Genocide prevention, religion, and development

Azza Karam discusses the interconnections between genocide prevention, religion, and development. Karam points out that religious actors and faith-based organisations have been essential in many areas of global concern, including sustainable development and conflict resolution. They have a complex relationship with governments and multilaterals, who increasingly recognise that religious forces cannot be ignored. She maintains that to serve as agents of genocide prevention, governments, multilateral entities and diverse religious actors require more informed and nuanced understanding of multiple intersections: the challenges of instrumentalization of religious discourse; the ambiguities inherent within religious actors to both fan and prevent hate speech, outright war; the dynamics of political governance and accountability; and the need to link credibility in delivering development and humanitarian relief to genocide prevention.