Related to humanitarian, development and advocacy work of ACT Alliance

Typhoon Haiyan, which was a Level 3 emergency which brought ACT members to respond in the country in November 2013. The ACT Secretariat, Lutheran World Federation, and other ACT members outside the country came in to assist during the relief and recovery phase. An ACT Coordination Center was established, a first in the ACT response, which facilitated the coordination of all the ACT implementing members, headed by the country Forum. The 3-month old Forum took the challenge of managing such a scale of the disaster, which brought many learnings that are shared through a joint publication entitled: ACTING TOGETHER, BUILDING STRONGER, Lessons from the ACT Alliance Response to Typhoon Haiyan, which was widely shared in print and online with the whole ACT Family. The learnings were highlighted in 4 areas: coordination, convergence, localization and quality & accountability. The coordination among the ACT Philippines Forum and other ACT members fostered the ACT Strategic Theme: Join Hands, Full Life and Dignity for All. The Forum has had internal and external evaluations in the course of the response, one of which is the Donor’s Joint Monitoring Visit, which the Forum and the ACT Coordination Center jointly organized. Reflections and learning workshops were also carried out, to ensure that the Forum members are continuously improving its service.

The Forum coordinates every humanitarian response within or outside an ACT Appeal. At least in information sharing, the Forum shares each other’s work to avoid duplication and promote coordination in the common areas it serves.

Aside from the humanitarian response, the ACT Forum carries the advocacy on PUTTING PEOPLE AT THE CENTER, LOCALIZATION, CSO PARTICIPATION & COORDINATED RESPONSES, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT and CLIMATE CHANGE, which are part of the ACT strategic direction and commitment to WHS. In the recent undertakings with ACT, the ACT Forum participated in the signature campaign during the COP21 in Nov 2015. The advocacy on climate change is one of the focus on strategic directions of the Forum.

Related to building trust and ACT governance, including strategic collaboration as part of the wider ecumenical movement and learning with other forums

The Forum has been efficient and effective in collaborating on ACT Appeals: Typhoon Haiyan, Typhoon Haima, Typhoon Nina, and Marawi Conflict – collectively deciding how to utilize resources. There is also a reflection and learning sessions on past responses which were documented and shared to the whole Alliance.

There was a joint analysis on the current context to suitably set the Forum’s direction, in accordance with the ACT global strategic direction. The ecumenical Diakonia is being concretized by our effort to share the work and advocacy of ACT Alliance during the Annual Forum meeting to other WCC members and even other FBOs in the country. Various means are being used to share relevant information such as publishing resource materials, brochures and presentations, and maximizing different FBO activities.

Related to ACT Alliance recognition and visibility

The individual Forum members, Lutheran World Relief & Christian Aid, are regularly in contact with the UN OCHA in the country through the Philippines INGO Network (PINGON), and the meetings with national organizations where the National Council of Churches in the Philippines is one of the 8 organizations being consulted by the agency. (Advocacy)

Reaching out to the wider faith-based community is one of the best practices of the Forum: the Forum initiated holding the pre-and post-WHS fora, where the ACT Alliance’s and the ACT Philippine Forum members’ papers and commitments were shared, offering a space where faith-based humanitarian organizations gathered and reflect its role together, and talked about how the WHS commitments will be actualized locally. Followed by a dialogue with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the Philippine government’s DRRM arm, where the recognition on the role played by FBOs during disasters are highlighted and better coordination with the FBOs were explored. These gatherings resulted in a clamor to organize the FBOs in the country to share resources, good practices, and collaborate in possible areas of service. During the strategic planning, the Forum, despite of not having steady funds to implement activities, decided to continue this goal because of its huge potential in improving the way we do humanitarian service.

With its localization agenda, the Forum decided to support the national FBOs, with NCCP as its representative. The formation of the Philippine Faith-Based Organization Forum (FBO PH) consisting of the 3 major Christian Councils (Catholics, Protestants & Evangelicals) and its constituencies in the country on November 2017, will not be made possible without the ACT Philippines Forum’s initiative. It is during those reflective sessions which borne the realization and need for FBOs to come and work together in the areas of humanitarian and development and advocate with the most vulnerable communities in the country.

