ACT General Secretary brings greetings to the LWF Assembly in Kraków, Poland

ACT General Secretary speaking at the LWF Assembly in Poland. Photo: LWF/Albin Hilert
15 September 2023, Krakow, Poland: ACT Alliance general secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria shares greetings as Lutherans from around the globe gather for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Thirteenth Assembly, held in Krakow, Poland on 13-19 September 2023 under the theme of ’One Body, One Spirit, One Hope’. Photo: LWF/Albin Hillert

Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT Alliance’s General Secretary, is in Kraków, Poland attending the Lutheran World Federation’s  Thirteenth Assembly, which is bringing together 355 official delegates as well as associate members, ecumenical guests, presenters, ex officio members, volunteers and staff under the theme One Body, One Spirit, One Hope.

De Faria addressed the Assembly on September 15, bringing greetings from the ACT Alliance:

I extend my warmest greetings to the esteemed members of the Lutheran World Federation Assembly 2023. As the General Secretary of the ACT Alliance, Action by Churches Together, I convey my heartfelt regards on behalf of our alliance’s entire membership. I wish you wisdom and courage as you engage in these important deliberations. 
 
It is both a pleasure and an honor for me to participate in the 13th General Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), convened here in the historic city of Kraków, Poland, under the theme “One Body, One Spirit, One Hope.” 
 
The theme of this Assembly carries profound significance in today’s world. It underscores the imperative of unity and collaboration among diverse churches, individuals, and communities. It also underscores the pressing need to work collectively in addressing global challenges such as social injustice, climate change, and conflict. This theme emphasizes the interconnectedness of humanity, highlighting that a shared sense of purpose and hope can serve as a catalyst for positive change. Ultimately, it encourages us to recognize our common humanity and unite in our efforts to create a more inclusive, just, and sustainable world. 
 
My connection with the LWF dates back to 1992, during my time in Brazil. In total, I have been engaged with this organization for 31 years, with 18 of those years spent as a dedicated staff member in the Department for World Service. I vividly remember my first attendance at a General Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in 1997, held in Hong Kong. The issues we contemplate today are markedly different from those of 1997. 
 
Presently, the world faces escalating polarization in our societies, coupled with the emergence of new anti-rights narratives that challenge the principles underpinning human rights, inclusion, democracy, solidarity, and justice. Ethical and social norms are being reshaped to accommodate ideologies that perpetuate exclusion, prioritize economic systems, and normalize violence as a determinant of societal behavior. Democracy is under threat in many regions, and the convergence of religious, economic, and political fundamentalisms fuels polarization, discrimination, and exclusion in our societies. 
 
The world grapples with a profound moral and ethical crisis, underscoring the crucial role that churches and faith-based organizations play in addressing its root causes. The Lutheran World Federation, a founding member of the ACT Alliance, has evolved significantly since its inception, firmly establishing its presence in multilateral political arenas by championing human dignity and justice, while recognizing the pivotal role of faith communities and local actors. 
 
As ACT Alliance, we recognize the urgency of intensifying our efforts in areas such as climate justice, linking it to the importance of humanitarian preparedness, as well as advancing gender justice and tax justice. As champions of justice, unity, and humanitarian endeavors, we celebrate this opportunity to collaborate in our shared commitment to effecting positive change in the world. 
 
Your integral role within the ACT Alliance amplifies our collective voice for justice, compassion, and transformative action. Together, we can shape a world that truly reflects our shared values. 
 
May our joint endeavors inspire meaningful change and pave the way for a brighter future for all. I extend my best wishes for a successful and productive Assembly. 

New York Climate Summit to focus world’s attention on climate crisis

By Fred Milligan 

Plans for New York Climate Week (September 17–24, 2023) will coincide with the opening week of the United Nations’ General Assembly (UNGA). But this year is different in several ways. In addition to the normal UNGA activities, a special High Level Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) summit will evaluate each of the 17 SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015. UN General Secretary Antonio Gutierrez has called a one day Climate Ambition Summit for Wednesday, September 20th in connection with the SDG summit. This is not simply UN “business as usual” but an effort to focus the world’s attention on the pressing issues connected with the climate crisis.

