslims in Germany had pointed out on many occasions, and that the potential for violence was no more inherent to Islam than to any other religion, even if there were currently a great many non-peaceful Muslims, and he considered it the job of the Central Council of Muslims to address this situation.

When asked about the opportunities for cooperation between religious actors and governmental development organisations, Pirmin Spiegel noted that MISEREOR’s primary goal was to fi ght hunger and disease around the world, establishing itself as the advocate of those who are losing out in the development process. He said that this was an area where religions could play a role that the state does not have in many places. In his view, this was an issue on which the church could speak out with far greater clarity; for example, it could point out that global market prices go against the spirit of the gospel.

Mussie Hailu responded to the question about opportunities for cooperation by referring to the reconciliation processes under way in a number of countries, such as Rwanda. He said that there was a need here to speak about what has happened rather than denying it, and to move forward towards living together in peace. While resolutions may be helpful, he pointed out that people also had to implement them, and that there was a need for both religious leaders and faith communities to be involved in this process in order to reach as many different people and religious groups as possible.

Graphic Recording: PEACE

Partners for Change Conference documentation 19 Workshop 4: PROSPERITY – An Economy of Enough? What the World’s Religions Can Contribute to a Sustainable Economic System This workshop centred on the question of how religions can help to make our economic system more sustainable. Chair J. Mark Brinkmoeller, Director of the Center of Faith-based and Community Initia- tives at USAID, opened the forum by asking how prosperity should be defi ned and whether it was possible to develop a common position here. Attention was also given to the issue of identifying the specifi c potential of religions for contributing to a fundamental transformation of the economic system in the context of the 2030 Agenda.

F.l.t.r.: Ha Vinh Th o, Programme Director, Gross National Happiness Centre Bhutan, Rev. Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, President, Bread for the World, Ingolf Dietrich, Director, Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, BMZ

The fi rst panellist to speak was Reverend Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, President of Bread for the World. She said that, as God alone was the creator and provider, our task was to show solidarity and fairness in sharing what he had given us. In her view, the excessive accumulation of wealth by a small number of people expressed a lack of trust in God’s promise to provide us with ‘enough’. She saw a need for a global reconciliation of needs in order to resolve the profound spiritual crisis in which we fi nd ourselves. She pointed out that this was why, instead of working to correct the errors in an unjust economic system, Bread for the World was focusing on campaigning for change in the system and in the mentalities associated with it. For Füllkrug-Weitzel, this meant that it was necessary to strengthen the values of sharing and solidarity. She also stated that more must be done within partner countries to address the needs and priorities of the people there, and that efforts should be undertaken to promote dialogue between churches worldwide so that they could learn from one another in regard to the best way of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, she underscored the fact that there was a well-established Christian tradition of churches working to achieve the goals that have since been laid down in the 2030 Agenda, a tradition that long pre-dated the UN and BMZ. Against this backdrop, she said that the implementation of the 2030 Agenda was based on a dialogue between partners.

Partners for Change Conference documentation 20 Ha Vinh Th o, Programmdirektor des Gross National Happiness Center

The second panellist to speak was Ha Vinh Tho, Programme Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan. When asked about the phrase ‘poor but happy’, he said that it was mainly used by Westerners visiting the global South. He stated that, while we should by no means equate wealth with well-being, the satisfaction with life observed many times by visitors was not a result of poverty, but rather of living within a traditional society with a cohesive social structure. He also explained that, though Bhutan is one of the world’s poorest countries in economic terms, the people in its villages lived a simple yet dignifi ed life. According to Tho, extreme poverty was usually found in informal settlements within major Asian and African cities, even though income per capita in these cities was sometimes signifi cantly higher than in rural areas. In his opinion, the pursuit of Western lifestyles was leading to cultural impoverishment, which would ultimately result in a poorer quality of life. Tho considered rich countries that had destroyed their environment to be poor countries. He called upon the international community to develop a new system for measuring prosperity in order to fi ght poverty and protect the natural world. He explained that Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness approach represented an alternative concept of prosperity based on Buddhist values, and said that the international community needed to adopt a similar approach if it was to strike a new balance between material, spiritual, cultural and environmental needs.

Dr Ingolf Dietrich, Director and Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at BMZ, closed the panel session. Asked about his experience of the multi-actor approach in the negotia- tions on the 2030 Agenda, he praised the fact that the approach had encouraged widespread accept- ance of the Agenda, explaining that the Sustainable Development Goals had the backing of all societal sectors and groups. He said that there had barely been any criticism from German civil society either, even from representatives of faith communities. In his view, the main innovative aspects of the 2030 Agenda were as follows:

• transformational ambition: the world has recognised that a ‘business as usual’ approach no longer works. The assumption that greater wealth should always be the goal was increasingly being called into question;

• universality: the universal nature of the 2030 Agenda represents a paradigm shift. As the international community, we are now all in the same boat and Germany also needs to see itself as a developing country with regard to the Sustainable Develop- ment Goals;

Partners for Change Conference documentation 21 • prioritisation of equality: the 2030 Agenda is permeated by the principle of leaving no one behind.

