International Network of Engaged Buddhists

Dear Friends of INEB,

Greetings from Thailand! I hope you all have been doing great!

There has been good progress on a number of INEB projects in the period from July to September 2018. Here is a snapshot of what has happened and what is being planned for in the near future –

Buddhist-Muslim Forum – Development of a 2 Year Proposal and Workplan

In July, a core group meeting was held at the INEB office for the Buddhist-Muslim Forum (BMF) group. The main focus of the meeting was to look at Buddhist-Muslim relations in South East Asia. Various representatives from member organizations participated in the BMF working group meeting. The group decided on 3 main areas for activities – (1) meeting with religious leaders, (2) Religious literacy, and (3) Buddhist-Muslim youth.

A proposal is currently being developed for the group, outlaying a clear set of vision and objectives for this project, and a proposed set of activities for the next two years.  Once complete, the proposal will be sent out and shared with various grantmaking organizations to request for funding support. The BMF working group is advancing towards implementing an important initiative that aims to improve relations between Buddhist and Muslim groups. We hope that this endeavor will bear fruit and lead to good results.

Planning for the INEB AC/EC Meeting

In mid-August, Moo, INEB’s Executive Secretary, and Gauthama, INEB Executive Committee Member and head of the Foundation of His Sacred Majesty (FHSM), made a trip to Kathmandu, Nepal, to plan for the INEB Advisory Committee (AC) and Executive Committee Meeting to be held in end November this year. The planning meeting went very well. 

A final agenda for the 3-day meeting was decided upon. On the first day, participants would meet with the Buddhist community in Nepal, who will share about their current situation and needs. Various Buddhist groups will provide their perspectives on the situation in Nepal. The first day will also have participants visit the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. On the second day, the INEB AC/EC meeting will be held, where AC and EC members will provide updates on the 11 main INEB projects. The AC/EC meeting will also hold discussions on how INEB and its members can best support the Buddhist community in Nepal. The AC/EC meeting will continue on the third day. Around 60-70 people are expected to attend the INEB AC/EC meeting. 

In addition to the regular discussions on INEB’s 11 projects, INEB’s ‘Marginalized Communities’ project will be given special attention and focus during the meeting. A half day has been allocated to this project theme, where a visit to the Dalit center in Kathmandu has been planned. The purpose of the visit is for INEB members to understand the challenges and needs of the Dalit community in Nepal, and to see how INEB and its Marginalized Communities working group can contribute to resolving their problems.

As part of the planning and preparation for the AC/EC Meeting, Moo and Gauthama also met with the Dalit community during their trip to Nepal in August. The Dalit community members shared with them that they would really like to move out and be free of the violence they were facing due to presence and influence of the caste system in Nepal. They also expressed that despite the fact that a majority of their Dalit groups have received higher education, they still feel they don’t have the empowerment and the advocacy related skills to come out of the influence of the caste system. In addition, the Dalit groups currently do not have a central organization that brings together smaller Dalit movements and organizations.  A lot of the Dalits are working for low capacity organizations.This is real food for thought for the INEB Network, and a lot of these issues are expected to be discussed during the INEB AC/EC Meeting. 

Asia Network for Child Protection - Consortium for Child Protection Meeting in Geneva

In July, INEB’s Executive Secretary, Moo, went to Geneva to attend a meeting on the issue of child protection. The purpose of the meeting was to have various organizations working on child protection issues come together to form a consortium in order to make it possible to have better collaboration of work amongst member organizations in the field of child protection. At the meeting, Moo also got a chance to meet with the Sarvodaya Group from Srilanka. Moo had a good conversation with them, and there are plans for INEB to collaborate with the Sarvodaya Group for working on child protection issues in the Asian region.

A regional meeting for the Asia Network for Child Protection working group is also being planned, and will be held in Vietnam in January next year.

Female Leadership for Social Transformation

In April or May next year, Taiwan will host the first 10-day international training. At the moment, individual in-country trainings and workshops are already being held in various Asian countries. In Thailand, Ouyporn, co-founder of the International Women’s Partnership for Peace and Justice, has been facilitating the trainings for Thai Bhikkhunis. Her trainings are keeping focus on gender and social leadership issues.

The training in Taiwan next year will take in groups of white robed nuns, lay women, and Bhikkhunis. Usually in the past, trainings for Buddhist woman groups have been occurring separately (white robed nuns have their own trainings, and so do laywomen and Bhikkhunis). The idea behind the 10-day training in Taiwan is to bring these individual groups together in order to create opportunities for cross-group learning and exchanges.

A one day follow up meeting may also take place after the 10-day training in Taiwan. The purpose of the follow-up meeting will be to relook at the strategy/concept paper that was developed for this working group, and to listen to feedback from participants on the training.

Well that’s all I have to report folks! Lots of positive developments, and there is much more expected to happen, especially after the INEB AC/EC Meeting, which will have members of the Committees take a deeper look at each INEB project and plan for future activities and actions.

On behalf of the INEB work team, I again sincerely thank all of you for your ongoing support of INEB and its transformative work in the field of socially engaged Buddhism. Please do visit our Global Giving project page, and share it with your network of family and friends. Each contribution that we get from you is very meaningful and valuable to us, as it is when a drop adds to a drop, that a vast ocean can be formed!

Take care and have a great year ahead!

With Warm Regards,

Arjun Kumar

Fundraising Coordinator

International Network of Engaged Buddhists      

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