Center for International and Regional Studies

The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs and the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS), organized a day long symposium in Doha on December 17 to seek the views of a range of practitioners and experts about trends and policy issues involving social policies in different countries of the Muslim world. The consultation formed part of a three year Berkley Center project to explore issues for faith inspired organizations in international development, which is supported by Luce Foundation. Discussions at the December 17 event were led by Katherine Marshall (Berkley Center) and Mehran Kamrava (CIRS). The meeting had two parts: a private consultation and a public presentation by two among the participants: Dr. Hany El Banna (Islamic Relief) and Dr. Azhari Gasim Ahmed (Islamic Development Bank).

The Consultation:

Mehran Kamrava, director of CIRS, introduced the meeting by situating this Georgetown effort within the overall CIRS research agenda. The meeting represented a pioneering new departure, in its in-depth analysis of the issues under discussion. He saw important implications for CIRS, Qatar, and the broader Gulf Region from the exercise.

Katherine Marshall outlined the Berkley/Luce faith-inspired organizations project: its objectives, progress to date, and proposed next steps. She set out objectives for the Doha meeting which, based on background research by Berkley Center graduate fellows and interviews with practitioners and scholars, aimed to take stock through a “mapping” of organizations engaged in social and human development, to explore the policy implications of their work and interactions, and to discuss future priorities for research and action. She noted the ambitious scope of the present exercise, given the diversity and extent of Muslim peoples, and the breadth of humanitarian and longer term development work which was the focus of their activities. Efforts to include specifically voices from West Africa and Asia in the present effort had regrettably not succeeded but those regions were very much on the agenda.

Introducing the Participants:

The discussion opened with a round of introductions by the participants, highlighting their own background and initial suggestions of operational and intellectual challenges for the discussion. Some highlights were:

Saad Ibrahim: Professor, American University of Cairo, now works with the Arab Democracy Foundation, and has a longstanding focus on development, governance, and finance, and civil society and civil society roles vis a vis the state. He urged reflection on the dynamism of both civil society and philanthropy in the region, and highlighted the importance of restoring faith in volunteerism in the Middle East and the Muslim world more broadly.

Mehran Kamrava highlighted his research interest in Middle Eastern politics and pointed to the dynamic roles of the informal economy.

Hany el Banna introduced the Islamic Relief story and highlighted its links to faith, observing that “we don’t become tired because our mission comes from God.” Among his challenges have been establishing an Islamic organization in an Anglican country, where they were forced to “dive, swim, and shine” and, more broadly, earning a real place within the global humanitarian community. He pointed to lessons from Islamic Relief’s humanitarian work but also focused on its growing emphasis on advocacy, with the recent South Africa HIV/AIDS conference as an example.

Omnia Nour, director of Reach out to Asia (ROTA), recounted the dual aspects of ROTA with respect to the Islamic faith, with a commitment to openness to all religious traditions in its work but recognition of its Islamic inspiration. She stressed the importance of focusing on development issues, beyond humanitarian aid and charity, and the need for research to ground operations on solid facts. The mentality of donors is an important issue to examine.

Mona Atia, completing her doctoral thesis and working with the Gerhart Center at the American University, Cairo, focused on the diversity of civil society work she found through her research and the dynamism of Arab philanthropy which the Gerhart Center is mapping in eight countries, preparatory to a consultation in Doha in early 2008.

Khaled Diab of the Qatar Red Crescent organization emphasized the importance of affirming the commitment in humanitarian work to neutrality and impartiality. He noted significant difficulties his organization had encountered, notably in breaking into the international development movement which often have a quite Eurocentric outlook.

Nourredine Benmalek, journalist from Morocco, brought the perspective of direct and in-depth involvement with Islamist organizations. He stressed the parable of the fisherman: the idea is not to give a man a fish but to teach him to fish.

Paul Dhalla from the Aga Khan Development Network introduced the AKDN briefly, highlighting its philosophy and approach, as well as its significant evolution over time, which entails a very long term perspective (its first schools are now 100 years old). The AKDN, through education and other programs, aims to leave a permanent mark on the communities they serve. The for-profit aspects of AKDN work are tied to the broader objectives and aim to create jobs and stimulate the communities where they are involved. He noted the links to the Ismaili community and the spiritual leadership and inspiration of His Highness the Aga Khan, but underscored the non-denominational character of the AKDN’s work and approach.

