Be informed:
Thinking Justice

……and Christian churches, institutions and congregations, as well as partnership groups, have a new significance in this.

 “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) I have life in abundance first of all when I have a choice. This is not given for most people in the global context. This makes the well-being of the marginalised people one of the crucial criteria for our work. In the present world, we realise that a life in abundance/dignity is denied to a large section of humanity due to multiple cultural, economic, religious, environmental, and social factors.

God, change the face of the earth – and start with us

Issues of underdevelopment and development are grounded, among other things, in the philosophy of the great Enlightenment thinkers who helped shape the image of white supremacy. Whiteness is usually not conscious to the German majority – or more clearly, to the political whites of the global North – but is nevertheless effective as a self-concept. We are challenged to critically question our own inner maps and to change ourselves. It is necessary to deconstruct our attitude as the “committed” with regard to our world responsibility and to fill the terms peace, justice, and integrity of creation anew. This also needs to be considered with regard to the terms development/underdevelopment and the related globally established forms of “development cooperation”.

2030 Agenda: an opportunity or a shabby compromise?

Definitely, it is an opportunity. Politics is always dependent on (sometimes lowest) common denominators. The 2030 Agenda formulates a common horizon that is supported by large parts of the global community: At last, official strategies also include the fact that the global North must assume responsibility for the vision formulated here. From the preamble: “This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet, and prosperity. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom. We recognize that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development“

This formulates a far-reaching realisation as political will: The global challenges of our time can only be overcome together. For this, the guiding principle of sustainable development must be consistently applied.

Role of religion and development

While the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) still focus more on state programmes, the development process of the 2030 Agenda has also raised awareness of the factors of civil society and religion, among others. The realisation that, for example, the role of religion in development has been far too undervalued so far, finally found its way into the respective state programmes through studies and resolutions of the United Nations, so that after the 2015 publication of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Role of Religion in German Development Policy), one can now speak of a clear recognition of this field of work in the area of state development cooperation. After all, a development policy that focuses on the individual must take their culture, religion, and worldview seriously.

Did you know?

Despite all the factors of religion which can be mentioned critically (e.g. the image of women) and religiously motivated conflicts, it should also be noted that, according to World Bank estimates, in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, around half of all services in the areas of education and health are provided by religious or religiously motivated organisations. In the area of migration, it should also be noted that the so-called “remittances”, i.e. the payments that migrants transfer to family members in their countries of origin, among others, exceed the official development aid (ODA) worldwide many times over.

The contribution of churches, congregations, and church organisations

In addition to these global political contexts, the various Christian churches, church institutions and congregations as well as partnership groups thus also have a new significance within the framework of the 2030 Agenda. In its brochure “Borrowed is the star on which we live. The 2030 Agenda as a Challenge for the Churches” the Evangelical Church in Germany calls for the churches worldwide to become active as reminders, mediators, and drivers in the context of global challenges. The Christian message offers the possibility to engage in public debates. For example, the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM) can test and implement sustainable development in an exemplary way with partner churches, or advocacy work can become concrete in the field of communication through worldwide networking etc. But it is just as important to consider in small local contexts, e.g. in the context of a partnership group or congregation, how to work on attitudes towards “strangers” or how a large diaconal institution can make its procurement eco-fair. It should be discussed how this is also possible in cooperation with governmental processes, e.g. in the area of eco-fair procurement or by using One World promoters from governmental agencies also in church contexts.

Dr. Mirjam Laaser