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Building Partnerships:

Development in Diverse Muslim Societies

On January 7, 2009, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) convened a panel session titled "Building Partnerships: Development in Diverse Muslim Societies".

Practitioners from the development community highlighted creative and effective approaches to programming in societies with a significant Muslim population, with the goal of strengthening relationships, fostering partnerships, and sharing best practices.

GOALS

• Recognize existing NGO efforts in community-based, sustainable, and relevant development in Muslim majority countries.
• Highlight and encourage public-private partnerships as effective approaches to development.
• Draw attention to the challenges and continuing opportunities in Muslim majority countries.
• Create opportunities for follow up through virtual networking, capacity building resources, and related ongoing dialogue on these issues.

HIGHLIGHTS

PARTNERSHIPS WITH RELIGIOUS ACTORS

Issues:

• Religious leaders often feel they have been excluded or are discriminated against. There can be distrust on both sides at first, but there needs to be a spirit of true respect and partnership.
• There is built-in resistance between units such as Islam and the West, but it is fragmented and penetrable. People must find universal values

Best Practices:

• Sustain connections with religious institutions, actors, and leaders to promote respectful dialogue that honors their dignity, proactive involvement, and responsibility for community wellbeing through relevant development.
• Utilize local traditions and language to interpret development goals and priorities instead of imposing concepts or irrelevant vocabulary.
• Do not do something and hide it. Make sure the recipient sees it.
• People need to realize that the greatest strength is each other.

Manal Omar (USIP) delivers remarks at the session (Photo: USAID)

PARTNERSHIPS WITH CORPORATIONS

Issues:

• Corporations want to know "What's in it for me?"

Best Practices:

• Enhance and further educate corporations on the role they play in effective development practices.
• As multinationals gain greater access to communities through manufacturing, retail, and industry, they must move beyond one-dimensional corporate social responsibility efforts toward engaging with community-centered development where partnerships are leveraged.
• Some examples of why corporations might be interested in partnerships include:
  1. enhancing the reputation of the corporation in a community;
  2. enhancing the employee experience; and
  3. providing an opportunity to engage with consumers and understand them.

Center: Iqbal Noor Ali (Aga Khan Foundation USA) delivers the session's keynote address (Photo: USAID)

PARTNERSHIPS WITH GOVERNMENTS

Issues:

• When we don't find local partners, we don't build legitimacy.

Best Practices:

• Engage governments to promote in-country public-private partnerships.
• Help build capacity of ministries to engage better with key stakeholders to address concerns from community-based organizations.
• Be aware and responsive to the conversations between governments and their local communities about development priorities and directions.

PANELISTS AND SPEAKERS

The following panelists and speakers participated in the event:
• Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID;
• James K. Glassman, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy;
• Sada Cumber, State Department's Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference;
• Iqbal Noor Ali, Chief Executive Officer of the Aga Khan Foundation USA;
• Azi Hussain, International Center for Religion and Diplomacy;
• Kip Knight, Knight Vision Marketing;
• Douglas Ramage, The World Bank;
• Dr. Ziad Asali, American Task Force on Palestine;
• Manal Omar, U.S. Institute of Peace; and
• Jack Boyson, International Youth Foundation.

Future Meetings