Abdullah Alnameh of the Qatar Foundation, which works in over 25 countries, including Africa, Albania, Bosnia, and in Europe and Asia, noted that the Foundation could be considered a faith based organization in some respects, but not in others. .His own background includes private and public sector perspectives which he would bring to the discussion.

Patrice Brodeur presented himself as both a scholar and activist, with long engagement in youth movements linked to interfaith work. Islam, pluralism, and globalization are his central interests and a global network focused on religion and children an immediate project. He urged close attention to and creativity about vocabulary, which can undermine many discussions and much dialogue; he advocates and aspires to an interworld view as a foundation for productive dialogue.

Roksana Bahramitash highlighted her keen interest in the issues at stake, from personal and professional encounters, and special focus on issues for women. Informal sector organizations deserve special focus as they are so far below the radar screen. For her the importance of faith is beyond question.

Ali Yurtsever presented the Fethallah Gulen movement as an Islamic, faith-based movement. The schools they develop and run are to be “peace islands”. The media and interfaith dialogue are other prime areas of the movement’s interest and its engagement of business an especially significant aspect.

Azhari Gasim Ahmed introduced the role played by the Islamic Development Bank, and its clear Islamic ethos. ISDB is deeply engaged in strategic reflections and the launch of a new poverty fund. The case of the Islamic Development Bank is rather exceptional given that the organization is clearly grounded in the religion. Negative associations with the word “Islamic” need to be overcome so he urged reflection on that topic.

Hady Amr, launching the Brookings Institution in Doha, affirmed his conviction that the issues of faith in all public policy work are important and deserve greater attention; he stressed that his own role models in life have harnessed their faith to do social action work, for example Martin Luther King jr. and Gandhi.

Salman Shaikh, from the office of her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, stressed the central role of education for transformation. He highlighted the richness of Islamic heritage and the contemporary challenge to translate it into practice. He hopes to see a revival and encouragement of the traditional devotion to learning, care for rights of all citizens, and the heritage of an open confident society deeply imbued with an ethos of charitable giving. What is at issue is why it was so great, and what it can be.

Melody Fox Ahmed from the Berkley Center highlighted the diversity of the Center’s activities and its emphasis on developing its database.

Framing the Discussion: Tensions, language and faith

Against a backdrop of deep respect for the Muslim faith, its heritage, promise, and core values, the December 17 discussions were shaped by concerns about the tensions that surround operations of many charitable and development organizations working in the Muslim world. These were seen as inextricably linked to the generally polarized and politicized climate both within the Muslim world and vis a vis non-Muslim organizations and societies. These tensions and the roles of the various organizations matter deeply because the challenges of social and economic development and the humanitarian demands of Muslim communities are so great – far greater than is generally appreciated. The work of organizations that in diverse ways are inspired by and/or organized with ties to Muslim faith is vast, important, diverse, and dynamic, but poor appreciation of its scope and character accentuates problems that are often political in nature, political at a geopolitical level and also for nations and communities.

But the group focused initially on exploring the significance that should be given to the terms and concepts of “faith”, “faith-based”, and “faith-inspired”, and the significance of describing organizations or communities as Muslim or Islamic, or non-denominational or secular. Discussion built on Patrice Brodeur’s opening admonition to pay special attention to vocabulary and especially terms that may be imbued with western framing and historical legacies. The words used can have particular significance for understanding Muslim development organizations. Examples include the various meanings ascribed to the Western word “mission” and the Arabic word da’waa. The two, even though sometimes used as translations of the other, should not be assumed to be synonymous and convey quite different notions even within English and Arabic. A suggestion was to encourage reflection about how Muslim organizations draw upon the threads in Islam that emphasize social justice.

Intrinsic complexities around definition of terms relating to faith and to Islam are compounded by the dominance of secular perspectives in the media and hence in both coverage and framing of issues. The upshot is that preconceptions abound and a plethora of voices and ideas are simply not heard. Yet another facet setting the tone is the tendency for emotive elements to determine the character and pace of dialogue and the framing of issues. The challenge is to be analytic in approach, yet to appreciate and reflect the nature and quality of inspiration.

The discussion was forthright in its concern about tensions prevailing today around the Islamic faith. Many ideas were advanced as to ways to address these tensions and their repercussions. Foremost among them were the threads of better knowledge and honest and creative dialogue about the underlying issues.

