Paper short abstract:

Kirsten Laursen Muth, Chief Executive Officer of the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI), will share her reflections on JLI’s commitment and plans to address Racial Justice and Decolonising Development, focusing on the why and how of the JLI’s work in this area.

Paper long abstract:

The Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI) is an international collaboration to develop and communicate evidence on local faith actors’ roles and contributions to development and humanitarian action for community well-being. Kirsten Laursen Muth, Chief Executive Officer of JLI, will share reflections on JLI’s Plan on Racial Justice and Decolonising Development. She will focus on the rationale behind JLI’s approach and discuss how the JLI works with its network to implement decolonized and anti-racist approaches. The presentation will highlight priority actions for the JLI to work across its membership in support of the continued struggle to decolonise development and end racism. It will outline implications across JLI’s key objectives: evidence and research; dissemination and communication; and informed debate and influence. Recognising that it cannot address the whole spectrum of decolonisation, the JLI has decided to focus on three priorities over the next two years, as part of an ongoing commitment to ensuring its partnerships and joint learning platforms are fully equitable and do not privilege Northern and Western organisations. This includes: (1) regional listening dialogues, led by local/national FBOs, to critically reflect on diversity, equity and inclusion in the JLI, by confronting asymmetries of power and identifying demonstrable pathways to change; (2) global webinar series with academics and practitioners from different regions to discuss decolonising research and joint learning partnerships; (3) theological dialogue on decolonisation, bringing together diverse theological/spiritual perspectives into multi-faith discursive dialogue on the intersection of theology, development, and critical race theory.