Religie en Ontwikkeling

WHAT is the Knowledge Centre Religion and Development?

On line DOCUMENTATION CENTRE with all recent publications about religion and development

[location Oikos]
P.O. Box 19170
3501 DD UTRECHT
(Netherlands) +31 (0)30 236 1500 kenniscentrum
@religie-en-ontwikkeling.nl

The participants of the Knowledge Centre Religion and Development are:

Cordaid, a development organisation with a Catholic tradition, whose work is dedicated to the poorest and marginalised in 40 developing countries.
ICCO, an inter-church organisation for development whose mission is to work towards a world where poverty and injustice are no longer present.
Islamic University Rotterdam, an organisation for Islamic education for life-long learners.
Oikos, an ecumenical organisation which supports activities in the Netherlands that contribute to world-wide, just and sustainable development.
Seva Network Foundation, an international organisation for development co-operation which is inspired by Hindu values.

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Leveraging local pockets of social cohesion and the newly built nation-state: the role of religion

Monday 7 September 2009, Seth Kaplan, author of "Fixing Fragile States. A New Paradigm for Development" (Praeger 2008) visited the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague. A perfect occasion to invite him to present his book to the members of the Knowledge Forum Religion and Development Policy. Sixteen NGO professionals and academics came to ISS to listen to Kaplan and discuss with him his major notions and recommendations.

As a business consultant, Kaplan's focus is at the level of economic investments. He argues that investments in a fragile state are possible; they should however be done at the local level, particularly of cities, and not the national level. Business investments at local level can improve people's lifes: "Those are the people we want to help and who have most to gain". Social cohesion is a prerequisite for protection of property, being fundamental for stability. It is at this level where religion plays a clear role.

Read the whole article here.

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