ACT Climate Justice Ambassador Cornelia Fullkrug-Weitzel (l) joins ACT, WCC, LWF and other ecumenical bodies with tens of thousands marching through the streets of New York City in an earlier Climate Strike for climate justice. PHOTO: Simon Chambers/ACT

Against this backdrop, civil society, including the interfaith community, will lift up their voices on the streets of New York City so that they cannot be ignored by those within the walls of the UN buildings. A coalition of over a dozen national and international organizations, including ACT Alliance, are organizing activities for participants as they arrive from across the US and around the world.

Civil society activities have included almost daily classes in civil disobedience preparing for several actions related to financial institutions such as the Bank of America and the New York Stock Exchange. They’ll be scattered over the week preceding as well as during Climate Week, ecumenical and interfaith worship gatherings and during the March to End Fossil Fuel on Sunday the 17th.

The March could bring tens of thousands of concerned citizens together to speak as one voice to the US  government. It is an urgent call for more ambitious actions on the part of the US to thwart climate change. One demand is halting subsidies to fossil fuel companies. Another is curtailing further expansion of oil fields and instead developing a more robust infrastructure for renewable sources of energy production and use. 

ACT Alliance, in collaboration with Bread for the World and the Open Societies Foundation is also sponsoring a presentation on the intersection of Climate Change and Human Mobility on Tuesday September 19th.  Look to ACT News and ACT’s social media account for updates on climate- and SDG-related activities throughout the week.

Acting together, we can make a difference.

Rev. Fred Milligan is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and member of the Act Alliance Advocacy team who lives in New York City. He assists ACT as a liaison with local climate justice activities.

ACT Global Advocacy: for a future where everyone thrives

“We bring members in the Global South to speak to the UN in New York and at other global forums. Equipping them to tell their own powerful stories is a central part of our advocacy work,” says Alison Kelly, right, with ACT members at the United Nations in New York. PHOTO: Simon Chambers/ACT.

We spoke with Alison Kelly (UK) the ACT Alliance Representative to the United Nations, based in New York, and Dr. Marianna Leite (Brazil), ACT Alliance’s Global Advocacy and Development Policy Manager about their goals and hopes for ACT’s global advocacy work. 

By engaging in effective advocacy at local, national, regional and global levels, ACT Alliance contributes to positive and sustainable change in the lives of people affected by poverty and injustice.  ACT’s advocacy work is faith- and rights-based, grounded in evidence and rooted in the experience of forums and members.

Q: Why is advocacy important for ACT Alliance? 

“I think everyone should carve out at least ten percent of their time to think about advocacy,” says Dr. Marianna Leite, ACT’s Global Advocacy and Development Policy Manager.

Marianna Leite (M): It’s our responsibility to fundamentally change how things are now and envisage a future where everyone and the planet thrives. Policy and advocacy are deeply connected to humanitarian and development work. There is also a theological aspect to it – really believing in our prophetic voice and raising a faith voice and the voices of the communities we serve.  

Alison Kelly (A): There’s an increasing sense of urgency.  With climate now being seen as an existential issue, there’s an urgency to advocate for transformational change.  

M: We need to make some waves – positive waves of change. ACT has a role both in attending to urgent needs and striving for everyone to be able to enjoy basic rights in future.  

A: Transformation also means switching our thinking. The economy is a human system that should work for people and the planet. Our advocacy strategy is solutions focused. That’s really important. We know what works from our members’ experience in their communities.   

M: And we are all advocates.  We all try to influence each other; it’s part of being human. One of the things we say in the ACT Advocacy Academy is that advocacy can be as big as your creativity can reach.  

A: It’s opening the discussion. Advocacy can be local, it can be behind the scenes, it can be private; there are all these different mechanisms.  

M: Informal and silent advocacy can be much more impactful than any visible external advocacy. It is crucial for members to consider when to say yes or no to advocacy and to do a risk analysis. 

Q: What are the challenges and opportunities facing ACT’s global advocacy programme?  

M: A major challenge is the toxic anti-NGO or anti-civil action narrative that now permeates society.  Governments are cutting funding for the lifesaving work we do. The same negative undertone comes from fundamentalist groups that are backtracking hard won human rights. It’s hard to avert more damage because a narrative has a life of its own. Yet this is also an opportunity for ACT.  We are a faith actor promoting human rights as part of a transformative approach to sustainable development. We can push back against the pushbacks. ACT is unapologetic about our support to International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, and their principles. 