For Dr Dietrich, religions and faith communities have a role in implementing the 2030 Agenda both at the level of values and standards (religious authorities as actors that set values and standards) and at the level of practical solutions (centuries-long tradition of helping to meet basic needs). He was also hopeful that religious communities would give their backing and support to the German Government as it implemented the 2030 Agenda through its national sustainability strategy and multi-stakeholder processes. When it came to value-driven consumer issues in particular (such as food waste and water usage), he said that faith communities had a comparative advantage over the government.

During the subsequent discussion, individual participants identifi ed the following areas as offering potential with regard to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda:

• promoting a modest lifestyle;

• fostering a new sense of global solidarity;

• infl uencing political elites (an additional level of values and standards);

• accessing particularly isolated population groups;

• strengthening rights-based approaches to development.

A number of audience members criticised the development-inhibiting role of religions and faith communities in the following areas:

• destruction of cultural diversity and the associated issue of hegemonic theologies and how to deal with them;

• underlying policies of exclusive identity, both in the context of growing nationalism in Europe, and with regard to religious violence in Western and Central Asia;

• adherence to counter-productive dogma and its limiting effect on development efforts.

Graphic Recording: PROSPERITY

Partners for Change Conference documentation 22 It was felt that, in addition to discussing the positive and negative effects of religion in the context of the 2030 Agenda, it was also very important to conduct more empirical effectiveness analyses. Great potential was seen in this area for sharing resources within the group. Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel pointed in the concluding discussion to the danger of using neo-liberal economic rationale to co-modify religion. She said that we should not seek to utilise religious values in a unilateral manner to achieve particular interests. Responding to Ingolf Dietrich’s question about the extent to which the Bhutanese governance approach can be transferred to other countries and regions, Ha Vinh Tho explained that the four pillars of Sustainable and Equitable Socio-economic Development, Environmental Conservation, Preserva- tion and Promotion of Culture, and Good Governance were globally applicable. He also said that it was important to take greater account of the population’s priorities and that such an approach was readily transferable. Tho explained that the Bhutanese Government was strongly infl uenced in its actions by the fi ndings of annual surveys.

Compilation of workshop results The following rapporteurs provided a summary overview of the key results from each workshop during the concluding plenary forum:

• Workshop 1: PEOPLE

Martina Metz, Head of Division for human rights, freedom of religion, gender equality, culture and development, and inclusion of persons with disabilities, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany

• Workshop 2: PLANET

Dr Katherine Marshall, Professor for Religion, Development and Confl ict Resolution, Georgetown University, Executive Director, World Faith Development Dialogue (WFDD), United States

Azza Karam, Senior Advisor, Culture, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Coordinator, UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development

Partners for Change Conference documentation 23 • Workshop 3: PEACE

Dr Azza Karam, Senior Advisor on Culture, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and Coordinator, United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Develop- ment, United States

• Workshop 4: PROSPERITY

Dr Renier Koegelenberg, Executive Secretary, National Religious Association for Social Development (NRASD), and Director, EFSA Ecumenical Institute, South Africa

Closing remarks Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, spoke in his closing address of the universal nature of the 2030 Agenda for Sustain- able Development. He explained that, as a result, the Sustainable Development Goals were ‘an expression of what philosophers have for centuries referred to as the Golden Rule.’ Drawing on Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative, he noted that the Agenda’s real paradigm shift lay in the globalisation of the Golden Rule, and underscored the need for each and every one of us to treat others the way that we would wish to be treated. He said that the universality of the 2030 Agenda’s values meant that religions were key partners in its implementation. In the State Secretary’s opinion, though we should not seek to tone secularism down, there was a need for a serious discussion about the relationship between religion and the state. According to Silberhorn, states should step up to the task of creating a set of foundational values that allows them to work together while also clearly standing for their own values. He stated that BMZ was a reliable partner in this regard.

Th omas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

Partners for Change Conference documentation 24 He pointed out that BMZ had also established the International Partnership on Religion and Sustain- able Development (PaRD) in cooperation with other donors and international organisations such as the United States, the UK, Sweden, the UN and the World Bank in order to mainstream the topic at international level. PaRD aims to develop joint approaches to improving cooperation with religious communities. In this regard, Silberhorn said that the conference was a valuable expression of and starting point for a joint dialogue process. He called upon all actors to play a constructive role in its activities.

