Dr. Katherine Marshall

The forum in Abu Dhabi was the sixth in a series of large interfaith gatherings focused on children’s welfare and protection, led by Arigatou International’s Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC). These forums are held roughly every five years, though with COVID-19 disruptions it is seven years since the previous gathering in Panama; Tanzania was the location in 2012. The forums are a core program for the Arigatou network which has several programs and bases, including Nairobi, Geneva, New York, and Tokyo. Of particular note is their longstanding ethics program and work to bridge polarized divides in several countries.

“Two comments struck me quite forcibly. First: children’s challenges today when lumped together in single categorizations lose much sense, and the crises of refugees and those in extreme poverty and abuse need to be distinguished from the real dilemmas and challenges facing children more broadly. And second, actions at all levels need to be set in a broad context if they are not to dissipate. An Egyptian proverb was cited: all the work ants do in a year can be destroyed in a second by a camel’s foot. This does not deny the central importance of personal and community action, but the challenge remains in assuring that the efforts do add up to results at broader levels and at a scale commensurate with the crying and urgent needs.”

READ more about the GNRC Sixth Forum by Dr. Katherine Marshall https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/posts/religious-responsibilities-and-action-for-children-the-abu-dhabi-forum

Katherine Marshall, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, leads the center’s work on religion and global development and Member of the Arigatou Advisory Council.