Closing Statement by the co-chairs Dr George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury and Mr James Wolfensohn, The President of the World Bank
1. This has been a precious opportunity for frank and intensive dialogue between religious leaders and development experts drawn from nine of the world's religious faiths, and leading staff of the World Bank. We are profoundly grateful to all the participants. What has drawn us together is a deep moral concern for the future of human well-being and dignity. We cannot accept the suffering of so many millions of people around the world.
2. We are strengthened in our conviction that the definition and practice of desirable development must have regard to spiritual, ethical, environmental, cultural and social considerations, if it is to be sustainable and contribute to the well-being of all, especially the poorest and weakest members of society.
3. All participants in the Dialogue agreed that "well-being" must imply the elimination of the suffering caused by absolute material poverty whilst also recognising the importance of spiritual and cultural life. Our understanding of poverty and development has been widened and enriched by the exchange between the World Bank experts and the different faiths with their diverse interpretations of what it means to lead a fully human life.
4. We believe that this dialogue has contributed to a deepening of the religious communities' understanding of how much benefit there is in being part of a discussion with such a wide circle of people working on development issues, and in particular having the opportunity to hear from people engaged from different perspectives, both religious and secular. It can only be in such a context of listening and speaking that real changes can be forthcoming. The challenge to all of us is how to pool our talents to overcome poverty as it has become defined for us through our discussions. We are particularly keen to start some more small scale and practical activities, which could act as models for future development.
5. We have achieved an important consensus on the need for the World Bank and major religious communities to continue and develop this dialogue, to deepen our relationship with one another and to look forward to possible new ways of working together in the future at many different levels.
Outcome
6. For example, the religious communities will be invited to influence the thinking of the World Bank by participating in the studies and discussions embodied in the Bank's annual World Development Reports. This will be particularly appropriate and timely in relation to the year 2000
Report on Understanding Poverty.7. We shall establish joint working groups to explore together themes of concern such as: community building; hunger and food security; environmental sustainability; preservation of cultural heritage (including sacred sites); violence and post-conflict reconstruction; education and social service delivery, and we shall look at areas of joint research to further the analytical dialogue initiated by our discussion on criteria.
8. The Bank desires to improve its staff's understanding of the main beliefs and contributions of the different religions of the countries in which they are working and will invite the participation of representatives from the world's faiths in Bank staff training programmes. Similarly, the religious communities wish to deepen their understanding of international development issues and the Bank will seek to help in this regard.
9. The religious communities already contribute substantially to the design and implementation of several development programmes, significantly improving their effectiveness. We hope they will feel encouraged to explore further opportunities for partnership in this field, both bilaterally and on a multifaith basis. We encourage the stimulation of pilot projects to develop good practice at the initiative of the countries themselves and with the collaboration of the religious communities and with the full backing of the Bank.
10. A light and flexible steering group will monitor and facilitate progress in these areas as well as preparing the future development of this work. They will oversee the publication of papers relating to this Dialogue.
11. We invite religious faith communities, international agencies and governments throughout the world to support and participate in this continuing drive for better understanding between development agencies and world faiths in defining and delivering development programmes. We believe this will help improve the long-term well-being of all the world's people and safeguard the spiritual, moral, environmental and cultural resources on which they depend.