A consensus emerged on one specific suggestion: to favor use of the word “Muslim”, which focuses on people, instead of “Islamic”, seen as much more focused on the practice and structures of a religion.

Another recurring theme was the clear compatibility participants saw between international development goals and Islamic principles. While highlighting this common ground, many were hesitant to conclude that, without much greater care, the Millennium Development Framework would carry on the ground efforts very far (they are far too general and seen as framed in a “western” perspective), but that the effort deserves more thought and attention.

A theme that ran through the day’s discussion emerged from Saad Ibrahim’s assertion that faith is indeed what it is about, but that all institutions or communal ventures are inspired by and grounded in faith. Every human being has to have faith in something. The question is: what kind of faith? And how is it expressed? How is it used for mobilization, service, or what other purpose? The crux of the issue lies less in how an individual or an organization defines their “faith” motivations than on how others interpret and assess its significance. The topic is strewn with pitfalls, and virtually all terms and categories are slippery and problematic. The emerging consensus was that question should be framed in terms that are less about what is or is not faith based, or the “faith” character of an organization. But rather what it sets out to do and how it does it. It is important in looking at organizations first to study their level of civic and social engagement; their faith inspiration and ties, especially for religious faith, should be a secondary consideration. Results and performance need to be the prime criteria for judgments by all of us.

Framing the Discussions: Politics at the fore, focus on women

Discussions turned to specific challenges linked to these atmospheric issues for cooperation on the ground. Here, the dynamics of international politics were seen as playing supremely important roles, specifically the aura emanating from the live conflicts in the Middle East that often affect how Christian, Muslim, and secular groups can work together. The repercussions of September 11, 2001 and efforts to combat terrorism emerged as central factors shaping how organizations operate but also how they are perceived.

Political dimensions are rarely far from humanitarian and development work and issues, but they come particularly quickly into play in any discussion of faith-inspired organizations, and especially organizations tied in pretty much any fashion to Islam. The group noted the unease of many state institutions, in the Muslim and non-Muslim world alike, with faith-labelled organizations, sometimes amounting to active resistance and efforts to curtail or ban their work. This is often linked to security concerns but goes well beyond. Tensions are often a reaction to the very notion that there is a need for non-state groups to be involved in basic welfare and social development; this can be construed as an intrinsic criticism of the state. This perception at times makes it difficult to frame the operational issues that arise for many quite different kinds of private or even semi-private voluntary organizations.

Other questions that came into the discussion were more internal to the Muslim world and more specific to certain countries. A question was raised as to how to help people advocate in the Muslim world when people are under a lot of pressure and there is not free speech. After 9/11 the opposite of a general increase in funding for FBOs happened in the Muslim world- both funding and implementation decreased. There are instances where limits imposed by political regimes who are pushing in the opposite direction.

Women’s concerns and organizations were woven throughout the discussions, approached from several different angles. This reflected an appreciation that issues for women in Muslim countries raise special challenges and sensitivities, compounded by the often largely invisible nature of women’s roles within Islam, contrasting sharply with the dynamism of that is happening on the ground.

A concrete suggestion was to address issues of organization objectives and the role played by faith more explicitly by pulling together their statements of purpose and posting them on the web to encourage discussion and sharing; this idea, which struck a responsive chord, was understood to be easier said than done, given difficulties in getting access to many foundational statements, especially for small and most of all for informal organizations.

Continuing: how to treat “faith” dimensions in the dialogue? Faith-inspired or faith-based?

The challenge of defining what constitutes faith-based and faith-inspired organizations and their essential common attributes spurred an in-depth and engaged discussion. Part of the context is the still partial and often flawed effort by secular humanitarian and development agencies to relate to many faith issues and faith-driven organizations. The large blind spots on religion within these circles give special significance to the ongoing effort to “fill the gap” of understanding. The discussion affirmed that categories used to define faith-based organizations in the United States do not easily fit organizations in the Muslim World so new approaches are needed. A grounding in fact – the ongoing “mapping” of organizations, was, it was agreed, a necessary and useful place to start.

