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Medical Charities in Asia and the Middle East RESEARCH CONTEXT There is a growing corpus of academic and policy research that documents elements of indigenous charities working to generate economic, social and political empowerment of the poor and marginalized segments of the population in Asia, Middle East and parts of Africa. These organizations provide hospitals, schools, orphanages, hospices as well as assist with credit and finance in the establishment of small and medium enterprises in addition to creating appropriate institutions for a civil society. They link and mobilize assets of land and capital to create a ‘moral economy’. There is awareness that these initiatives are not necessarily contributions to existing structure, a top down approach. By contrast many indigenous charities are intertwined with local regimes and international policy groups. This combination of a top down approach with grass roots initiatives and involvement is an effective solution to engagement in different locations, in environments as varied in economic growth. THE WORKSHOP This workshop is intended to cover medical charities in Asia and the Middle East. It will explore in depth where charities with sectarian orientations [Islam, Confucianism, Buddhism] play a crucial role in meeting the basic needs of the entire population, not just their ethnic or religious constituencies. This cross-sectarian welfare, their best practices, will be examined through case studies on Asia as well as the Middle East. In addition, the workshop will reveal the comparative study on Indian, essentially secular charities Infosys and Wipro who identify creative and innovative approaches to Medical problems in India through their IT skills, talent and progressive attitudes, thereby expanding philanthropy beyond traditional links to family, faith and clan to wider contemporary challenges in Technology and Research and Development and best practices in the art of giving. Workshop Structure and Themes There are 3 panels: Panel 1: Medical Charities and the Relationship with the State This covers law and regulatory framework, and accountability, transparency and governance determining success or failure of medical charities in Asia and the Middle East. Panel 2: Sectarianism and Medical Charities This includes religious divisions as well as ethnic and ideological and secular and class factions. Panel 3: Medical Charities and Social Challenges to Disease This traces the different responses of charities to disease within distinct diasporas in the Middle East, Cyprus Asia and Central Asia and India and the Far East.
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