New York, USA, 25 JULY 2018 (F2A & UN News) – Contributions of the faith community to development efforts have been highlighted by the news agency of the United Nations. The two featured pieces, recorded in Kiswahili language, point to the power of religion in shaping personal decisions and actions.
“In any society in the world, religion is very strong, whether it is by uniting people, bringing peace, solving conflicts and even advising the government and society. Development stakeholders need to explore this potential in the quest to achieve sustainable SDG’s development goals in 2030,” Flora Nducha narrates in introducing one of the audio clips.
Those featured by the media branch of the United Nations, UN News, are Peter Munene, Chief Executive Officer of Faith to Action Network (F2A), and Dr Paul Mbando, Director of Medical Services at Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT). Both Mr Munene and Dr Mbando were interviewed for UN Radio on the sidelines of the 51st session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD51).
In one clip, Dr Mbando explains the nature of services provided by the church in Tanzania. “We provide a wide variety of services totally free of charge, especially to the aged, pregnant women and children under five,” says Dr. Mbando. Listen to the 3.25 minutes’ audio clip on provision of healthcare services by the ELCT here.
A second audio clip starts with the narrator extolling the contributions of the faith community in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this clip, Peter Munene (Faith to Action Network) says availability of education and job opportunities at local levels will help address the current challenges of migration experienced among youth. Listen to the 2.15 minutes’ audio clip by Peter Munene here.
The All Africa Conference of Churches and the Church of Sweden welcomed the coverage by UN News.