Joint peace prayer at the end of the conference

This event was organised on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) by the Development Policy Forum of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in cooperation with the Sector Programme on Values, Religion and Development. Its aim was to raise the profi le of religion and development as a key issue, present to the public the new strategy on the role of religion in German development policy, and identify the role that religions could play in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Partners for Change Conference documentation 25 Conference summary

Religions and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development The ‘Partners for Change – Religions and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ conference was held in Berlin on 17 and 18 February 2016. Organised by the German Federal Ministry for Eco- nomic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), it brought together some 200 representatives from religious communities, policy-making bodies, civil society, academia and multilateral and bilateral development organisations to discuss the role played by religion in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dr Gerd Müller presented the fi rst strategy for cooperation with religious faiths in BMZ’s 50-year history.

Looking at the 2030 Agenda’s integrated areas of action, it became abundantly clear that there can be no global paradigm shift towards sustainable development without the involvement of religious faiths. The only precondition is that partnerships between secular and religious actors must be based on shared values. Participants praised in particular the specifi c role of religion in integrating the social, economic, environmental and cultural dimensions of sustainability. It also became apparent during the workshops that the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are based on ideas and convictions that have been shared by people of religious faith for thousands of years.

The fact that the event was very well received by numerous participants shows just how topical the issue is and highlights the current need for dialogue and information. Building on the workshop discussions, it is possible to identify the following insights and recommendations for action:

1. Commonalities: priority must be given when considering potential cooperation partners to identifying those things that secular and religious actors have in common. 2. A needs-based approach: there are no one-size-fi ts-all solutions when it comes to the involvement of religious actors. Issues must be analysed based on evidence and need when establishing new partnerships. 3. Evidence: it is necessary to systematically process effective approaches to implementation and cooperation, and to take them into account when realising new measures. 4. Cooperation: support should not be limited to religious leaders only. Rather, efforts should be stepped up to promote targeted cooperation with (less prominent) community actors at grass-roots level. 5. Raising awareness: there is a need to work together to raise awareness of the SDGs within faith communities. 6. Familiarisation: efforts should be undertaken to familiarise religious communities with the SDGs, for example by jointly producing a guide. 7. Dialogue: more must be done to promote national and international platforms for dialogue between governmental and religious actors and other civil-society stakeholders. 8. Lasting impact: initiatives such as national follow-up conferences should be established to keep dialogue moving forward. 9. Risks: as they carry out their work, development organisations cannot ignore the risks and obstacles to development associated with religious faiths. More needs to be done here to hold religious groups accountable, not least in order to help prevent religion being misused for political and terrorist purposes. 10. Learning: secular actors also need to be open to learning from religious faiths when refi ning approaches and policy strategies.

Partners for Change Conference documentation 26 Published by: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Edited by: Development Policy Forum, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Designed by: EYES-OPEN – Agentur für Kommunikation, Berlin Photo credits: © GIZ/Ralph Rühmeier Diagrams captured by: Page 13 – People © GIZ/Christoph J. Kellner Page 16 – Planet © GIZ/Sophia Halamoda Page 19 – Peace © GIZ/Michael Schrenk Page 22 – Prosperity © GIZ/Sven Kröger

Partners for Change Conference documentation 27 PROGRAMME

Partners for Change Religions and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Wednesday, 17 February 2016

Venue Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) Markgrafenstraße 38 (Gendarmenmarkt), 10117 Berlin

Moderation: Isabel Schayani

3:30 pm Registration

5:00 pm Short Film

5:05 pm Opening Speech Gerd Müller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany

5:20 pm Keynote Speech Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary, World Council of Churches (WCC)

5:50 pm Cultural Feature Damascus String Quintet

6:00 pm Panel Discussion Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, Grand-Mufti of Lebanon Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2011), Yemen Eric G. Postel, Associate Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), USA Abp. Sebastian Francis Shaw OFM, Archbishop of Lahore, Pakistan Klaus Töpfer, Former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Former Environment Minister, Germany 7:30 pm Reception Thursday, 18 February 2016

Venue Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Stresemannstraße 94, 10963 Berlin

8:30 am Registration

10:00 am Presentation of the international publication: ‘Religion and Development – Voices from Religions on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ Mohamed Ashmawey, Former Chief Executive Officer, Islamic Relief Worldwide, UK

He Yun, Manager of the China Programme, Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC)

10:30 am Parallel Workshops

PEOPLE Option for the Poor? Religions and a Life in Dignity for All. Asma Jahangir, Advocate, Supreme Court Bar Association, Pakistan Rev. Jack Mamven, Youth Pastor, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Nigeria Claudia Roth, Vice-President of the German Bundestag, Germany Moderation: Rev. Adam R. Taylor, Lead, Faith Initiative, World Bank Group, USA

