This is the M&E Thursday Talk from November 19th, 2020, when Sharon Rosen, Global Director of Religious Engagement at Search for Common Ground, led a discussion on “The Common Ground Approach to Religious Engagement.”
Search for Common Ground has recently launched its groundbreaking toolkit on how to work with religious actors to advance reconciliation in the field. While religion has the power to be a force for both peace and war, many religious actors and institutions seek to be part of the solution to conflict. It is important for anyone seeking to engage in peacebuilding activities to understand how to, or if they should, engage with religious actors both during times of peace and conflict.
Inclusive religious engagement can be both sensitive and complex, particularly for those less familiar or comfortable engaging religious actors. In this webinar, Sharon provides an overview of the Common Ground guiding principles that infuse Search’s religious engagement work. We also discussed the relevance of the new toolkit’s eight modules and explored the benefits and risks of engaging religious actors.