2025 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

The project "Interreligious Collaboration Network" was born with a clear vision: to create a dynamic space for dialogue and joint action between the public sector, Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) and Religious Organizations (ROs) in the province of Salta. Driven by the Directorate of Religious Affairs and the Secretariat for Citizen Participation and Community Relations, and selected by the Federal Open Government Program of the National Directorate of Open Government (Cabinet Office) and the Municipal Training Directorate (Ministry of the Interior), the project began as a pilot test in the city of Salta, with the ambition to expand throughout the province.

The problems facing the province of Salta are many and diverse, requiring structural solutions. In recent years, various international studies and practices have recognized the role that religious communities and Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) and Religious Organizations (ROs) play in addressing complex global challenges due to their work on sustainable development, extreme poverty, natural disasters, etc. However, it can be said that this aspect of the Interreligious Sector is still largely unknown to local administrations, and the potential emerging from its social vocation is not yet fully appreciated. In this sense, it is crucial for the state to create dialogue spaces to connect this sector with other public and private institutions to achieve synergistic actions toward common goals (peacebuilding, health, education, etc.). To achieve this, we must also work hard to break down stereotypes, myths, and above all prejudices that are sometimes socially ingrained and perceived as the only reality.

We understand that, once interreligious dialogue is established on common issues, progress can be made in building dialogues with multiple external agents to the sector, in line with more solid and sustained processes over time, focused on the creation of public policies and long-term actions.

For more information:

https://www.salta.gob.ar/organismos/ministerio-de-gobierno-derechos-humanos-y-trabajo-3 (External link)