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General Congregation 34 (1995) stressed the need for networking within the Society in a very meaningful text: “To exploit more fully the possibilities given us by being an international body, additional global and regional networks must be created. Such networks of persons and institutions should be capable of addressing global concerns through support, sharing of information, planning, and evaluation, or through implementation of projects that cannot easily be carried out within province structures.” (d.21, n.14)
[pullquote align=”right”]“To exploit more fully the possibilities given us by being an international body, additional global and regional networks must be created.”[/pullquote]
Since that time many efforts have been made in the Society to create these networks, and there has been
great generosity and creativity in attempts to respond better to our mission. An example of these efforts includes the peer networks of social centers that have emerged within several Conferences. These are organized around several themes that have been identified where social centers can better work together.
- The Xavier Network brings together NGOs of international cooperation and the mission offices of Europe, Canada, and Australia. This also is a peer network that has identified specific areas of collaboration. It is limited to the social sector. Although the institutions are mostly European, its reach is global.
- The Jesuit Migrant Network in Latin America is a transnational alliance of works in different sectors that have identified common areas of collaborations with regard to the issue of migration. The aim of the network is to develop new levels of agency.
- Fe y Alegría is a regional network in Latin America (with some presence in Africa and Europe). It works within the sector of education and concentrates on educating disadvantaged students. It provides a model for networking because of its insertion into the Society’s governing structures, its style of leadership, its internal participative organization, and the way it identifies common objectives to which it responds by means of programs deployed throughout the network.
- African Jesuits AIDS Network (AJAN) is a network of Jesuits and other co-workers in subSaharan Africa, who serve people affected by AIDS in different ways. They may also work in the area of HIV prevention.
- The Global Ignatian Advocacy Network (GIAN) has global reach and involves the participation of different sectors. It also has the aim of developing new levels of action. It is currently functioning in four different areas: Migration, Right to Education, Ecology, and Governance of natural and mineral resources.
- The Jesuit Refugee Service is primarily an institution that can nevertheless be viewed from the perspective of a global network within the social sector. It establishes fruitful relations with other apostolic sectors.
While in Loyola this week, at Networking for Justice, representatives from some of the key Jesuit social sector networks will be joining together to analyze our collaborative efforts and define the way forward in order to address situations of injustice in a more coordinated and effective manner.
This post is an excerpt from an original article found in Promotio Iustitiae 113, “Networking in order to respond better to our mission”
Photo: Monteserín Fotografía
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