Practise/ Policy (innovative, replicable): Shared humanitarian advocacy agenda on Localization

Results:

• Prioritization of local partners and regional ecumenical councils (composed of NCC member churches) in emergency response and humanitarian capacity building;
• Active coordination amongst members from monitoring, planning, implementation and evaluation during Joint ACT Appeal Emergency Response (Marawi Conflict, Super Typhoon Haiyan, Super Typhoon Haima);
• Mainstreams community-based and survivor-led initiatives in emergency response and preparedness;
• Engagement of ACT Forum Members in humanitarian advocacy (Balik-Lokal), capacity building of regional and local member churches/partners, local shared roster (Transforming Surge Capacity);
• Joint learning knowledge product on Haiyan Response (Visibility);
• Contributes to ACT WHS commitment

Related to building trust and ACT governance, including strategic collaboration as part of the wider ecumenical movement and learning with other forums

ACT South Sudan Forum (ASSF) is a shared platform comprising ACT voting members and Guests who are engaged with operations in the country. The Forum was established in January 2010 as part of Global ACT Alliance meant to effectively encourage members to work together to explore opportunities for collaboration in humanitarian, development and advocacy work.

Our forum is one of the biggest, vibrant, cohesive and dynamic forums in the East African region actively engaged in humanitarian response, development, advocacy, capacity development, ecumenical relations, partnership with national organizations, visibility and communication

Our forum is “ACT”, we believe in “Full Life and Dignity for All” and we serve through the three pillars- (Humanitarian, Development & Advocacy) to address systemic poverty, support survivors of disasters, wars and conflicts, train rural communities in sustainable agricultural techniques, helps people adapt to environmental sustainability, and influencing government and other key decision makers to safeguard citizens’ human rights.

Related to humanitarian, development and advocacy work of ACT Alliance

Objectives:

• Increase the effectiveness and impact on the three pillars of ACT Alliance work in the areas of humanitarian response, development and advocacy for individuals and communities, through improved coordination and collaboration of ACT members at all levels.
• Build trust through the establishment of a strong platform that encourages increased dialogue and collaboration among ACT members towards a common vision and through strengthening linkages with other established networks, including ecumenical partners.
• Enhance ACT Alliance recognition as a global faith-based actor within the country through promoting the value and visibility of humanitarian, development and advocacy work being undertaken by ACT Forum members.

Functions

1. Humanitarian Response: Our ACT forum members do support communities and people affected by crisis in South Sudan through organized and coordinated joint ACT Appeals.
2. Development: Our ACT forum members are engaged in joint contextual analysis and sharing programmatic priorities. The forum members collaboratively identify and implement joint development activities.
3. Capacity Development: Our ACT forum members are constantly striving to develop the capacity of forum members through local initiatives and practices, shared learning and resources, and through working methods that enhance the full participation of our members, including fostering relations with ACT Regional Secretariat.
4. Ecumenical Relations: Our ACT forum members are engaged with other members of the ecumenical family present (Caritas, South Sudan Council of Churches, Local Churches, Faith-Based Organizations) who are active in their area of operation, to initiate discussions and exchange knowledge and experience.
5. Advocacy: Our ACT forum identifies advocacy priorities and opportunities and take part in supporting advocacy initiatives at national, sub-regional, regional and global levels, with ACT members as well as with other stakeholders. (e.g. the South Sudan Council of Churches-Action Plan for Peace Initiative)

More information HERE

Structure and leadership

The ACT Philippines Forum is a platform for ACT Alliance member organisations that support development, advocacy and humanitarian activities in the Philippines.  The Forum was formally established on July 31, 2013 (although regular coordination meetings had been taking place amongst members since 2009).  It brings together organisations that are committed to the mission, vision, and values of the ACT Alliance in humanitarian, development and advocacy work, and are bound by a commitment to empower communities, and build their resilience to cope and overcome risks.

The Forum’s mandate is to strengthen coordination and cooperation among ACT Alliance members in the Philippines, so that members work as an alliance in emergency preparedness and response, development, and advocacy.   In working collaboratively, the ACT Philippines Forum seeks to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and impact of our ecumenical humanitarian and development response, and to create a bigger voice for our advocacies hand in hand with partners and communities.

Emergency preparedness and response planning

Shortly after its establishment in 2013, the ACT Philippines Forum was tested by the massive destruction brought by Super Typhoon Haiyan.  With support from ACT member churches and agencies, and in collaboration with local partners, the ACT Philippines Forum undertook emergency responses in 16 provinces affected by the super typhoon.

Since then, the ACT Philippines Forum has collaborated in responding to the needs of communities affected by other disasters (Typhoons Lawin and Nock-ten, and the Marawi Conflict).