A: We speak to the moral and ethical dimension of issues, and we have the technical expertise to be credible. Holding faith and rights together gives us a strong platform.  

M: How to maintain hope is also part of our role as faith actors. We can hope for a better future, and we can be the change that we want to see in the world. I see that as part of ACT being prophetic. 

Recent global advocacy initiatives

Addressing COVID vaccine inequity 

By early 2022, it was clear that global COVID-19 vaccine distribution was not as rapid as the virus’ mutation and spread. Most doses of the vaccines were acquired by and administered in developed countries. The most vulnerable people, especially in developing nations, were yet again left behind. 

ACT responded by continuing to advocate for vaccine equity and addressing vaccine hesitancy. We published resources and hosted regional workshops on Vaccine Equity and Hesitancy in the Africa and Asia Pacific regions. ACT called on governments to support the creation of a binding treaty on pandemic preparedness. ACT’s General Secretary, as a civil society representative to the COVAX facility, pushed funders to make sure that vaccines reach those in developing nations.  

New Advocacy Package 

Developed over three years with ACT’s advocacy and policy reference group, an approvals process for all documents produced under the ACT banner was piloted in 2022.  Created for forums and all groups of ACT Alliance members that want to do joint advocacy, it is part of a new advocacy package meant to ensure that ACT always speaks with one united voice with coherent and mutually reinforcing language. Member suggestions led to adjustments and user-friendly resources and design templates along with a forum-centred advocacy guidance, all part of the final package to be launched in 2023.  

This interview appears in the ACT Alliance Annual Report 2022, available in English, French and Spanish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Climate Justice Framework a collaborative work 

Hot off the presses! The Climate Justice Advocacy Framework position paper 2023-26 is now available. “This framework position sets out ACT’s resolve and ambition to advance climate leadership and action in this critical decade of action,” says Julius Mbatia, ACT’s Climate Justice programme manager. “This framework position will help ACT members around the world engage with their national decision makers,” says Mattias Söderberg, chief advocacy officer of DanChurchAid and co-chair of ACT’s Climate Justice Reference Group. “It will amplify our call for climate justice as we speak with one voice.”

 

 

 Click here to download the English version. Click here for the Spanish version. 

The 20-page document was created through a collaborative process with members from around the world who are part of the Climate Justice Advocacy and Programme groups, with guidance from the Reference Group. “The process in which the position paper was developed allowed for the voices from various continents and nations to be heard, especially those from the Global South,” says Dr. Ahmad Safdi, head of mission for Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe in the Middle East, and a member of ACT’s Climate Justice Reference Group. “This made it possible to reflect more deeply on the intersection of climate change impacts, and issues of ultimate importance to the Global South such as the right to development, Indigenous people’s rights, gender equity and equality, colonisation, resilience, and adaptive capacity building.” 

The document begins by exploring the values and principles guiding ACT’s climate justice work, then links these values to the struggle for full human rights, gender rights, and community resilience as supported by finance for adaptation and loss and damage. “This framework is a good milestone, providing guidance and inspiration for ACT and the ecumenical family to collectively continue the fight for climate justice,” says Mariana Paoli, Global Advocacy Lead at Christian Aid and a member of ACT’s Climate Justice Advocacy group. “Based on principles of equity and reparations, it calls for ambitious climate action, which is long overdue.”

Speaks to all members

Both those who are new to ACT’s Climate Justice work and those with more experience will find the document useful in articulating a Christian perspective that can be used to promote climate justice in forums from the local to the global. “Our position stresses that we need a green transition, where all fossil fuels are phased out, and where our growth and development become sustainable,” says Mattias Söderberg. “This is also aligned with our Christian beliefs, where we are committed to the care of creation.” 

Due to its collaborative writing process, “the position paper grew much more representative of the voices of humanity at large,” says Dr. Safi. “It strives to be the voice of the voiceless including other creatures and ecosystems.” The document and its collaborative process “demonstrate our unwavering commitment to a fair, equitable and responsible multilateral climate regime that delivers on the needs of vulnerable communities,” says Julius Mbatia. 

