CCIH 2010 Annual Conference June 11-13, 2010, Bishop Claggett Center, Buckeystown, MD (just south of Frederick)
Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH), a networking agency of 125 Christian and 32 Affiliate organizations held its 2010 Annual Conference on June 11-13. The theme of this year's conference was The Faith Community and the Millennium Development Goals: Accountability to God and the World.
During the three days of the conference discussion were held about how the faith community - and specifically the Christian community - can move beyond a focus on meeting specific and finite goals to a focus on wholistic and transformative health and development. This is not to say that quantitative goals are not important or desirable. Goals such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and others point us in the right direction, help to define common national and international targets and support the formation of partnerships. They help donors make funding decisions and governments formulate policies. But they do not always address deeper human needs such as independence and self-worth, provide flexibility to address complementary factors or go beyond the goals to the next level of need.
At the CCIH conference we take that next step - to talk about the extra added value of faith in meeting the needs of communities with which we work; to tackle the question of accountability to God and our neighbors. Through formal conference sessions, informal discussions, exhibits, worship, fellowship and individual introspection, participants share and learn from each other about such things as best practices, forming partnerships, promoting empowerment and independence, model programs, monitoring and evaluation, successes and failures, lessons learned and working toward the future. Topics to be tackled included gender inequities, child survival, maternal health, family planning and reproductive health, organizational capacity, Christian Hospitals, and disease control.
By the end of the conference, participants identified some of the unique parameters by which the faith community is holding itself accountable in its health and development activities and celebrating the role and responsibility of the faith community to share those parameters with its global partners and neighbors.
Speakers included:
- Dr. Samuel Mwenda (Christian Health Association of Kenya)
- Patrick Kwakfut, Esq (Christian Health Association of Nigeria)
- Jean Duff (Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty)
- Ted Karpf (Partnerships Office, WHO)
- Katherine Marshall (World Faiths Development Dialogue)
- Prof. Henry Mosley (Professor Emeritus, Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health)
- Dr. Henry Perry (Future Generations/ Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health)
- Dr. Jono Quick (CEO, Management Sciences for Health)
- Rick Santos (CEO, IMA World Health)
For more information, contact Sharon Franzén sfranzen@ccih.org or visit the CCIH website at www.ccih.org.