PLANET Respecting the Limits of the Planet. Religions and the Preservation of Creation. Andreas Jung, Member of the German Bundestag, Chairman of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development, Germany Ana Evelyn Perla Cartagena, Member of the Central American Youth Pastoral Institute SEJUVE, El Salvador Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, President, Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values, Netherlands Klaus Töpfer, Former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Former Environment Minister, Germany Moderation: Ulrich Nitschke, Head of the Sector Programme Values, Religion and Development, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Germany PEACE A new Culture of Just Peace? Religions and the Promotion of Peace and Global Justice. H.E. Mussie Hailu, Special Envoy of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union, Regional Director of the United Religions Initiative (URI) for Africa, Ethiopia Aiman A. Mazyek, Chief Executive Officer, Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Germany Mgr. Pirmin Spiegel, Director General, MISEREOR, Germany Moderation: Karin Kortmann, Director of the Berlin Representation, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Germany

PROSPERITY An Economy of Enough? What the World’s Religions can Contribute to a Sustainable Economic System. Ingolf Dietrich, Director, Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany Rev. Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, President, Bread for the World, Germany Suneet Singh, Chief Executive Officer, DataWind Inc., Member of the Board, EcoSikh, Canada Ha Vinh Tho, Programme Director, Gross National Happiness Centre Bhutan, Bhutan Moderation: J. Mark Brinkmoeller, Director, Center of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), USA

12:30 pm Lunch

1:30 pm Plenary Forum Presentation of the workshop results

PEOPLE Martina Metz, Head of Division, Human rights, freedom of religion, gender equality, culture and development, inclusion of persons with disabilities, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany

PLANET Katherine Marshall, Professor for Religion, Development and Conflict Resolution, Georgetown University, Executive Director, World Faith Development Dialogue (WFDD), USA PEACE Azza Karam, Senior Advisor, Culture, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Coordinator, UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development, USA

PROSPERITY Renier Koegelenberg, Executive Secretary, National Religious Association for Social Development (NRASD), Director, EFSA Ecumenical Institute, South Africa

2:45 pm Closing Remarks Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany

3:00 pm End of the Event International Conference

Partners for Change Religions and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 17–18 February 2016, Berlin

List of Participants Tarek Abdelalem Dr Mohamed Ashmawey CEO CEO Islamic Relief Deutschland e.V. Islamic Relief Worldwide

H.E. Dr Badr Abdelatty Ali Aslan AmbassadorAmbassa of the Arab Republic of Egypt TV-Host and Journalist Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt Michael Assibi Dr Karlies Abmeier Republic of Ghana Team Leader Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftungonrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Dr Ilona Auer Frege Head of Berlin Office Prof.of. Dr Mohammed Abu-Nimer MISEREOR Senior Advisor KAICIID Dialogue Centre Charles Badenoch Partnership Leader Advocacy & External Engagement Dr Rev. Karin Achtelstetter World Vision International WACC Caroline Bader Prof. Dr Alastair AgeAger Youth Secretary Director The Lutheran World Federation QMU,U, Edinburgh and Columbia Universityy Joeoe BaBaker Saif AhmadAhma Co-foundernder & Executive Director CEO Lenape Center Al-Khair Foundation Lizaa Barrie Hind Al OwaisO ChiefCh Senior Advisor UNICEFCEF UNN WWomen Dr Abbas Barzegar Mohammed Al-NehmiAl-Nehml-NehmiNehm ProfessorProfesso Delegationegation Tawakkolwakkol Karman Georgiaeorgia State UniversiUniversity

Abdulrab Al’ShkiriAl’Sh’S Prof. Dr Matthias Basedau Togehterter for YemenYem Leadd Research Fellow GIGA German Institute of Global and Area StudiesStu H.E. Dr Mazen Al-TalAl Ta Ambassadorada Michaelael Bauer Embassybassyy of the Hashemite KingdoKingdomKingd of Jordan Dr Vazrik Bazil Dr Miltonon Amayun Consultantulta Seniorenior Advisor InstitutionInstitutional ResourcesResou Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Internationaltional Care MinistriesMinistrieMi Zusammenarbeitusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Steve AmeyiAmeyibormeyibmeyi Gunther Beger AdvisorAdviso foror Urban DevelopmeDevelopment Directorector General Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Policyolicy issues of development cooperation; civil society, Zusammenarbeitnarbeit (GIZ) GmbGmbH churches and private sector; rural development Federalral Ministry for Economic Cooperation Dr Muhtari Aminu-Kanominu-Kano and DevelopmentDevelopm Head of Researchch & DevelopmentDevelopmen Islamic Relief Worldwideorldwide

List of Participants 2 Dr Christoph Beier Rakchanok Chatjuthamard Vice-Chair of the Management Board Researcher Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Käte Hamburger Kolleg/ Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Centre for Global Cooperation Research

