"Partnership for Development" (click for full article)
27 March 2009
The eighth Millennium Development Goal involves the creation of a global "Partnership for Development" The targets for the Goal involve many of the things we are campaigning on and working for year in and year out -- fairer trade and financial systems, enhanced debt relief, access to essential medicines, and good technology transfer to provide for sustainable development.
But how does the idea of partnership for development actually play out "on the ground" where people from richer and poorer countries are working together to achieve these goals -- in agencies, Fair Trade Organisations, and church links? What can we do to create genuine partnerships for development? And for Christians, what theology shapes the way we look at these partnerships?
These were the questions that were examined in this year's Ecumenical World Development Consultation, the biennial conference put on by a broad coalition of churches and agencies. It was a conference full of helpful presentations:
- Cathy Ross, Director of the Crowther Centre for Mission Education at CMS, offered a theological reflection on partnership
- the Rt Hon John Battle, MP, a member of the International Development Select Committee and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development, spoke about partnership between churches and government in the service of development;
- Geoff Bockett, Traidcraft's International Director, talked about Traidcraft's efforts to establish genuine partnerships with producers in a market context;
- Benedict Southworth, Director of WDM, talked about WDM's alliances with southern campaigning agencies and the way these shape how it works;
- Philippe Ouedraogo, director of AEAD (Evangelical Association Supporting Development) in Burkina Faso, spoke about positive partnerships within his country and between northern and southern churches;
- Jenny Humphreys, World Mission Officer for the Diocese of Bath and Wells, described the longstanding partnership between that diocese and the Anglican dioceses in Zambia;
- David Golding from Make Poverty History Northeast reminded us of our Christian obligations to each other, and
- Peter Collins, Traidcraft's Church-Relations Manager delivered a powerful sermon on the role of trust in partnership.
And here's the good news! Many of those presentations are available online, so that you can share them even if you weren't actually there. We've actually got Peter Collins' piece available for download at the bottom of this page. A wider range of resources is available on the website of the World Development Advisers' network for the Church of England. Enjoy!
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Peter Collins sermon on Trust.doc | 34 KB |