The 2021-2022 webinar series sought to examine how faith actors can, should, and do challenge unequal power dynamics in the international humanitarian and development sector. The series did this by examining some of the context and terminology often used in these debates, from “decolonization” to “localization”, as well as the history and context behind international and local-faith partnerships.
The webinars aimed to create space for challenging debate, prioritizing new voices, and allowing members to think critically about these issues in their own organizations and contexts.
This webinar series is now complete. To stay updated about upcoming JLI regional webinars, please sign up as a JLI Member here to receive our newsletters.
Ultimately, the series aims to address three key questions:
How are local faith actors challenging power dynamics in the international humanitarian and development sector?
What obstacles do local faith actors face in challenging power dynamics in the international humanitarian and development sector?
What does “decolonization” mean to you or your organization?
Previous Fair & Equitable Dialogues
Title: Listening to the Stories of Local Faith Actors on COVID-19 Response
Date: April 29, 2022
As the Looking back to look forward: COVID-19 and Faith Reflections on 2020-2021 Webinar Series continues, this event aims to showcase on-ground stories and case studies—shared by local faith actors—that include and also go beyond COVID-19 awareness and provision of health services. Given that the pandemic has posed a number of other pressing issues and challenges that local faith actors must deal with, this session highlights faith-inspired responses to social and economic implications of COVID-19 on women’s rights, mental health, livelihoods, misinformation, peacebuilding, and beyond. Local faith actors from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, the Arab World, and elsewhere will share their stories with an emphasis on their opportunities and challenges during the response.
This webinar will be co-hosted by JLI’s Fair & Equitable Dialogues Series, with the support of KAICIID, and in conjunction with the Religious Responses to COVID-19 project with The Berkley Center for Religion Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University and the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD).
The webinar’s summary report and recording can be found here.
Previous Fair & Equitable Dialogues
Title: Accountable Localisation: Local Faith Actors Speak Out
Date: February 25, 2022
This dialogue investigates practical examples of localised action from the ground, bringing together both local and international partners to reflect on their shared experience. By showcasing case studies of localisation from different regions in the Global South, this discussion invites both international organisations and local faith actors on how to better engage with localisation efforts, and what practical recommendations, stemming from local experiences and stories, can lead to a more effective, fair, and equitable engagement with the localisation of humanitarian and development work.
Through lived experiences and stories from South Sudan, India, and Myanmar, local faith-inspired practitioners and international actors—who have partnered to deliver development, peacebuilding and humanitarian work—engaged in a dialogue on how localisation efforts are playing out on the ground.
The webinar’s summary report and recording can be found here.
Previous Fair & Equitable Dialogues
Title: Who Holds the Power: Local Faith Actors in the Humanitarian and Development Sector
Date: December 3, 2021
Read more about the event here.
