1. Peace Research Institute Oslo Private Islamic Charity and Approaches to Poverty Reduction NORGLOBAL Dissemination Seminar 25 October 2011 Kaja Borchgrevink, Marta Bivand Erdal and Kristian Berg Harpviken, PRIO

2. Minhaj Wellfare Foundation 2 Why this study? Religion and development - scant attention in traditional development research Islamic charity actors - typically excluded from conventional analysis Focus on gender and diaspora within the Islamic charity sector – understudied Understanding of the norms and networks in Islamic contexts – relevant in other contexts

3. Photos: Al Khidmat Khawateen, Minhaj Welfare Foundation, Reuters/Akram Shahid 3 Case study from Pakistan Considerable poverty challenges Religiously prescribed practices recognized as central to poverty reduction among both state and non-state actors A sizable faith-based private charity sector has developed The Islamic charity sector reflects the diverse Islamic landscape in Pakistan

4. Focus, approach and choice of method 1) A focus on private Islamic charity approaches to poverty reduction in Pakistan and in the Pakistani diaspora 2) A focus on female Islamic activists – as ‘development agents’ – involved in private Islamic charities in Pakistan and the diaspora. Explore the role of religion in development and poverty reduction, both locally and transnationally Analyze concrete examples Focus on ‘descriptive ethics’ – the normative orientation expressed through practice, not codified ethics in text Develop a typology (relations to gov’t, ideology, politics, mode of organization, funding, type of activities ) 4

5. Research questions RQ 1) How do private Islamic charity actors in Pakistan and in the diaspora view poverty reduction? RQ 2) How are the views of private Islamic charity actors reflected in actual poverty reduction practices? RQ 3) How are gender roles and issues of gender equity reflected and addressed by private Islamic ‘development agents’? RQ 4) In what way is private Islamic charity, with the aim of poverty reduction in the country of origin, practiced among the diaspora? 5

6. Data collection and analysis MethodInterviewsFocus groupObservationNarrativesLocation RQ1  Pakistan RQ2  Pakistan RQ3  Pakistan RQ4  Pakistan and Norway The proposed project will be an empirically based, qualitative study Data collection will take place mainly in Pakistan, but also in Norway, adopting a multi-sited approach In total, the data for this project will consist of 50 semi-structured interviews and 10 focus groups A selection of the informants in Pakistan will be re-visited and engaged to comment on tentative findings 6

7. Peace Research Institute Oslo Thank you kaja@prio.nokaja@prio.no, marta@prio.no, kristian@prio.nomarta@prio.nokristian@prio.no