On May 20, 2016, Norad, UNFPA and Norwegian faith-based actors, under the leadership of The Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities and The Christian Council of Norway in cooperation with Church of Norway Council on International and Ecumenical Relations, Digni, and Norwegian Church Aid, organized the conference Religion and Development: Dialogue on Gender, Rights and Sensitive Issues.
Religion can influence politics and acts as both a driver of and an impediment to development. Religious actors are often seen as a barrier to development by condoning cultural and religious norms and practices upholding gender discrimination on sensitive issues related to marriage, family, sexuality, reproductive health and women’s empowerment, but they are also the key change agents able to influence behaviour and attitudes.
The conference aimed to provide an arena to critically examine the role of religion and diverse religious/faith-based actors (e.g. religious leaders, faith-based NGOs) in promoting gender equality and the rights of girls and women, with a focus on protection and prevention of gender based violence and promotion of sexual and reproductive health rights.
Content In the following, there is a short description of the content of each session. One of the reports that were presented and several of the presentations are available for download. Note that the presentations were prepared in advance, and the panellists in some cases deviated substantially from the manuscripts that they shared with the organizers for this report. The presentations that are available for download do not necessarily reflect exactly what was said in the conference. This report does not contain the program as such.