These are responses in faith to the command to “give them something to eat”, and a demonstration of how two fish and five loaves can be shared not only to feed thousands but to ensure the re-establishment of loving and caring communities.

The ACT Philippines Forum believes that our interventions should be built on local initiative, and the knowledge and resources of disaster-affected, poor and marginalised communities, and of organisations and churches closest to those communities, to enable and ensure the most appropriate and effective preparedness, emergency, rehabilitation, and recovery responses.

More than three years after the Haiyan response, the ACT Philippines Forum remains committed to sustaining, improving, and expanding our humanitarian work. The ACT Philippines Forum will continue to pursue a shared vision of building a platform for humanitarian action amongst faith-based organisations (FBOs):

•Strengthening the capacity of FBOs and their constituencies, up to the local level

•Enhancing the quality of humanitarian responses through stronger adherence to standards

•Engaging in advocacy for people-centred and locally-led humanitarian action

Resourcing and Sustainability

The ACT Philippines Forum is also committed to helping ensure the sustainability of local organisations through helping them build capacities and mechanisms for resource generation. Individual members of the ACT Philippines Forum will support and undertake capacity-building initiatives for resource generation and fund management of local organisations.

Practise/ Policy (innovative, replicable): ACT Coordination Center sustained beyond the emergency project period

Results:

• Coordination of activities; Purposive collaboration on projects (https://issuu.com/sylwynsheenguevarraalba/docs/act_ph_haiyan)
• Strategic Planning not just response-based or project-based joint action; but based on the reflection on Ecumenical Diakonia and the ACT Global Strategy
• Consensus decision-making practise (competition over funds avoided during joint appeals)
• Internal and external communications facilitated
• Readiness to pilot new ACT Humanitarian mechanism

Documents:

ACC PHL 131 End of Project Report

ACC PHL151 End of Project Report

Minutes_ACT Philippines Forum Strategy Planning

Related to humanitarian, development and advocacy work of ACT Alliance

ACT Malawi Forum was formed in 2002 to jointly respond to emergencies and other social ills prevailing in Malawi. The main objective of ACT Malawi Forum is to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and the impact of ecumenical humanitarian response and community development work in upholding the human dignity.

The Forum fulfils the objective through coordinated humanitarian response, development and advocacy work, as well as the implementation of the rights-based approach. The Forum is guided by the ACT Malawi Forum Strategic Plan and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) while ensuring that Core Humanitarian Standards are upholding.

In 2015, ACT Malawi Forum established a joint Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Working Group comprising of Evangelical Lutheran, Churches Action in Relief and Development(CARD), Dan Church Aid (DCA), and the ACT Forum Coordinator. Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) is the Lead Agency for this working group. The main objective is to monitor and respond to needs that may arise, using available human, technical, physical and financial resources.

Related to ACT Alliance recognition and visibility

ACT Malawi Forum through WASH Working Group upon a call of interest through United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UHNCR) established ACT Alliance Luwani Refugee Camp WASH Project in 2016, based on needs assessment criteria. In 2017, ACT Alliance was given full responsibility for all WASH response projects in the Camp. UNHCR entered into an agreement with ACT Malawi Forum, through NCA, beyond the year 2017.

Project Implementation: ACT Malawi Forum and UNHCR

The Lead Agency, NCA, is responsible for coordinating day-to-day management while implementation is done by Evangelical Lutheran Development Services (ELDS) and CARD. The project is inclusive working with men, women, and children. Special attention is given to women-headed households, child-headed households, persons with disabilities, and the elderly. The project has so far benefitted a total of 3488 People of Concern (PoC’s) which were included in the project design Phase

The PoC’s have benefitted through the following activities:

• Improved family latrines construction: 284 family latrines have been constructed to ensure safe excreta disposal, which ensures hygiene and privacy.
• Safe and potable water were provided to the PoC’s and learners at Luwani primary school through maintenance of 12 boreholes in the camp and drilling a new borehole.
• The construction of 10 refuse pits in the camp for solid waste management which helps in ensuring that their surroundings are tidy and habitable thereby helping in the prevention of various diseases through unhygienic practices.
• Various hygiene talks provided by ACT Hygiene promotion officers and health personnel (HSA) from Luwani health center through hygiene awareness campaigns.
• Distribution of chlorine for disinfecting surfaces, toothpaste, toothbrushes, buckets and handwashing soap to Luwani health center, luwani primary school and directly to the PoC’s.

