Faiths Act

Promoting gender equality to end poverty through interfaith action.

Since the start of February 2012 15 young people have been meeting at the Jhub to take part in INFACT. This is an initiative run by Faiths Act Fellows Maryam and Charlotte which has recruited young Londoners from a variety of different faith backgrounds. INFACT is an interfaith campaigns and advocacy training programme. Each week the participants have learned from speakers from top NGOs including Tzedek, Faiths Act, Christian Aid, Jubilee Debt Campaign and Tearfund.

Over the last two months the participants have embarked on an intense programme of learning together about multi-faith work, the MDGs, fundraising, media, communications, coordinating events. They will then mobilise their faith community to act on gender equality to eradicate poverty.

Together they have created the campaign Missfortune (www.missfortune.org). The campaign launched on Thursday 29^th March. The group took to the streets of Camden and involved members of the public in a wheel of fortune game to raise awareness about gender inequality issues in the developing world.

The campaigners invited passers-by to spin the wheel of fortune. They then were told about the life of a typical woman from the country they ‘land’ on. The aim of the day was to highlight how a woman’s fortune is determined by entirely uncontrollable factors, namely, her gender and where she is born.

Each contestant won a Missfortune postcard, with a real life story of a woman from that country and with information of how they can make a difference to women’s lives in that country.  The majority of the examples are taken from success stories from Tzedek’s partner projects.

The stunt is part of a series of educational events and activities implemented by the multi-faith group between now and June to engage communities of all faiths and none around gender inequality issues, which perpetuate poverty in the developing world. 

Missfortune Mission Statement: Every faith tradition teaches its followers to tackle/fight the injustice they see in the world.  Whilst we can’t change where we’re born, we can do a lot to create opportunity. Our faiths have inspired us to speak out against the injustice faced by women in the developing world. We believe that by engaging our faith communities with these issues, we can inspire them to take action, and in so doing, change the fortunes of thousands of women around the world.