Why Muslims Need a Secular State and Western Politics Should not Interfere

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im meets Maurits Berger on 25 May- Join the Debate!

Researcher and activist An-Na'im argues - from a Muslim perspective - for a secular state.To be a Muslim by conviction and free choice, An-Na'im says, he needs a state that is neutral regarding religions. Yet still he thinks that religion should play a bigger role in politics. But which one? This debate is part of a two-day conference on "Promoting Pluralism through Civic Reason?" organised by the Promoting Pluralism Knowledge Programme.

Reconsidering Human Security

This workshop to be held on 28 and 29 May (UK) aims to ground discussion of human security in the lived experience of those who suffer insecurity. Since security tends to be unequally distributed, it will explicitly address questions of equality, rights and social justice. It will also ask how human security is framed in different cultural, regional and national contexts. It will consider whether human security is at risk of becoming a hegemonic discourse in the conceptual arsenal of the international community. At the same time it will explore its transformative potential, recognising the agency of those struggling to overcome violence, insecurity and poverty. The workshop organized by IDS and funded by the ESRC involves researchers from the Hivos/Icco/IDS project entitled Post-conflict Participation: Civic engagement in post-conflict settings.

Taking Stock Seminar (29 May)

The aim of the Taking Stock Seminar of 29 May (NL) is to engage in a dialogue with experts as well as those who take an interest in gender, but for whom gender is maybe indirectly part of their work, and not necessarily their main expertise. The seminar builds on insights from the five papers that are being prepared right now. These papers address the practice of gender mainstreaming policies in Dutch development organisations as well as development studies within universities. They also reflect in a more theoretical sense on the concept of gender mainstreaming. Finally, attention is paid to gender in the Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda for Action.

Inclusive Improvement (5 June)

Hivos has been at the forefront of emerging intervention practices in the market approach for many years, moving from Fair Trade (since 1985) to Organic (since 1989) to micro-credit (since 1994) to Coffee Coalition (since 1999) to ISEAL (since 2001) to mainstreaming market access for smallholders (since 2004). This latest challenge has brought Hivos to showcase attempts to combine upgrading of quality and inclusion of smallholders in attractive market channels. The draft report of these collected experiences, that are being systematized by Peter Knorringa of the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) and Coen van Beuningen (Hivos), will be discussed at the workshop Inclusive Improvement on 5 June (NL).

The Practice of Civic Driven Change (22 June)

There is increased interest in change processes in which citizens play a central and initiating role. The Civic Driven Change (CDC) framework offers an opportunity to further elaborate on the potential of active citizenship for triggering change in all walks of life: at the political level, in civil society, as well as in business. This workshop to be held on 22 June in The Hague, will provide a platform for practitioners to share and discuss their experiences on innovative citizen-led change processes.

Where research meets policy and practice

The Summer School 2009 (2& 3 July) focuses on effective linkages and productive interfaces between scientific research and international development programs. The School offers insights in current research issues related to development, a professional platform of policy makers and development practitioners, a network event for young and innovative researchers on development themes. The Knowledge Programme is involved in several workshop including co-convening the workshop entitled Connecting ivory towers: triangulation of knowledge from practice, research and policy-making.

Please note that we aim to inform you regularly about our activities, but also keep in mind that we should not add to the information overload. So it could happen that some of our events fall in between newsletter updates. If you would like to follow all our activities, please visit the website regularly or subscribe to one of our RSS feeds.

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an email to info@hivos.net.