The experience of the Red Crescent societies offers a special example of efforts to navigate universal principles, so often framed based on European notions and values, and the important principles that come from faith traditions and practice. Several stressed that explicit focus on faith or religion in humanitarian work has special perils; religion itself can be a powerful motivator for individuals or organizations to reach out to people in humanitarian work, but there are issues on how this is applied. One person captured a general concern in describing efforts to push conversion on people in crisis or any forced conversion as a crime against humanity. Another suggested a formulation in which people can be inspired by Islam but do not need to bring it explicitly into their work. Broadly, an appreciation that organizations take their principles for engagement and ethos from internal rather than externalized religious inspiration is the desired end. Religion inspires the service, but does not discriminate against non-adherents of a particular faith. A desire to promote social justice, with many deep common elements, underlies many faith-based initiatives, regardless of which faith they are coming from.

But this understanding is not universally held, and the diversity of organizations along a spectrum of how they present and employ their faith link is important to note and take into account. One avenue to a sounder approach is more explicit attention to and articulation of values, both to highlight common ground and to identify and address differences. There is much to build on in the common desire to build better lives for all humanity. Another is to pursue efforts to build common ground and understanding through codes of conduct that articulate what it expected and bounds of what is considered inappropriate and damaging.

Self and External Perceptions: Islam and the work of Muslim Organizations

This exchange led the discussion to the vital role of perceptions, so much a factor where faith and organizations are involved. Three elements are at work: the work of the organization itself and the objectives and vision it sets, the perception the organization has of its own work, and the perception of the outside world, which has particular importance in the post 9/11 world.

Recognition that perceptions are deeply influenced by politics and especially power disparities was highlighted.

Linking to the focus on vocabulary, there was a call to focus on the language that Muslim organizations use and that is most resonant with them. If we only use Western language with them, we are only reinforcing the skewed power dynamic. Several commented that a focus on common values rather than faith based terminology can help in framing a language that transcends religious barriers. This can help in framing a common ideology of change.

This led to discussion of labeling and categorization, a necessary activity in view of the complex array or organizations, but with many perils. Describing an organization as Islamist, radical, or tolerant carries particular baggage. It rarely aids in the agreed priority of judging by results. Among other problems many organizations are left outside the circle of dialogue, and their work is excluded from overall analysis and discussion. Again, the theme that we need to agree on common values of development and then move forward – if we can agree on the values, we don’t need to talk about religion. Success is based and should be measured by the service brought to the community, first and foremost as they assess it. One participant urged that we ignore how others perceive us and focus on how we want to be perceived.

Focusing on human development

A suggestion briefly discussed was to focus on human development, broadly defined as including basic notions of building human capital but extending to notions of human security, welfare and social justice. Aspirations and work of many of the organizations under discussion fit well within this framework.

The group discussed approaches to three “elephants in the room”: Hamas, Hizbollah, and the Egyptian Brotherhood, which are seen and portrayed in such drastically differing ways. Finding ways to navigate the topic deserves much more forthright attention than it has received.

Poverty, humanitarian crises, and development and the Muslim World

The group returned several times to the stark (if poorly known and understood) realities of poverty and humanitarian crises in the Muslim world. Muslim majority countries come at the bottom of the human development index, illiteracy rates are low, child mortality high, and humanitarian crises larger and more persistent (70% of Red Cross/Red Crescent work internationally is in Muslim societies). In the new paradigm reflections about the “bottom billion”, Muslim dimensions deserve special focus. The point here was not to ask how certain countries arrived at the bottom, but what can be done now to improve their situation, and how program and policy design should reflect Muslim values and organizations.

In short, the heavy burden of conflict on Muslim communities worldwide presents special challenges which have underexplored faith dimensions. Specifically, the Muslim dimension of refugee issues deserves a far higher profile. Some 72% of the world’s refugees are Muslims and all humanitarian organizations should reflect on this and act accordingly. Communication between Western and Muslim development organizations is growing but far from adequate.

Special roles of transnational organizations

The group briefly reflected on the significant roles played by the several major transnational Muslim organizations that were part of the discussion: Islamic Relief, the Islamic Development Bank, the Aga Khan Network, the Red Crescent movement, and transnational movements like the Gulen movement. Groups on the national level are many and extremely diverse. What is important is to define more clearly the changing face of Muslim organizations, and the challenge of transcending commonly applied, yet restrictive labels, such as north/south; first/second/or third world to these groups.

