Scottish faith leaders have met with Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, to discuss how they and the government can work in partnership to help meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Mr Alexander recognised the prominent role that Faith Leaders and Faith Groups are playing in international development, and listened to their ideas about how they could best work together to help reduce world poverty. He said: “We are keen to build strong partnerships with the faith community. They are in a unique position to play an important role in tackling world poverty. The Prime Minister and the UN Secretary General have declared 2008 as a critical year to accelerate efforts to tackle world poverty. I am pleased to have the opportunity to meet with faith leaders to discuss the role the faith community here in Scotland might play.” The attendees included amongst others: Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Head of the Catholic Church in Scotland; Shobha Nagpal, President of Hindu Temple in Glasgow; David Cameron, Church of Scotland Glasgow Presbytery; Archbishop Mario Conti, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow; Paul Chitnis, Chief Executive of Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF); Dharmacari Shantiketu, Western Buddhist Order; Jack Purba, General secretary to the Glasgow Gurdwara Council and Secretary of the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh Temple) in Glasgow; Ghulam Rabbani, Islam; Muhammad Shaheen, President of the Islamic Council of Scotland; Imam Habib-ur-Rahman, Islam; Rabbi Moshe Rubin, leader of Giffnock and Newlands Synagogue; Tom Harrigan, Glasgow Inter-Faith Liaison Officer.
