Lecture Religion and International Development Policy

The Ateneo Community is invited to a lecture and open forum on Religion and International Development Policy by Dr. Gerard Clarke at the Centerfor Social Policy Conference Room, Ateneo Loyola, on July 23, Monday, 10:30 am. Please email Amihan Perez to confirm your participation. Below is a description of the lecture and the lecturer:

The Winds of Change: Religion and International Development Policy

This presentation explores the emergence of a 'faith and development'interface in international development discourse over the last decade and its erosion of the traditional secularism at the heart of international public policy. It examines the work of leading international development agencies such as theWorld Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in engaging withFaith-Based Organisations (FBOs) in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals, the key current framework guiding the activities of leading development agencies. The presentation argues that the 'faith and development' nexus represents a controversial new 'zeitgeist' (spirit of the times) in international development policy, and it examines some of the opportunities andchallenges which arise for international development agencies.

Dr Gerard Clarke is Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Development Studies andDirector of Postgraduate Studies in the School of the Environment and Society, at the University of Wales Swansea in the United Kingdom. The author of "ThePolitics of NGOs in South-East Asia: Participation and Protest in thePhilippines" (Routledge, London & New York, 1998), he is currently carrying outresearch, funded by the British Academy, at the Center for Social Policy, AteneoSchool of Government, on the anatomy or institutional structure ofPhilippine civil society. His presentation here is based on research for DFID in 2005-06which explored DFID engagement with FBOs and the role of faith groups in poverty reduction.

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Amihan R. Perez

Center for Social Policy of the

Ateneo School of Government

G/F CSP Building, Social Development Complex

Ateneo de Manila UniversityLoyola Heights, Quezon City

Tels. (632) 426-6061/62