Rev. Adam Russell Taylor received the ‘Spirit of the UN’ Award for his work as the Lead for the Faith-Based Initiative at the World Bank Group on 23 October 2018.

Accepting the award, Rev Taylor acknowledged the work of Faith Based Organisations (FBOs) in combating poverty.

He said, “Building on the critical role of public narrative, I helped convene a diverse cross section of religious and FBO leaders in 2015 for a Roundtable meeting with President Kim. Leading up to the meeting we worked with a diverse group of religious leaders to identify how our world’s religions approach the imperative to combat poverty. The Moral Imperative initiative that emerged out of these discussions was my most gratifying effort, which I’m hopeful the World Bank will continue and build upon now that my successor in in place.”

Affirming his believe in the Moral Imperative to End Extreme Poverty, Rev. Taylor pointed out the three commitments of the Moral Imperative framework which are: strengthening the evidence base around the contribution and impact of faith-inspired actors, mobilising the moral authority of religious leaders and their substantial constituencies to hold governments accountable and generate social and political will and fostering more effective collaboration between religious and other development actors including the World Bank and the United Nations.

The Moral Imperative to End Extreme Poverty brings together religious and faith-based organizations and the World Bank Group into a broad forum to advance a faith-based action framework to end Extreme Poverty and Realize Sustainable Development Goals. The work of the Moral Imperative is organized a round three pillars: Evidence, Advocacy and Collaboration, each with a Corresponding Working Group.

Read Rev. Adam Russell Taylor’s full acceptance speech here.