FCDO Religion and Diplomacy Training

All over the world, religion and belief play a major role in politics and everyday life. In secular societies such as Great Britain, the reality of this in other countries can easily be overlooked. For British diplomats who are sent to work abroad, where a majority religion may permeate all spheres of society or minority belief groups may be severely persecuted, having a competent degree of religious understanding as a professional skill or competence is imperative.

This is the purpose of the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) new Religion for International Engagement training programme, which has been developed by the University of Birmingham working with the Good Faith Partnership. By gathering data and case studies about world religions and their geopolitical significance, development impact and social complexity the modules provide a resource for diplomats embarking on postings grounding that work in a new evidenced based analytical tool.

The team from Good Faith Partnership, led by Stephen Tunstall, worked with the University of Birmingham to help develop the strategic approach and played a vital role enabling dialogue with diplomats and policy makers at home and abroad, to test the new approach. Esmé Partridge then supported the Birmingham team to develop subsequent modules, copy editing the modules and ensuring their digital accessibility on FCDO's learning platforms. The core modules are now highly recommended to all FCDO staff on posting, were launched internally for all staff teams by Government Ministers and have been commended by Officials and external stakeholders.