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Faiths Act Fellows

Published January 05, 2011 16:54

Tony Blair Faith Foundation with Belinda Stronach Foundation and Interfaith Youth Core announce "Faiths Act Fellows" - Canadian Centre for Ecumenism in Montreal selected as host

MONTREAL, April 24th, 2009. The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, in collaboration with The Belinda Stronach Foundation and The Interfaith Youth Core have today announced that The Canadian Centre for Ecumenism, based in Montreal, will host two Faiths Act Fellows in their year of work to bring people of different faiths together to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, with a particular focus on ending deaths from malaria.


Hundreds of applications were received and just 30 extraordinary young people of faith have been chosen to be ambassadors for the Faiths Act program. The Faiths Act Fellowship is comprised of young leaders of diverse faiths aged between 18–25 from the UK, US and Canada. Beginning in August 2009, they will embark on a ten-month journey of interfaith service.


This will involve training in London and Chicago, field work in a malaria-endemic country in sub-Saharan Africa and then eight months working in grassroots faith communities in their home countries to raise funds and awareness about the campaign against malaria deaths.


Working in inter-religious pairs, they will reach up to tens of thousands of people of faith through outreach activity, informing them in person and online about the devastating impact of malaria and the opportunities open to faith communities to work together to save millions of lives.


“Hosting two Faiths Act Fellows falls in line with the Centre’s national mission of providing resources and awareness raising activities that promote interreligious collaboration. After all, what better way to demonstrate that we are one human family, members of a common household,” said Deacon Anthony Mansour, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism.


The Right Hon. Tony Blair and the Hon. Belinda Stronach met with Canadian national religious leaders yesterday for the second time, to discuss the critical role faith communities can have—and young people in particular—in eradicating deaths due to malaria.


Tony Blair said, “I am delighted we have been able to select such an outstanding and admirable group of young people from the hundreds who applied for a position in the Fellowship. I am certain they will accomplish a tremendous amount. Faith communities around the world have historically achieved great things to combat global problems. I believe that by faiths coming together to tackle the problem of malaria deaths, as part of a global coalition, we can really prevent this disease.”


Belinda Stronach added: “Young people have tremendous capacity to galvanize us and bring us together. We need that determination and energy to eradicate malaria. I am proud of our eight young Canadians and the host organizations for taking on this challenge. By drawing on their faith and desire to work with a number of communities they will play an important part in the global campaign to eradicate Malaria.”
Malaria kills a child in Africa every thirty seconds. Pregnant women and children under five are the most vulnerable. Yet, these deaths are entirely preventable. Places of worship are present in every village in every part of Africa, forming effective networks in practical ways to reach people in need everywhere. The Faiths Act Fellows will galvanize faith communities in the developed world to support those in Africa, and demonstrate that if faiths work together, they can do even more than what has been achieved apart.



About the Tony Blair Faith Foundation
The Tony Blair Faith Foundation was founded by the Rt Honourable Tony Blair and launched in May 2008. The Foundation’s goal is to promote respect and understanding between the major religions, to make the case for faith as a force for good and to show this in action by encouraging inter-faith initiatives to bring people together to tackle global poverty and conflict. Faiths Act Together is the social action programme of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. The programme encourages multi-faith initiatives to tackle global poverty by working towards the Millennium Development Goals, with an initial focus on eliminating deaths from malaria, bringing people together across faith divides to achieve even more together than they can apart. More information can be found at www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org and www.faithsacttogether.org.


About the Belinda Stronach Foundation
The Belinda Stronach Foundation is dedicated to advancing human potential through individual empowerment and social change. Working in partnership with individuals, other foundations, nongovernmental organizations and businesses small and large, the Foundation is currently active within and beyond our borders in confronting challenges and creating opportunities in three key areas: Girls and Young Women, Aboriginal Youth and Global Initiatives. More information can be found at www.tbsf.ca.


About the Interfaith Youth Core
There are millions of religious young people in the world interacting with greater frequency. Where so many of these interactions tend towards conflict, the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) aims to introduce a new relationship, one that is about mutual respect and religious pluralism. Instead of focusing a dialogue on political or theological differences, IFYC builds relationships on the values that we share, such as compassion, and how we can live out those values together to contribute to the betterment of our community. The IFYC is creating these relationships across the world by inspiring, networking, and resourcing young people, who are the leaders of this movement. In addition to the Faiths Act Fellowship, IFYC coordinates the Fellows Alliance, a network of 20 college students around the country working to promote religious pluralism on their campuses and in their communities.



For more information or to reach selected fellows available for comment, contact:

  • Joseph Shapiro, Interfaith Youth Core in the USA: (cellular) 847-404-9473.
  • Hannah Wallace at the Tony Blair Faith Foundation is available for comment at (cellular) +44(0)7827 886 561
  • Farah Mohamed from the Belinda Stronach Foundation is available for comment at (cellular) 647-801-4402.
  • Deacon Anthony Mansour from the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism is available for comment at 514-937-9176 ext. 33

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