Roundtable Calls for Inter-faith Action on Global Crises

22 Mar Roundtable Calls for Inter-faith Action on Global Crises

The World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists announced yesterday an inter-faith “call to action” for increased co-operation to address poverty, hunger, disease and other pressing global issues at its third annual World Congress in Doha.
The Congress, widely recognised as the premier worldwide forum on Muslim Philanthropy, held a special inter-religious roundtable to review best practices for faith-based programmes and to exchange views on the pathways to securing new resources.
Leaders at the Congress called for increased monitoring of existing faith-based approaches in an effort to further engage governments, the private sector and other philanthropic organisations.
“This call to action turns inter-faith dialogue into action in order to make a real and positive impact on key global issues,” said Dr Tariq H Cheema, founder and CEO of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists.
Professor Ibrahim Saleh al-Naimi, chairman of the Doha International Center for Inter-faith Dialogue, who led the discussion, said: “If we can unify our work among inter-faith organisations, this will lead to more understanding between each other and it will benefit the people in a more impactful way.”
The Rev. Charles P Gibbs, Executive Director, United Religions Initiative, said: “Around the world, we are seeing groundbreaking examples of co-operation among faith traditions, government and civil society to address urgent human needs and the cessation of violence.”
Omnia Nour, executive director of Reach Out To Asia, said: “A call for a more systematic action for faith-based organisations will enable these organisations to attract much more resources and reach out to many more people that remain excluded.”
Ruth Turner, chief executive of the Tony Blair Foundation said: “Globalisation in general and new technology in particular, changes who we are talking about when we refer to our ‘neighbour.’ Connected as we are across the world in so many ways, people of different religions can take their various traditions of compassion and work together, taking practical steps to make a real difference to problems of malaria, global poverty and conflict.”
Dr William Vendley, Secretary General of Religions for Peace, said: “We are pleased to see an increased interest in the strength and reach of multi-religious partnerships on the part of foundations and governments around the world.”
Jean Duff, executive director of the Center for Inter-faith Action, said: “Our work focuses on mobilising the rich assets of faith leaders and congregational infrastructures to increase their impact on social development.