The document underlines the urgent need for concerted action by all ACT members in building a global movement for climate justice and provides clear action points. “Rich countries must urgently phase out fossil fuels while providing their fair share of finance,” says Mariana Paoli. “This will enable the poorest countries to adapt, address loss and damage and drive a just energy transition leapfrogging to a clean future.”  

The document notes that ACT Now for Climate Justice Campaign provides a ready vehicle for effective joint climate action. “The core message in this paper is clear,” says Mattias Söderberg. “We need climate justice, and we need it now. There is no more time to waste as we all face a climate crisis.” 

English version

Spanish version.

 

Swiss Church Aid ensures access to clean drinking water in Ethiopia’s community

Through ACT appeal’s response to the prolonged drought in Horn of Africa , ACT member Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER)  implemented an emergency drought response project in the Hudet Woreda region of Ethiopia. The rehabilitation of a traditional well, improved access to safe water for the communities in the region. The well was non-functional for the last five years, due to technical problems with the generator. This had created enormous challenges for the people living in that area. HEKS/EPER  upgraded the system to a solar-powered submersible pump, installing six solar panels and repairing 50 meters of pipelines to improve water distribution. Now the well is benefiting more than 5,000 people.

Halima Mohamed , a mother of five  living in Hudet Woreda, who earns a small income notes that access to clean water was very challenging for  her family during the drought.

“We used to collect water as far as 5 km away from traditional wells but also ponds for our daily consumption. It was not safe,  but it became a matter of survival”  Says Halima.  She would send her daughters to collect water so that she could take care of the house and her newborn. This meant that her daughters could not attend school on a regular basis.

“I was worried about their future, that they will end up like me, staying home with no income and dependent on others“ she adds.  The lack of access to clean drinking water affected the health of her children, as they were continuously ill.

Halima’s family is one of the households that benefit from HEKS/EPER’s project. She is now able to easily fetch water in her neighbourhood. ‘Now I can keep my children healthy and we can drink clean water. I don’t need to keep my girls at home to support me with the house works. They started going to school, which gave me so much relief, now am seeing a bright future for me and my children.”

The story and many other humanitarian feature stories  from ACT Ethiopia forum here: AEF-Periodical E-booklet_2nd Issue

 

“Dignified Assistance in Every Crisis”: CWSA’s campaign to promote quality and accountability in humanitarian action

In June 2023 Community World Service Asia (CWSA) launched a digital campaign to promote quality in humanitarian action. The campaign “Dignified Assistance in Every Crisis”, which is still running, aims at strengthening the understanding of humanitarian principles among field workers, emergency responders and local civil society.

« As a regional and national focal point for quality and accountability standards, CWSA is focusing on activities that aim at strengthening the capacity of local NGOs, as well as the availability and use of contextualised resources, techniques, and procedures to reinforce systemic and cultural changes, » said Palwashay Arbarb, Head of Communications at CWSA.

   

Although focused on the local context and translated into local languages, the English version of the campaign, which is currently running on Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook, is available for all ACT members to circulate.

« We really urge our partners in ACT Alliance, and its network in Pakistan, to widely circulate the content of  this campaign to ensure humanitarian response in the country at all levels is safe, people- centered and dignified. », concluded Palwashay Arbarb.

Please, find some key resources here:

 

Join the Season of Creation September 1

The Season of Creation, the annual ecumenical celebration that encourages parishes to listen and respond to the cry of Creation, begins September 1 on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and ends October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

This year’s theme is “Let Justice and Peace Flow” and invites us to join others in working for climate justice.  A range of actions are suggested, from prayers to meeting with national climate negotiators to influence their decisions. The Season of Creation Celebration is intentionally scheduled just prior to the annual UN climate convention (the COP) to encourage climate action and advocacy in parishes. The Season of Creation Celebration Guide and promotional resources are now available in several languages.

The Season of Creation formally begins September 1 with a global ecumenical online prayer celebration at 09:00 New York, 15:00 Geneva, Johannesburg 16:00, 21:00 Manila, 01:00 Aotearoa. It will be streamed on the Season of Creation YouTube channel.