All these activities help to ensure that the beneficiaries have access to essential, appropriate and sustainable WASH services in the camp.

ACT members have been motivated by being incorporated in all processes of project implementation.

Membership responsibilities

In the context of the Philippines, there are two types of membership in the Forum, FULL and ASSOCIATE, those ACT members based in the country and those who have regular programs through local partners but do not have an office in-country, respectively. This is clearly stipulated in the latest version of the Memorandum of Understanding of the Forum. The current Full members of the Forum are Christian Aid (Convenor), LWR, and NCCP, while the associate members are Community World Service-Asia, Church of Sweden, and ICCO Cooperation.

The ACT Philippines Forum members are reaching out to ACT members who operate through local partners in the Philippines. Also, the Forum ensures that it reaches out to the new members of the alliance and the WCC members in the country.

Read the Forum MoU here

Practise/ Policy (innovative, replicable): Negotiating membership terms with ACT members operating in the country
Results:

• Encouraged ACT members without country offices to coordinate and build/sustain the relationship without putting pressure to be active in forum events (i.e., Associate Members).
• Updating membership status every annual meeting

With a delegation of our members from around the world, ACT Alliance is present at the sixty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) that is taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 12 – 23 March 2018. The 2018 priority theme is, “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”.

The ACT Alliance delegation is prepared to engage with civil society organizations and UN member states to continue to make progress towards gender equality.

Our members are rooted in the communities that they serve. They see first-hand how women have been victims of many layers of marginalisation based on their race, age, religion, sexual orientation, health, socioeconomic status etc.

ACT and other faith based organizations have an important role to play in challenging the existing power structures and barriers that perpetuate gender inequality in its various forms. “Gender justice is about all of us. Faith actors need to be part of the solution,” says Emilie Weiderud, Co-chair of the ACT Alliance Gender Equality and Justice Community of Practise.

ACT Alliance is committed to respecting, protecting and empowering the dignity, uniqueness, intrinsic worth and the human rights of every person. In doing so, ACT Alliance continues to address the structural drivers of gender inequality in legal contexts, and in socio-cultural norms and practices.

Making progress towards gender equality will require the mobilization of all people, at all levels, and for this reason, ACT brings the unified, constructive and progressive voice of its wide-reaching Alliance to CSW to ensure that faith-based narratives and perspectives contribute to the process of achieving gender equality.

Over the two weeks of CSW, ACT Alliance intends to raise awareness on issues of gender inequality and injustice, ending harmful practises, enhancing access to education, combating climate change, tackling land-rights and land-grabbing issues, and improving access to health in rural and indigenous communities.

ACT Alliance will engage in constructive discussions exploring how FBOs can better cooperate with UN agencies and structures, UN member states and broader civil society on gender justice issues.

ACT Alliance will host a side event with the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations and UNFPA during CSW. The side event aims to strengthen the visibility of faith voices in support for gender equality at CSW62.

Event: Building bridges: developing effective partnerships between faith and secular actors to challenge discriminatory gender norms and secure rural women’s rights
Date:  Monday 19^th March 2018
Time: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Venue: Ex-Press Bar, General Assembly Building, UNHQ

“The freedom of assembly and association is a fundamental right enshrined in international law.  It is our moral responsibility to stand with those working in difficult contexts. Standing with human rights defenders who are working in restricting situations is standing with humanity”. – Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, General Secretary of ACT Alliance

Around the world, civil society organisations face increasing restrictions on how they organise, function, and express their views. The ACT Alliance and many other networks continue to document this serious trend, including the strategies that organisations have adopted to continue their important work. The Middle East Region is no exception to this trend.

ACT Alliance’s latest study published today “The Protection of Space for Civil Society and Human Rights Defenders-The Case of Israel and Palestine” shows how both Palestinian and Israeli organisations and journalists face mounting hurdles, legal restrictions, stigmatisation and danger in their ongoing work on poverty alleviation, humanitarian assistance and combatting injustice in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The report also warns of the impact that the silencing of these voices is likely to have on a just and sustainable peace in the region and why accountability to international human rights and humanitarian law breaches remain a central concern in this regard.

The report also reflects on the causes of these measures and how the political contexts in Israel and within the Palestinian Authority have contributed to the harshness of these measures: measures that are now varied and intensifying. These measures include the now well-documented legal and administrative restrictions (e.g. the NGO Transparency Law in Israel and the Cyber Crime Law by the Palestinian Authority), administrative measures, stigmatisation, detention and even death threats. The report also references a number of actions being taken domestically and internationally to influence access to financing and the reputation and operation of legitimate civil society organisations and actions.

