Youth Summit considers the role of faith in the world
From Ian Linden,
Director of FaithsAct
The New York-based CivWorld, who had organized the 6th Interdependence Day, brought faith to the table this year. Or, at least, their Youth Summit did, in two thought-provoking and motivating sessions in the Flagey Theatre in Brussels last week.
CivWorld's impetus was the growing realisation of the importance of faith in civil society around the world. The first youth seminar was on religion and conflict prevention, and it had the irrepressible Imam Adduljalil Sajid from Britain as speaker. I was talking at a second session about the faith communities and the Millennium Development Goals. The UN General Assembly's mid-term review was only two weeks away, a time of examination for the global secular and religious conscience, so a good time to discuss what contribution the faith communities could and did make. It was particularly good to hear of the work of Global Voices, which brings together young Palestinians and Israelis, and the wide variety of attitudes to the role of religion in the public domain.
The Faith Foundation took the opportunity to show the young people from around the world the first cut of our DVD "The Story of a Bed-Net", about how faith communities could halt and reverse the spread and incidence of malaria. The short, four-minute film was presented by Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur from our partner organisation in the USA, Malaria No More, and had beautiful footage from Tanzania. Few did not find it moving; some were surprised at its emotional impact. The final version will be available in October.
It would be hard to find a better case for global interdependence than creating a joint secular-religious movement to eradicate deaths from malaria as a scourge on humanity. My hope is that on the 13th Interdependence Day in 2015, the target year for the Millennium Development Goals, we will be celebrating the end of malaria as one of Africa's worst child-killers, and celebrating the work of the faith communities as key agents in its demise.
In Brief
The Tony Blair Faith Foundation is currently recruiting for a Project Assistant for its Faiths Act campaign. Reporting to the Director of Faiths Act, the role will involve a wide range of proactive work on campaigning, organisation and mobilisation of faith communities, and research on key areas of the project. It will include identifying new and innovative ways of communication to maintain and build mass participation and supporting the rallying of a movement for interfaith work. A sympathetic understanding of one or more world religions, gained from personal experience or formal training, is desirable.
Candidates should be keen for new experience, responsibility and accountability. They should be committed to the cause and keen to help others take practical steps towards achieving it.
For a full job description, or to apply, please contact info@tonyblairfaithfoundation.org. Applications will close on Wednesday 1st October 2008. Interviews will be held on 6th and 7th October 2008 in central London.