ACT members are involved in many different ways. The Celebration Guide is  available in Arabic thanks to translation provided by the Middle East Council of Churches. The Season of Creation has been “on fire” in the MENA region, says ACT MENA Regional Representative Rachel Luce.

Patricia Mungcal of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and co-chair of ACT’s Global Youth Community of Practice introduced the Advocacy section in June’s global online Celebration Guide launch. “This guide sharply unites us towards our advocacy goals,” she said. “For climate justice, now that we have the commitment for a Loss and Damage facility, we need to ensure that fair funding is allocated… with no colonial conditionalities for the Global South.”

Patricia was followed by a video of ACT General Secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria speaking of the power of united faith action on climate justice. “Together we can be a river that can move the mountains of injustice,” said Bueno de Faria. “As an ecumenical family, we can engage in these actions to ensure the web of life is preserved and cared for.” See video below.

ACT General Secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria

 

 

 

ACT Alliance calls for an immediate lift of the blockade of the Lachin corridor in Nagorno-Karabakh and adherence to humanitarian principles

In the face of a growing humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), ACT Alliance expresses deep concern with the blockage imposed by Azerbaijani authorities to block the Lachin corridor, the sole road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, precipitating a humanitarian crisis.  

Over the last seven months, the blockade has severely impacted the lives of the people in the region, especially the most vulnerable.  Some 120,000 ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, including 30,000 children, are suffering from severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel. In addition, this crisis is affecting their ability to access medical care and life-saving services.   

On 25 February, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Azerbaijan to ensure free movement of all persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin corridor in both directions.    

ACT Alliance is concerned by Azerbaijan’s lack of observance of its ethical obligations and humanitarian principles and urges the Azerbaijani government to end human suffering, giving particular attention to the most vulnerable. Blocking humanitarian aid should not be used as a strategy to resolve a conflict or other disputes.  

ACT Alliance calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the blockade of the Lachin corridor and allow for unhindered and safe passage of civilians and goods along the corridor, as well as guarantee unimpeded humanitarian access in line with international law and the order of the ICJ.  

ACT Alliance is furthermore calling on the international community to urgently work to end the blockade and to find diplomatic solutions to bring a just peace to the region. 

Rudelmar Bueno de Faria 

ACT Alliance General Secretary  

 

 

Loss and damage – we need a pragmatic and science-based approach

In 2022, massive monsoon flooding left over 6.4 million people in Pakistan needing humanitarian assistance. The increasing intensity of these kinds of events are due to climate change. PHOTO: Sahar Zafar/CWSA

 

The ongoing debate about climate-induced loss and damage is rife with conflicts. Different perspectives, political views, and ideologies make it difficult for parties to agree on a way forward.

Since 2019, the Danish NGO DanChurchAid has been monitoring projects, implemented by our local partners, that address loss and damage. I believe our experience can provide some helpful perspective for the ongoing negotiations.

As an NGO working across the humanitarian and development nexus, we were already monitoring, and reporting, on projects related to cutting emissions and adapting to climate change. However, we also wanted to learn more about the efforts to address loss and damage.

Loss and damage is a reality now. The people we meet in the drought-affected Turkana region in Kenya, the flooded villages in South Sudan, and the farmers who lost their livelihoods due to cyclones in Malawi, know what we are talking about. 

Defining loss and damage

At the international level, there is no agreed definition, and no accepted marker to identify projects. Our solution was to develop our own methodology. The support we give to communities to reduce exposure to climate-related hazards, for example by setting up an early warning system for cyclones, is labeled as ‘adaptation’. Meanwhile, the provision of emergency response, for example by delivering cash to families who lost their belongings, is labeled ‘loss and damage’.

One of the first lessons we could draw is that attribution is difficult. Is a drought climate-related or weather related? And are people being displaced as a result of the drought or due to local conflicts? It is not clear-cut and, in reality, it is often a combination of factors. For people on the ground, the label doesn’t matter. They are concerned about whether any support at all exists for them.

We have therefore chosen a pragmatic, but still science-based, approach. We talk about climate-associated loss and damage, rather than climate-induced loss and damage. A small but important difference that can determine whether a community will receive support or not from a future loss and damage fund.