There is an urgency in the call for action in this report: a call primarily directed at EU member states and other state actors. ACT Alliance calls on these states to stand firm on their foundational values and to engage the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel on laws, policies and practices that are not in keeping with internationally recognised human rights and humanitarian law standards.

Importantly, the report calls on these actors to stand alongside civil society actors who, at great risk to their organisations and themselves, continue to work to hold their governments to account to internationally recognised human rights and humanitarian law standards. ACT Alliance hopes that this urgent call will be heard and that action will be taken.

The full case study is available here: https://actalliance.org/documents/protection-of-space-for-civil-society-and-human-rights-defenders-the-case-of-israel-and-palestine/

Related to humanitarian, development and advocacy work of ACT Alliance

ACT Armenia Forum (AAF) members – ART; UMCOR, ECLOF came together in 2011 to plan, act towards the affected populations, bring sustainable change through coordinated, emergency response and elaborated a joint Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan.

Since the eruption of Syrian conflict the AAF joint their efforts to effectively respond to the refugee crisis and better address emergency situations according to the forums’ objective No2. Reported by the Government, up to 10,000 Syrian refugees from 18,477 are registered as vulnerable needing continuous support. In 2016 AAF appealed to ACT Alliance in response to the refugee crisis to contribute to the dignity and resilience of those by addressing the most pressing needs – shelter, livelihoods, psychosocial support, and community resilience requesting US$ 1,046,420. AAF received USD24, 486 despite to general secretary’s statement in ACT Alliance’s annual report 2015 “The ongoing crisis in Syria alone saw a continued influx of refugees into Jordan, Lebanon, Armenia and Turkey”. AAF overdid the planned activities in cooperation with the Armenian Church and local NGOs working with Syrian refugees.

AAF members come together on quarterly/monthly basis to discuss, plan, share responsibilities for effective results in action. In 2012-2013 AAF implemented two humanitarian projects for Syrian refugees ensuring food security/NFI, provided psychological/spiritual support to 4237 people/1142 families. For the first time in the history of emergency situations AAF experienced an innovation method of plastic cards for food security giving free access in their choice of food products restricting the purchase of alcohol and cigarettes making refugees more independent; also accelerated the process of humanitarian aid distribution for AAF providing a quick and organized response.

AAF cooperated with a special network of supermarkets that invested USD3700 and issued 2350 plastic cards for free; with the Armenian Apostolic church that helped in aid distribution.

[Member News] Integration and resillence building of Syrian refugees in Armenia

[ACT News] Refugees in Armenia – The story of Abdullah Haddad

Related to ACT Alliance recognition and visibility

The visibility of ACT Alliance in the country was effected through information dissemination to local and international organizations (e.g. UNDP, Armenia as a lead of National Disaster Management Team; posted on the news websites, broadcasted through local media and national central TV Channels.

In 2015-2017 AAF implemented development projects aiming to improve refugee’s livelihoods and resilience providing IT, crafts and language vocational trainings to 127 women and the youth; provided with quality instruments related to their professions to 15 people; 2000 refugees benefited from the humanitarian food and NFI distribution; 1500 refugees participated in psycho-social counseling by clergy and psychologist.

UAF and ECLOF Foundations conducted five joint awareness raising sessions for 127 Syrian refugees in Armenia on labour and legislation issues “Vulnerable situations and risks associated with human trafficking, forced labour and exploitation” and business orientation and entrepreneurship. The lecture and discussions were conducted in a participatory approach with beneficiaries and provision of information materials.

“Adopt a Family” component is the second innovative method practised by AAF and aimed at providing help and guidance to newly displaced families promoting integration through regular interaction with local families; with practical advice, emergency assistance and response to general queries; organizing sight-seeing, cultural and social activities. In total 83 refugees were targeted.

Memorandum of Understanding

ACT Ethiopia Forum (AEF) signed MoU adopted from the revised ACT alliance policy for national forums. The policy guides each ACT forum to develop its own contextually appropriate Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), in close consultation with ACT secretariat as a basis to define the scope, objectives, activities and structure of the existing partnership. ACT Ethiopia Forum has undergone a participatory process to collect essential inputs from its members before reaching into the consensus to sign the MoU by all members earlier than any other national forum under the revised policy.

