The importance of religion in international development is gaining wider recognition by governments and multilateral agencies alike in recent years. The World Bank routinely talks about Faith and Development and has not shied away from funding religious groups.
The fact that the religious and the secular are not compartmentalized as in Western societies could mean the West has finally grasped the realities of the majority world. The challenge will now be how not to impose a studied (and not lived) understanding of religiosity coming out of theological and academic centers. If not handled with care and in consultation with native traditions we may end up worse than our experiences of the past. Here is an excerpt:
“The secular world is very unique to the U.S.”Development work doesn’t have to fly in the face of religious traditions, he added. Natsios recounted a project in Ethiopia for HIV prevention that used church and mosque leaders to promote marital faithfulness, which fell in place with religious teachings. Other prevention techniques, such as condom use, went against the religious beliefs, so the development project spread that message through nonreligious avenues, such as health clinics. Read on.
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