Partners for Change Religions and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 17–18 February 2016
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International Conference Partners for Change Religions and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 17–18 February 2016 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 com- mon 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 implementa- tion 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 interna- tional 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