Faith Based Organizations Faith Based Organizations and and

The Government:The Government:

The Canadian Experience

OutlineOutline

IntroductionIntroduction Past ExperiencePast Experience TrendsTrends What’s our Value Added?What’s our Value Added? ActionAction DiscussionDiscussion

IntroductionIntroduction

FBOs refer to all groups established and motivated by their faith commitment

This includes, Christian, Muslim, Hindu etc.

Includes organizations whose primary purpose is development, relief, advocacy

James Wolfensohn: World BankJames Wolfensohn: World Bank

‘where faith and development institutions have combined their efforts and work to common ends, remarkable results have been achieved’.

Katherine Marshall: Katherine Marshall: World BankWorld Bank

‘Poverty is an issue as old as human thought, and it has often arisen first or primarily in the framework of religions and religious debate’.

Christian NGOs and CIDA 1995Christian NGOs and CIDA 1995

CIDA recognizes that FBOs are integral and legitimate part of a healthy and resilient civil society and have an important role to play in the development process

Both agree that there is considerable overlap in mission and goals which provides a solid platform on which to build an effective partnership

CIDA recognizes that there is a spiritual dimension to the development process

Great stuff, but….Great stuff, but….

How many people are aware of this agreement?

To what degree is it being implemented?

What recourse do we have if it is not followed?

Is it up-to-date?

Evaluation QuoteEvaluation Quote

“… is unequivocal in their mission and vision as a Christian faith based organization. As a cautionary note, ‘they’ may wish to review and assess the way and the extent to which the spiritual dimension is integrated into their development programming”.

What’s Your Experience?What’s Your Experience?

TrendsTrends

NGOs have become marginalized

CCIC predicts that Partnership Branch disbursements will move from a high of $320mil in 1991 to $197mil in 2010

As a percentage of the total ODA to NGOs this has moved from 28% in 2000 to 18% in 2005

Total assistance to NGOs in 2004 was $236mil

Of the 2004 total, only 13% went to FBOs

TrendsTrends 3-4% of charitable giving in Canada goes to

international assistance

CCIC Data for 2004:

• Total individual cash gifts $454.3mil

• Gifts by individual CDNs has risen by 52% over the last 10 yrs

• Child focussed agencies collect 55% of total cash

Estimate that 70% of charitable giving goes to FBOs

Religious identity - CanadaReligious identity - Canada

Catholic 12,936,905

Protestant 8,654,850

Christian Orthodox 479,620

Christian not included elsewhere

780,450

Muslim 579,640

Jewish 329,995

Buddhist 300,345

Hindu 297,200

Sikh 278,410

No religious affiliation 4,900,090

Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census Question: What is this person's religion? (Indicate a specific denomination or religion, even if this person is not currently a practicing member of that group)

Total Population: 29,639,035

Catholic43%

Protestant29%

No religion16%

Canada has a unique religious Canada has a unique religious history and trajectoryhistory and trajectory

Questions: Do you believe in the existence of God or a universal spirit? Did you happen to attend church or synagogue in the past 7 days/religious service at a place of worship? Source: Gallup/Ipsos-Reid

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

Belief - Canada Attend past 7 days - Canada

Belief - UK Attend past 7 days - UK

Belief--US Attend past 7 days--US

Religion is seen as a force for Religion is seen as a force for good by a majority of Canadiansgood by a majority of Canadians

% Agree

62%

59%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Religiouscommunities are aforce for good in

society

Religious leaders area force for good in

society

% trust a lot/some

96%

93%

80%

68%

67%

66%

63%

59%

51%

33%

30%

Nurses

Medical doctors

Leaders of charities

Business leaders

Religious leaders

Government employees

Journalists and reporters

Lawyers

Union leaders

Provincial polititicans

Federal politicians

Base: all respondents (n=3863)Q. How much trust do you have in people in the following professions?

Types of Professions Trusted: Types of Professions Trusted: Charities engender Charities engender more trust than politicians and the governmentmore trust than politicians and the government

Learnings from TrendsLearnings from Trends

Canadians are more supportive of NGOs than CIDA is

CIDA needs NGOs to accomplish its public engagement strategy

Canada is a nation of ‘believers’ but not ‘belongers’

Canadian’s organization of choice are FBOs

FBOs are a primary vehicle through which CIDA can engage the public

Question: Question:

If CIDA wants to If CIDA wants to engage the public, why engage the public, why

aren’t they tracking aren’t they tracking where the public wants where the public wants

to engage?to engage?

What’s our Value Added?What’s our Value Added?

Holistic view of Holistic view of

development…..development…..

Traditional Worldview in a CommunityTraditional Worldview in a Community

Maruti

(rain god)

Temple

SUPERNATURAL

UNSEEN

UNCERTAIN

Children’s Health

NATURAL

SEEN

EMPIRICAL

Shrine

Boundaries of the community’s survival strategy

Health HutWater Pump

Water Supply

A Relational View of PovertyA Relational View of Poverty

SelfOthers Community

Super Natural

Environment

= Broken Relationships

A Holistic Approach to PovertyA Holistic Approach to Poverty

MaterialPoverty

PhysicalWeakness

Isolation

Vulnerability

Powerlessness

SpiritualPoverty

Broken relationshipswith neighbor and their god

Lack of assets

Lack of strengthToo many dependents

Lack of assetsLack of educationExcluded from system

Lack of reservesLack of choicesEasy to coerce

Lack of influenceLack of social powerExploited by powers

What’s our Value Added? What’s our Value Added? (cont’d)(cont’d)

Largest constituencyLargest constituency

Mobilize match funding Mobilize match funding for CIDAfor CIDA

Strong partnership Strong partnership relationships on the relationships on the groundground

Address CIDA’s principle Address CIDA’s principle driver for compassiondriver for compassion

So What should we do?So What should we do?

Don’t apologize – it’s our strength!Don’t apologize – it’s our strength!

Leverage our size/constituencyLeverage our size/constituency

Faith based, not just Christian basedFaith based, not just Christian based

Engage CIDA in dialogueEngage CIDA in dialogue

Ensure compliance on agreements with Ensure compliance on agreements with CIDACIDA

More….More….

Collaborate on projectsCollaborate on projects

Promote our value added – holistic developmentPromote our value added – holistic development

Educate our constituency – push for changeEducate our constituency – push for change

Campaigns: MICAH challengeCampaigns: MICAH challenge

Target the ‘believers’ – we already have the Target the ‘believers’ – we already have the ‘belongers’‘belongers’

Enough from me…Enough from me…Let’s discussLet’s discuss