Kirsten Laursen Muth, JLI CEO participates in the 2021 IF20 as a panelist in a Thematic session on Religious Commitments to SDGS – Children, Hunger, Water and Sanitation, one of 13 Thematic Sessions centered around several of the Working Group themes.
The COVID-19 emergencies have halted or reversed progress on global agendas, including the prominent focus on vulnerable communities. Poverty has increased and takes new forms. Looming threats of hunger and children orphaned during the crisis demand both action and reflection. As an example, hunger kills twice the number of people as COVID-19. Refugee numbers are rising and progress on basic infrastructures has stalled. Both humanitarian and development assistance of all kinds falls far short of even elementary needs.
The central questions that speakers addressed were if and how religious actors can revamp and revitalize agendas, and how the divergent interests of the different parts of the same religious community may be encouraged to overcome the “globalization of indifference” before those who suffer.
Read the full 2021 Italy IF20 Summary