Special difficulties facing Muslim organizations:

There was a lengthy and frank discussion about the difficulties that Muslim organizations, sometimes simply as “non-western” and sometimes more specifically defined as Muslim, face in international humanitarian and aid circles. One participant had observed an unwillingness of United Nations organizations to work with Islamic organizations. Muslim organizations are not part of major humanitarian reform efforts; often they see themselves pushed aside. The majority of on the ground aid work is assigned to organizations like Catholic Relief Services or World Vision, rarely in cooperation with Islamic Relief and other similar organizations. When western groups come to the Muslim world, they try to work only with secular organizations, not with grassroots religious organizations that are well-represented and important in the local communities.

Such frustrations combined with the great need for more focus on the Muslim dimensions of humanitarian and development work underlie ideas under discussion to create a UNICEF specifically for the Muslim world. One objective would be to help alleviate the frustration of people in the region. Many face problems on a daily basis and their frustrations mount. Even when individuals are included in meetings, follow up is weak. “Next steps” may be taken but are not inclusive and are not even well explained. Operational implications include reluctance to work with on the ground madrasas in a situation like Somalia. Several saw a need for a different kind of mindset that will allow recognition of the need to understand and work with these types of religiously motivated organizations, especially in societies that lack effective governments.

Others pointed to quite broad secular bias that works to exclude religiously defined groups. A significant issue is that their work is so poorly documented. For example, important work of the major Indonesian Islamic organizations (notably Nefqatar Ulema -- NU) is very poorly known outside a small circle.

The secular bias has many different operational implications. Of particular importance are issues involving women. Some groups want to “save women”, but only work with those who are secular and do not wear the hijab. Such groups miss out on their own constituency by targeting only middle class and elite women. They miss the poorest people who then have no other recourse than the traditional conservative religious institutions who are present and which offer help. This in turn contributes to situations where Islamist groups find a willing population to recruit from. Turkey offers an example where conservative groups continue to recruit women, and the presence of secular organizations actually hurts reform efforts, because people see that they only recruit from the middle class and they turn to Islamist groups instead. Women seeking international help are completely left out unless they are secular. A dialogue needs to be established with the organizations that nobody wants to talk to – for if we exclude extremely conservative religious groups, they remain the only choice for the poor.

The tendency for religious Muslim organizations to be marginalized by local governments, the global humanitarian community, and the international scene was explored. The upshot is that they end up completely marginalized. There are multiple issues in definition. One person observed that many reports on Islamic development are biased in focusing only on small sub-sets of the relevant organizations, excluding whole groups and movements of millions of people with huge resources.

And special strengths

Among many assets that faith-inspired organizations can bring, everywhere but perhaps especially in the Muslim world, participants highlighted the greater openness of poor communities to faith inspired organizations. They can enter communities more readily and their ideas, even when they go against the grain of political and social discourse, have a better chance of being accepted. Examples from Iran, Afghanistan, Tibet, Nepal, and Indonesia were cited.
What has greatest significance is highlighting openly the values that development workers bring to their activities.

Charity terrorism links

The discussion highlighted the very real issues that stem from concerns about links between Islamic charities and terrorism. The global polarization that underlies the particular surveillance of many Muslim-defined charities is a central factor in exploring the issues at hand and navigating different organizations, their goals, the nature of their work, and the issues they face.

Faith based organizations took on quite new images on the international scene with two developments: 9/11 and President Bush’s promotion of issues of faith. One person asked if the increased attention given to Muslim organizations is a problematic, apologetic response from people who were already involved in this type of work, and how we can counterbalance the fact that these people were invisible on the international scene beforehand.

Discussion and returning to capacity issues

Another recurrent theme was the special challenge of capacity building, especially for small, community focused organizations.

A central recommendation of several participants was to focus on the training of imams. The need for such training (to combat distorted images of Islam exported to many corners of the world) and the nature it might take (social welfare, economics, history) were sketched.

A second, broader, suggestion was to focus explicitly on the role of mosques and Imams as an important source for education and development needing more attention, especially in the area of HIV/AIDS.

A third was to focus on special needs of small organizations. Participants saw very little communication between the very large donors and the small organizations who really need the support – an intermediary group is needed to connect them. Many are in fact trying to do this and indeed competition is significant. Ways need to be found to harness this competition from the Arab countries, and to foster cooperation. It is possible to trace an emerging Islamic development mentality, but it is limited by the concern to replace one thing with another rather than focusing on reform.