Mary BellekomBel Bruce Compton Education and Water Programme Manager Senior Director Alliance of ReligionReligions and Conservation (ARC) Catholic Health Association of the United States

Dr Jürgen Bergmann Hadrien Coumans Headead of DepartmenDepartment Co-founder and Co-director Mission EineWelt Lenape Center

Prof. Dr Almut Beringer Simona Cruciani Policy AdvisoAdvisor Political Affairs Officer Breadread for the World – Protestant DevelopmentDevelo Service UN Secretariat

Arne Bonhage Christina Dahl Jensen Projectoject Leader Program Coordinator Grenzenlos – Vereinigung internationaler DanmissionDanmi Freiwilliger e.V.V H.E. Akua Sena Dansua Susanne Brenner-Büker Ambassadormba Assistant to the Board of Directorsrss Embassyssy of the Republic of Ghana Associationciation for Development CooperationCooperatio (AGEH)(AGE Dr Ingolf Dietrich J. Mark Brinkmoeller Commissionermmissioner for the 2030 Agenda for Director Sustainable DevelopmDevelopment Center for Faith-basedasedsed & Community InitiativeInitiatives Federalral Ministry for Economic Cooperation and U.S.S. Agency for Internationalnternationalrnational Development (USAID)(US Development

Rudelmar Buenono de FarFaria Jean DuDuff Representativeresentativevee to the United NationNations Presidentesid Worldorld Councilncilcil of ChurcheChurches Chu Partnership for Faith & Development

Dr Markusrkuss Bükerr Banii DugDugal Head of Theologicalological Research Principal Representative MISEREOROR Bahá’i International CommuCommunity

Klausus J. BurckhardtBurckBurckha Dr Martin DutzmannDu OberkirchenratOberkirchenrchenrrche Representative of the Council to the Federal Republic Evangelicallical Church in GGermanyGermGerman of Germanyrmany and the European UnioUnion Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) Paul Cadariodario Distinguishedistinguisheduishedished SeniorSen Fellow in Global InnovationInnovatio Godlove Dzebam Ayaba Bongnwa Universityty of TorontoToront VolunteerVolunte Solidarityidarity International Dr Theresaa CarinoCarin Senior Researchearch Consultant Dr Dietmar Ehm Amity Foundationdation Deputyuty Director Institute for International Cooperation Hanns Seidel FoundationFoun

List of Participants 3 Omayma El Ella Michaela Fuhrmann Operations Manager Head of the Political Department Muslim Charities Forum Central Council of Jews in Germany

Ibrahim Elkhouli Rev. Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel CouncellorCouncell of Embassy President Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt Bread for the World

Dr Nikola Eterovic Dr Thorsten Göbel Apostolic nuncio Head of Policy, Dialogue and Theology Apostolicpostolic Nunciature Bread for the World

Katharinaatharina Fabig Dr Simone Gobien Assistant to MP Johannes Röring Research Fellow German BundestagBundesta GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies

Dr Mike FalkeF Rev. Christo Greyling Group Leader Director Faith Partnership for Development Governancevernance und MenschenrechteMenschenrech World Vision International Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleInternational Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Martha Gutierrez Chief of DivisionDivisi Dr Bernhard FelmbergFelmbe Governance, Krisenmanagement, Bauen G 200 Director Deutschehe Gesellschaft für Internationale Civil society; churches and thehee private sectorsectse Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbHGm in development cooperationcooperatioon Federalederal Ministry for Economiconomicnomic Cooperation and Dr Tho Ha Vinh DevelopmentDevelopm Program Director Grosss National Happiness Centre Bhutan Michaelchael Fiebig Headead of Divisionn Martin HageHag Churches, politicaliticalcal foundations, social sstructuralstructu Vice PresidenPresident programmes,grammes,s, religion and developmendevelopmedevelopmdevelopment Germanrman Buddhist Union (DBU)(DBU Federal Ministrynistrystry for Economic CooperationCooperatio and Developmententnt H.E. Mussie Hailu Specialcial Envoy of the African Union – ECOSOCC on Dr Bernhardard FoForsteForster Interreligious & Intercultural Issues and RegionalRegio Director of Studies Director of United Religions Initiative for Africa Katholischescheche Akademie Bayern Uniteded Religions Inititative & Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African UnionUni MichaelllFre FrencFrenchFren Rights-based,based, Interfaith, LatinLati America Programs Kira Häringärin LWFWF Worldorld ServiceServirvi AdvisorAdviso Federalederal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Dominicminic Samuel Fritz F DevelopmentDevelopm Chief of StaffStaf Office offormer former Federal Federal President President Horst Horst KöhlerKöhler Silkee Hattendorff Advisordvisor Matthew Frostrost Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleInternation Chairman Zusammenarbeitammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Joint Learningg Initiative Faith & Local CommunitiesCommuni

