Abhatoo - Centre Nationale de Documentation

The first Inter-agency Consultation on FBO Engagement took place at UNFPA headquarters on Wednesday, 9 July 2008.1 The meeting comprised representatives from various United Nations agencies that have some experience and insight regarding programmatic engagement with faithbased organizations (FBOs). For the purposes of the consultation, and in line with the perception and work of a number of United Nations entities, the following understanding of FBOs was used: FBOs are religious and religion-based groups or congregations, specialized religious institutions, and registered or unregistered non-profit institutions that have a faith-based character or mission. Spiritual organizations are considered FBOs as well.

This report also discusses engagement with religious leaders (RLs) and indigenous peoples.

The objectives of the Inter-agency Consultation were:

• To share the status of respective outreach and engagement with FBOs

• To reflect on lessons, challenges and best practices learned from FBO engagements

• To consider action toward parameters and strategies of engagement with FBOs

The Inter-agency Consultation highlighted the fact that a significant degree of outreach and a range of activities are already being undertaken toward United Nations engagement with faith-based communities.

The following organizations have established working links with FBOs and/or RLs:

• Alliance of Civilizations

• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

• United Nations Development Programme / HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (UNDP/HARPAS)

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

• United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)

• United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

• United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS)

• The World Bank

In addition, the Office for ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) Support and Coordination at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) is mandated to play a focal role on the issue of faith-based engagement within the United Nations system.

Participants at the Inter-agency Consultation also raised a number of issues and challenges encountered in their experience in FBO engagement to date. These were identified as:

• Countering a long-term trend of internal unease

• Increasing awareness and assessment of the multiplicity of initiatives

• Formulation and systemization of guidelines for FBO engagement

• Broadening political engagement with FBOs

• Dealing with skepticism among FBOs

• Ensuring and assessing faith-based representativeness

• Including women of faith The Inter-agency Consultation also brought to light many useful illustrations of effective engagement with faithbased communities, as well as valuable lessons learned.

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