Summit
Encourages
Collaboration
Between
United
Nations
and
Faith­Based

Organizations


Tuesday,
September
1,
2009

For
more
information,
contact:

John
Torres,
Senior
Public
Relations
Manager

301.680.6357
(office)

301.680.6370
(fax)


SILVER
SPRING,
Md.
—Nearly
40
leading
faith‐based
organizations
(FBOs),

including
the
Adventist
Development
and
Relief
Agency
(ADRA),
met
at
the
United

Nations
Headquarters
in
New
York
City
in
August
to
discuss
the
importance
of

greater
cooperation
between
the
United
Nations
Population
Fund
(UNFPA)
and

FBOs
in
order
to
better
meet
the
needs
of
the
developing
world.

During
the
two‐day
summit,
held
August
3
and
4,
representatives
from
the
attending

FBOs
emphasized
the
importance
of
not
only
sharing
training
and
knowledge,
but

also
working
together
to
find
answers
to
important
issues,
including
maternal

health
and
gender‐based
violence.
A
need
for
user‐friendly,
evidence‐based

information
was
also
highlighted
to
help
faith‐based
communities
in
their
role
as

advocates.

“We
were
very
pleased
to
take
part
in
this
discussion,”
said
Charles
Sandefur,

president
of
ADRA
International.
“As
a
faith‐based
organization,
we
are
called
to

meet
the
needs
of
the
world’s
most
vulnerable.
Through
an
even
closer
partnership

with
the
United
Nations,
and
other
FBOs,
there
is
no
limit
to
what
our
combined

efforts
can
accomplish.”


Summit
attendees
included
World
Vision,
Islamic
Relief,
the
Salvation
Army,
and
the

YWCA,
among
others.
Topics
presented
at
the
roundtable
also
included

humanitarian
relief,
migration,
and
women’s
empowerment.

“When
we…made
a
case
for
engaging
faith,
we
knew
of
the
profound
moral

authority
that
religious
leaders
have,”
said
Thoraya
Ahmed
Obaid,
executive

director
for
the
UNFPA.
“We
were
all
aware…that
religious
organizations
are
the

oldest
service
providers
humankind
has
known.”

“To
become
strategic
and
sustainable,
we
needed
to
engage
these
critical
service

providers,
given
the
critical
personal
and
community‐based
connection
between
the

people
and
the
faith‐based
organization
centers
providing
services,”
Obaid
added.


For
years,
ADRA
has
worked
closely
with
UNFPA
in
different
areas.
In
Nepal,
a

partnership
since
2005
has
helped
ADRA
provide
better
access
to
reproductive

health
care
to
communities
in
the
Far
and
Mid‐Western
Regions.
More
than
100,000

people
have
received
health
care
through
ADRA
Nepal’s
health
camps
in
the
region.

Additionally,
more
than
400
women
have
benefited
from
uterine
prolapse
surgery.

UNFPA
is
an
international
development
agency
that
promotes
the
right
of
every

woman,
man
and
child
to
enjoy
a
life
of
health
and
equal
opportunity.
UNFPA

supports
countries
in
using
population
data
for
policies
and
programs
to
reduce

poverty
and
to
ensure
that
every
girl
and
woman
is
treated
with
dignity
and
respect.

ADRA
is
a
non‐governmental
organization
present
in
125
countries
providing

sustainable
community
development
and
disaster
relief
without
regard
to
political

or
religious
association,
age,
gender,
race,
or
ethnicity.

For
more
information,
visit
www.adra.org.