List of Participants 4 Sarah Häuser Dr Asma Jahangir German Bundestag Advocate Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association Yun (Claudia) He Director of China Programme Jasmin Jahanshahi Alliance oof Religions and Conservation (ARC) Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager Aga Khan Foundation (UK) Hubert Heindl Program Director Dr Beate Jakob InovarCA - Non-violent InIntervention in CAR Consultant APTE-AgencyPTE-Agency for Project conconsultancy, Training, German Institute for Medical Mission (DIFÄM) Evaluation Klaus Jetz Dr Thomas Helfen Executive Director Head of DivisionDivis Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany LSVD Parliamentrliament and Cabinet Federal Ministry for Economic CooperatioCooperation and Prof. Dr Hans Joas Development Ernst Troeltsch Professor Humboldt Universityy Gary Henderson Executive Director, Global Health Initiative Peter Joergensen Uniteded Methodist CommunicationsCommunication Representative to the Federal Government Vereinigung Evangelischer Freikirchen (VEF) Dr Philipp W. Hildmann Commissionermissioner for Interculturalralal DialogueDialogu Andreas Jung Hanns Seidel Foundation Chairman of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable DevelopmDevelopment Christoph Hilligen German Bundestag Vice Chairman of thehe ExecutiveExecutiv BoardBoa Worldorld Vision Deutschlandutschlandchland ee.V. Rev. Dr Martin Junge General Secretary Andreas HippleHipple The Lutheran World Federation Seniorior Programramm AdvisorAdviso GHRHR FoundationFoundatdationa Prelate Dr Karl Jüsten Director Andreaa Hitzemanntzemann Kommissariatmmissariat der Deutschen Bischöfe – Representativentativeive in BerlBerlin Katholisches Büro in BeBerlin Caritas GermanGerGermany Dr Azzaza Karam Prof.f. Dr Ingo HofmannHofman Senior Policy Advisor, Culture SpokespersonSpokespersopersonpers United Nations Population FundFu Germann Bahá’í-CommunityBahá’í-Commu Tawakkol KarmKarman Jenny Holmsenolms Nobelobel Peace Prize laureate (201(2011) Researchersearcherh EuropeannnUn UniversityUn Institute Teerath Kaur Authorho Prof. Dr Jörgrg Hübner Executive DirectorDirecto Sabrina Khan Protestant Academycademy Bad BollBo Headd of ProgrammeProgrammes Islamicamic Relief Deutschland e.V.V Mohamed Ibrahimhim Deutsche Gesellschaftchaft für InternationaleInternationa Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)GIZ) GmbH

List of Participants 5 Jan-Thilo Klimisch Xue Li Advocacy Officer The Amity Foundation CBM Germany – Berlin Office Marion Lieser Dr Renier Koegelenberg CEO Director Oxfam Germany National ReligiousReligi Association for Social DevelopmentDevelopmen (NRASD) Stefanie Linner National Coordinator Karin Kortmann Micah Germany Leiterineiterin der GIZ-RepräsentanGIZ-Repräsentanz Berlin Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleIntern Matthias Mader Zusammenarbeitusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Research Fellow Humboldt University Stephan KrämerKräm Programmerogramme Coordinator, Executive BoaBoard Hatem Maged World Relief GermaGermany 3rd Secretary Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt Angelagela Krug Head of DeskD Amer Majali M Engagement Global Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Tim KuschnerusKuschn Rev.ev. Jack Mamven Managing DirectorDirect Youth Pastor Joint Conference Church and DevelopmenDevelopmDevelopment Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN)

Drr Daniel Legutke Prof.f. Katherine Marshall Deutsche Kommissionn Justitia et Pax Professor, Executive Director of WFDD Georgetowngetown University Carlrl Moritz LeifLeifgenen Advisordvisor Pierre Martinot-LagardeMartinot-Lagar Federal Foreigngn OfficeOfficOffi Special Advisor for Socio Religious Affairs Internationalternational Labour Organization (ILO) Dr Julia LeiningerLeininninge Head of departmentepartmentartment Governance, StatehoStatehood,Statehoo Martin Mauthe-KäterMauthe-K Securityity Advisorvisor German Developmentevelopment Institute (DIE) Churches, political foundations, social structuralstructu programmes, religion and developmentdevelopmen Sofia Lemmetyinenmmetyinenmmetyin Federalral Ministry for Economic CooperatioCooperation Programmegrammemme ManagerManage and DevelopmentDevelopm Europeanan Commission Aimann A. Mazyek Joernern Lemvikemvik CEOC Secretaryryy generageneral Centralentral Council of Muslims in Germany Digniigni Peter Meiwald CarolineCarolin Lensing-Hebben Membermber of Parliament UNDP Germanerman Bundestag

