1. Faith Based Organizations and The Government: The Canadian Experience

2. Outline Introduction Introduction Past Experience Past Experience Trends Trends What’s our Value Added? What’s our Value Added? Action Action Discussion Discussion

3. Introduction FBOs refer to all groups established and motivated by their faith commitment This includes, Christian, Muslim, Hindu etc. Includes organizations whose primary purpose is development, relief, advocacy

4. James Wolfensohn: World Bank ‘where faith and development institutions have combined their efforts and work to common ends, remarkable results have been achieved’.

5. Katherine Marshall: World Bank ‘Poverty is an issue as old as human thought, and it has often arisen first or primarily in the framework of religions and religious debate’.

6. Christian NGOs and CIDA 1995 CIDA recognizes that FBOs are integral and legitimate part of a healthy and resilient civil society and have an important role to play in the development process Both agree that there is considerable overlap in mission and goals which provides a solid platform on which to build an effective partnership CIDA recognizes that there is a spiritual dimension to the development process

7. Great stuff, but…. How many people are aware of this agreement? To what degree is it being implemented? What recourse do we have if it is not followed? Is it up-to-date?

8. Evaluation Quote “… is unequivocal in their mission and vision as a Christian faith based organization. As a cautionary note, ‘they’ may wish to review and assess the way and the extent to which the spiritual dimension is integrated into their development programming”.

9. What’s Your Experience?

10. Trends NGOs have become marginalized CCIC predicts that Partnership Branch disbursements will move from a high of $320mil in 1991 to $197mil in 2010 As a percentage of the total ODA to NGOs this has moved from 28% in 2000 to 18% in 2005 Total assistance to NGOs in 2004 was $236mil Of the 2004 total, only 13% went to FBOs

11. Trends 3-4% of charitable giving in Canada goes to international assistance CCIC Data for 2004: Total individual cash gifts $454.3mil Gifts by individual CDNs has risen by 52% over the last 10 yrs Child focussed agencies collect 55% of total cash Estimate that 70% of charitable giving goes to FBOs

12. Religious identity - Canada Catholic 12,936,905 Protestant 8,654,850 Christian Orthodox 479,620 Christian not included elsewhere 780,450 Muslim 579,640 Jewish 329,995 Buddhist 300,345 Hindu 297,200 Sikh 278,410 No religious affiliation 4,900,090 Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census Question: What is this person's religion? (Indicate a specific denomination or religion, even if this person is not currently a practicing member of that group) Total Population: 29,639,035 Catholic 43% Protestant 29% No religion 16%

13. Canada has a unique religious history and trajectory Questions: Do you believe in the existence of God or a universal spirit? Did you happen to attend church or synagogue in the past 7 days/religious service at a place of worship? Source: Gallup/Ipsos-Reid

14. Religion is seen as a force for good by a majority of Canadians % Agree 62% 59% 0%20%40%60%80% Religious communities are a force for good in society Religious leaders are a force for good in society

15. Base: all respondents (n=3863) Q. How much trust do you have in people in the following professions? Types of Professions Trusted: Charities engender more trust than politicians and the government

16. Learnings from Trends Canadians are more supportive of NGOs than CIDA is CIDA needs NGOs to accomplish its public engagement strategy Canada is a nation of ‘believers’ but not ‘belongers’ Canadian’s organization of choice are FBOs FBOs are a primary vehicle through which CIDA can engage the public

17. Question: If CIDA wants to engage the public, why aren’t they tracking where the public wants to engage?

18. What’s our Value Added? Holistic view of development…..

19. Traditional Worldview in a Community Maruti (rain god) Temple SUPERNATURAL UNSEEN UNCERTAIN Children’s Health NATURAL SEEN EMPIRICAL Shrine Boundaries of the community’s survival strategy Health Hut Water Pump Water Supply

20. A Relational View of Poverty Self Others Community Super Natural Environment = Broken Relationships

21. A Holistic Approach to Poverty Material Poverty Physical Weakness Isolation Vulnerability Powerlessness Spiritual Poverty Broken relationships with neighbor and their god Lack of assets Lack of strength Too many dependents Lack of assets Lack of education Excluded from system Lack of reserves Lack of choices Easy to coerce Lack of influence Lack of social power Exploited by powers

22. What’s our Value Added? (cont’d) Largest constituency Largest constituency Mobilize match funding for CIDA Mobilize match funding for CIDA Strong partnership relationships on the ground Strong partnership relationships on the ground Address CIDA’s principle driver for compassion Address CIDA’s principle driver for compassion

23. So What should we do? Don’t apologize – it’s our strength! Don’t apologize – it’s our strength! Leverage our size/constituency Leverage our size/constituency Faith based, not just Christian based Faith based, not just Christian based Engage CIDA in dialogue Engage CIDA in dialogue Ensure compliance on agreements with CIDA Ensure compliance on agreements with CIDA

24. More…. Collaborate on projects Collaborate on projects Promote our value added – holistic development Promote our value added – holistic development Educate our constituency – push for change Educate our constituency – push for change Campaigns: MICAH challenge Campaigns: MICAH challenge Target the ‘believers’ – we already have the ‘belongers’ Target the ‘believers’ – we already have the ‘belongers’

25. Enough from me… Let’s discuss