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Who Heads Christian Aid? - The Guardian Profiles CA's Director Daleep Mukarji

By Nick Cater
Guardian
May 5, 2004

The church in Britain may once have been perceived as the Conservative party at prayer but its humanitarian wing offers a world view that embraces cross-cultural action against poverty, criticises Israel and the US, supports peasant occupations of land in Brazil, and lobbies Tony Blair on aid for Africa.

That radical mission of Christian Aid has been renewed by its first foreign director, Daleep Mukarji, and on the eve of its all-important annual fundraising week he is forthright about what a faith-based agency should strive for today: nothing less than a new world for the poor, marginalised and oppressed.

Backed by church networks in Britain and Ireland, Christian Aid spent more than £60m in 2003-04 (up by around 10% on the previous year) on development programmes and disaster relief in more than 60 countries. Almost 25% of its income will stream in when an army of tin-rattling volunteers knock on millions of doors in the coming days.

Mukarji is one of the very few UK-based aid agency staff to come from the developing world, and he sees this as a major commitment by Christian Aid to reflect both its global work and the changing reality of Britain. "Christian Aid was very brave, not just to bring in someone not white, but also not British," he says. "It's an expression of how Christian Aid, while rooted in British and Irish churches, takes the voices of the south seriously and works in partnership with southern agencies.

"It also reflects how Britain itself is a more multi-faith and multi-cultural society; charities must be more diverse or be left behind. In London on a Sunday, more non-white people go to church than white people. There are also many diasporas in Britain who want to help the countries they come from."

Mukarji's background mixes both the frontline of human need and leadership roles in development challenges, from working as a doctor with lepers to taking on the Christian Aid job in 1998 and becoming an influential voice in many networks, notably as chair of the Trade Justice Movement. He once described himself as "city-bred, slightly westernised, secular and cosmopolitan".

Why is he running a multi-million pound global charity from small offices near Waterloo station, London? "I made a personal and professional choice," he answers. "I could have stayed a doctor in India, but I saw that poverty and injustice could not be solved by medical treatment alone; that needed everything from clean water supplies to women's rights. That inspired me. I'm very lucky: I get paid for doing what I enjoy, and I believe in what I'm doing."

While all aid agencies work with other organisations in the field, all of Christian Aid's work involves partnership with a local church or community group, allowing it to draw on decades of experience and knowledge, without sending volunteersabroad. Thus the remark of a partner agency in Sierra Leone: "Christian Aid is not a suitcase organisation." Others are catching up with that approach, which is shifting aid's centre of gravity towards the south, whether by promoting a developing world staff into global leadership roles, as World Vision has done, or by relocating, as ActionAid did recently, establishing a global HQ in South Africa.

Would Christian Aid go south? "Our strength, identity and heritage - our niche - remains that we are an agency of the churches, owned by the churches, helping churches work for a better world," Mukarji declares. "We are different, we are unique.

"I'm convinced that many who support us are not committed Christians, perhaps not Christians at all, but they recognise our values and commitment to justice and our track record, and find in Christian Aid a link from faith to meaningful action. It's not just about extracting their money, but about how people shop, how they invest, how they can influence the government."

But what is Christian about Christian Aid? Mukarji says with a sigh: "If I told you the word Christian in our name was never a burden I would be dishonest; there are still sometimes perceptions that we are missionaries, for example. I think there are three dimensions to the Christianity of this organisation: it is part of our faith to try to build a better world; it is how we help Christians to be better Christians by getting involved; and our faith perspective gives us a different understanding of issues such as human rights and justice, and of all the dimensions of what it is to be a human being, including spirituality."

Reality matches rhetoric, he insists. "Liberation theology has inspired many of us; we want to be part of a movement to change systems and structures, including the use of civil disobedience and protest, though never the use of violence."

So Brazilian peasants seizing land have Mukarji's backing, while a Christian Aid report said Israeli policies deepened Palestinian poverty. "We must not be in sympathy with anyone who uses violence," he says, "but we do have to look at the root causes, respect people's rights and ask how we can find solutions."

How should Christian Aid gain support from those who pray every Sunday and have a less radical outlook? "We have a role to be educating, inspiring and equipping our supporters to speak out against injustice, like Old Testament prophets," Mukarji says. "There's a lot of tradition in our faith we can point to, from the anti-slavery fight 200 years ago to today's battles to ensure that those affected by HIV are not denied their human rights."

With 70% of its work taking place in war-torn countries, Christian Aid is used to war, but Afghanistan, Iraq and terrorism offer complex concerns. Mukarji fears that, in a polarised world, the West - and thus Christianity - is perceived as insensitive and triumphalist, especially given the language of President Bush.

"We've heard words like crusade," Mukarji says, "but where is the real action over poverty or exclusion, where is the work to improve the World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary Fund? A small group of rightwing Christians close to power may have supported the war, but many churches in the US were opposed to it."

One example of that movement is the UK Interfaith Humanitarian Group, which Mukarji helped set up after 9/11 to bring together Christian, Islamic, Jewish and other faith agencies, as well as Oxfam and Save the Children, to work together on common concerns such as Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

Next year looks busy for Christian Aid. It will be 60 years old, having been founded in 1945 to help the post-war recovery of refugees and churches. Britain will be chairing the powerful G8 group of countries, holding the EU presidency, and having a general election. Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown say they hope to use the year to highlight Africa's needs.

Mukarji sees plenty to do. "It is a critical year," he says. "I hope we can put pressure on the government to show leadership on a range of issues. I know Blair is passionate about making a contribution to the world, but he must be held accountable on his commitment to tackle poverty. That means much more money - but money alone won't solve all the problems, from multinationals abusing their power to reform of agricultural policy. Britain is privileged to be a rich and powerful nation; Blair and Brown must do more."

Meanwhile, this quiet firebrand is overseeing a plan to take Christian Aid to 2010, when he may consider returning to India.

"I've helped Christian Aid into the 21st century, and now it's time to reflect on issues such as governance and help the agency come to terms with the reality of the UK, from its diversity, to its place in the world.

"Over my career, I've usually worked in jobs for about 10 years, so I hope by then it will be time to let go and let a new generation take over. I will go back to India and thank God for the wonderful time I've had."

· Christian Aid week is May 9-15.

The CV

Born February 22, 1946, in Lahore

Status Married, three children

Career 1971, qualified as doctor; 1972-74, worked with lepers and then ran mission hospital; 1975-76, post-graduate study in London, diploma in tropical public health, and master's in social planning; 1977, returned to India to establish a rural health and community development programme; 1985, appointed general secretary of the Christian Medical Association of India; 1994, became executive secretary for health, community and justice at the World Council of Churches in Geneva; April 1998, became director of Christian Aid, seeking to expand the organisation's influence and to change public perception of the charity's work.