Virgilio Levaggiggi Susannenne Meltl Director AdvisorAdvi International Labourabour Organization (ILO) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeitmmenarbeit (GIZ) GGmbH

List of Participants 6 Anna Mertens Dr Gerd Müller Journalist Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Katholische Nachrichten-Agentur (KNA) Development Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and SarahS Meschenmoser Development Advocacy Officer CBM Germany Peter Munene Chief Executive Officer Martina Metz Faith To Action Network Head of Division Humanuman rights; freedom of religion;rel gender equality; Dr Rev John Nduna culture and development; inclusioninclus of persons General Secretary withith disabilities ACT Alliance Federal Ministry for Economic CooperationCoop and Development Dharam Singh Nihang Singh Founder of Sach Khoj Academy D. D. Gerhard Meyer Sach Khoj Academy – Academy for Researching Bishop OrdinaryOrdin the Truth Reformedformed Episcopal Church in Germany Pastor Kingsley Nimo Reinhard MicheelMiche Pastor Executiveutive Director International Christian Church Aktion Canchanabury e.V. Dr Peterer Nitschke Dr Marcoarco MoerschbacherMoerschbache Chief Strategy Officer Internationales Katholischeses MissionswMissionsMissionswerk International Care Ministries missioiss e.V. Ulrich Nitschke Anna Lena Mohrmannnn Headd of Program Values, Religion andan DevelopmentDevelopm Internationalernational Affairsairss Intern Program Values, Religion and DevelopmentDevelopme World Bank Groupoup Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleInternatio Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbHGm Christianstian Molkelkeke Executiveecutive Directorrector Günter NooNooke ADRA Germanymanan Personal Representative of the German ChancellorChancello for AfricaAfric Isabel Moritzoritzz Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation andan Consultantantan DevelopmentDevelopm CDU/CSUSU parliamentary group Dr Cyrill Jean Nunn Dr Kennethneth MtataM DirectorDire Programm Executive for ReligionReligR and Development Federalal Foreign OfficeOffic Lutheranutheranan Worldd FederationFederatio Drr Robert Odén Dr Sebastianstiantian MülMüllMüller Advisor Researcherhee Swedish Mission Council GermanGerma Institutenstitute for Human Rights Martin T. OndrejkaOn Tobias Müllerle Desk Officer Community of Sant’Egidio Humanman rights, freedom of religion, gender equality, culture and development, inclusion of persons with disabilities Federalral Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

List of Participants 7 Bishop Sunday Onuoha Zhonghui Qiu Executive Director Vice Board Chair and General Secretary Nigerian Interfaith Action Association (NIFAA) Amity Foundation

ChristianC Osterhaus Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Franz Josef Radermacher ExecutiveExecutiv Director Executive Director Don Bosco MoMondo e.V. Forschungsinstitut FAW/n

Dr Dean Pallant Prof. Anantanand Rambachan Director – International SocialSo Justice Commission Academy of World Religions Thehe Salvation Army Hamburg University

Gopalopal Patel Areej Rashid Director WACC Bhumi Project/Oxford Centre for HinduHind Studies Hans Martin Renno Carla PenderocPenderock Referent für diakonische und gesellschaftspolitische Programm Manager AfricaAfr Verantwortung Solidarityidarity International United Methodist Church Germany

Ana Evelyn Perla Cartagena Frank Richter Membermbe Advisor Central American Youth Pastoral Institutetituteitute (SEJ(SEJUVE) Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Developmentopment Isgardd PPeter AdvisorAdvis Cynthia Salloum Federalederal Ministry for Economiconomicnomic Cooperation and Postdoctoraltdoctoral FellowFel DevelopmentDevelopm Churches, political foundations, social structstructural programmes,rammes, religion and development Alexanderxander PieskePies European University Institute CDU/CSUDU/CSU parliamentaryamentary groupgroug Caroline SchmutSchmutte Dr Ulrich PohlmPohlmannhlmanlm Headead of Germany Relations Headad of DivisionDivisvisions Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Federal Ministryinistryistry of Defence Christophistoph SchoScholz Eric G. Postelostell Journalist Associatee AdministratoAdministraAdministrator Katholische Nachrichten-Agentur (KNA)(KNA U.S. Agencyncy for International DeveloDevelopmentDev (USAID)(USA Wolfgang Schonecke Mary PrinzlerPrinzleinzlerinz Head of NAD Berlin Office Directorr Netzwerkwerk Afrika DeutschlaDeutschland EPIZPIZ – Zentrumm für GlobalesGlob Lernen in BBerlin Margaretargaret Schuler Peterter Proveo Regional LLeader Director, CommissionCom of the Churches on World Vision InternationalInternationa Internationalntern onal Affairs World Counciluncil of ChurchesChurc Matthiasatthias Schwincke emMeS media SERVICE Jan Pusdrowskiski Social media support Matthewtthew ScoScott Federal Ministryry for Economic Cooperation aand Director of Peacebuilding Development Worldd Vision InternationalInternation

