“Building Consensus for Fair and Sustainable Development: Religious Contributions for a Dignified Future 2018 ARGENTINA SUMMARY REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................. 3 INAUGURAL SESSION: ............................................................................................................................ 5 PLENARY SESSIONS ............................................................................................................................... 11 RELIGIONS AND EMERGING GLOBAL CHALLENGES ............................................................... 11 THE FUTURE OF WORK AND THE URGENT CHALLENGES OF INEQUALITY AND THE VULNERABLE ...................................................................................................................................... 24 CARING FOR THE EARTH: CLIMATE CHANGE’S MULTIPLE CHALLENGES AND RELIGIOUS ROLES .............................................................................................................................. 31 RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, RELIGIOUS VITALITY, AND RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE G20 AGENDA ........................................................................................................................................ 36 ADVANCING THE WORK OF RELIGIOUSLY-AFFILIATED HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS ................................................................................................................................ 49 RELIGION, PUBLIC SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS, AND BUILDING SYNERGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ....................................................................................................... 57 A SUSTAINABLE INTERFAITH FUTURE ........................................................................................ 65 PARALLEL SESSIONS ............................................................................................................................. 71 DIGNIFIED WORK ............................................................................................................................... 71 RELIGION, BUSINESS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT .................................................... 74 HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND MODERN FORMS OF SLAVERY .................................................. 76 RELIGION AND ANTI-DISCRIMINATION NORMS ........................................................................ 83 INNOVATION AND WHY RELIGIOUS VOICES MATTER ............................................................ 87 ETHICAL FACETS AND ACTION IMPERATIVES FOR REFUGEES AND MIGRATION – MODERN EXODUS .............................................................................................................................. 89 CHILDREN: A COMMON IMPERATIVE FOR G20 ENGAGEMENT.............................................. 97 RELIGIOUS APPROACHES TO CLIMATE CHANGE .................................................................... 100 TO END HUNGER: RELIGIOUS TEACHING, RELIGIOUS ACTION ........................................... 106 THE IMPERATIVES OF BETTER GOVERNANCE - FIGHTING CORRUPTION ........................ 111 THE VALUE OF INTERRELIGIOUS WORK IN THE 21ST CENTURY – FROM POMP TO POLICY ................................................................................................................................................ 114 FAITH AND FINANCE: RELIGIOUS COMMITMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS ...................... 118 HUMAN RIGHTS, FAITH AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: INSTITUTIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO GLOBAL PRIORITIES ................................................................................ 122 WOMEN AND RELIGION: DIGNITY, EQUALITY AND EMPOWERMENT ............................... 128 1 FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF: CHALLENGES AND POLICIES .................................... 132 RELIGIOUS ACTERS ADDRESSING RELIGION AND VIOLENCE ............................................ 136 IN THE LINE OF FIRE: FUNDING ESSENTIAL HUMANITARIAN RELIEF IN CONFLICT ZONES .................................................................................................................................................. 144 DESPISE NOT MY YOUTH: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH INTERFAITH LEADERSHIP ............ 149 RELIGIOUS LITERACY ON THE GLOBAL STAGE: ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDUCATION AND MEDIA INSTITUTIONS ................................................................................... 152 ETHICS AND ECONOMY SESSIONS .................................................................................................. 156 HIGH LEVEL DIALOGUE ON ETHICS AND ECONOMICS ......................................................... 156 INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL ARCHITECTURE ........................................................................ 158 ECO-ECONOMY ................................................................................................................................. 161 STRUCTURAL INEQUALITIES AND PARADIGMS OF DEVELOPMENT ................................. 162 CONCLUDING REMARKS OF ETHICS AND ECONOMY ............................................................ 170 ANNEX .................................................................................................................................................... 180 POLICY BRIEFS AND PAPERS ........................................................................................................ 180 RELIGIOUS ACTORS ADDRESSING EXTREMISM AND VIOLENCE ................................... 180 G-20 - ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS ............ 186 THE IMPERATIVES OF BETTER GOVERNANCE ..................................................................... 191 IMPLEMENTING THE GLOBAL COMPACT ON REFUGEES - A FAITH PERSPECTIVE .... 198 JOINT LEARNING INITIATIVE ON FAITH AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES ........................... 199 COLLABORATING INSTITUTIONS ................................................................................................ 200 SPANISH TRANSLATIONS OF ELDER D. TODD CHRISTOFFERSON’S PRESENTATIONS .. 201 2 SUMMARY “No one left behind” was the central theme of the G20 Interfaith Forum. Special emphasis this year was placed on victims of human trafficking, child exploitation, the education and permanent relocation of displaced peoples, and the affirmation of human dignity. The 2018 theme was “Building Consensus for Fair and Sustainable Development.” Plenary sessions were designed in accordance with four sub-themes: 1) Inequality, religion and the future of work, 2) Religion, environmental change, and a sustainable food future, 3) Urgent priorities for social cohesion, and 4) Religion, good governance and sustainable development. Parallel sessions addressed specific and diverse topics such as decent work, human trafficking, refugees and migration, vulnerable children, climate change, food insecurity, governance and corruption, religion and violence, discriminatory practices, and freedom of religion. Plans were developed to continue the focus on climate change, children and humanitarian issues at the 2019 Forum to be convened in Japan and the 2020 Forum to be convened in Saudi Arabia. The Argentina government was significantly engaged with the 2018 Summit. Vice President Gabriela Michetti participated in the opening ceremony. Gabriela Agosti, Executive Secretary for the National Council of Social Policy of the Presidency, Sergio Bergman, Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development for the Argentina Government, and Alfredo Abriani, the National Undersecretary for Worship with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship of Argentina, and Gabriel Castelli, Secretary of Childhood and Family, participated in the dialogue. Some specific recommendations emerged from the dialogue process, but were not formally agreed upon, to offer to the G20 governments such as asking them to take urgent action on climate change, to implement action on SDG 8.7 pertaining to human trafficking, develop new action for the education of displaced children, and adjust existing action on bank de-risking procedures. Additional recommendations, detailed in the pages that follow, do not represent an official position of the G20 Interfaith Forum or of any of its participants. More than 300 experts and leaders participated from fields ranging from economy, law, politics, religion, development to humanitarian aid. Delegates came from 70% of the G20 countries for the fifth consecutive G20 Interfaith Summit. This was the first summit to be convened in Latin America. Regional participation came from Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, and Peru. Participants from countries such as the Maldives and New 3 Zealand helped ensure the incorporation of perspectives from countries not represented by the G20. Religious representation came from Bahá’í, Catholic, Orthodox, Reformed, Baptist and Evangelical Christian traditions, humanism, Jewish, Konko, Muslim, Shinto and Indigenous traditions. Interfaith organizations (e.g., Instituto para el Diálogo Interreligioso, KAICIID, ACWAY, United Religion Initiative – Africa,), intergovernmental agencies (e.g., UNHCR, UNDP), NGOs (e.g., ACT Alliance, Diversity Network of Argentina, Responsible Finance and Investment Foundation, Walk Free Foundation), FBOs (e.g., Caritas, Christian AID, International Shinto Foundation, Islamic Relief USA, World Vision) and human rights agencies (e.g., OSCE/ODIR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief) took part in the three days of dialogue. The