Religion and Sustainable

Development
Building Partnerships to End Extreme Poverty

7th to 9th July 2015

Washington
 About Micah
Mandate:
What does the Lord require of us but to act
justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.
Micah 6:8

Vision:
Communities living life in all its fullness free
from extreme poverty, injustice and conflict.

How do we do this?
 Address the Dichotomies
Knowing the truth, knowing the Word of God vs
Obeying, living it.
• Micah raises awareness, tackles the
dichotomies, and mobilises believers to engage.
• Micah holds leaders to account for the
responsibility and
commitment to tackle the
injustice of poverty
 Providing the Space and
Environment for Change
The Local Church is a key agent of change – they address grass
root issues and nurture transformation

Micah seeks to provide an inclusive space to tackle these

issues together – an integrated response.
Millennium Development Goals
In September
2000 the UN
member states
committed to
halving global
poverty by 2015

MDGs

Success but
possibly only
tackling pow
hanging fruit
Sustainable Development Goals To achieve the change we need we have to beyond
indicators and change values, systems, and perceptions
 SDG 1: End Poverty in all its forms
everywhere
• Raise awareness of the travesty of poverty:
– Theological: God’s heart for the poor
– Praxis: our response – exploring an integrated, holistic response at community,
national, regional and global levels
• Increase access to information on issues of poverty per country:
– Mapping of areas, communities in extreme poverty and in poverty
– Identify areas of vulnerability
– Research government response to poverty reduction (list and outline commitments
with time frame)
– Identify high risks areas / communities to prioritise so as to increase resilience.
• Identify national goals to focus on for:
– Raise awareness
– Advocacy initiatives to target change needs
– Campaigning to gain committed action
– Lobbying leaders in order to influence for good policies.
 Working with Local Church Partners
& FBOs – CHALLENGES:
• Leadership Issues:
– Different views re use of outside donations
– Lack of training on governance, organizational development, project management
– “Economy of affection” stronger than economy of dollar investments
– Misplaced human resources (eg. Level of passion for development)
– Differing views on role of church or faith-based organizations (FBOs) compared to
government or corporate sectors
– Dichotomy of faith and practice (priority to save souls vs. holistic faith integration)
• Financial Resources:
– History of patriarchal instead of asset-based approach
– Poor accountability systems and communication to local contributors
– Dependency on outside donations
• Cultural Expectations and Context:
– Isolating from relationships with government and/or public sectors
– Influence of cultural views re gender, ethnicity, self-determination
 Working with Local Church Partners
& FBOs – VALUE-ADDED:
• Appeal to driver of change – the heart:
– Linking faith to care of the vulnerable outside traditional / family relationships
– Courage and confidence to overcome cultural barriers, fears
• Relational legitimacy to enhance ownership and citizenship :
– Grass-roots connections for communicating vital information from community (ie.
Identify vulnerable people and voice their issues) and to community (ie. Resources
available)
– Foster local accountability systems (citizenship)
– Bridger role for outside NGOs and government
• Training for development:
– Local leadership capacity building – eg. Engaging youth in volunteer service
– Pastoral care and counselling for traumatic events
– Peace-building, human rights and justice (gender, ethnic)
– Adult literacy
– Education and behavior change to meet needs for livelihoods, health, family etc.
www.micahglobal.org