Structure and leadership

ACT Ethiopia forum ensures local members’ active involvement in the forum leadership. The revised ACT alliance policy for national forums encourages local members to participate in the governance structures of the alliance to build their capacity and ensure sustainability of local initiatives. Furthermore, ACT alliance has set a goal by May 2018, to reform the ACT Alliance humanitarian response mechanisms in line with World Humanitarian Summit Commitments particularly the Agenda to strengthen local capacities.

Members of ACT Ethiopia forum signed MoU that laid out the terms whereby either AEF convener or co-convener role to be taken by a local member at any given term to encourage sustained leadership by local members. This structure contributed to a strengthening partnership between international and local members. For instance, a joint food security project implemented in partnership between EECMY-DASSC, a local member and Bread for the World had won a national-best performing project of the year award for 2017 in Ethiopia.

Monitoring, evaluation and learning

Through using Geographical Information System (GIS) ACT Ethiopia forum was able to map out its collective footprint in various sectors throughout Ethiopia. It has been very hard to clearly identify the magnitude of ACT alliance‘s reach in Ethiopia and level of convergence and synergy that exist in certain locations or thematic areas. However, following a relentless effort, AEF made use of GIS in order to shift from individual operational mark towards demonstrating the diversity and spread of the forum at a national level. The analysis drawn from a joint GIS map will not only identify potential areas of cooperation but also give huge leverage for the alliance to emerge as a key partner in humanitarian and development fields in the country. After all, ACT alliance global strategy for robust alliance emphasizes the need for collective ability to communicate and demonstrate what ACT alliance delivered in a particular context.

ACT Ethiopia forum demonstrated ACT Alliance’s commitment to CHS through innovative model by adopting the standards against Christian values.  The fact that ecumenical institutions inherently embedded higher level of service quality standards motivated AEF members to lay out the link between CHS and Christian values. For this reason, AEF worked at linking biblical references to the nine CHS commitments that always inspired, motivated and guided our work. The view to understanding CHS from faith perspective enhanced our collective Christian identity while sharing our experience on applying CHS.

“ACT Alliance recognizes the deep and mutually enriching connections between religion and human rights. As a matter of fact, long before the current human rights instruments were developed in the 20th century, there were religious communities that upheld human dignity and advocated for people who suffered from exclusion and discrimination.” – Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT Alliance General Secretary.

On February 16th 2017, ACT Alliance participated in a seminar on ‘Religion and Rights: Strengthening Common Ground’ at Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The seminar was organized by Musawah in collaboration with OHCHR and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development.

The purpose of the Seminar was to promote dialogue for a rights-based understanding of religion to build common ground between faith and human rights actors. ACT Alliance’s General Secretary, Rudelmar Bueno de Faria spoke at the seminar on Faith-based engagement: Building Partnerships with Governmental, Intergovernmental, and Civil Society Sectors.

Discussions noted the need for a greater common ground between faith and rights. “Often, people of faith speak about love, generosity, and compassion and not so much about legal frameworks, entitlements, duty bearers and rights holders. But what does ‘love’ mean when it is not related to justice? And what does justice mean when it is not related to legal frameworks?” said de Faria.

“People of faith have sometimes struggled to link their theological concepts of human dignity with international human rights standards and instruments,” continued de Faria. “There is a need to build bridges between people of faith and human rights activists.”

ACT Alliance commits to accompany and challenge its members to deepen their understanding of human rights, and is working to promote dialogue and a cross-disciplinary reflection on faith and human rights. In addition to building common ground between faith and rights, ACT Alliance encourages FBOs to more effectively engage with international systems and develop strong partnerships with governmental, intergovernmental and civil society sectors.

“The globalized context within which we live has presented an opportunity to bind humanity together in new and positive ways. However, it has also fueled new and growing levels of inequality, polarization and new forms of vulnerability for people and communities everywhere,” said de Faria.

ACT Alliance works with numerous UN agencies, governments, civil society organizations and the private sector and has developed principles for engaging in external partnerships with government and secular agencies on Religion and Development. The overriding principle is to maintain the integrity of religious communities’ mandate and mission. Specifically, ACT Alliance emphasises the following;

1. Enter in partnerships as proactive agenda setters for initiatives that keep people and their rights at the center
2. Mutual transparency and accountability
3. Build partnerships that promote equality and mutual respect
4. Build capacity of communities to conduct development work
5. Contribute to a mutual learning on religion and development
6. Promote interfaith cooperation based on common concerns and values
7. Seek partnerships that allow for funding to theological formation on important issues requiring moral discernment.