Issues around educational models and curricula were discussed. Educated people often lose contact with their communities and can become quite isolated. Frustrations mount when the jobs they want do not exist. Reforming societies from within, with special focus on job creation, is essential. This is a very difficult process and the main challenge is a lack of time and resources. Working through partnerships, and encouraging cooperative work with government is key (in contrast to the typical NGO stance of working independently of government. Again, documenting such cooperative processes on both a local and global scale is essential.

Operating modes in Partnerships

A guiding principle emerging from discussion was that outside organizations must walk behind local initiatives, not in front of them.

Roles of international NGOs should be defined so that they coach and train grassroots advocates, but are not directly implementing on the ground. This would cut down on the high costs of logistics and salaries if primary efforts came from the grassroots level.

Codes of conduct and other regulations exist and are important, but are often historically based on “western” models and are seen to be so. Reflection and adaptation are needed.

Special efforts are needed for smaller organizations which feel that they are not part of the “family” – language barriers, cultural barriers, or ethnic and faith barriers preclude them from being invited to international development meetings.

The Roles of Rights

The group discussed the concerns of several participants about how civil rights issues are assumed and discussed in international development circles. Their view is that both the priority accorded to these issues and the way they are framed can be distorting and detrimental to broader and commonly desired social justice objectives. Women’s rights and freedom of the press are two such issues, seen as particularly close to the hearts of the secular middle class. This focus can hurt development work if they divert attention from the issues (like jobs and education) that are most important to poor people. This echoes longstanding debates about the appropriate sequence and balance between civil and political rights and social and economic rights.

Understanding and Knowledge:

The challenges of capturing knowledge and voices of those doing development work but who do not pursue scholarly writing was stressed. Cooperation and partnership between organizations with a view to focusing on the “unseen” groups was urged.

But building knowledge quickly leads to the question of what is being done with information. In general information is often not widely available and even when it is, is poorly used.

Basic facts and figures are needed but the lack of professional evaluation of work that is being done is perhaps even more of an obstacle. The current void allows some groups to assert that they are better than others, without evidence or proof.

One suggestion was to look to an organization such as a think tank that might pressure international organizations to put the issue of religion and development on the table. Advocacy and lobbying is needed to bring these issues into the public eye. This often cannot be done only at the university level or through small organizations.

Discussion also touched on the challenges of harnessing the enormous potential of new Muslim philanthropy, bringing business into the practical work of development, including its ethical debates, and tying in more effectively to emerging trends in Islamic finance. The challenges of overcoming the problems of poor management of waqf foundations are great in several countries.

Charity, humanitarian challenges, development

How does the traditional view of charity take shape in the contemporary world when it is no longer our vision that the poor will always be poor, and we just have to give them handouts? Now we have to talk about social issues, and how to change things.

Issues for charity have important theological aspects that link to cultural practice and are distorted by security concerns. The key issue is the tradition of giving in cash and linking charity to those who are immediately at hand. One participant noted that in Saudi Arabia, 60% of people bring aid as cash in hand, and programs that involve direct sponsorship of children are favored. There is much to build on here but also significant constraints.

Questions of past, present, and future were much in discussion. Participants gave lyrical descriptions of waqf charity traditions (such as musicians hired in Damascus to play for the blind), but all were clear that the issue is not to highlight simple strengths of Muslim charitable traditions nor to recreate them. Nor is it to disparage the present. The goal is to show the world that Muslims were once something and that their ethos and capacity means that they can help all people, not just Muslims.

The Working Paper: Uses and Revisions:

Comments on the paper from participants are particularly welcome.

One suggestion was to develop the paper into a handbook on religion and development, with a section including a databank of large and small organizations. This could be translated into Arabic, Spanish, and Swahili and distributed to local groups in different countries.

The importance of translation of key documents was stressed.

Concluding Thoughts

The group concluded by highlighting the potential it saw in more purposeful efforts to associate development issues, practices, and organizations with Muslim traditions and actors.

In summarizing the discussion, the complexity and diversity of the picture came back into play. In a rather unexpected way, the Doha discussion was reminiscent of the April 2007 meeting at Georgetown on US faith inspired organizations. A similar concern about invisibility and a sense of lack of appreciation was expressed, as was an uneasy relationship with state institutions on many dimensions. The same underlying challenge emerged - grappling with a world with a tremendous need and desire to help, and with an ongoing revolution in concepts of charity from a very personal act to far broader global mechanisms, policies and challenges.