Funding streams

Our monitoring indicates that the projects are funded from a variety of funding sources, both humanitarian and long-term development funds. That is relevant for the negotiations about ‘funding arrangements’ for loss and damage. Most of our support is directed to rapid-onset disasters, such as a hurricane, while few projects have a focus on slow-onset events, like desertification, and non-economic loss. The gap would need to be addressed by the loss and damage fund, as was agreed at the COP27 climate talks last year.

Another lesson relates to how the projects are designed. More than four-fifths of our activities include elements of both loss and damage on one hand, and adaptation or mitigation on the other. That indicates that the projects not only build back to pre-disaster situation after a loss, or damage, but that they do so in a way that improves conditions. It means that communities are more robust when the next extreme event strikes.

The UN negotiations must ensure a new fund will be eligible for cross-cutting activities, addressing both loss and damage and adaptation, to ensure the long-term perspective.

Local engagement

Finally, our monitoring makes it clear that it is  local communities and local actors themselves that are spearheading the work. They are the first responders, and those who stay behind when the hazard is under control. Yes, they need support, but they are best placed to know what kind of support is needed.

Even if the new loss and damage fund is negotiated within the UN, decisions about the actual destination of the money must engage the local communities that are affected. We need locally-led actions to address loss and damage, and this must be a priority when the new fund is operationalised.

is a chief advisor at DanChurchAid and co-chair of ACT Alliance’s climate justice group.

Faith Actors come together to Advance Gender Equality

Picture credit: Karin Hugsén , Act Church of Sweden

Over 25 diverse faith-based organisations attended Women Deliver 2023, which concluded yesterday in Rwanda. ACT Alliance co-convened a ‘meet and greet’ at the conference, for faith actors to connect, share, and strategize on our collective work for gender justice.  
Rising fundamentalisms, which are pushing back hard against women’s rights at every level and across the world, religion can often be perceived as only contributing to the problem of gender inequalities. Patriarchal gender norms continue to be packaged in the language of religion because it legitimises them, it makes them appear divinely ordained and unchangeable. Anti-rights actors are mobilising religious language to block or even reverse progress on gender equality.  

Nearly 84 per cent of the world’s population identifies with a religious group. Many faith-based organisations, who participated in Women Deliver, are advocating for the importance of engaging in faith-based partnerships to advance gender justice.   

A focus of the Women Deliver conference is advancing Sexual and reproductive health and rights, which will not be achieved simply by changing laws, reducing poverty, or improving education and health care services. While these are all essential steps, we also need to challenge and eliminate discriminatory social norms that constrain bodily autonomy, agency and rights. To this end, the ACT Gender Justice Programme is working closely with our members, national and regional forums and platforms to harness the value-based power of faith actors to advance Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.  

For example, the ACT Argentina Forum is confronting fundamentalist and hateful discourses which oppress, manipulate, and deny the fundamental freedoms of women and girls in all their diversity. The forum is developing and sharing liberating faith narratives and theological perspectives that encourage the rereading of sacred texts and cultural contexts. It is also creating safe spaces of trust, which are open, intimate and focused on active listening without judgement. Together, we are working to support and amplify those prophetic voices who are courageously calling for transformative action to achieve justice for all.  

In the report, ‘Looking Back to Look Forward: The Role of Religious Actors in Gender Equality since the Beijing Declaration’, which ACT Alliance co-published, we argue that understandings of the gender-religious nexus is critical for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5, and make the following recommendations:  

  • Choosing partners who are leaders on gender issues in their contexts: International collaboration and partnerships are pivotal for achieving all SDGs, especially now as the world tries to recover from the global COVID-19 pandemic. Achieving SDG 5 is deeply interconnected with achieving all SDGs. 
  • Encourage religious literacy: Development agencies need to provide training throughout their organizational structures that convey a basic understanding of the ways in which religious discourses are context-specific, historically situated, internally diverse, continually reinforced and altered by both internal and external factors. 
  • Conducting comprehensive gender analyses prior to projects and partnerships: A comprehensive, context-specific, and theory-based gender analysis can highlight the religion-gender intersection in each locality and facilitate the inclusion of religious actors. It can also uncover the patriarchal power dynamics behind religious arguments supporting gender inequality.  

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