List of Participants 8 Stefan Sengstmann Prof. Parichart Suwanbubbha Head Technical Advisory Group Secretary of Religions for Peace World Vision Germany Inter-religious Council of Thailand

SebastianS Francis Shaw Charles Swansbury ArchbishopArchbish of Lahore International Secretary for Programme Resources The Salvation Army Gurjeet Singh Tanja Tabbara Sally SmithSmit Head of Africa Department Seniorenior Community MobilizationMobilizat Adviser FBOs Rosa Luxemburg Foundation UNAIDSUNAID Rev. Adam Taylor Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp Lead, Faith Initiative DirectorDirect World Bank Group Jacobcob Soetendorp Institute for Human VValues Thomas Silberhorn Dr Konrad Specker Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister Headad Institutional Partnerships for Economic Cooperationp and Development Swiss Agency for Development and CooperationCooperat Federal Ministry for Economic CooperationCooper and Development Dr Jeannetteeannette SpenleSpenlen AdvisorAdv Véronicaéronica Tomei Engagement Global RNE

Mgr. Pirmin Spiegel Prof. Klaus Töpfer Directorirector GeneGeneral Formermer Executive DirectorDirecto MISEREORMISEREO United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Birgittegitte Stieper Rev. Dr Olav Fykse TveitTvei Projectroject consultantantnt General Secretary Danish Missionn CouCouncCouncil World Council of ChurchesChurch

Dr Wolfram StierleS Margret UebberUe Political Stafftaffff Head of Division Federalal Ministry for Economic CooperationCooperatiCooper anand Federaleral Foreign Office Developmentmenn Imrana UmarU Dr Kai Striebingertriebinge Presidentdent & Executive Director Researcherearcherher International Interfaith Peace Corps Germann Development InstitutInstitute (DIE) Jekaterinaerina Vaitsenberg-Schwetje Henrietteenriettete Strothmannthmann Head of Section Executiveve DirectorDirect Developmentevelopment Policy Forum Developmentevelopmentment PolicyPol Forum Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleInternation DeutscheeeGe GesellschaftGe für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbHGm ZusammenarbeitZusam enarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Drr Corrie van der Ven Prof. Dr Christophristoph Stückelberger Program OfficeOfficer Executive Directorirector and Founder ICCOO Cooperation Globethics.nett

List of Participants 9 Sofia van Winden Prof. Dr Dietrich Werner Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values Senior Theological Advisor Bread for the World Anna Veigel Head of Division Peter Wolfrum German Commission for UNESCO Advisor Policy and speechwriting Rainer Venghaus Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation Head of Office and Development World Bank Group Christiane Wutschke Rev. Mgr. Robert Joseph Vitillo Programme Coordinator Refugee Relief Headead of Caritas Internationalis DelegationDel World Relief Germany to the UN in GenevaGenev Caritas Internationalis Dr Günter Zenk SES – Senior Expert Service Prof. Dr Matthias von Kriegstein Lecturer – Pastor – Superintendent (retd) Karl-Otto Zentel Goethe-Universitätethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main National Director CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg e.V. Dr Reinhard J. VoßV Chairmanrman of the Board Karsten ZimmeZimmermann EIRENE Germany CSR Management Dienstleistungen

Christophtoph WaffenschmidWaffenschmidt Stefan ZinsmeisterZinsmeis Chairman of the Executive Boardard Board member World Vision GermanyGerman Eugengen Biser Foundation

Tom Walsh Seniornior Program OfficeOfficerc Billill & Melinda Gates FoundationFoundFoundati This event has been organized by the Birgittaitta WeihbahWeihbahrhbahbah Developmentvelopment Policy Forum of the Deutsche GesellschaftGesellscha Policy Specialistialistalist Human Rights and DemocracyDemoDemoc fürfü Internationalenationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GGmbH Sida Silkee HaHansen Ulrich WeinholdWeinholeinholdhol Senior Project Manager Director Christlicheche Fachkräfte InternatioInternational e.e V. Daschaha KKuhn Senior Project Manager Lisbeth WelanderWeWela Under SecretarySecretarS Marie RieRiese Thehe Salvationvationon Army Project ManagerManage

Dr Dieterr Wenderlein Wender Eyleen Thofehrn Valenzuela Director DepartmentDep „One World Task” Project Manager CommnityComm ty of Sant’Egidio

Bishop Rosemarieemarie WenneWenner Bishop United Methodistodist Church Germany

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